She sat in the speeding taxi, looking at the glittering lights of the city through the window. At that moment, she felt weirdly at peace. She did not lie to Qin Yinan; she did not say those things because she wanted to comfort him. If he did not message her that night, she would still have asked him out to talk.

  When she confronted Su Zhinian at Eldorado, she had been furious, furious at his duplicity, his dishonesty, but most of the fury came from heartache. She had never felt so much pain due to a man before. Some people would say that, when one really loved another person, the first and foremost feeling would never be happiness, bliss, warmth or hurt; it would be heartache.

  Her heart pained because she could not understand why he had to be so dumb, why he had to suffer all that pain silently and alone. He could have easily pulled her into hell with him. He knew that he could never leave her, but he chose without hesitation to surrender himself to push her into the light.

  His patience, his silence, and his sacrifice melted the fury in her heart. When she sat in his car as they drove to his house, she too had been looking out at the night sky. She had many things on her mind.

  She could readily admit to herself, when she knew he was her biological brother, she could not accept it, but she had forced herself to. After she digested this truth, her wish to be a couple with him really died because how could a pair of biological siblings be in love? The world would not have accepted it.

  Even in Hai Nan, her belief had held firm; there could never be romantic love between them.

  However, sitting in Su Zhinian’s car, she had come to a decision. It was purely a coincidence that before she contacted Qin Yinan, he had already messaged her. She knew that when she said she had to go see Qin Yinan, she was hurting him, but she did not explain her decision to him because she believed that if he knew what she was going to do, he would do everything in his power to stop her.

  Song Qingchun stared at the streets that became more familiar as the car headed toward Shining Light Residences. Her heart was calm; in fact, this was the first time she had felt so convinced with a decision in her life.

  After midnight, Shining Light Residences did not allow outside vehicles to enter. Therefore, Song Qingchun had to stop by the gate and finish the rest of the journey on foot. The residential area was quiet with the lights still on in several buildings. Song Qingchun turned a few corners before she reached Su Zhinian’s house.

  All the lights in his house were still on. In the dark night, one could clearly see into the house through the windows that were not curtained. Song Qingchun did not press the doorbell but keyed in the password and walked into the house easily. Su Zhinian did not realize that someone had entered the house because the place was quiet.

  Song Qingchun tossed her shoes away and stepped on the cold granite floor in her bare feet. She looked all around the house before finding the man standing at the balcony attached to the room that she had once stayed in.

  He only had a thin white shirt on. He was standing so immobile in the winter night that he appeared like a statue.

  Song Qingchun took a blanket and walked slowly toward the balcony. She stood on her tip-toes and put the blanket over his shoulders.

  She had touched him thusly, but the man still stood completely immobile like he had lost his soul.