The Rise of a Special Forces Soldier Abandoned by a Wealthy Family

Yan Rugo's VIP ward at the General Hospital of the Military Region.

The door was gently pushed open and then gently closed.

Xiaoya took one last look at the room, her eyes filled with complex and indescribable emotions, before quietly retreating to the door, leaving the small space entirely to the two main characters.

Inside, only two people remained.

Yan Ruge leaned against the high headboard, sunlight streaming in from the window behind her, casting a weak yet sacred halo over her pale face.

She has just undergone major surgery and is still very weak!

But at this moment, she straightened her back with all her might, and her clear, autumn-water-like eyes looked calmly, even with a hint of inquiry, at the uninvited guest at the door.

Anna stood by the door, backlit, her figure appearing somewhat slender.

She held a bouquet of fresh lilies in her hands, the petals still glistening with dewdrops, creating a stark contrast with her red and swollen eyes and haggard, pale face.

Her long, golden hair was somewhat disheveled, with a few strands clinging to her tear-stained face. Her blue eyes churned with pain, struggle, and an almost resolute composure.

The air froze for a few seconds.

Only the regular, low "beeping" sound of the instruments could be heard, like two hearts silently battling.

Anna made the first move.

She took a step and walked towards the hospital bed.

Each step was taken slowly, the soft "tap, tap" of high heels on the floor sounding exceptionally clear in the silence.

She gently placed the lilies in her hand on the bedside table. The pure white flowers emitted a delicate fragrance, which mingled with the smell of disinfectant.

Then, she raised her head and looked at Yan Rugo.

He tried hard to tug at the corners of his mouth, attempting to force a smile.

That smile was more heartbreaking than tears; it was filled with forced smiles, bitterness, and an unconcealable sadness.

I've come to see you.

Anna's voice was a little hoarse, but she tried her best to remain calm.

Yan Ruge's gaze shifted from Baihe to Anna's face.

She didn't say "thank you," nor did she offer the usual pleasantries.

Her gaze was direct, even sharp, as if trying to pierce through Anna's feigned composure and see the true tsunami within her heart.

"Have you seen him?"

Yan Ruge spoke, her words like a knife, piercing straight to the heart of the problem.

Anna's body swayed almost imperceptibly.

She slowly shook her head, the movement very small, causing her golden hair to tremble.

"I understand him."

Her voice carried a profound understanding and a self-destructive clarity:

So... I didn't see him.

As she uttered those words, the light in her blue eyes dimmed momentarily, as if stars were falling from them.

Then, her gaze refocused, fixed intently on Yan Rugo's pale yet beautiful face.

That gaze held scrutiny, comparison, and unspeakable complex emotions, but ultimately, it transformed into an almost tragic openness.

I admire your courage.

"At the same time... I also envy you."

She paused, her voice trembling slightly with suppressed emotion:

"But please rest assured... I am not jealous."

Her gaze pierced through Yan Rugo, as if looking into the void, towards the man she loved so deeply:

"Because...the person you shielded from the bullet..."

He is my everything.

"He's alright..."

She closed her eyes, and two lines of clear tears finally broke through her defenses, silently sliding down her pale cheeks. The sound was as soft as a dream, yet as heavy as Mount Tai:

"More important than my deep affection...more important than whether I can have him..."

boom--!

These words struck Yan Rugo's heart like the heaviest meteorite!

It stirred up a massive wave!

Her pupils suddenly contracted, and her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, causing her to gasp for breath in pain!

She looked at the foreign girl in front of her, her face streaked with tears, yet uttering the most heart-wrenching words.

Looking at that undisguised love, which seemed to burn itself out completely.

As a woman herself, and as someone who was also deeply in love and unable to extricate herself, she instantly... understood everything.

Yan Ruge's gaze was also fixed on Anna.

The two women's gazes met, collided, and intertwined in the air.

It was a battle without gunfire, yet more thrilling than any other battlefield.

"Since you haven't seen him..."

"Yet you came to see me..."

"I should have guessed... why you came."

She took a slight breath and asked a question that even she found pointed:

"If it had been you back then..."

"I think he would also step forward without hesitation."

"You...would also rush over without hesitation to shield him from bullets, right?"

"meeting."

Anna's answer was without hesitation, decisive, and as quick as an instinctive reaction.

She didn't even consider "what if"; her eyes instantly became incredibly firm and resolute, as if the scene had already been rehearsed in her mind a thousand times:

"If I saw him... kneeling down like that for me..."

"I only have two decisions—"

"Either commit suicide immediately, so as not to become his burden or weakness."

"Or...?"

Anna's gaze returned to Yan Rugo, carrying a mixture of resigned sorrow and deep respect:

"Just like you."

"I'll use my body to give him... a sliver of hope."

The ward fell silent once again.

Only the heavy, suppressed breathing of two women could be heard.

Yan Ruge bit her lower lip hard until she tasted a faint hint of blood.

It brought a cruel clarity to her chaotic mind.

She gave a bitter sigh, her smile pale and weak.

"so……"

"You came here... because you felt..."

"I stole him?"

"No……!"

Yan Ruge shook her head frantically, as if she wanted to cut open her heart for Anna to see:

"Anna...may I call you that?"

Receiving a slight nod from Anna, Yan Rugo quickened her pace, her words carrying an urgency to express herself and prove her point:

He understands my deep affection. But his heart... has never been fully opened.

"I can sense... he's always keeping me at arm's length."

Her gaze became distant and pained:

"Deep in his heart... there has always been a place for you. Very early, very heavy."

"He was also...in pain."

She spoke the last three words very softly, yet they struck Anna's heart like a heavy hammer.

Yan Ruge's eyelashes trembled violently a few times.

"Can you tell me about it..."

"What about your experience with him?"

Anna turned her head and looked out the window at the bright but dazzling sunlight.

It was as if the sunlight gave her the courage to look back on that past, a time intertwined with sweetness and pain.

She slowly began to speak.

Her voice was sometimes soft as a murmur, and sometimes choked with sobs, unable to form a sentence.

It tells the story of the figure who descended like a god in a terrorist's lair and took a bullet for her.

It tells the story of how he miraculously saved his grandfather's life after he was declared dead.

She recounts those seemingly ordinary moments on the Harvard campus that she cherishes deeply—the quiet, unspoken companionship in a corner of the library, his focused profile, the occasional smile that plays on his lips as he relaxes in the sunset…

As she recalled the past, a complex expression appeared on her face—bitterness, the pain of unrequited love; and sweetness, the cherishing of the time spent with him.

That wasn't a girl showing off, but a believer devoutly describing every glimmer of light her deity had given her.

Yan Ruge listened very attentively.

Very serious.

She looked at Anna's face, sometimes smiling, sometimes shedding tears, lost in her memories, and at the undeniable, deep-seated love in those azure eyes.

Her heart sank little by little, gradually filled with a bittersweet and complex emotion.

When Anna's voice finally stopped, only a long silence and lingering emotional resonance remained in the ward.

Yan Ruge smiled bitterly, her gaze refocusing on Anna's face.

"so……"

Her voice carried a knowing sigh:

He understands your deep affection just as well.

"Similarly... it's also about being neither too close nor too distant."

She paused, then asked the most pointed question that had been swirling in her mind, and surely in Anna's as well:

Anna.

Do you think... I'm the other woman? Or... are you the other woman?

The problem hung like an icicle between the two.

Anna's lips moved, but she did not answer immediately.