The room fell into stunned silence.
Xie i's eyes were red, her chest heaving. "Young Miss, this man is dangerous. Powerful n like him don't love. They just like to capture. You're young. You have so many years ahead of you. Why stay with soone you barely know? n like him only play with young girls' hearts."
Elena hesitated.
She turned her head and glanced at Jin Di.
That single pause shattered him.
The cold mask cracked, panic seeping through. "Baby…" he whispered, reaching out before stopping himself. His hand fell uselessly to his side. Insecurity coiled around him, heavy and sticky.
Elena turned back to Xie i.
"Xie i," she said softly, firmly. "Jin Di is important to ."
The words landed like thunder.
Behind her, Jin Di's heart slamd painfully against his ribs. Relief surged, followed by fierce joy. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to prove himself, to hold onto that sentence like a lifeline. He restrained himself. This mont wasn't about him.
"Please don't bla him," Elena continued. "It wasn't his fault that I fainted. He took care of ."
"But Young Miss—"
"Thank you for worrying about ," Elena said, eting Xie i's eyes. "I'm grateful. You matter to . You and Simon are both important to ."
Simon sniffed loudly. "Oh, boss…"
"And Jin Di is important to too," Elena said, her voice steady. "All of you are. I don't know if he'll hurt soday. But I also don't know if I'll hurt him. That's life. If we avoid everything out of fear, then we never really live."
The living area remained frozen in a heavy, breathless silence.
It felt as though ti itself had stalled, every person rooted in place and wary of making the smallest movent that might shatter what little balance remained.
Elena did not speak again.
She had already said what mattered. She understood that she could not dictate how others thought or felt.
Xie i was her own person, with her own fears and convictions, shaped by years of watching over a young girl who had grown up lonely and reckless. All Elena could do was make one thing clear: Jin Di was important to her. Whether Xie i accepted that truth or not was sothing Elena could not force.
The quiet only grew denser with every passing second. Elena remained calm, her expression steady. Jin Di followed her lead, standing silently at her side, his presence restrained but unwavering. Simon, however, felt as though the air was pressing down on his chest. His instincts scread at him to crack a joke, to laugh, to defuse the tension the way he always did. Yet even he knew this was not a mont for clowning.
At last, Xie i broke the silence.
She pointed a trembling finger at Jin Di, her glare sharp and unforgiving. "You," she said harshly. "Do you love the Young Miss?"
Elena stiffened, instinctively turning toward Jin Di, her heart thudding painfully in her chest.
"Yes," Jin Di answered without hesitation. His voice was firm, steady, and absolutely certain. Though he was responding to Xie i, his eyes never left Elena. "I love Xiulan. She is the only woman I will ever love like this, the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Just weeks ago, we were strangers. Now, I cannot imagine a life that does not include her. I dream of her every night, and every morning I wake up knowing that I have fallen even deeper in love than the day before."
Simon burst into tears on the spot.
Overwheld, he released Xie i completely and staggered back, clutching his chest and covering his mouth as if his heart might leap out. He shook silently, doing everything he could to keep from sobbing aloud and ruining the mont.
Xie i did not attack Jin Di even though Simon had let go of her.
She stared at the man in front of her, visibly shaken. She wanted to dismiss his words as polished lies, the kind powerful n used to escape trouble.
Yet sothing in his gaze, sothing raw and unguarded, made her hesitate. Against her will, her anger dulled. Slowly, she turned to look at Elena.
Elena's expression was complicated and unguarded. Confusion flickered plainly across her face. She t Jin Di's eyes, then looked away, then back again, as though she could not escape the pull of his gaze yet was afraid of what she might find there.
"I love you, Long Xiulan," Jin Di said softly. "So much."
"Jin Di, I…" Elena began.
"I know," he interrupted gently. A faint, sad smile touched his lips before resolve replaced it. "I know you do not love . Not yet. But I will do my best to show you my love, and one day, I hope you will feel the sa."
"Jin Di, I don't—"
He closed the distance between them in two quick steps and pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her words before they could fully form. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Please don't say anything right now. Just let love you."
Elena blinked, then slowly reached up and guided his hand away from her mouth. Instead, she pressed his palm against her chest, right over her heart, letting him feel how fast it was beating.
They stared at one another, eyes locked, as though trying to see past skin and bone and into the truth beneath.
"Baby," he whispered, barely breathing, "let love you."
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty.
Jin Di did not move. He did not breathe. He waited.
"Okay," Elena finally said.
The word hit him like sunlight after a storm. He released the breath he had been holding, almost dizzy with relief. "Really?"
She nodded.
He pulled her into his arms, lifting her effortlessly as he kissed her, pouring everything he had been holding back into that single, desperate kiss.
It felt as though confessing his love had finally given it shape, transforming it from sothing intangible into sothing solid and real, growing heavier and stronger with every heartbeat.
When they finally broke apart, both were gasping softly.
"I love you," he said again, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
She smiled at him, warm and sincere. "Thank you."
A flicker of sadness crossed his eyes at her reply, but it vanished just as quickly. He smiled back, accepting what she could give him for now.
A loud, deliberate cough shattered the mont.
Xie i.
All eyes turned to her.
"Young Miss," she said stiffly, "forgive this old woman for overstepping, but I still believe this man is no good for you."
Jin Di pressed his lips together but said nothing.
"Grandma Xie i—" Simon began.
"Simon Lau, let finish," Xie i snapped, then took a steadying breath and turned back to Elena. "I only want you to be happy. I want you to et a gentle man who will cherish you, place you above everything else, build a warm family with you, and never let you taste betrayal or heartbreak. And n like him..." she said, glancing at Jin Di, "n with power and status, have too many burdens, and too many temptations. They cannot make one woman their whole world."
Elena sighed softly. "Xie i…"
"But," Xie i continued, her voice cracking, "I can see that you are happy with him. Right now. And as long as you are happy, this old woman has no right to stand in your way." Tears slid down her wrinkled cheeks. "You suffered so much, growing up alone, without guidance, without warmth. You almost died before you were given the chance to truly live. You deserve the very best, Young Miss. I don't think he deserves you. But if you believe he makes you happy, then I will support you."
Emotion surged through Elena without warning. Her vision blurred. She blinked in confusion as tears spilled freely down her cheeks, unstoppable.
Xie i stepped forward and grasped her hands tightly. "As long as I live, I will stand by you. These old bones of mine will support you until the day they turn to dust."
"Thank you," Elena whispered. No other words could carry the weight of what she felt.
Simon finally broke completely. "Wuwuwu… Boss! Sir Boss! Grandma Xie i! I love you all so much!" He sobbed openly, wiping his face with both hands.
Xie i gently wiped the tears from Elena's cheeks with trembling fingers.
Elena breathed in, her heart full to bursting.
So this was family.
Warm. Imperfect. Protective. Uplifting.
For the first ti, she felt truly grateful for her second life.
Without another word, she turned and ran out of the ward.
"Song Yue! Where are you going?" Bi Ge shouted, grabbing the durian and trying to follow. "Your durian!"
She didn't hear him at all.
Her thoughts were in chaos. No normal man would allow soone else to pursue the woman he loved. Why would Nie Rougang do that?
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