It was a stormy night in Amber City. The wind blew fiercely and rain fell in torrents. A young woman was soaked to the skin while she struggled with the security guards outside the rich neighborhood of Silk Bay. Even though the rain was pouring and the wind was blowing hard, her distressed cries could be heard from a distance.
"Please let me in. It's a life-and-death matter. We can't wait any longer! Please!"
"I'm sorry, Miss, but we've never seen you before. We can't allow strangers to come in!"
"I'm an old friend of Mr. Raymond. He lives here. Please tell him I'm Susie Su. He will know who I am and why I'm here!"
"Alright, Miss Su. Please wait here for a moment. I'll go check with him right now."
Susie Su was shivering with cold in the pouring rain. Every house in this magnificent residential area was built as a detached villa. Every family who stayed there was either rich or noble. Susie Su's appearance didn't match the high status of this neighborhood at all. No wonder nobody believed her words.
Not long after the security guard went in, he came out with a message that brought despair to Susie Su's heart. "Miss Su, Mr. Raymond said he doesn't know a woman named Susie Su."
Those words struck her like a thunderbolt.
Raymond Leng had told the guard that he didn't even know a woman named Susie Su...
This sentence was like a sharp knife cutting through her heart!
But Susie Su couldn't give up so easily. Her daughter was lying in the hospital, desperately in need of treatment. She had to talk to Raymond Leng. He was her only hope!
She clenched her fists and was about to rush inside, but those well-trained security guards stopped her before she could take another step forward.
"Please let me in! I'm begging you! I must talk to Raymond!"
"Miss Su, I suggest that you don't waste your time anymore. Every month we have to drive out several women like you who want to marry a rich man! But you're not like most of them. They aren't usually as poor as you are!"
That was true. That neighborhood was so magnificent that Susie Su's clothes were completely out of place.
But who would believe the truth? As a matter of fact, five years ago, she herself was living in this magnificent neighborhood! At that time, Raymond Leng was the one who didn't belong there and wanted to get in!
Susie Su couldn't help but remember the conversation she had with her little daughter in the hospital. "Mom, am I dying?"
"Silly girl, you're only four years old. How could you possibly be dying? You will live long, like the grannies in the yard, until you are eighty or ninety years old!"
"But I heard from the nurse that my illness is incurable! They said I would be dead in two months."
Holding her skinny, weak, but still cute little daughter in her arms, Susie Su's heart was breaking. "Believe me, darling, I will definitely make sure you survive!"
"Yes, I trust you, Mom! Mom will protect me! After my illness is gone, I will go back to the kindergarten to play games with Miss Mia. There are many friends waiting for me to go back and play with them! Mom, I must live on! I want to be with Mom forever!"
Her daughter's pitiful words made tears well up on Susie Su's face.
But there was another burden on her mind, and it was even worse.
The cost of the surgery was almost 500,000 dollars, which she couldn't afford at all. She would do anything to raise it for her daughter, no matter how much she had to pay.
She had been to her relatives one by one, begging them on her knees, but no one was willing to help her.
The bone marrow transplant that her daughter needed couldn't be found in the hospital, and her own bone marrow didn't match her daughter's.
One crushing despair followed another. She had to give up her dignity to come and beg this man despite the vow she had made before.
Raymond Leng was the only person in the world who could save her daughter now!
Holding a security guard's hand desperately, Susie Su kept begging, "Sir, please, I beg you. I have to see Raymond today. Please, please. Please let me in!"
The security guard pushed Susie Su away ruthlessly and stood at his position. He was bound to obey the company's rules and regulations, though he could see that she was different from other women and that she really had an emergency. After all, he was only a security guard, and he didn't make the rules.
In utter despair and helplessness, Susie Su gritted her teeth and knelt down on the hard ground, splashing herself in the water. She started to yell in despair,
"Raymond Leng, I know you are in there! Come out! I need you to come out! If you don't come out today, I will kneel here forever!
Raymond Leng, since you don't want me go in to see you, I'll wait here all day and all night. I know you won't stay in there all your life!"
Inside a well-decorated villa, Colin Meng was standing at a window. He could see the scene outside vaguely, and his eyes were touched with pity for the woman in distress.
It had been a long time since they last saw Susie Su. It was so long, in fact, that they thought her re-appearance was just an illusion. Despite living in the same city, these two young and strong-willed people had never met each other since their separation.
One of them had made an oath that she would never see him again until she died. The other one realized that he had done wrong, but he never looked back.
Colin Meng had thought that it would be better for those two stubborn young people not to contact each other anymore, so that at least they wouldn't hurt each other.
But based on what he saw now, it seemed that it was impossible for them to forget each other, and that they were still torturing each other bitterly.
Letting out a sigh, Colin Meng turned around and went upstairs.
In front of the huge French window on the second floor, a slender and lonely figure was hiding in the darkness.
Colin Meng didn't turn on the light, but walked directly behind him. "Sir, Ms. Susie..."
But he let his words trail off, because it was obvious that his employer, standing in that position, could clearly see what was happening outside.
"Let her kneel there! Hasn't she sworn an oath? She said that she wouldn't have anything to do with me!"
The man drank up the glass of wine in his hand, put the empty glass on the table casually, turned around, and went into his bedroom.
Colin Meng shrugged helplessly.
Well, since the two of them had such unshakeable stubbornness, he couldn't do anything about it as an outsider.
If they wanted to torture themselves, they could do it freely, as long as he still got his salary on time. It was bed time for him!
The heavy rain kept pouring through the whole night. Colin slept restlessly, and was suddenly woken up by the crash of a thunderbolt.
He glanced at his watch on the bedside table. It was only half past one in the early morning. He rubbed his eyes and thought of Susie who might still be kneeling outside. He got up and went to the window.
Looking outside, he saw that Susie had fainted. She had lain on the ground for who knew how long.
Colin was shocked and was about to walk out, but he saw a figure rush out faster than him. Despite the heavy rain, he picked up Susie, held her in his arms, and ran back inside.
Holding his arms, Colin couldn't help but tut, as if he was watching a soup opera in real life. He said to himself, "Aren't you being cruel? I know you can't pretend to be cruel to her for so long!"
He shook his head and sighed. Then he put some clothes on and went downstairs slowly.
It was already a mess downstairs. The chief servant Linda was calling the family doctor. Lucy walked into a guest's bedroom with a medicine box.
Leaning against the door, Colin couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the frown on Raymond's face.
After she put down the phone, Linda came over, but she was stopped at the door by Colin. She admonished him, "Mr. Colin, you're in the way!"
Hearing that, Raymond cast a sharp glance at him. Seeing that, Colin acted as if nothing had happened, and he stepped into the room slowly.
At that moment, Lucy was helping Susie to change her clothes. She had been soaked like a drowned mouse. Raymond growled to Colin in a low voice, "Get out!"
"Damn it!" Colin turned around quietly, but he didn't leave. He couldn't help but murmured,
"Poor Susie. I bet she has caught a cold. Does she have a fever? Alas, I've never seen such a cruel guy. How can he be so cruel to a former sweetheart? Obviously he has been worried to death about her, but he behaves like nothing has happened. Doesn't he feel any regret now? Oh, if I were Susie, I would have left him behind as well. Who could want such a cold-blooded man?"
"If you want to die, go ahead!"
Everyone trembled at the sound of his gloomy voice. Colin turned around with a smile. Since Lucy had finished changing clothes for Susie, he had nothing to hide.
"I just made some comments about what I saw! But look at you! Such a worried face! Why do you have to do this?"
Raymond didn't say anything. Instead, he frowned at the woman who was in a coma.
The family doctor came soon. He prescribed some medicine and instructed that the girl should drink more water. If her fever could be brought down after dawn, she would be fine. Otherwise, she would have to be sent to the hospital as soon as possible.
Raymond reminded Lucy to remember the doctor's instructions, and walked out of the room.
Colin had no idea what to do in such situation. He could only sigh and go back to sleep.
Raymond locked himself in the room alone. The music of a violin from an antique gramophone echoed in the room. Several old photos were scattered on the ground beneath his feet.
The first time he met Susie was at the gate of this house.
On that day, he was playing the piano, while his parents were having the high tea.
Suddenly, there were noises outside the gate. His parents went out to see what was going on. He looked out of the window and saw a young woman with a little girl who was four or five years old. The young woman was talking to his parents about something with excitement. Then his mother slapped his father and turned away in tears. She packed her luggage and was about to leave the house with him.
But his father stopped her and begged her not to leave. He could foresee that the family would be broken as soon as his wife left. But how could a heartbroken mother listen to him? Insisting on taking Raymond away, she later filed for divorce.
A few days later, the verdict from the court was released. His father kept him, with half of his property, and his mother stayed overseas since then.
Not long after, his father married a new wife. His new wife was that woman who appeared in front of the gate with a little girl. That little girl was Susie, who became his younger sister...
But at that time, Susie's surname was not Su but Lin. Raymond, on the other hand, was Frank Lin, not yet Raymond Leng.
In those early years, Susie would follow him around and call him "brother" in a sweet voice.
But Susie was not his blood sister, which he didn't know until he was 18 years old.
From that time on, his life underwent a tremendous change.
He went from being the young master of a rich family to an attempted rapist overnight. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. His father died of a heart attack in the same year he went to prison. With all the property of the Lin family, his stepmother married a member of the Su family. They were the number one enemy of the Lin family. From then on, the Lin family completely disappeared from the business battlefield.
It was also at that time that Susie Lin became Susie Su. She was just 12 years old then.
No one could imagine how he got through his ten years in prison. He lost all his best years there. However, during that time, Susie led a very happy life!
With all the wealth of the Lin family taken, Susie and her mother were living in heaven. And he himself was in hell!
'Susie, what right do you have to hate me? You haven't suffered even one-tenth of the pain I've experienced. How dare you?
Don't you remember what happened that year? Have you forgotten your brother Frank Lin? How else could you be so sad about what I have done? How could you hate me so much?
Susie, I never did anything wrong. Do you understand?'
Susie was in a coma all night and didn't wake up until dawn. Finally, she woke up when the dazzling sunlight outside the window touched her face.
She didn't know how long it had been since she had such a good sleep. She had never slept so well since she became a mother.
Her daughter was a good girl. She didn't suffer much when giving birth to her, but the poor, sweet baby was diagnosed with leukemia when she was very little.
Thinking of her child who had suffered so much, Susie struggled to get up and walked out, despite the weakness of her body at the moment.
Standing at the bedroom door and looking at the outside world, she felt like she was still dreaming.
It turned out that this place, which she had dreamed of for so many years, had not changed in the slightest. It was exactly as she had dreamed of.
Unfortunately, the house no longer belonged to her. She had also sworn that she would never step in there again for the rest of her life!
But now, for the sake of her daughter's survival, she had to break her vow and come back to this place.
When Lucy, who was cleaning, saw her wake up and stand at the bedroom door, she rushed over and said cheerfully, "Ms. Susie, you finally woke up! If you were still in a coma, we would have to take you to the hospital!"
The hospital? She didn't know that she was so unwell.
"Where is Raymond?"
"Mr. Raymond has left."
"Where did he go?"
"He should be at his office in the company by now."
'In the company? Would he not come back until the end of the day? No! Nat is in danger. She needs the bone marrow transplant as soon as possible. She can't wait a moment longer!'
With that in mind, Susie turned around and rushed to the villa gate.
Suddenly, a languid voice came from the top of the spiral staircase. "If you step out of this gate now, I can guarantee that you will never have the chance to see Raymond again!"
Hearing that, Susie froze.
What he said made sense, after all. If she went away then, she would lose her chance to see Raymond face to face, and she wouldn't be able to come back a second time!
Turning back, she went to Colin's side, who came downstairs and was staring at her. Susie looked desperate and firm. "Please call Raymond and tell him to come back immediately! It's a matter of life and death. If he doesn't come back, he will definitely regret it!"
Colin asked curiously, "I really want to know what on earth happened to make you throw away your dignity and break your oath by coming to him again."
"For a very important person! He has never known about her existence all his life!"
Colin's eyes widened in consternation. "That child?"
Susie nodded.
Colin gasped, "Isn't that child's father Nathan? I saw you and Nathan playing with that child many times. You were like a family of three!"
After thinking for a moment, Colin still felt it was impossible. "In the past, we did see you and Nathan... What the hell was going on? Are you lying?"
"I have no credibility in your eyes at all, do I? Even if I sometimes told lies, why would I lie about my daughter's life and death?"
Colin responded quickly, "Of course not. I didn't mean that! I just don't think it's possible! But in this case, I'll call Raymond right away! After all, it's between you and him."
Colin was still confused, but he didn't think that Susie was lying. Despite his uncertainty, he had no choice but to call his boss.
At that moment, Raymond was having a meeting in the conference room. His cell phone on the table suddenly lit up. With just a glance at the phone, he rejected the call without hesitation.
In the villa, embarrassed, Colin turned his head to look at Susie. He found that she had been looking at him eagerly.
Afraid that he would embarrass himself, he quickly edited a text message and sent it to Raymond. "You'd better answer the phone as soon as possible. There's an urgent matter in your house!"
After sending the message, Colin called him again.
As expected, Raymond answered the phone.
"Hey, big news. Do you want to know?"
Raymond said impatiently, "If it has something to do with that person, you don't have to tell me."
"Uh..."
"Ah, it seems that my guess was right. Don't disturb this meeting again!"
"Hey, wait! Don't hang up yet! Although this matter has something to do with Susie, it concerns you even more! If you refuse to know, I can guarantee that you will spend the rest of your life in regret and pain!"
Raymond was speechless. What else could defeat him or bring him pain after all that had happened through those years?
"I'll go back home in an hour after the meeting."
After saying that, Raymond hung up the phone decisively.
Hearing the cold beeping sound on the phone, Colin was extremely relieved.
Would there be another live episode of the soup opera?
He turned around to Susie. "You will see Raymond in about an hour. Do you want something to eat? I haven't had breakfast yet!"
Susie cast a cold glance at him. Walking straight to the French window, she sat down alone. She wanted neither to talk to him nor to have breakfast with him.
Colin touched his nose and felt that his nose was definitely not as straight as before! The stubbornness of those two had given him some hard blows to the face!
"Lucy, I'm hungry. Please bring me some food for breakfast, would you?"
"Sure, Mr. Colin!" Lucy went briskly to the kitchen.