The hospital room was still and quiet, the afternoon sun casting golden strips across the pale walls. Machines beeped steadily, and Lu Jingyan sat beside her father's hospital bed, her hands folded tightly in her lap.
Lu Zhenwei looked much better now. A few days since waking from the coma had given some strength back to his voice, and he could finally sit upright on his own. But his gaze never wavered from his daughter, sensing the storm that brewed just beneath her calm exterior.
"You've been holding something back since I woke up," he said gently. "Say it."
Lu Jingyan's lips trembled slightly, but she lifted her head, eyes meeting his.
"It was the Leng family," she said. "They were the ones behind our downfall."
He blinked once, slowly. "Which one?"
"Leng Xuanmo." Her voice hardened. "He orchestrated the entire thing. Pulled our partnerships. Collapsed our network. Quietly but efficiently. All because of something that happened between his sister and me."
Silence fell for a moment. Her father didn't look surprised — just thoughtful.
"Xuanmo?" he repeated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Her tone was resolute. "I confirmed it myself. It wasn't business, it was personal. He did it out of spite. Out of pride."
Lu Zhenwei looked at her carefully. "What happened between you and the sister?"
Jingyan hesitated, then answered with honesty. "A schoolyard grudge. Her friends mocked her because our name our family was the center of the fashion world at the time. She cried to him. He acted. No warning. No discussion. Just quiet destruction."
She clenched her fists. "And he never once explained. Not until everything was gone."
Her father's expression didn't change. He listened patiently, nodding slightly.
"And now?" he asked.
"Now?" she scoffed. "Now he wants to fix it. He came back, trying to 'make things right,' acting like time can erase what he did."
Lu Zhenwei was quiet for a long time, studying the anger in her face, the weight of betrayal in her voice.
"I see," he said finally. "And you hate him for it."
Jingyan didn't answer right away. The word "hate" felt too large, too final but maybe it was true.
"I trusted him," she whispered. "And he crushed us without blinking."
Her father leaned back slowly, his fingers tapping lightly against the blanket.
"Jingyan," he said carefully, "I don't excuse what he did. Not for a second. But… have you ever considered why he's coming back now?"
She stiffened. "To ease his guilt?"
"Maybe," he said. "But also maybe… because he still cares."
Her eyes flashed. "After everything?"
"People don't fight battles out of apathy," he said. "He didn't bring down the Lus because we were just another name. He did it because he thought he was protecting someone he loved."
"That doesn't justify it."
"No," Lu Zhenwei agreed. "But it explains it. And if he's returned, trying to earn your forgiveness, then it means he regrets it."
Lu Jingyan swallowed hard. "And you want me to forgive him?"
"I want you to be free," he said gently. "Carrying that weight… it will harden you, daughter. I've seen what resentment does to people. You don't have to forget, but don't let anger make your decisions."
She looked away, toward the window. "He ruined us."
"And yet here you are," he said with a quiet smile. "Stronger. Respected. Rising again. That fall may have broken our name for a time, but it didn't break you."
Jingyan bit her lip, her heart aching.
Her father reached out and took her hand. "You're your mother's child. Fierce and proud. But don't let pride blind you to what's in front of you."
"I don't know what's in front of me anymore," she admitted.
"Then take your time. But when you see him again… ask yourself if he's just making amends, or trying to stay."
She looked back at him, surprised by the gentleness in his words.
"And what if he is trying to stay?"
"Then don't run," he said quietly. "Look him in the eye, and decide for yourself