"Let me be alone."

Julian held the report and sat on a chair in the hospital corridor for the entire night.

By the time he left, his face looked much more haggard.

Eva woke up early in the morning and couldn't find Julian. She thought he had gone to the company again. Unexpectedly, just as she went downstairs, she saw Julian sitting at the dining table, seemingly waiting for her to have a meal.

Eva broke into a happy smile, trotted down, and said sweetly, "Julian, I thought I wouldn't see you today. Did you wait for me for breakfast on purpose?"

"Yes." Julian nodded.

He supposed it could be considered waiting on purpose; he had something he wanted to ask Eva.

Having received Julian’s affirmative answer, Eva smiled until her eyes squinted into slits and happily sat down beside Julian.

Eva chattered on beside Julian the whole time, while Julian merely nodded occasionally in agreement, remaining very silent.

Only when he saw Eva put down her chopsticks did Julian say: "Eva, back when I proposed a breakup to Clara, saying I wanted to be with you, she dragged you into a meeting room. What exactly did she say to you in there?"

Eva’s movements came to a sudden halt, and her chopsticks clattered to the floor.

She scrambled to pick them up, but Julian grabbed her hand. "It’s fine, let the maid clean it up later."

Eva bit her lip, feeling extremely panicked, constantly wondering why Julian would suddenly bring up something from so long ago.

"Eva?" Julian prompted.

"It... it was exactly as I told you. Clara said she loved you very much, and if she left you, she would die. She said she was poor and that the only way to change her life was to marry you. She begged me to complete you two. If I took you away, I would be forcing her to her death. She begged me to complete you."

"Just like that?"

"Yes." Eva waited for a few minutes, and seeing Julian didn't say anything else, she asked anxiously: "Julian, is there any news about Clara?"

His gaze darkened. "No, I was just asking casually. Don't think too much of it."

He actually hoped that woman was still alive, hoped to find her quickly, because he had too many questions in his heart that only Clara could explain clearly.

Back in the study, Julian dialed his assistant’s number: "Xiao Zhang, there is something I need you to investigate, but you must not let anyone notice, especially my parents and Eva."

"Go and check what Eva’s life and studies were like abroad after she went overseas." He paused and said, "Especially check the medical records, and also see if she had any relatively close contact with other men."

After hanging up the phone, Julian covered his head with both hands.

Right beside him was Clara’s medical record. Julian’s rough fingers traced over the title page.

Eva said Clara was trying to trap him to live the life of a wealthy wife, but if she was such a money-grubbing woman, why would she abandon her own name and insist on giving birth to the child?

I’m sorry, Eva, I will only investigate this once.

If there are no issues, I will cast aside all the uncertainty in my mind, give Eva a grand wedding, and cherish her well from now on.

It’s not that I don't believe you, it’s just that with so many things laid out before me, I want to confirm it one last time.

Chapter 21: She Is an Orphan

The details of the life the woman had lived abroad were soon investigated and placed on the man's desk.

He sat in the CEO’s chair, straight-backed in his suit, staring at the thin file folder, yet he hesitated for a long while without moving.

Finally, he opened the folder and picked up the investigative report on her life abroad.

Half an hour later, he set the report down, his face ashen.

He remained in a daze for a long time.

His elbow knocked against a teacup; with a snap, it fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

Her life abroad had been decadent—she had dated many boyfriends, been involved in ambiguous relationships with many men, and had undergone abortions. It was completely different from the innocent, kind-hearted girl in his memories.

Her longest relationship was with a wealthy heir named Zhao Quan. She seemed to have been sincere, ending all other casual affairs, but later she became pregnant. For some reason, she lost the child and suffered uterine damage, leading doctors to conclude she could never conceive again.

"It is impossible for her to be pregnant. She has had abortions and damaged her uterus; she cannot get pregnant."

The woman's voice echoed in his ears.

He held his breath. Those were the exact words spoken when he had brought the other woman back to the family home and announced she was pregnant.

If the other woman could not conceive, then the child in her womb...

He clenched his hands into fists.

"Xiao Zhang, go and investigate everything about her after she returned to the country—who she met, what happened, and check if there are any irregularities in her bank statements. Especially check if she had any contact with hospital staff."

After instructing his assistant, he grabbed his suit jacket from the rack and hurriedly left the office.

His mind was in chaos.

The things he had once firmly believed were now crumbling, and he was unsure how to face them.

He drove away aimlessly. When the car finally stopped, he saw the sign hanging at his destination: Cixin Orphanage.

The orphanage staff saw him get out of the car and greeted him with a smile: "Sir, are you here to adopt a child, or for some other business?"

"No, I’m just here to take a look. Actually, I’d like to make a donation to the orphanage."

He donated one million. The orphanage director, a woman in her fifties with graying hair and glasses, came out personally to thank him. She stared at him for a long time: "Mr. Lin, you look very familiar. Have we met before?"

"Your memory is truly excellent, Director. I did come here to volunteer, but that was over a decade ago."

He remembered her; she had been the director back then, and she hadn't changed much, save for her hair turning gray. But he had changed significantly from a teenager to an adult; he hadn't expected her to remember him.

"It’s not quite that I remember, just that you look very familiar. Mr. Lin has been a caring person since childhood. I will use this money to repair the orphanage's infrastructure. On behalf of the children here, I thank you."

His expression stiffened slightly.

A caring person?

He wasn't.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so anxious and uneasy right now.

He cleared his throat: "I have a friend named Gu Roujia who was once in this orphanage."

"Jiajia, I remember. She was an especially lonely child." The director smiled. "Then you must be a special person to Jiajia."

"Why do you say that?" He looked at the director, confused as to how she could reach such a conclusion so quickly.

"Jiajia was a very lonely child. In all the years she was here, I never saw her open up to anyone. I remember she was very special toward the volunteer who came here, but after that child left, she became even more withdrawn. If she acknowledged you as a friend, then you must be a special existence."

"More withdrawn?"

"Actually, that doesn't sound very nice, but children in orphanages have all experienced the loss of parents or abandonment. They are always insecure, and Jiajia was particularly so in this regard. Psychologically speaking, it is very difficult for such a child to open their heart, and if they are hurt after doing so, they become even more afraid." The director shrugged helplessly. "I am not blaming the child who came to volunteer. It’s just that it is too hard for children in an orphanage to live truly happy lives."

After listening to the director’s explanation, he fell silent.

【He was once like a ray of light in my dark world.】

He had given her hope, and then ruthlessly stripped it away.

He walked out of the orphanage, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

He had originally come here seeking peace of mind, but he felt only a growing heaviness.

The director’s voice seemed to still be in his ears.

"Jiajia... I don't know if she is married now. I think that child would surely be a wonderful mother. Her goal since she was small was to become a good mother, so that what happened to her wouldn't happen to her own children."

She was meant to become a mother, and it was he who had stripped her of her dream.

Chapter 22: Finding Gu Roujia

"Mr. Lin, we have news regarding Miss Gu."