TBWE Chapter 4

Suspicion

 

For the rest of the day, Huo Xiu didn’t press Chu Li about her strange behavior.

 

He worked from home, cooking lunch and dinner on schedule, serving her food at the dining table as usual, and chatting with her casually.

 

When the villa’s front door was knocked, they were having dinner.

 

Huo Xiu picked up a piece of braised pork ribs for Chu Li, put down his chopsticks, and smiled gently. “We have visitors. I’ll go answer the door.”

 

Chu Li’s grip tightened on her chopsticks, her heartbeat racing out of control for several beats.

 

Coming back to her senses, she heard several sets of footsteps entering the living room together. She looked toward the source of the sound and hesitantly spoke. “…Tong Tong?”

 

Given Xin Tong’s personality, she should have rushed over immediately upon entering.

 

The house fell silent for a moment.

 

“Miss Chu, I’m Xin Xin. Tong Tong was in a car accident on her way here and has been taken to the hospital.”

 

****

 

Xin Xin worked at the Leyang District Public Security Bureau in Hai City and was Xin Tong’s cousin.

 

After receiving Xin Tong’s phone call, Xin Xin immediately rushed over with her colleague. Halfway there, they received news of Xin Tong’s accident.

 

Xin Xin had met Chu Li once before. In her impression, she was a beautiful and easygoing wealthy young lady.

 

But now…

 

She sat dazed on the sofa like an exquisite soulless sculpture, her complexion pale, her eyes vacant.

 

Xin Xin discreetly surveyed the villa. It was located in the best area of the city, with crystal chandeliers sparkling brilliantly in the living room.

 

She held Chu Li’s cold hand and comforted her. “A car suddenly changed lanes, causing the accident. Fortunately, the airbag deployed in time, and Tong Tong only fainted temporarily. Before leaving, she called me and said you suspected that Mr. Huo was being impersonated…”

 

“It’s him.” A whisper interrupted Xin Xin’s words.

 

She was stunned. “Miss Chu, what did you say?”

 

“Ladies, please have some tea.”

 

Two cups of tea were placed in front of Xin Xin and her colleague respectively. The young man was dressed casually at home, tall and slender, with pale skin. Behind his metal-framed glasses, his eyes were narrow and long, with a red mole on his left eyelid that appeared and disappeared.

 

Facing the sudden arrival of police and being suspected of false identity, his expression remained gentle and composed.

 

“It’s you! You did this!!”

 

Without warning, Chu Li broke free from Xin Xin’s hand, her eyes red-rimmed, and lunged toward the source of the voice.

 

Xin Xin and her colleague reacted quickly—one grabbed her waist, the other caught her hands.

 

Huo Xiu stood under the crystal chandelier, his eyelashes jet black, casting light shadows. Facing her wildly waving and clawing fingers, he neither dodged nor avoided. His neck was instantly bloodied, leaving several scratches.

 

“You looked at my phone, knew I asked Tong Tong to call the police, so something happened to Tong Tong!” Chu Li was pressed back onto the sofa by the two officers, her expression like she was facing an enemy. “Liar, you’re not Huo Xiu at all! Every day you say you’re going to work, but you never actually leave—you’ve been here monitoring me!!”

 

At this moment, those subtle, vague feelings of wrongness twisted into a fuse, completely igniting emotions that had been suppressed for too long.

 

Chu Li couldn’t stop trembling, her throat felt blocked, and the harder she tried to breathe, the more she couldn’t catch her breath.

 

“Li Li, calm down, slow your breathing.” A pair of hands firmly gripped her shoulders.

 

The sudden contact was like an avalanche to someone whose nerves were completely frayed.

 

The cold body temperature seeped through the fabric, clinging firmly to her skin. For a moment, she even felt like a corpse crawling out of a freezer was gripping her shoulders.

 

Chu Li let out a short, sharp scream.

 

When she felt again, the hands on her shoulders were warm.

 

She trembled, beginning to panic. Had she made a wrong assumption? Was the problem not with Huo Xiu, but with her?

 

Had she gone completely mad, unable to distinguish between hallucination and reality?

 

Xin Xin pulled Chu Li back, raising her hand as a barrier: “Mr. Huo, she’s emotionally unstable right now. Please don’t touch her.”

 

Colleague Yue Shengyuan stepped forward to separate the two parties, speaking officially, “Mr. Huo, I need to verify your personal information.”

 

****

 

On the sofa, Yue Shengyuan and Huo Xiu sat on one side, while Xin Xin and Chu Li sat on the other.

 

Questions were asked intermittently, and Huo Xiu answered each one, or produced documents to prove his identity. Throughout it all, he maintained a peaceful attitude without showing the slightest impatience.

 

The rustling sound of note-taking stopped, and Yue Shengyuan exchanged a glance with Xin Xin.

 

Fingerprints, personal information, facial recognition—everything matched.

 

The surveillance footage requested from property management had also come back.

 

Every day around 7:50, a black Bentley would stop at the villa entrance. Huo Xiu would leave punctually at eight o’clock, with a young man opening the rear door for him before driving away from the villa complex.

 

Xin Xin paused the video and zoomed in on the male figure. “Mr. Huo, who is this person?”

 

“My personal assistant, surnamed Lin. He’s worked for five years—he surely wouldn’t fail to recognize his own boss.” Huo Xiu held his teacup, the tea reflecting his eyes behind his glasses. He asked gently, “Li Li, may I know why you suspected I wasn’t going to work?”

 

Every question from the police, every confirmation, every scratching sound of the pen recording, every response from Huo Xiu—all of it tangled together and stuffed into Chu Li’s ears.

 

They were indistinguishable from each other, like a mass of twisted, unclear lines, wrapping around her body and constantly tightening.

 

She murmured. “You used to drive to the company yourself.”

 

Noticing the change in how Chu Li addressed him, Huo Xiu smiled and sighed as if helplessly: “Li Li, my hand injury hasn’t healed yet. It’s inconvenient for me to drive.”

 

“Is it just because of this?” he pressed.

 

Chu Li spoke woodenly, “The Cayenne you usually use has aromatherapy I chose. The scent lasts a long time.”

 

Huo Xiu was silent for a while, then sighed, “Li Li, we should have more trust between us. Assistant Lin didn’t drive it because that car was sent for annual inspection.”

 

With that, the matter was settled.

 

Chu Li’s heart sank like a weight dropped in water. She no longer spoke.

 

Huo Xiu apologized to the two officers with impeccable courtesy. Yue Shengyuan lowered his voice and called him outside.

 

Fragments of conversation drifted into the house with the wind.

 

“…any mental health issues?”

 

“…mild schizophrenia…sorry for wasting your time…”

 

“Ah, you’ve had it tough too…”

 

Xin Xin patted Chu Li’s shoulder, comforting her not to overthink, and mentioned that before coming, she had already heard from Xin Tong about the drowning incident—perhaps the trauma from falling into water had affected her.

 

Chu Li pinched her palm tightly until her nails dug into her skin.

 

She wanted to scream, wanted to go mad, wanted to hide somewhere without sight or sound. But she did nothing, just sat silently in place, listening to Huo Xiu and the police chatting sporadically at the door, listening to Xin Xin’s gentle comfort.

 

“Bang——“

 

The front door closed again.

 

The villa once again held only Huo Xiu and her.

 

Footsteps slowly stopped in front of her.

 

“Click“—a clasp opened, and he rustled around taking out some things.

 

Chu Li remained silent and wooden, exhausted in both body and spirit.

 

If he really was an imposter, then he had succeeded, and there was no need to keep acting in front of her. No one would suspect his identity anymore; everyone would only think she had gone mad.

 

What did he want to do? Tear off the mask and mock her, threaten her for money, or use the real Huo Xiu as leverage…

 

The sudden warmth interrupted Chu Li’s thoughts.

 

Her hand was covered with warmth. The other person was extremely patient, gently prying open her clenched fist to reveal her palm, broken and bleeding.

 

A cotton swab soaked in iodine cleaned the wound.

 

So what he had opened was a medical kit.

 

After disinfecting the wound, he carefully applied external medication.

 

As he reached the last spot, a drop of burning liquid hit his finger that was covered in ointment. Huo Xiu looked up in a daze.

 

Another drop fell.

 

Chu Li’s eyes were brimming with tears that, unable to be contained, turned into teardrops rolling down continuously.

 

His gentle expression froze like a half-broken mask hanging on his face. He stared blankly for a while, then began to panic as he tried to wipe away her tears.

 

“Li Li…tell me what I’m not doing well enough. I can learn.”

 

Chu Li covered her face with one hand, tears seeping through her fingers. Her other hand touched the side of his neck, feeling several rough-edged scratches.

 

She couldn’t tell anymore. Reason told her that perhaps her illness had worsened, but that omnipresent fear pressed down on her until she couldn’t breathe.

 

Her fingers traced inch by inch along his well-defined jawline, thin lips, nose bridge, and the familiar features behind his metal-framed glasses.

 

Panic and regret nearly drowned her.

 

“It’s not you. It’s not your fault.”

 

Chu Li’s face was white as paper as she murmured, “Huo Xiu, come with me to see Tong Tong.”