Unexpected Second Chance at Love

Chapter 981: No one knew

Yue Ling’s heart stopped at the news.

In that moment, everything inside her froze. The world tilted, sound drained from the air, and she forgot how to breathe for one unbearable beat.

Her eyes widened—unblinking, locked on the person delivering the words, as if sheer will could undo them. Her once-steady hands trembled at her sides. A cold numbness crept through her chest, hollow and aching.

It wasn’t just shock.𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

It was devastation in its quietest, cruelest form—the kind that doesn’t break you with screams, but buries you in a slow, suffocating silence.

She stared at Lu Tian with wide eyes, unable to speak. She searched his expression for a lie, some crack in the truth—but it was all there, plain and raw.

"Who took him?"𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The words scraped out of her like broken glass. Her voice was raw, hoarse, but steady with deadly seriousness.

"Tell me everything."

Lu Tian knew his wife was angry at the news of her brother being kidnapped. He gently helps her stand up from the couch.

"My jet is ready. I’ll explain on the way."

Before his wife woke up from her sleep, he had called Ye Zhongwei to come to City Z. The coldness in her body had disappeared, but he was afraid she might catch a cold.

Of course, he made sure to put her clothes on before his friend arrived.

It was only after Ye Zhongwei finished checking on her that he got the call about Ji Jingxu’s kidnapping.

He knew his wife would move heaven and earth for her brother, but he had to consider her health and decided to let her rest before telling her.

As they made their way to his private jet, he made sure to tell her every detail his assistant had told him.

His pilot and flight attendant greeted them but didn’t stop to chat.

He reached over to buckle her in her seat before doing his own.

"Qi Li went after them but lost them after someone spotted him. As of right now, we don’t know where Ji Jingxu was taken."

Yue Ling sat frozen, her breath caught somewhere between inhale and exhale. Her eyes stared ahead, unblinking, unfocused.

She still couldn’t believe it.

Ji Jingxu had been kidnapped because he was worried about her. Zhong Yang was hospitalized because he had driven him to her house.

She should have been there to save them. If she had never left, none of this would have happened.

Lu Tian sat next to her, his eyes never leaving her face. He reached over to hold her hand, knowing what was going on in her mind.

"It’s not your fault. No one knew something like this would happen."

Yue Ling looks at him for a brief moment before nodding her head. She doesn’t say anything but turns her head to look out the window.

She swore she would make whoever take her brother pay the price for crossing her line. Even if she has to turn the whole world upside-down, she will find him and bring him home.

The flight from City Z to Imperial was short. As the jet touched down on Lu Tian’s private airstrip, Xu Long was already waiting.

"Miss Han..."

The assistant looks at Yue Ling with sympathy. He knew that she was suffering from the truth of her grandfather’s illness, and instead of letting her overcome it, she had to find out that her brother was suddenly kidnapped.

Yue Ling gives the assistant a small smile. She had heard what happened and didn’t blame him for what happened. She knows that a human can only do so much.

"Any update on my brother?"

Xu Long held the back door to the car open for them. He shook his head dejectedly at her question.

"Not yet. Qi Li was able to give a license plate, but when Jiangyu and Ju Suo went to track the van, it was abandoned in an alley. Turns out the license plate had been stolen a few weeks ago."

When Qi Li returned alone, they knew he had lost sight of Ji Jingxu and his kidnappers. All they had was a license plate, but that turned out to be a dead end.

Yue Ling sat in the backseat quietly, listening to the report. It wasn’t until she felt Lu Tian’s hand on her knee that she realized her leg was shaking and looked at him.

"I’ll call Chief Ren and inform him of the situation."

He reassures her and takes out his phone to do what he said. After he ends the call, he sends a message to Li Wei.

If anyone in the underworld other than Fate could find a lead on Ji Jingxu’s whereabouts, it was White Tiger.

As quickly as they got to Imperial, they soon arrived at their house.

The second the car parked, Yue Ling Ling didn’t wait for Lu Tian or Xu Long to open the door for her. She steps out of the house and walks to the front door.

"Boss!"

She was greeted by Liu Shan, Lin Hui, and Alpha Team upon her entrance. Her home had been set up as a command station.

She gives them a nod as she takes another step forward, and then she sees him.

Her grandfather.

He was standing in the living room discussing something with Jiangyu. She couldn’t hear them, but she knew it must have something to do with Ji Jingxu.

Then, like he sensed her, he turned around, and their eyes met.

"Ah Ling..."

He whispers her name, and she watches as his shoulders slump beneath an invisible weight, as if the guilt pressed down on every breath he took. He takes a small step towards her but stops in fear that she might run away again.

Yue Ling suddenly remembered her dream with her Harabeoji. His words reminded her that she shouldn’t blame her grandfather for keeping his illness a secret.

"Yeye..."

She called out to him in a whispering breath as she approached him. Each step brought her closer to him, and she really looked at him.

His face, lined with time, tells stories even when his mouth doesn’t move. Each wrinkle is a memory, each crease a moment. His eyes, though perhaps dulled slightly with age, still shine with warmth and knowing, often softening when he gazes at those he loves.

He had been there by her side her whole life. Even when she pushed everyone away, he never left her side.

Stopping before him, she wraps her arms around his waist, her head buried in his chest. She didn’t care that there were others in the room, she was just a granddaughter in the presence of her grandfather.

"I’m so sorry for walking away from you. I didn’t know what to do... I..."

Grandfather Ji’s arms came around her, gently stroking her head.

"I know. It was my fault for not telling you, and I’m sorry for thinking it was better that way."

He held her closer, and he trembled a breath.

"I thought it was best you didn’t know because you’ve already been through so much... How wrong I was."

Yue Ling shook her head and pulled away from him. She looks at her grandfather with sadness, her eyes glassy with unspoken emotion. Her gaze lingers on the lines etched into his face.

The ones carved by time, wisdom, and years of quiet sacrifice. There’s a tightness in her chest as she takes him in, as if seeing him not just as he is now, but as he once was.

"I know why you did it and I understand."

It hurts her that he didn’t tell her immediately and kept it a secret because that meant she had less time to spend with him. However, now that she knows, she will be right by his side.

She stares at her grandfather for a long time, but knowing there wasn’t enough time, she takes a step back.

"Jingxu... have you found anything else on his location?"

Grandfather Ji wanted more time to speak with his granddaughter about his health, but he knew just as much as she did that time was of the essence.

He takes a seat on one of the couches in the living room and heaves a long sigh as if he had aged ten more years.

"My men are searching everywhere. I’ve also contacted all of my international networks, but so far... nothing."

From the moment he learned about his grandson’s kidnapping, he didn’t waste another second. However, each second he couldn’t find him, it felt like another weight had been added to his shoulders.

Yue Ling opened her mouth to ask more questions, but was interrupted by someone. She turned to look at the person and saw her assistant, Lin Hui, and Qi Li.

All three men had their heads lowered, expressions taut with guilt.

"Guys..."

She could only say one word before all three men fell to their knees.

Liu Shan: "I’m sorry for being incompetent."

Lin Hui: "I should have gone after him."

Qi Li: "It’s my fault for losing eyes on them."

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