36 hours

Xiu Mei's empty eyes reflected the white ceiling above her.

"Mom?"

She heard a voice, instantly waking her up from her reverie. She blinked, and the light returned into her eyes once again. Xiu Mei recognized that voice and quickly roamed her eyes inside the room.

She saw her mom at her bedside, tightly holding onto her hand while her dad was beside her. His hands resting on her mom's shoulders as if embracing her to comfort her as Xiu Mei noticed that her mom had been crying.

On the other side of the bed was Little Qiang, holding onto her hand. He also looked like he had been crying seeing his puffy red eyes. Xiu Mei would've wanted to stroke his head to assure him that she would be fine, but she couldn't with all the stuff that's on her arms right now.

"Princess, you scared us." Another voice sounded from behind Little Qiang. Since she was lying down, she couldn't see the people who were standing across the room just beside the window but hearing that voice, Xiu Mei was able to instantly recognize who it was.

"Second brother." She called out.

Xiu Mo Ruo elegantly strode towards her bed as he combed his hair back. She noticed that her brother's usual proper look was now nowhere to be seen. His tie unusually loose on his neck and his hair was unkempt as if he had forgotten to fix it after showering. His attire unusually crumpled and his sleeves was scrunched up sloppily on his arms.

With her second brother's occupation as a politician, Xiu Mei was well aware of how Xiu Mo Ruo would never dare to show up like this in public. Since their family has always been a public figure, the three of them was used to dressing up accordingly when going out.

That was why it was quite unusual for her to see her second brother look so sloppily in that attire. But she knew in her heart why her brother looked like that, and why was everyone in her room right now.

Remembering the last memory she had before she blacked out, she remembered hearing Lu Chen's voice. It must've been him who pulled her out from the mess that was why she was still alive and breathing right now.

"Call the doctor." Her Dad's voice resounded inside the room. His secretary quickly complied with his orders and walked out of the room to call for the doctor.

"Are you alright? Are there anywhere painful?" Her second brother questioned, as his brows furrowed in concern when he saw all the instruments stuck on her arms.

"Mm. Just a little bit disoriented, I guess."

"You'd be, after hitting your head on the pavement like that." Mo Ruo then tapped on his own head to show as a matter-of-factly why she was feeling dizzy.

It was only when he said it that Xiu Mei realized that something was bound on her head. It felt like something was tightened around her forehead and she quickly picked up on what her brother was saying.

She momentarily panicked inside as she thought whether her head badly or not. After all, getting your head hit on something was dangerous and it could greatly affect her daily activities especially working.

"Mom, is it painful?" Little Qiang worriedly asked as he innocently pointed out at the white bandage on his Mom's head. He bit his lip as he held himself back from crying, thinking that his Mom is in so much pain right now. 

"I'm fine, don't cry. Mommy's fine." Xiu Mei soothed the child. She tried turning her hand to hold onto Lu Qiang's little hand but she couldn't turn her arm at all due to the pain inflicted from the incident. 

Lu Qiang was quick to pick up on what her Mom wanted to do thus, he quickly intertwined his little hand to hers. Xiu Mei flashed a gentle smile to Lu Qiang, truly similar to how a mother would look at her child. 

Seeing this scene, Xiu Mei's parents didn't know how to react to it. Lu Chen had been completely honest with the origin of the child, and even though they didn't know why he keeps this child hidden from the public, they were still concerned for what might happen in the future.

Once Lu Qiang's identity is publicized, the public would surely explode. This little one's identity was quite special, he'd definitely be publicized as Lu Chen's son. The public wouldn't know whether he was biological or adopted, what they'd suspect was the little one was born out of wedlock. The mother unknown, and his father the president of some prestigious company.

Along with that, their daughter's identity as Lu Chen's partner, who'll be known by the public as the potential stepmother of Lu Qiang. 

It would be a great piece of juicy news for the media to cover with all the backgrounds of the parties involved. 

"Mom, how long was I out?" Xiu Mei asked as she pulled onto her mom's hand. 

Returning her attention to her daughter, she hesitantly answered her. "You were asleep for 36 hours this time."

Hearing her mom's words, Xiu Mei's eyes widened. 

36 hours? Did she sleep for 36 hours this time around? 

Xiu Mei unconsciously bit her lip as she thought of something but her dad's words quickly comforted her. 

"You'll be fine, Princess. We won't stop looking for answers until you're completely healed okay?" 

Xiu Mei's dad, Xiu Gu Ren gently gazed at his precious daughter on the bed. He understood her concerns, and he too was quite anxious at what might happen in the future but for now, what his daughter needed was assurance that everything would be fine. 

He knew his daughter very well, and he knew how much his daughter lost after that night. It was the incident that the entire family considered the worst nightmare of all, because what happened afterward greatly affected his daughter and his family. 

It was something that he would definitely prevent in happening if given the chance to go back in time, yet he could not. It was a moment of weakness that shall never happen again. 

All those enemies, he must finish off as soon as possible. Else, the consequences would be something his family wouldn't be able to bear.