As soon as Li Tai finished looking at Yingzi, he went to Mrs. Nangong’s hospital room. Mrs. Nangong was still unconscious, riddled with tubes.

He looked at the woman who had served Xiao Shu diligently for over a decade with a look of venom, slowly extending a wicked hand toward the bubbling oxygen tank, preparing to turn the valve and send this woman, the only person who knew the Li family secret, to the underworld to join her husband.

But just as that sinful hand was about to touch the switch, a figure shot out from behind him and firmly gripped it.

“She cannot be allowed to die like this.” A steady voice came from behind. Li Tai turned around to find that the person stopping him from killing Mrs. Nangong was none other than Xiao Hao. At that moment, Xiao Hao looked at him with those deep eyes, a hint of pleading discernible in his gaze.

“Why?” Li Tai was momentarily stumped by his son’s sudden action. When it came to killing, Xiao Hao was his creation, never batting an eye at murder, always ensuring a fatal blow upon drawing blood. Such a grand and noble act of mercy was entirely new coming from his son.

“If she dies, Yingzi will die too.” Xiao Hao removed Li Tai’s hand from the oxygen tank, turned, and walked to the door of the ward. Seeing no one around, he locked it shut.

“How did you know?” Li Tai frowned, a shadow of gloom crossing his eyes.

Xiao Hao turned back, leaning one shoulder against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, and said slowly, “This is about emotion. Losing two loved ones simultaneously would be too cruel for her; she would definitely seek death, or at the very least, return to find Xiao Shu. When that happens, what will become of me? Will I still marry this bride or not? It’s better to let Mrs. Nangong mistake me for Xiao Shu and use her voice to confirm our marriage. It won't be too late to act once she is dependent on me.”

Hearing his son speak, the gloom on Li Tai’s face instantly turned into a smile. He stepped forward and patted Xiao Hao’s shoulder. “Worthy of being my son. You have three days to handle it yourself.” With that, he directly opened the door and walked out.

Xiao Hao did not follow Li Tai. He stood silently by Mrs. Nangong’s bedside for a moment, letting the scraps of memory gained from years of covert watching cycle through his mind: remembering Mrs. Nangong playing with Yingzi and Xiao Shu in the courtyard, pushing two strollers to the mall for shopping, buying clothes for the pair… Though this woman had no direct connection to him, she was Yingzi’s birth mother and Xiao Shu’s adoptive mother. If either of the girls ever discovered the truth behind the Nangongs' deaths, they would surely come after him with lethal intent. How would he face that? Therefore, this plan had to be meticulous, cautious, and utterly airtight—it must secure Yingzi’s willing union with him while ensuring Mrs. Nangong passed away without uttering a single ‘complaint.’

Lost in thought, Xiao Hao pulled a photograph from his pocket. The young man in the picture had a sunny disposition, his hair cut in a neat, crisp crew cut, holding a skewer of Oden on the street corner, striking a ‘mighty’ pose. It was none other than his twin brother—Xiao Shu.

The next day, when Yingzi woke up, a flat-topped young man stood with his back to her by the window, wearing a light blue jacket. She recognized the jacket as the birthday gift Mrs. Nangong had given Xiao Shu last year.

“Xiao Shu…” Yingzi blurted out, jumping joyfully from the bed and throwing her arms around the man standing by the windowsill.

“I finally see you smile.” The man turned, loosening the hands Yingzi had wrapped around his waist, and gently offered a seductive glance with his deep eyes.