Divorce Application - Chapter 27
Chapter 27: Outburst
“Is this your bill?” Liu Sinan asked.
Lan Ling slapped down a few more bills, each from a different hospital. Having spent four years in the US, Liu Sinan quickly realized that these hospitals were all very high-end, catering specifically to the wealthy upper class.
Lan Ling had a regular medical facility in the US, so she wouldn’t have gone to so many different hospitals in a short period of time, even if she occasionally needed to go for new tests.
But these were just bills. They only indicated that someone had been to these hospitals in a short period, and offered no information about the reason for the visit or the results.
“This is…” Liu Sinan noticed one of the bills. Unlike the other white papers, this one was on yellow kraft paper. “The Pennsylvani Medical Center?”
“That’s where I lived since I was a child,” Lan Ling said, staring at Liu Sinan with a malicious gaze, her tone dripping with temptation. “I even have a photo of Jinping-jie and me there, in front of the flower bed at the entrance of the medical building. Do you want to see it?”
Liu Sinan noticed the date at the bottom of the kraft paper. It was from the first year of their marriage, when Li Jinping and she were inseparable. If Li Jinping had been suffering from an illness that required her to be treated at a hospital, she shouldn’t have been unaware of it.
“I think…” Liu Sinan gathered the papers together, straightened them, and gently placed them in front of Lan Ling. “No, thank you.”
But what if?
Li Jinping had to travel abroad for business almost every month. It was impossible for her to have Liu Sinan with her at all times. And that first year was when Liu Sinan had just been forced into marriage and had the most resentment toward Li Jinping.
She was reluctant to spend even a single glance on Li Jinping.
She was reluctant to use a single brain cell to remember anything related to Li Jinping.
She was uninterested.
She didn’t care.
If Li Jinping wanted to hide something from her, it would have been as easy as pie.
Lan Ling opened her phone, pulled up a picture, and flashed it in front of Liu Sinan.
Liu Sinan, who had been about to leave, instantly froze.
A few seconds later, she suddenly moved, almost lunging to grab Lan Ling’s phone.
Lan Ling dodged backward and pushed her hard.
Lan Ling looked small and weak, but the strength of a crazy person seemed immense. Combined with Liu Sinan’s light weight, the push sent her flying toward the door. The door frame rattled, and the force of the rebound made her stomach churn.
Liu Sinan felt as if dust had been shaken loose around her ears, but there was only a hard door behind her.
“Is that person in the photo Li Jinping?” Liu Sinan gritted her teeth and propped herself up against the wall. “What did you do to her?”
The person in the photo had tubes sticking out of them, especially on their scalp, which was covered in various colored wires. Their eyes were tightly shut and lifeless.
Liu Sinan was too familiar with every side profile of Li Jinping. She recognized her with just one glance.
Unexpectedly, Lan Ling, who had been relatively still, suddenly lunged forward like a mad beast. She pulled her hands out of her pockets, and something silver flashed past.
Next, Liu Sinan felt something cold, hard, and sharp pressed against her carotid artery.
Was it a razor blade?
“You’d better look up,” Liu Sinan’s voice trembled slightly. “There’s a surveillance camera in this room.”
Lan Ling let out a low laugh through clenched teeth. “So what? I’m insane.”
“Lan Ling!” Liu Sinan roared. “Think about your sister! She’s your legal guardian. If you commit a crime, she’ll be responsible for your supervision!”
Lan Ling’s expression froze for a few seconds, her eyes shifting unpredictably. But all those emotions were magnified and distorted in those few seconds, finally coalescing into a kind of insane obsession.
“Lan Qi won’t die, but you will.”
The next second, Liu Sinan felt the coldness on her neck begin to move. Everything in her vision seemed to slow down several times over. She could clearly feel the coldness approaching her skin and then a crash even more violent than her fall earlier.
Outside, someone was kicking the door.
One kick after another, the sound was so loud that it seemed like the two-inch-thick solid wood door would be shattered in the next second.
Lan Ling was startled by the noise and paused her actions. Liu Sinan quickly kneed Lan Ling in the stomach and, at the same time, clenched her fist and punched Lan Ling’s temple with all her might.
The knee and the fist landed at the same time. Lan Ling shuddered violently, then collapsed limply on the floor, unconscious.
“Sinan!”
She turned to see Li Jinping, wrapped in a cold aura, rushing toward her.
Her breath seemed to stop, and the air solidified. Liu Sinan hadn’t even finished catching her breath when she was pulled into an embrace, confined to the small space between Li Jinping’s chest and arms.
Leaning against her chest, all of Liu Sinan’s muscles suddenly relaxed.
Li Jinping’s heart was beating like a drum, and the warmth seeped through the thin fabric, covering her little by little.
Liu Sinan had thought the danger was over, but when Li Jinping rushed toward her, she realized that she had been standing in the center of fear all along. Only the area carved out by Li Jinping’s embrace was her safe space.
Li Jinping held her very tightly, so tight that she could hear her ribs being squeezed, and she couldn’t breathe.
But the hug lasted less than ten seconds. Li Jinping closed her eyes for a moment, then pushed her away, checking her body all over. Once she confirmed that she wasn’t hurt, her expression immediately turned cold.
Li Jinping coldly ordered her subordinates to deal with the scene and pulled Liu Sinan away by the wrist, walking quickly.
Liu Sinan’s wrist hurt from the grip. She asked, confused, “Where are you taking me?”
Li Jinping ignored her. She was filled with a mixture of excitement and indignation. Her face, which usually showed no emotion, had a clear expression of anger. Liu Sinan took one look and became afraid. She twisted her wrist, trying to break free from Li Jinping’s grasp.
“Liu Sinan.”
Li Jinping turned her head, her eyes, which had turned crimson at some point, locked onto Liu Sinan. “You’d better come with me willingly, or I’ll throw you back right now.”
Liu Sinan shivered. She was already feeling a little guilty, and now she didn’t dare to provoke her at a time like this.
Li Jinping threw her into the back seat and got into the car after her.
Once in the car, Li Jinping raised the partition between the front and back seats and locked it.
It seemed she intended to take her away herself.
“Li Jinping, you can’t do this to me. Lan Ling just tried to kill me. I need to call the police, or at least tell Lan Qi. She’s very dangerous.” Liu Sinan sat up, a little anxious. “What are you going to do?”
Unlike her earlier agitation, Li Jinping was silent now. Her profile, as she looked out the window, was cold, as if she didn’t want to talk to Liu Sinan.
Liu Sinan was still in a state of shock and shivered involuntarily. She pleaded, “Let me get out of the car.”
She was terrified of the cold object Lan Ling had pressed against her neck. Even though she had seen it was just a dull nail file when Li Jinping pulled her away, she still wanted to go back for that photo that had been interrupted.
Was the person in that photo really Li Jinping, and why was Li Jinping in that condition in the photo?
Li Jinping said, “I told you from the very beginning to stay away from her.” She turned to look at Liu Sinan, her face expressionless. “Why didn’t you listen?”
Liu Sinan avoided her gaze and said stubbornly, “I don’t have to listen to you anymore.”
Li Jinping’s eyes darkened, and she didn’t speak.
Seeing that Li Jinping wasn’t saying anything, Liu Sinan continued on her own. “Lan Ling said that you and she are fellow patients, and she showed me a picture of you being sick. She said your relationship with her is very good, and you also found a private nurse shortly after the divorce, and you’re intimate with Lin Xia…”
One moment she was talking about being sick, and the next, about being intimate. Liu Sinan was rambling and didn’t even know which one she cared about more.
Li Jinping’s eyes were cold. “Are you suspecting that I cheated on you during our marriage?”
“Did you cheat, or are you sick?” Liu Sinan could tell that Li Jinping was upset, but the turmoil in her heart was a tangled mess. If she didn’t get a clear answer, it would strangle her. “I can tolerate your secrets, but secrecy is different from deception. Did you lie to me…”