After the call connected and a few minutes passed, Yu Lian heard He Xinglan's voice.

"Sister-in-law, what do you want?"

He Xinglan's voice was light and cheerful, much better than before.

Yu Lian thought about her question and said, word by word, "Lanlan, are you aware that you suffer from a serious mental illness?"

He Xinglan, who had been excited, fell silent.

Silence means affirmation.

Ignoring the previous question, Yu Lian continued, "Is your illness because of me? Did the news of my death upset you?"

He Xinglan didn't remain silent this time, and pretended to be relaxed, saying, "Sister-in-law, don't overthink it. My brother is just unpredictable, it has nothing to do with you. If you don't want to say anything else, I have to go now..."

A pleading voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Lanlan, please tell me the truth."

He Xinglan glanced around and saw only the auntie cooking.

"Sister-in-law, my brother... when he saw that corpse back then, although the face was completely disfigured, our whole family thought it was you... At first, everyone was quite sad and didn't notice anything wrong with my brother."

"Later, as the company got better and better, I stopped thinking there was anything wrong with my brother. Until my brother moved out, one time I went to visit him and saw that apartment..."

He Xinglan told her sister-in-law everything about her brother's unusual behavior over the years.

Without hiding anything, she felt a pang of bitterness in her heart as she spoke.

"Sister-in-law, my brother loves you more than you think."

After saying this, He Xinglan realized that it was a bit inappropriate and quickly added, "Sister-in-law, I didn't mean to kidnap you. I just wanted to tell you the truth. Besides, you two have been separated for so many years and have your own normal lives. I was just saying."

"Lanlan, thank you. Do you have a key to that apartment? Or you could tell me the address."

He Xinglan's eyes lit up. "Sister-in-law, how about we go out tonight? My brother has to go on a business trip tonight and might not be back until next week."

"it is good."

We agreed on a time and got right to it.

In the evening, Yu Lian drove the child to the He family's house and handed him over to the child's grandmother.

"Where are you two going? Dinner's almost ready."

"Mom, don't worry about it. My sister-in-law and I will eat out."

"Okay, remember to come back soon."

As the car started, He Xinglan smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, do you know, ever since Mom found out you were still alive, she's been in high spirits these past two days. Your passing has been a huge blow to the family."

"Lanlan, I'm so sorry. The situation was urgent, I didn't think too much, and then an accident happened..."

He Xinglan quickly waved her hand, "Never mind, never mind, sister-in-law, let's not talk about this. Turn right at the main intersection ahead."

He Xinglan didn't want the atmosphere to become somber.

To be honest, she still hopes her sister-in-law and brother will get back together.

That's why he risked being discovered by his brother to steal the key.

A dozen minutes later, the two arrived downstairs.

Security here is very strict. Fortunately, the security guards know He Xinglan, otherwise they wouldn't even be allowed to enter the lobby.

"It's so quiet here."

"Sister-in-law, I don't know either. My brother said they're for rich people, and each house has a personal housekeeper. But don't worry, my brother doesn't want anyone to touch his things, so no one will find out about us."

As it got darker, more people started heading home from get off work.

As the two went upstairs, several people followed them in.

"Are you going to the 24th floor?"

A middle-aged man was very surprised when he saw their floor number.

"Is there a problem?"

"Do you know President He?"

Yu Lian and He Xinglan exchanged a glance but remained silent.

"No, we do cleaning. We were ordered to do cleaning by our superiors."

"Yeah?"

The man clearly didn't believe him, but since he had reached his floor, he didn't ask any further questions.

The two didn't dwell on what had just happened, because they had arrived at the twenty-fourth floor.

He Xinglan took a deep breath and reminded her, "Sister-in-law, I hope you're prepared and don't get scared."

Yu Lian took a deep breath and then nodded.

"Open it, I can accept it."

But when this scene actually appeared before her eyes, Yu Lian's breath hitched, and her face instantly flushed.

The burning sensation made her feel utterly ashamed.

The densely packed photos were like a net, overwhelming her and leaving her nowhere to escape, unable to breathe.

"Sister-in-law! Are you alright?"

He Xinglan had long been familiar with her brother's madness and was used to it.

In the blink of an eye, the person behind him lost their balance and almost fell.

However, Yu Lian managed to grab the cabinet next to her in time and didn't fall.

She struggled to breathe, gasping for air.

"Sister-in-law, if you... if you're not feeling well, let's come back in a couple of days. Anyway, my brother isn't coming back this week."

"No need, I'm fine."

Yu Lian forced herself to stand up and moved step by step toward the huge portrait in the center of the living room.

Seeing her sister-in-law stop in front of the portrait, He Xinglan quickly explained, "This is my brother. He commissioned a painter to paint it. When he saw the painting, he immediately gave her double the payment and said it looked exactly like you."

"And this one, he taught himself to draw it, but he's always criticizing his own technique, saying it doesn't look like you, but I think it does. Sister-in-law, take a look."

When did your brother learn to draw?

Yu Lian took it and ran her fingertips over the painting of herself.

"I don't know either. It's been about three years, they say... Oh right, sister-in-law, come with me."

Yu Lian was pulled by He Xinglan to a room at the end of the corridor.

Upon opening the door, one is greeted by a huge floor-to-ceiling window, but Yu Lian's gaze is quickly drawn to the white drawing paper spread out on the floor.

The easel was placed in the center, and the paint in the palette had dried, indicating that the owner hadn't been here for a long time.

Yu Lian casually picked up a painting from the ground.

It was obvious that the person in the drawing was herself, and she even knew which photo He Lin had compared it to.

Then came another picture, probably a scene that He Lin had imagined.

Looking at his sister-in-law's expression, He Xinglan felt very uncomfortable.

But occasionally, she should help her brother. Even if it doesn't end well, his feelings shouldn't be kept hidden from his sister-in-law.

"Sister-in-law, my brother loves you very much, so much. He may not be good at expressing himself, but he shows it through his actions."

Yu Lian was still immersed in grief and clearly could not accept that He Lin's love for her was too intense, but she seemed to be hurting He Lin time and time again.

"Lanlan...I...I was wrong, terribly wrong."

He Xinglan pulled his sister-in-law out of the art studio and into the room opposite.

The density of photos here is even greater than before, making Yu Lian's scalp tingle.

For a moment, she felt a sense of unease about He Lin's madness.

"Sister-in-law, wait a moment."

He Xinglan searched high and low, but couldn't find the diary that her older brother had been protecting so fiercely.

Logically, it should be in the bedside table drawer.

"Oh, here it is. My brother has moved."

Just as Yu Lian was about to open the key, she heard the sound of a key turning on the other side of the corridor, followed by a click, and He Lin was back!

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