Perhaps shopping was truly the best stress reliever for women, because when Song Qingchun hauled the many different bags upstairs to her room, she was even humming a tune; the depression from the morning had disappeared without a trace.

It was still too early to prepare for dinner, so she sat with her legs crossed on her bed and unboxed her purchases one by one. She then arranged them nicely and snapped a picture to post in her WhatsApp friend group before putting them away.

It was 6.30 pm when she was finished with all that. Song Qingchun washed up and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

After Song Qingchun finished cooking and walked out of the kitchen, she looked out the window at the darkening sky, and the sense of loss that she had held back for the whole day through shopping and cooking slowly returned to her.

The room was quiet so quiet that it heightened her sense of loneliness.

This was the first time she had felt weirdly uncomfortable being alone in the lavishly decorated and large house. Everywhere she turned, there was something that felt out of place.

She picked up the remote and switched the television on. It was playing a period drama that she had been following. However, Song Qingchun found herself unable to focus on the drama. In fact, as it dragged on, she felt bored by it.

She switched the volume up to its maximum, but for some reason, it made her feel even more agitated than when the room was quiet.

Song Qingchun tossed the remote control away with frustration. Her eyes left the television screen and swept the clock on the wall. It was 8.30 pm.

Why isn't Su Zhinian home yet?

As the thought flashed in her mind, Song Qingchun realized why she felt so uncomfortable cooped up in the large bungalow.

It was because he wasn't there. Earlier, even when he was at home daily, there was practically zero communication between them because they were in the middle of a cold war, so it should not have mattered to Song Qingchun whether he was home or not, but the feeling of distress in her heart couldn't be denied.

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Song Qingchun let a deep breath out before standing up to pace about the room with her phone in hand. Her eyes were glued to the time on her phone.

8.40 pm. It had only been ten minutes, but Song Qingchun felt ten years had passed.

She didn't know what had come over her, but she clicked Su Zhinian's WhatsApp open and typed out a message. However, instead pressing the send button, she gripped her phone and paced around the house. When the clock almost hit 8.50 pm, Song Qingchun gritted her teeth, stared at the message she had typed, and pressed send.

Su Zhinian lay in his bed listening to Song Qingchun's movement in the room next door. He didn't get much sleep.

He found himself unable to focus during work the next day. Initially, he had thought it was because he was distracted by his discovery from the day before, but as noon arrived, his heart started to get worried, and his blood started to chill.

This kind of worried sensation gave him an ominous feeling, like something really bad was going to happen.

He checked the recent activities of his company and Song Empire and realized both were doing just fine. It's not the companies, then what is it?

Su Zhinian suddenly thought of his mother.