Lan Fengjin's glare followed her down the hallway.
Feng Suyin didn't look back. She kept walking, her shoes squeaking on the hospital floor, the weight of his suspicion pressing between her shoulder blades. Let him stare. Let him hate her. She had work to do.
She checked the charts at the nurse station. Scanned names. Vital signs. Medication orders. Her hands moved automatically while her brain turned over the same question: should she get closer to the Lan family?
Lan Ruoxing tolerated her. That was something. Maybe because there wasn't a single drop of Feng blood in her veins. If she were Li Xinlian's real daughter, he wouldn't look at her twice.
She needed the Feng family's secrets. All of them. Her adoptive parents weren't the honorable people the public believed. The infertility rumors about Li Xinlian were false—she got pregnant right before the adoption. Which meant they adopted Feng Suyin for a reason. She just didn't know what yet.
The truth sat in her chest like a cold stone.
As she continued her rounds, she tried to remember details from her previous life. The ones she'd overlooked. The signs she'd dismissed as the Feng family's concern when they were really just watching her. Using her. Some of them were so obvious now she almost laughed.
She had regrets. So many regrets. Her work at the hospital gave her solace—saving people, fixing things, the clean logic of surgery. But the research facility? That was her greatest burden. She'd thrown herself into it thinking the Feng family would finally recognize her. Finally see her as something other than an inconvenience.
Stupid.
The morning bled into afternoon. Surgeries. Rounds. More surgeries.
By the time she peeled off her surgical gloves and stepped out of the operating room, her lower back screamed. Her feet throbbed inside her clogs. She glanced at the clock on the wall.
Past midnight.
Her body still hummed with tension. Muscles locked from standing too long, leaning over tables, holding instruments steady while her mind raced. The fluorescent lights in the hallway buzzed too bright. Her eyes ached.
The research facility had stolen most of her time. If she hadn't been working there, the hospital wouldn't feel like this. Overwhelming. Endless. A treadmill she couldn't step off.
She sighed. Grabbed her things. Walked to the break room.
Coffee. She needed coffee.
The break room was empty. Fluorescent light buzzed overhead. The coffee machine gurgled. A vending machine hummed in the corner. She poured a cup, wrapped her hands around the warmth, and sat at the small table. The surface was cold under her elbows.
Her mother would find out soon. About the research project. About her resignation. Li Xinlian would throw a fit. Punish her. Probably worse than before. Feng Suyin had ruined their plans, and her mother didn't forgive that kind of disobedience.
She stared into her coffee. The steam curled up, warm against her chin.
She'd spent her whole life living according to her family's expectations. Never knowing who she was outside their demands. Their desires. Their cold, calculating approval that never quite arrived.
The door swung open.
Feng Suyin flinched. Coffee sloshed over her thumb. Hot.
"Suyin. I knew I'd find you here."
Jiang Yunyi. Smiling. Warm. Familiar.
Feng Suyin froze.
What?
Jiang Yunyi snickered and walked to the coffee machine. Her white coat was wrinkled. Her ponytail was crooked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Feng Suyin couldn't speak.
Jiang Yunyi. Her friend. The one who took her own life one month before Feng Suyin's wedding. Because of her husband's affair. Because of the scandal. Because no one helped her.
And here she was. Smiling. Pouring coffee. Her hands steady. Her eyes tired but alive.
Feng Suyin's chest constricted. A fist inside her ribs. Squeezing.
She'd mourned Jiang Yunyi. Cried alone in her apartment at three in the morning. Blamed herself for not seeing the signs. For not being there when her friend needed someone to tell her the truth.
Now she had a second chance.
Jiang Yunyi poured her coffee and sat across from the table. Same chair she always took. Same casual lean, elbows on the cold surface. The familiarity made Feng Suyin's throat close up.
"Yunyi..." Her voice came out barely a whisper. She cleared her throat. Tried again. "Are you alright?"
The dark circles under Jiang Yunyi's eyes. The exhaustion in her face. The way her shoulders curved forward like she was carrying something too heavy. Feng Suyin saw all of it.
Jiang Yunyi let out a breath. Heavy. Defeated. Her shoulders dropped.
"I don't know, Suyin. I talked to my husband. He denied everything." She shook her head slowly. "He let me check his phone. His messages. His emails. No suspicious women anywhere."
"But?"
Feng Suyin raised an eyebrow. She knew where this was going.
"But I feel it." Jiang Yunyi clenched her fist on the table. Her knuckles went white. "I feel like he's cheating. I must be crazy, right? I should trust him. But I can't shake it, Suyin. It's eating me alive."
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Feng Suyin reached across the table. Grabbed Jiang Yunyi's hand. It was trembling. Cold.
"You're not crazy."
She said it firmly. No hesitation. Her thumb pressed against Yunyi's knuckles.
"If something doesn't feel right, it's worth investigating. Trust your gut."
She knew who the affair was with. Knew the name. The face. The timeline of when it would come out. But she couldn't just tell Yunyi. Her friend wouldn't believe her. She needed to see it herself. Needed the proof in her hands.
"I don't know what to do." Jiang Yunyi's voice cracked again. Quieter now. "I want to believe him. But the doubt..."
Feng Suyin squeezed her hand. Hard. Held on.
"What about Lingling? Her cousin, Alex Xia. He could investigate. Discreetly. We'd know for sure."
Jiang Yunyi's eyes went wide. Her breath caught.
"Alex Xia..." She nodded slowly. Her fingers curled around Feng Suyin's. "Lingling mentioned him before. If he could help me get to the bottom of this—"
"Then you'll have peace of mind." Feng Suyin held her gaze. Didn't let go. "One way or another. You'll know."
Jiang Yunyi's hand tightened around hers. Grateful. Desperate. Her eyes were wet but she blinked the tears back.
"I'll contact Lingling tonight." Feng Suyin's voice was steady. Low. "Set up a meeting with her cousin. We'll figure this out together."
She paused. Made sure Yunyi was looking at her.
"Don't do anything reckless until we know everything. Promise me."
Jiang Yunyi nodded. Swallowed hard.
Feng Suyin didn't let go of her hand.
This time, her friend would live.