Angelica

  Wang Nian has been sitting in the office from yesterday morning till this afternoon.

  The huge floor-to-ceiling window outside is sunny and bright, the glass is clean as if it doesn't exist. From Wang Nian's perspective looking out, the distant sky seems to be right in front of him; his gaze returns, on the horizon there is a train crawling like a snail, spitting out black threads; his gaze gets closer, the city is like a jungle, the crisscrossing highways are like the paths of wild beasts, unrelated yet entangled together. The Qifeng Entrepreneurship Building stands like a sharp blade, inserted in the center of the city.

  The entire city was under Wang Nian's gaze, with all living beings rushing about, for the sake of a faint hope, suffering and nightmares were everywhere. Wang Nian watched it all, unmoved.

  "Director Wang, why don't you eat something first? The rest of the matters will be handled by Xu Peng..."

  "Get out!"

  Deputy General Manager Yang Ming appeared quietly in the office, but was scolded back before he could finish speaking. His usually expressionless face finally showed a hint of emotion - a cold smile.

  "Gao Qin is dead."

  Wang Nian's body shook and the sofa immediately turned back.

  "What...what did you say?"

  "Gao Qin is dead, Xu Peng didn't hold back. Oh, right, he probably still doesn't know Gao Qin was yours..."

  "Shut up!"

  Wang Nian stood up like a beast, his hands trembling as he raised them to his eyes, his emotions somewhat out of control.

  "What have I done? What have I done? And what about the child? Is the child safe?"

  Wang Nian rushed out of the office while speaking, with Yang Ming following closely behind him like a shadow.

  "The child is also dead, and when the doctor performed an autopsy, he found that the child's head was kicked to pieces, and his spine was broken into several segments. Gao Qin's four limbs were all broken, and only two of her ribs were still intact, there wasn't a single good spot on her body, even...that place was also pierced with a steel pipe...it's really miserable!"

  Yang Ming's tone was somewhat melancholic, but his eyes showed no hint of sadness, and even seemed to be suppressing excitement. Wang Nian walked ahead, his hands shaking uncontrollably, Yang Ming's words had driven him into a frenzied state, he couldn't calm down, let alone think clearly.

  "I'm going to kill him!"

  There was only this one thought in Wang Nian's mind.

  "Why bother? You're not someone who doesn't love her, and what happened with her sister wasn't intentional on your part..."

  "Shut up! Now go and get Xu Peng, that son of a bitch, arrested for me immediately. Cut off his hands and feet first, and I'll deal with him when I get back!"

  Wang Nian walked out of the Qifeng Entrepreneurship Building, waiting for his car to arrive. The reporters outside immediately swarmed up, and the flashlights shone incessantly in Wang Nian's eyes. He stood still, scanning everyone present, with a fierce glare.

  "Excuse me, do you have any explanation for the public regarding yesterday's incident?"

  A reporter asked, Wang Nu immediately stared over like a beast discovering its prey, the reporter only felt a suffocating sensation and his body involuntarily retreated.

  "Get out!"

  Wang Nian's expression was icy cold, he was desperately suppressing his urge to grab a knife and hack people.

  Gao Qin's death disrupted the tranquility of Tian Nan City, although it only occupied a small space on the sixth page of the newspaper and couldn't be compared to last night's typhoon, but in fact, the most talked-about topic on the streets was Gao Qin and her sister who had just died last week.

  Gao Qin, female, 24 years old, graduated from Tiannan University with a master's degree. Before her death, she was the financial director of Qifeng Chuangye Co., Ltd. It is rumored that she was in a relationship with the general manager, Wang Nian. Unmarried, eight months pregnant at the time of death, resulting in two deaths.

  Gao Qian, female, 27 years old, graduated from Tiannan University with a doctoral degree, former financial director of Qifeng Entrepreneurship Co., Ltd. Four years ago, she was robbed and had a car accident on her way home at night, becoming a vegetative person. She died of organ failure a week ago. At the time of the incident, she was three months pregnant, but the fetus could not be saved.

  These two sisters both served as financial controllers for Qifeng Chuangye Co., Ltd. and both died under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind endless speculations about conspiracy and romance. The younger sister was beaten to death by security guards while leading migrant workers to demand wages from the company where she worked. The older sister was robbed and seriously injured on the eve of her wedding and later died from brain damage after being hit and crushed by a car while driving alone to the hospital. Their lives and deaths are shrouded in mystery, with only they themselves knowing the truth.

  Wang Nian took a step forward into the morgue, but couldn't take another step further.

  Gao Xin's body was just in the freezer ahead, perhaps her small mouth still pouted as it had when she was alive, and her eyes were still as stubborn. It was even possible that she would suddenly jump out of the freezer and scare Wang Nian, just like they used to play, a game of cat and mouse. Wang Nian forced himself to move forward, but his heart was racing with dizziness, he had never felt such fear before, afraid of what he was about to see. He remembered every word Gao Xin had ever said, every action she had taken, and those fleeting moments when their eyes met, her clear eyes without a hint of worldly desire, and the scent that seemed to emanate from his heart at all times.

  Wang Nian suddenly understood his heart at this moment, he loved Gao Qin, money could be earned again if it was gone, and a house could be rebuilt if it collapsed, but if the one he loved died, then there would be nothing left.

  "What have I done?"

  Wang Nian didn't have the courage to take another step forward, he turned around and fled with tears streaming down his face, getting farther and farther away from the stretcher that had already been pulled out.

  "How far do you think you can escape?"

  Deputy General Manager Yang Ming stood at the door of the morgue, muttering to himself, his tone as deathly as the air in the morgue on the other side of the door.

  Wang Nian's car and Yang Ming's car left the hospital one after another, and then Criminal Police Officer Wu Xiu walked out of the morgue. The feeling of pretending to be a corpse was not much different from actually dying once, and he was covered in a layer of corpse aura.

  "Yang Ming? Interesting."

  Wu Xiuhui's face showed an unnatural smile, he let out a breath and rubbed his hands hard, only then did he feel a bit warmer. He and his colleague who had walked out of the morgue were talking in hushed tones about something, and they left together.

  The morgue was silent and still, with some bodies that needed to be re-examined placed in the corner freezer. The administrator pushed open the door, took a glance, and then retreated, the sound of his whistling fading away down the corridor. At this moment, one of the corpses moved, sitting up straight, quietly turning its head towards the direction of the door, before slowly getting out of bed and walking to the storage cabinet where Gao Qing's body was kept, opening it with a gentle touch.

  Gao Qin's ordinary face looked particularly wretched at this moment, with one eyeball still being forcibly stuffed back in. Her half-opened grayish-white eyes had a dull, lifeless glaze to them, as she gazed resentfully at the man before her.

  The man stood in front of the corpse without any movement, only with the sound of water droplets, in this silent morgue.

  Zhang Haiyang's face was streaming with tears, his fists clenched tightly, and he bit his lip until it bled. The blood and tears dripped onto Gao Qin's cheek one drop at a time. He remembered this woman, every word she had ever said to him, seemingly loving but not quite, yet those smiles under the sun seemed to be deeply etched in his heart.

  A faint smile flashed through his mind, and Zhang Haiyang remembered what she had said: "You have no right to decide who I can't love, just like I have no right to decide that you can't love my sister." He still recalled the expression on her face when she said those words, a stubbornness with a hint of cartoonish color. A wave of sourness surged in his heart, and Zhang Haiyang let out a faint laugh, tears streaming down his face. But who was it that she loved? The face in his mind was blurry, even though the person had just been at the door, but they had passed each other by.

  A chaotic scene in my mind, what is it after all? A dream or reality? What has been forgotten after all?

  Zhang Haiyang gently wiped away the blood and tears on Gao Qin's face, then deeply kissed her, this kiss of life and death.