In Long Huojin"s study room, he hooked up the device Xue Guangli used at the hospital to upload the files on his computer.

There was only one file, plain and simple, except for the medical terms used and the doctor"s handwriting that looked like chicken scratch. But most of the content on the doc.u.ments, however, was decipherable.

Once she printed the pages, Xue Guangli read over it diligently, and she read it again and again, to ensure she did not miss anything.

There was one thing that stood out to her: Her father had drugs in his system at the time of the incident, a ridiculous amount at that. But then how was he able to commit the crime?

Without telling Long Huojin what she was thinking, she bolted to her feet and ran towards one of the filing cabinets they kept in Long Huojin"s study room.

She skimmed through the doc.u.ments until she found what she was looking for. Long Huojin stared at her puzzled the entire time as she went through the sheets hastily.

"Aha!" Xue Guangli exclaimed.

She then ran back to Long Huojin who was sitting by the computer, and she sat on his lap. To keep her position stable, she wrapped one arm loosely around his shoulder. Long Huojin was surprised, but he gripped her so she wouldn"t fall from his lap since they sat on a small chair.

Xue Guangli then compared the papers and showed it to him. "The court doc.u.ments say my father had drugs in his system, but that it was due to an addiction. That is a lie. My father wasn"t addicted. But most likely someone had been feeding him drugs; sometimes it can be administered through food or drinks, but that day...he had a lot of it."

Long Huojin listened. "Then it shouldn"t have been possible for him to do it."

"Exactly!" Xue Guangli said. "With the drugs, he most likely wasn"t able to help her..."

Long Huojin knew what she meant by that, and it was still difficult for her to talk about it. He then spoke: "So let"s get this straight. Your father was drugged. He was there at the time and place of the crime. If he was drugged, that meant he was either unable to help her because Xue Gao may have been unconscious."

At those words, Xue Guangli"s eyes began to well, her face turning red.

Long Huojin circled his arms around her, holding her head against the crook of his neck. Tears spilled from her face at the sudden realization, at the immediate confirmation. Her father didn"t do it. He was framed. And whoever was responsible pinned it against him.

After she finished crying, she lifted her head to face him. Her eyes swelled from the tears. Long Huojin picked up tissue paper from his desk to wipe the snot falling from her nose. Afterwards, he wiped away the tear stains from her cheeks with his thumbs. He gazed at her with sincerity, waiting until she felt better.

The kind gesture made her want to cry even more. She was lucky. Long Huojin was with her now, in the way of helping her, and in the form of a lover.

"I want to see him..." She said in a quivering voice.

Long Huojin bit back his emotions. Seeing her devastated stirred something deep in him. He felt her despair, and he desperately wanted to take it away.

"You will," he a.s.sured her, giving a peck on her forehead.

"We need to see Qian Meigui and demand the court for a re-trial," she said.

Long Huojin nodded. "Yes, but first, we must find some more proof."

Xue Guangli thought for a moment. "What about the correspondences from Mr. Liang?" she suggested.

Long Huojin met her gaze. "I"ll get onto that."

Xue Teegan went to check on Xue Guangli"s store since she wasn"t coming in that day.

She was working around on some things when she saw a man walk through the door. She thought perhaps he was hear to buy something for his girlfriend, but then she took a better glimpse and realized it was Yin Shou. Her eyes widened.

He cut his hair, making him appear younger, almost boyish but tall. Except he was no longer that boy, she knew before; this version of Yin Shou was tall, confident, and very handsome, but he had always been attractive in her eyes, even in his scrawny days.

"Why did you cut your hair?" She asked and pouted.

Yin Shou flushed, running his hand through his now trimmed locks.

"My folks. They said it would make me look more "professional,"" he responded

Xue Teegan frowned. "You can style it any way you like. You"re still you," she said with a smile, reaching up to ruffle his hair, tousling it to the side. "Handsome," she commented.

Yin Shou"s flush deepened. How could this woman call him handsome so casually?

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Your sis told me to come and check the store, but I presume she didn"t know you were coming," he responded.

Xue Teegan shook her head. "No. I came to stop by to make sure everything was running smoothly."

"All right then. I"ll stay to help," Yin Shou said.

"You?" Xue Teegan asked with a smile.

Yin Shou approached her, towering her with his height, his gaze intense. "Yes," he said. "You made me make dresses with you once."

Xue Teegan locked eyes with him. She didn"t want to turn him away, so she picked up a box and pa.s.sed it to him. "Hang them," she said.

Yin Shou then walked towards one of the walls where there were hangers, and he began to hang the dresses and position them nicely. Xue Teegan smiled. She took out her phone to take a picture. Afterward, she glanced at it and her lips curled up sheepishly.

In the photo was a broad-shouldered, tall, and a handsome grown man, hanging dresses for her. Her heart thumped.

She then placed her phone in her pocket. She felt strange...like some pounding in her chest, followed by her heart thawing.

It was a feeling she hadn"t experienced in a long time. Why? She stole a glance at Yin Shou who kept working diligently.

Why was this man helping her? He should have stayed at work. He should find a woman that would give him the things that he wants, needs. She was n.o.body; she came from nothing.

Xue Teegan turned and proceeded to drown in her work, as well as to drown out the racing sound of her heart.