Chapter 79: Exposure

Lu Yuan stood in front of the noisy television, her heart gripped tightly by an invisible hand, making it hard to breathe.

Calm down, Lu Yuan, you have to stay calm now.

She told herself this as she walked over to the sofa and picked up the small bear that had fallen to the floor.

This bear was the kind of decorative toy with a heavy bottom, meaning that if Chen Lianxue had carefully placed it on the sofa earlier, it couldn’t have fallen on its own unless someone had thrown it to the floor. Even a normal breeze wouldn’t move this kind of toy.

Yet now, it was lying on the ground.

There were no signs of intrusion or struggle in the room, which meant the bear had been knocked over by Lianxue herself. She must have left in a hurry.

“Lu Yuan…?” Lin Wan spoke tentatively.

Lu Yuan made a silent hand gesture and sat down on Lianxue’s sofa.

Lianxue had probably been sitting here watching TV at the time.

Lu Yuan grabbed the remote and pressed a few buttons on the television.

There were many programs on the screen: early childhood education cartoons, late-night commercials, midnight movies.

But none of that was important. What really mattered was what Chen Lianxue had seen last night that made her leave in such a rush.

Lu Yuan’s eyes landed on the [History Records] on the TV screen.

She opened the history records and flipped to yesterday’s footage.

“Around nine o’clock…” Lu Yuan searched through the list, then suddenly paused as her finger hovered over the remote.

It was a news program.

The news anchor’s face was serious, and the headline scrolling beneath was shocking:

【Latest Update on the Female Police Officer Theft Case from One Month Ago! Although Suspect Chen caused no casualties, she still faces multiple serious charges! Possibly at least thirty years in prison?】

The screen switched to footage, blurred with a light mosaic, but Lu Yuan and Lin Wan immediately recognized the pale-faced woman surrounded by reporters, wearing handcuffs.

It was Chen Xin! Chen Lianxue’s mother!

… Suspect Chen Xin confessed to the crimes, but whether her actions to save her daughter suffering from a rare disease constitute grounds for leniency remains controversial. The final verdict will be announced next week…

The news report sounded distant, buzzing in Lu Yuan’s ears.

She understood everything.

Lu Yuan abruptly turned off the TV. The noisy sound stopped instantly, plunging the room into a suffocating silence.

“Captain Su Li lied to her, saying her mother was on a business trip…” Lu Yuan’s voice was low, “She definitely saw the news. She knows her mother’s in trouble!”

A girl who had just woken from a long coma, still mostly unfamiliar with the world, saw news of her mother’s arrest alone in the middle of the night…

What must she be feeling? Fear? Helplessness? Panic? Or… wanting to find her mother?

“Where would she go? Where could she go?” Lin Wan paced anxiously. “She doesn’t know her way around! And her mother’s locked up, isn’t she?”

Lu Yuan forced herself to calm down, her mind racing.

Chen Lianxue was a very rational girl. Although young, she was no ordinary child. After finding out that Captain Su Li had deceived her, what would she do?

Throw a tantrum? Act like a rogue? Or something else?

Lu Yuan ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She couldn’t figure it out—she knew too little about Lianxue.

“I don’t know…” Lu Yuan replied despondently to Lin Wan’s question.

Not to mention herself, very few people actually knew Chen Lianxue well.

She had just become a Magical Girl, and although Captain Su Li wasn’t a stranger, this was the first time she had gotten to know her so closely. As for Lin Wan and Lu Yuan, they knew even less.

Who? Who could truly know where Chen Lianxue would go after such a blow?

Suddenly, Lu Yuan’s hand stopped scratching her head.

She seemed to remember one person who knew Chen Lianxue’s character inside and out—and knew her better than anyone Lu Yuan knew.

Lu Yuan looked at Lin Wan. It seemed they had thought of the same person simultaneously.

Chen Xin.

No one knew her daughter better than her own mother.

***

Inside the City West No. 1 Detention Center of Tongmen City.

After completing the tedious visitation procedures, Lu Yuan and Lin Wan sat in the cold meeting room, every second of waiting feeling like torture.

Finally, the side door opened, and a female officer led a woman wearing an orange prison jumpsuit out.

It was Chen Xin.

She was much thinner than before, her face pale, but her gentle eyes still held a sharp light—like a docile hunting dog.

She sat down slowly, picked up the intercom across the thick glass, and said, “Miss Lu Yuan… Miss Lin Wan… why are you here?”

“Sister Chen Xin…” Lu Yuan didn’t rush into the topic. She didn’t want Chen Xin to know that Lianxue was missing. After all, Chen Xin was her mother. She hoped to get answers indirectly.

“It’s nothing serious, just… we came to see you. Also, I wanted to ask, if Lianxue ever feels especially sad or scared, does she have any habits? Like… does she go to any particular place to stay? We want to understand her better, and keep her company more.”

Lu Yuan tried to make her question sound like casual concern, not an emergency.

But how could she fool Chen Xin, a former policewoman? Lu Yuan’s stammering words and Lin Wan’s anxious gaze had already given everything away.

Chen Xin’s expression darkened instantly, her hand gripping the intercom tightening slowly. “Lu Yuan, tell me the truth. What happened to Lianxue?”

Lu Yuan tried to keep hiding the truth: “She’s fine, it’s just…”

“She’s in trouble, isn’t she?” Chen Xin interrupted, voice resolute—a mother’s intuition.

“If she were fine, you wouldn’t suddenly come here together asking these questions. Where’s Captain Su Li? Why didn’t she come?”

Under her piercing gaze, all of Lu Yuan’s rehearsed lines felt weak and pale. She took a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t keep the secret any longer.

“Lianxue is missing,” Lu Yuan finally admitted. “It probably happened last night. We were at her house… and saw the replay of your news.”

On the other side of the glass, Chen Xin’s face turned deathly pale, but she didn’t scream or break down. She closed her eyes, the tension in her body like a taut string ready to snap.

Seconds later, she opened her eyes again, forcing her emotions down with astonishing willpower, leaving only clarity.

“City People’s Hospital,” Chen Xin said without wasting words, “Behind the old building, there’s an abandoned little garden. In the corner, there’s an old blue swing.”

She paused, her voice trembling slightly as memories flooded back, but soon steadied again.

“That was a place her father used to take her often. When she was little, every time she cried scared before injections or got sick and couldn’t find me, she’d run there, sit on the swing, and hide herself… She said she could feel her father protecting her there and wait for her mother to come find her.”

The information was precise, hitting the mark.

“Old hospital building! Blue swing!”

Lu Yuan immediately took note and stood up, ready to rush to the scene.

“Lu Yuan.” Chen Xin called after her.

Lu Yuan turned around.

Chen Xin looked at her through the glass.

“Find her, bring her home, please.”

There were no tears or pleas, but those three words carried a weight heavier than any sobbing begging.

Lu Yuan met her gaze firmly and nodded hard. “I will definitely bring her back.”

***

Just as Lu Yuan turned to leave, Chen Xin’s voice came again.

“And… I’m sorry.”

Lu Yuan froze.

“Before… I betrayed you, and I never properly apologized.” Chen Xin’s voice was soft but every word clear. “This apology should have come a long time ago… I’m sorry.”

Lu Yuan looked at the woman before her—a mother who had risked everything, even gone astray for her daughter. She didn’t know how to respond.

To say she didn’t hate her was impossible; she was no saint. This woman had almost cost her life.

But Chen Xin was just a mother who wanted to save her daughter, even if that love was selfish.

Lu Yuan thought, she was right to want to save her daughter, and it was right for her to hate her—what was wrong was that bastard Rose.

“You’re just a mother trying to save her daughter,” Lu Yuan said calmly.

“As long as you don’t avoid the punishment you deserve, I won’t continue to hate you. Right now, we’re all people who want to find Lianxue. Don’t worry, we will find her.”

With that, she didn’t linger any longer and hurriedly pulled Lin Wan out of the meeting room.

Chen Xin watched their hurried retreat, collapsing weakly into her chair, hands covering her face.

“I’ve never blamed you… have I?”

“Thank you, Lu Yuan.”