She walked out of the apartment complex. She wandered aimlessly. She did not know where she was or where she was heading to. She just kept on walking and walking and walking. She wanted to be alone, to be by herself, away from the source of her struggles. She wanted to escape reality.

Xue Jinxu was tired – the kind of tired that made a person lost its appet.i.te to continue with the daily requirements of living, and its urge to improve oneself and situation. She was tired from trying to thrive and excel every single day. She was tired of swimming in endless waters, in the middle of a race, never reaching the sh.o.r.e or any finish line. She was tired to be strong for other people and for herself.

Her heart was so heavy that if it could have been submerged in water, it would readily sink.

Soon enough she halted in her steps. She was in a park. It was twilight. There were very few people. She seated herself on the bench and stared on the orange pinkish-hued horizon. She was a lost soul. Her mind was blank and her heart was numb. She could not feel hunger or lack of sleep or pain or cold. She was floating.

For several hours she stayed that way – simply gazing at the changing scene of the horizon. The orange-pinkish hue had turned into purple, and finally into dusk. Soon after the lights from lampposts were turned on. She stayed seated at the park's bench.

She covered her face with both her palms. She did not even have enough tears to shed anymore. She did not feel like crying, rather she was not feeling anything. It was detachment that had overcome her whole character.

She wanted to simply give up, to just go with the flow. She wanted to close her eyes, and let the tide take her to where she ought to go. She wanted to drift with the wind.

It went on like this for hours.

She did not know that she was being watched from the shadows. She was even being followed right from when she left her house.

Chen Linyun had coincidentally saw her leave their apartment complex when he was taking the garbage out. He had a weird premonition as he sensed something wrong with Xue Jinxu's aura. To add, she was also wearing the gray hoodie and white cap she did the first time they met. Chen Linyun had realized way way back that Xue Jinxu had her own habits and mannerisms. At certain situations, it was easy to predict what she would have done.

It was this case this time. With her guise and lost appearance, he was worried sick and could not help but follow her, wherever she went, at a distance that will not invade her privacy. He knew she wanted to be alone.

He watched her silently and painfully from afar. He watched her intently, not even allowing her to leave his line of sight. With her current condition, it was too easy for people with malicious intentions to take advantage of her.

Soon he saw that she had dozed off on the bench.

'Tsk.' He shook his head. He approached her, and squatted in front of her. Her head was lying on the bench and her legs and feet were up on the bench too. She was curled up, asleep.

She had not slept, or taken in any food in the past days. She was weak from fatigue. Yet here she was, with what little energy that had been left in her tiny body, she still decided to aimlessly wander the streets. She could have broken down and fainted anytime during her stroll. Her body had limits too. Her mind and her heart could only take in so much too.

Xue Jinxu was human too.

Chen Linyun gently caressed the side of her face with the back of his index finger. He jerked. He repeated the procedure. This time, he used his fingertips and touched her cheek, her forehead, her neck. She was burning! The wind was biting and here she was, sleeping at a park bench when in fact her body was nowhere near fine.

He carried her in his arms, without regards to the onlookers. He was frantically trying to reach the nearest hospital, yet he realized that it was out of the way from where he was. He did not bring his car, and taxis do not frequent the place. He decided to go home to the apartment.

Once he reached Apartment 301, he laid her on her bed and called Butler Lee. He explained the situation to him.

Butler Lee rushed in, together with the Xue Family doctor.

Xue Guangxi who received Chen Linyun and his sister was in a state of further shock. He had been onboard in the crisis his family's company was facing. He was well-aware of the extent of the problem. It's actually not surprising if his sister's body would break down. However, seeing it with his own eyes was so much worse than just thinking about it.

He felt remorse for himself the most. He was blaming himself for the recent events. In his young mind it was he who caused the downfall of their company, and now of his sister. His eyes were dark and deep, like black bottomless abyss.

The doctor examined Xue Jinxu inside the room. By the bedside, Chen Linyun, Xue Guangxi and Butler Lee were intently watching and waiting for the doctor's verdict. They were silently praying for her condition to not be too serious.

Soon the doctor's examinations were completed. He faced them to report the lady's current situation.

"Since she was not resting nor eating in the past days, her sugar levels had dipped severely, causing her to faint. The body also does not have enough energy to fuel up its usual normal processes that was why she was having a fever. Moreover, the constant stress she had been subjected to had caused her immune system to become weaker. I will put her into Intravenous dextrose solution drip for a while. It will help her regain the energy that she lost, and bring her sugar levels up to the normal range. I suggest to give her a sponge bath to lower her temperature. Soon she will regain consciousness."