Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1198: The letter that never existed

The room quieted. His face didn’t move at first. The confident air of superiority that always surrounded him was nowhere to be seen. Then something flickered behind his furious eyes.

He took a step toward the painting. The guests subtly parted, unsure if they should stay or leave. His gaze fixed on the golden cage, on the single swallow that refused to take flight.

"...You think you understand what this means?" His voice was low but sharp. "You suddenly think you are some genius who decoded me?"

Shui stood her ground. "No. I didn’t draw it to understand you. I know I still don’t know anything about you. I simply drew it to remind you of what you once understood yourself."

He turned to her, anger flashing across his face like blaring sirens. "You talk as if you knew him! It was just a stupid drawing Yuhang made. It can be stupid all it wants but you had no right to draw on that memory!"

"You call it stupid but the memory still holds dear to you - as much as his messy drawing. And I know what guilt looks like," Shui replied quietly. "I felt it when you came to visit at the cafe on Lin’s birthday."

Shui had seen it. And sensed it.

It wasn’t so outrightly visible but she had caught him staring at Jun and Jin with a very odd light in his eyes. That loneliness didn’t hold on for long and his gaze returned to his usual cocky self.

But in that faint gap where he had let his expression slip, Shui felt she saw...a trace of envy. Or was it jealousy? Or helplessness? Or guilt?

She didn’t know. She only knew that seeing Jun and Jin together had caused a momentary shift in his expression. It was as if he was trying to place himself and Zhong Yuhang in their place. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

But it was hard to explain it now and she didn’t want to drill down on her feelings in front of everyone.

"Guilt?" Zhong Sihan stared at her blankly. "What do you really understand about guilt anyway?"

She held his gaze. "At least I understand you didn’t want your brother to die. Neither you had any interest in snatching his position away. Things...simply unfortunately fell that way."

This time, instead of Zhong Sihan, Zhong Heng came forward. "I have no hatred against you, Miss. Han. But you better watch your words. You are talking about Zhong Sihan who drove my father to...!"

His clenched fists trembled, still remembering that day crystal clear. And yet even after all these years, he couldn’t bring himself to say that Zhong Yuhang had killed himself.

"Mom and I had to live our life without him. I found the last note he left and even after all this, you are throwing sympathy toward this man!" His gaze was filled with anger as much as hurt.

Shui blinked at him. She alternated her gaze between him and Zhong Sihan and then at all the guests.

"I think we need to talk privately."

"The hell I-"

Han Tian pulled back on his shoulder and gave him a stare. "The guests here have watched enough."

"Then take this painting down first! He glared.

"No, it won’t be because you have already lost, Sihan. Something as pointless as art wasn’t supposed to move you, but just look at you now. You are ready to wage a war over two swallows."

His expression twisted. "This doesn’t count as my loss."

"Yes, it does. I wasn’t expecting you to fall on your knees and burst into tears. That’s not like you but anger is as much of an emotion as grief."

"I don’t care. I don’t allow this painting to be here!"

Han Tian glared. "You are just acting like a stubborn kid now. Don’t make me twist your ears. Let’s go to a private room. NOW."

—

"I don’t get it. What is there to talk about!" Zhong Heng was frustrated. "Didn’t you see how he talked to my daughter! He is just that kind of a person. He never loved and respected my father, which is why not even in hell will I let him have the business."

"There was never a note," Shui came straight to the point.

"Sorry, what?"

"The note that you found in Mr. Zhong’s room. That wasn’t the real suicide note. There was never a note I guess."

Zhong Heng’s expression changed immediately. "What nonsense! I saw that note that he had been hiding-"

"Don’t you think he would have disposed of that letter if he had gotten his hands on it? Why keep something that could implicate him?"

"You are lying," his gaze darkened. "I don’t understand why the hell you are being so sympathetic toward him but that doesn’t mean you lie right at my face!"

Lin’s brows furrowed.

There was no doubt about it that he believed in Shui. He knew she wouldn’t say something of this kind without proper thought and coherence. He also recalled that she had taken her cousin, Yijun’s help to dig out about Zhong Yuhang. So then he began to wonder about the letter.

If Zhong Yuhang hadn’t written one, then how did Zhong Heng find one? After so many years?

His eyes slightly widened.

Was it possible that the letter was fabricated to send Zhong Sihan in jail?

Lin found that to be a plausible scenario. His eyes narrowed at Zhong Heng.

Is that why he is being so defensive now? He planted a letter against his uncle to frame him because of the revenge and bitterness?

But Shui’s stare landed at a figure standing beside Zhong Heng.

"Am I not right, Mrs. Zhong? There was never a letter, but then one day, there was."

She didn’t blink even for a second as she held Zhong Anrui’s gaze. Zhong Anrui looked back at her blankly.

"What...? What are you talking about? And why are you asking me?"

She blinked twice. "Because you wrote that letter. Because you planted that letter. And because you sent Mr. Zhong to jail."