XueQing's teeth clenched hard. "So he only wanted to commit suicide over something trivial?" Her palm hit her forehead. "If you hadn't been by his side. If you hadn't stopped him, he would now be..." A slight tremor of fear went through her.
A dark cloud hovered over JingYuan's eyes. He clenched his fist and said, "Perhaps this was the motive of the culprit."
"They want HanHan to die?" XueQing said in a hate-filled voice. "Who would use such a poisonous scheme? This really would be a way to kill someone without getting blood on their hands. If yesterday's incident hadn't attracted your suspicions, we'd be blind and dumb to what happened, if something did happen to him!" At the thought, she couldn't help but shiver hard with chills.
"According to your descriptions, his change occurred not long after I left on my trip," JingYuan said with a nod.
"That's right," she replied. "It seems like that person intentionally picked a time when you're not around. They must fear you, or maybe they thought something would happen to HanHan before you returned. They didn't think he'd be stronger than they thought. Not only did he not go crazy, he also didn't have a breakdown. He only learned to treasure what he has.
"As expected, not long after your return, you found it weird and 'that person' is now probably panicking," said XueQing.
"No matter what, if our theories are true, I will make 'that person' pay the price!" JingYuan swore.
"Should we tell my parents about this?" XueQing asked.
"At the very least, not your mother. She loves HanHan so much that he's her life. The thought of him suffering so much would surely make her collapse," he said.
"You're right," XueQing said with a nod. "We can discuss this with my elder brother and father. One more in the know means one more to help us. The thought of such an existence would make me live in fear the whole time. Who knows just when they'd make their next move? It's best we deal with this as early as possible. I think your theory is the most reasonable explanation."
"I also came to you for something else important," said JingYuan.
The sight of JingYuan's solemn face made XueQing's heart sank once more. Please, please don't let it be bad news too. "What is it?" she asked.
"To calm HanHan down, I lied to him."
Her eyes went wide. "You? Lie? When did you have the balls to do that? What about?"
"I said you liked Chen TianYang." A peculiar red brushed JingYuan's cheeks. "Yes. You love him a lot."
XueQing wanted to jump up and at him immediately, but her legs were still limp from the shock before. "What are you babbling about?" she shouted. "Do you think he's a fool? How would he not see through that?"
"That's why I came looking for you," JingYuan sternly replied. "We must line up our alibis and not make him suspicious."
XueQing was startled. "Why so? Why must I help you lie to my brother?"
"Of course it's for him. Have you forgotten why he wanted to kill himself?" he shot back.
"You mean..."
"I said our marriage was only a collaboration to agitate him and TianYang. We never planned on marrying. You like TianYang, but he'd never confess. You thought a fake marriage would push him to show his affections. Meanwhile, I love HanHan and want to use this marriage to test his feelings. That's all," JingYuan explained.
"You really know how to twist your words," XueQing mumbled. "But this can wipe away the guilt he'd feel. Does he believe you?"
"From the looks of it, yes," he answered with a nod. "He said it was a rotten plan."
"It was indeed a rotten plan," XueQing agreed. "Just who was so ignorant as to come up with that plan?"