Eleven hours later, Adrian Lu stood at the doorway of the guest bedroom in the Lu residence.

The right half of the closet was empty. The mouthwash cup on the vanity was gone. Even the curtains were drawn with military precision, making the room look as if it had never been lived in.

On the nightstand, that bottle of stomach medicine was still there.

He picked it up. It felt light. He gave it a shake; only a few lonely pills rattled against the plastic.

He turned to the maid. "Who usually bought this medicine?"

The maid blinked, caught off guard. "It was... Ms. Vivian. She went to the pharmacy to get it herself every time."

Adrian’s grip on the bottle tightened.

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She left the same day she signed the papers. She only had one backpack with her."

He shoved the bottle into his pocket and walked out without another word.

He headed straight for the hospital.

Selina Shen’s office was at the end of the Cardiology department hallway. When he pushed the door open, Selina was reviewing some scans.

She looked up, startled at first, then broke into a smile.

"You’re back? Why didn't you tell me in advance..."

"Three days ago, who used my computer to send an email to Vivian Su?"

It wasn't a question.

Selina’s smile froze on her face. "I don't know what you’re talking about."

"Sean Zhao said you visited my office twice. I can pull the access logs and track the login IP for my email. Do you want me to do that?"

Silence stretched for three seconds.

Selina set the scans down and slowly leaned back in her chair. "It was me."

Then she stood up, her eyes reddening as her voice began to tremble. "Adrian, look at her! She’s from the Nutrition department, found through some cheap matchmaking agency. She doesn't even understand your world. Being with her is just—"

"What exactly were you helping me with?"

Adrian’s voice was low, dangerous.

Selina fell silent as if she’d been choked.

"Helping me drive away my wife? Helping me spend sixty million dollars on a divorce I knew nothing about?"

"The sixty million wasn't my—"

"I know it wasn't you. Julian Zhang saw the email from my account and followed the contract protocols. But that email—the one that triggered everything—was you."

He looked at her coldly.

"The joint research project? Your name is being pulled today. Next week’s annual report? Find a replacement. I’m out."

"Adrian!"

"From now on, whatever happens to you has nothing to do with me."

He turned and left, the door clicking shut behind him.

Selina stood frozen, her whole body shaking. She had waited three years. From undergraduate to residency, from residency to attending, and finally to associate director. She thought that if Vivian disappeared, everything would return to its rightful track.

But on that track, there had never been a seat for her.

Adrian left the hospital and sat in his car.

He dialed Vivian’s number. It was off.

He checked her WeChat; her avatar was grey, and his messages vanished into a void.

He rested his phone on the steering wheel and closed his eyes. The car was silent.

He remembered a night last month when he came home late after a long surgery. Passing the guest room, he saw a sliver of light beneath the door.

He hadn't knocked. He hadn't thought it was necessary.

Now, that room was empty. Even if he knocked, there would be no answer.

The nearly empty bottle of medicine in his pocket pressed against his leg.

He picked up his phone and dialed Julian Zhang.

"Find out where Vivian Su is living."

Julian paused for a beat before answering. "No need to search, Mr. Lu. Three days ago, Ms. Su purchased a tiered villa at Riverside Manor on the West Side. All cash. I handled the paperwork myself."

Adrian didn't say a word.

Out of sixty million, she had spent twenty-eight million on a house.

He didn't even know what kind of house she liked.

A whole year, and he knew nothing.

Meanwhile, Riverside Manor presented a completely different scene.

I was standing barefoot in the garden, watering the plants.

The evening light was soft, making the water droplets on the grass sparkle like diamonds.

That afternoon, I had done something I never dared to do while living with the Lus. I went to a furniture gallery.

I picked out a massive king-sized bed for myself with the softest mattress available. Then I moved to the nursery section. The sales clerk suggested I start with one set and add more later if needed.

"No need to wait," I said. "I’ll take three. Identical."

The clerk stared at me, likely assuming I was buying for someone else. "Three cribs, ma'am? How many children do you have?"

"Three."

"...Triplets?"

"Yes."

The clerk’s expression was a perfect mirror of the ultrasound doctor from this morning. She was all smiles as I swiped my card, probably thinking she’d met a god of wealth.

I spent the entire afternoon getting everything sorted: cribs, strollers, car seats, sterilizers.

In triplicate.

As I pushed the overflowing cart out of the baby store, the items were piled high like a small mountain.

An older lady passing by did a double-take.

I looked down and whispered to my belly, "You three haven't even come out yet, and you’ve already cost your mom over four hundred thousand. You better be good to me later."

As I was finishing the watering, my parents arrived.

After a four-hour bus ride, my dad’s back was acting up; his legs were shaking as my mom helped him off the bus. In her other hand, my mom carried two plastic bags filled with her homemade dried radishes, salted duck eggs, and a jar of chili sauce.

My mom froze when she stepped through the door.

She looked at the living room, the garden, and the kitchen island, her mouth opening and closing in shock.

"Vivian, how much is the rent for this place?"

"Twenty-eight."

"Twenty-eight hundred a month? Isn't that a bit expensive?"

"It’s not a rental, Mom. I bought it. Twenty-eight million."

The plastic bags nearly slipped from my mom’s hand.

My dad walked slowly into the garden. Looking at the grass and the river view, he stared at the sky for a long time.

He didn't ask about the money. He just said, "This is a good spot. The kids will have room to run."

Once my mom recovered, she headed straight for the kitchen. "The stove is huge. Where’s the fridge? Let’s get these eggs inside first."

I laughed. That was my mom—no matter how big the house was, her first priority was always the refrigerator.

During dinner, I told them about the triplets.

My mom’s chopsticks clattered onto the table. My dad’s hand froze mid-air.

After five seconds of stunned silence, my mom slammed her hand on the table.

"Good heavens! Our ancestors must be smiling down on us!"

My dad didn't say anything at first. He put down his chopsticks and looked at me for a long time.

"Can your body handle it?"

"I can."

"Do you need money?"

"I’m okay."

"Then that’s enough." He patted my shoulder gently. "You’ve got your mother and me."

My eyes grew hot. That was my dad. A man of few words, but every word was a safety net.

After dinner, my mom was in the kitchen doing the dishes while my dad sat in the garden, slowly sipping tea.

My phone rang.

An unknown number. A local one.

I answered.

A voice came through—one that was intimately familiar, yet one that hadn't spoken a full, coherent sentence to me in a long time.

"Vivian, where are you?"

It was Adrian.