Chapter 48: Chapter 48: She never considered herself part of the Zhou family

Doctor Meng soothed her with a pat on the shoulder and took a few steps toward Bai Zhuzhu, saying coldly, "Miss Bai, Zhou Lin’s matter has nothing to do with Weiwei. Don’t cause trouble here. Leave."

Bai Zhuzhu’s eyes were blurry with tears, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed, "Doctor Meng, I just want Sister Zhiwei to understand that Brother Lin and I are innocent, and ask her not to misunderstand him or take revenge on him like this. He’s really had a hard time."

"However hard he’s had it, it has nothing to do with Weiwei," Doctor Meng said expressionlessly. "Please leave."

"I won’t go, Sister Zhiwei," Bai Zhuzhu cried out to Cheng Zhiwei, "unless you are willing to go to the police station and withdraw your accusations against me, I won’t leave."

After the police left Sparkling Sky City, they came to the hospital to look for Bai Zhuzhu, asking her many questions. Some of them were about things that Bai Zhuzhu thought she had done seamlessly and that no one had noticed, but the police brought them up.

She panicked.

That’s why she had come looking for Cheng Zhiwei.

But she had been spoiled by Zhou Lin, not knowing how to ask for help properly, with two out of every three sentences boasting about how well Zhou Lin had treated her, and the remaining sentence aimed at provoking Cheng Zhiwei. Even the ever calm Cheng Zhiwei started to lose her temper.

Moreover, Cheng Zhiwei’s patience with Bai Zhuzhu’s constant troublemaking had reached its limit.

"Miss Bai," Doctor Meng raised his voice, "if you don’t leave now, I’m calling the security."

"Zhuzhu." A male voice appeared at the door.

Zhou Lin came in, casting a cold glance at Cheng Zhiwei, then turned to Bai Zhuzhu and asked with a furrowed brow, "What are you doing here?"

Immediately attaching herself affectionately to his arm, Bai Zhuzhu looked up with a naive face, "I just wanted to ask Sister Zhiwei not to blame you anymore, and not to use this incident to create trouble for you."

Cheng Zhiwei’s breath hitched; Bai Zhuzhu really knew how to twist right and wrong. She had merely stated the truth, but Bai Zhuzhu accused her of deliberately causing trouble for Zhou Lin.

If she wanted to cause trouble, she would have directly told the police that Zhou Lin had approached that staff member on behalf of Bai Zhuzhu and that Bai Zhuzhu was Zhou Lin’s mistress. That way, Zhou Lin would have only become more suspicious.

"Miss Bai, that’s enough. Weiwei needs to rest now," Doctor Meng said, his face turning completely grave, then looked at Zhou Lin, "Zhou Lin, you’ve caused Weiwei a serious throat injury, and yet you allow Bai Zhuzhu to make a scene. Do you have any conscience at all?"

Zhou Lin stroked Bai Zhuzhu’s hair, his tone so tender it seemed water might drip from his words, "Zhuzhu, some people are just born bad. Don’t go looking for her, lest she harms you."

Cheng Zhiwei smirked sarcastically, thinking Zhou Lin’s blindness had become incurable.

"But Brother Lin, those messages online, they break my heart," Bai Zhuzhu said, clutching Zhou Lin’s clothing, tender and delicate as a lily, "I was just thinking, since Sister Zhiwei is your wife, she could at least withdraw the accusations against me. That way, you’d have less to worry about. Otherwise, you’d have to be concerned about my issues as well, which is too exhausting. It’s all my fault for dragging you into this."

Yet again, her main concern was herself.

Zhou Lin led her outside, "As long as you haven’t done anything, the police won’t wrongly accuse you."

Subtly, Bai Zhuzhu’s facial expression stiffened.

Cheng Zhiwei let out a laugh, watching them like one would a clown, eager to see the police uncover the truth.

Before long, the troublemaking man was taken away, but many netizens left comments on Cheng Zhiwei’s account, asking why she was unwilling to testify and if she was afraid of implicating herself, with many calling her heartless.

Cheng Zhiwei ignored them all.

She waited for the results of the police investigation.

After two days in the hospital, Lin Yu brought good news, "The police have confirmed it— the person committed suicide, and they’ve found Bai Zhuzhu’s phone number in the recovered call records."

Cheng Zhiwei looked up at Lin Yu, her eyes sparkling.

Lin Yu teased her by tapping her nose affectionately, "You, if you had told me about this sooner, all these things wouldn’t have happened."

But she never considered herself part of the Zhou family.

When trouble arose, she bore it alone. It is strange to blame Zhou Lin, for how could a wife see herself as part of the family when her husband treated her as an outsider?

Cheng Zhiwei swayed Lin Yu’s arm, attempting to playfully divert attention from the matter.

"This time Bai Zhuzhu is thoroughly done for, don’t worry, she won’t have a chance to turn things around." Lin Yu was very pleased, knowing once Bai Zhuzhu was out of the picture, the relationship between Cheng Zhiwei and Zhou Lin would gradually soften, and reconciliation was only a matter of time.

Lin Yu looked forward to seeing their loving interaction.

One week later, Lakefront Apartment.

Bai Zhuzhu was clinging on to Zhou Lin’s arm, weeping bitterly, her eyes swollen like walnuts, "I admit I hired someone to poison Cheng Zhiwei because I was jealous of her voice, which effortlessly got what I could never achieve no matter how hard I tried. But I really didn’t incite that person to commit suicide, Brother Lin, I never meant to harm you."

The truth was laid bare, Bai Zhuzhu’s deeds laid out in front of Zhou Lin.

Zhou Lin felt nothing but disappointment. He withdrew his arm and massaged his temples, the harsh words he had spoken to Cheng Zhiwei now slapping back at his own face.

What he found most difficult to accept was Bai Zhuzhu turning out like this.

Ever since he had agreed to take care of Bai Zhuzhu, he had used his resources to support her, elevating her to stardom, defending her in every issue. Yet she had done something like this, and it might even be related to the person who framed him.

He knew that this week, because of the murder case, those marketing accounts had sprung up like mushrooms after rain, broadcasting so-called scandals, and Zhou Group had had a tough time. If not for his own means and the decisive actions taken to capture the instigator, Zhou Group would have suffered enormous losses.

This past week, he had hardly closed his eyes.

Yet, all these shady business tactics were nothing compared to the shock of Bai Zhuzhu’s betrayal.

"Don’t go out these next few days, take a good look at what you’ve actually done." Zhou Lin left her with these cold words and turned to leave.

Bai Zhuzhu collapsed on the ground, crying almost to the point of fainting.

Sitting in the car, Zhou Lin felt a suffocating frustration in his chest and was extremely agitated. He asked subconsciously, "Where’s Cheng Zhiwei?"

Secretary Zhang replied softly, "The Young Madam was discharged from the hospital today; she should still be there at this moment."

"Go to the hospital," Zhou Lin said.

"Yes."

Outside the hospital room.

Zhou Lin stood at the entrance of the ward, and inside, Cheng Zhiwei was speaking softly with Meng Qiancheng. Although Cheng Zhiwei’s voice was still a bit hoarse, she had no problem speaking normally, and her face was covered with a relaxed and bright smile.

Her long hair was casually tied back, and she wore a bracelet on her wrist, with a linen-colored long dress hiding her ankles, gentle, poised, and beautiful.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read