Volume 1, Chapter 172 He lowered his gaze, not sparing her even a single glance.

Standing at the doorway were Fu Wanwen and the Liang family’s lawyer. Beyond them, walking in a hurry from the far end of the corridor, were Liang Zhenguo and two or three other Liang family relatives.

Faced with all these people, Liang Jinmo had no desire to ask questions.

He took out his phone and called Xu Zhi.

The hospital corridor was not particularly noisy, and he soon heard the faint ringing of Xu Zhi’s phone, sounding somewhat muffled by the distance.

Following the sound, he spotted the stairwell of the emergency exit. Feeling a vague sense of doubt, he strode toward it.

Inside the stairwell, Xu Zhi had been startled by the ringing of her phone and hurriedly pushed Liang Muzhi away.

This time, Liang Muzhi let go.

Xu Zhi hastily pulled out her phone to mute it. Seeing that the incoming call was from Liang Jinmo, her heart tightened.

Liang Jinmo must have come out of the hospital room; she had to leave immediately. Lowering her voice, she said to Liang Muzhi, "Don't follow me out, do you hear me?"

Liang Muzhi merely looked at her without speaking.

He possessed delicate facial features, and now, with tear tracks on his face and his eye rims glowing red as he stared at her, she felt an all-over sense of discomfort. Daring not to stay any longer, she instantly pulled open the emergency exit door and stepped outside.

Just a few steps away, she ran straight into Liang Jinmo, who was walking toward her.

She had spoken to Liang Muzhi in a very low voice just moments ago, but since Liang Jinmo had already walked all the way here, she had no idea whether he had heard anything.

Given the grandfather's current condition, no further complications could be stirred up right now. If he were to find out that she had just been dragged into the stairwell by Liang Muzhi, she had no idea what he might do next...

Her heart was beating fast, her mind was in a turmoil, and her face was somewhat pale as she asked him, "Is the grandfather finished talking with you?"

Liang Jinmo looked at her, hung up the call on his phone, and slipped it into the pocket of his trench coat. After a couple of seconds, he gave a soft, "Mn." Then he asked, "Why did you go to the stairwell?"

"I..." Xu Zhi raised a hand to wipe her face, deciding to explain everything in detail to him once they had left the hospital.

She said, "Seeing the grandfather like that just now... I felt a bit overwhelmed, so I went to the stairwell to cry for a while."

Her gaze flickered slightly. She was not good at lying, especially not in front of him.

Liang Jinmo raised his eyes and looked toward the door of the stairwell.

Xu Zhi reached out and grabbed his hand. "So... are we leaving?"

He withdrew his gaze and then said, "I thought you would want to stay here and see the grandfather through to his final moments."

Panic gripped Xu Zhi. She bit her lip for a few seconds before saying, "But, all the Liang family members are here... I was afraid you would feel uncomfortable staying with them."

Liang Jinmo glanced once more at the emergency exit door. When he pulled his line of sight back, it landed on Xu Zhi's shoulder. There was a faint damp watermark on the shoulder of her cotton-padded jacket. He cast his gaze downward and noticed that her wrist was bruised and red.

Already feeling a guilty conscience, Xu Zhi followed his gaze down to her own wrist and frantically tugged her sleeve down in an attempt to conceal it.

Her mind was completely blank; she utterly failed to realize that trying to hide it now was entirely meaningless—he had already seen it.

Liang Jinmo's expression instantly chilled. He remembered that he hadn't seen Liang Muzhi at the door of the hospital room just moments before.

Without saying a single word, he bypassed her directly and headed toward the emergency exit.

Utterly frantic, Xu Zhi grabbed him, crying out, "Brother Jinmo!"

Liang Jinmo kept moving forward, and she lowered her voice to plead, "I'm begging you... don't go over there."

At least not now. The old man was on the verge of death; what kind of a situation would it be if Liang Jinmo and Liang Muzhi started a fight at a time like this?

A human life hung in the balance inside that room, and that was also the old man who had watched her grow up. She truly wished to avoid any extraneous complications at this moment.

Liang Jinmo pushed her hand away. She rushed after him again and threw her arms around him. "You really can't! You can't make a scene at a time like this... Have you all forgotten about the grandfather?"

A biting, glacial aura erupted from Liang Jinmo's entire body. He lowered his gaze to look down at her, his eyes freezing cold. "For how many years did he dote on Liang Muzhi, and yet Liang Muzhi doesn't give a damn. You expect me to show consideration for him?"

In her desperation, Xu Zhi blurted out, "He's immature, but you can't be like that too. You're always the most sensible one..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she was shoved aside by him.

This time he used force. She staggered a few steps before regaining her footing, only to see that Liang Jinmo had already strode over and pushed open the emergency exit door.

Her hands immediately clenched into fists, but she lacked the courage to follow him.

Liang Jinmo stood in the doorway, looking into the empty stairwell.

And he stood there, unmoving.

She had no idea how much time passed before Xu Zhi finally mustered up the courage to walk over, stand beside him, and look into the deserted stairwell.

A wave of relief washed over her heart, leaving her feeling utterly drained.

Liang Jinmo pulled back his hand, letting the door slam shut with a loud bang, and turned to stride toward the elevator bank.

Feeling that her sigh of relief had come far too soon, Xu Zhi turned and hurried after Liang Jinmo.

Passing the entrance of the hospital room, Liang Zhenguo saw that Liang Jinmo looked ready to leave and called out to him, "Jinmo."

Acting as though he hadn't heard, Liang Jinmo headed straight for the elevators with Xu Zhi running along behind him in a series of little sprints.

Instructing Fu Wanwen to watch things for a moment, Liang Zhenguo wore a dark expression and followed them to the elevators as well.

As Liang Jinmo and Xu Zhi waited for the elevator, he spoke up: "Jinmo, Zhi... With your grandfather in this state, are you two really just going to leave?"

Xu Zhi was a tangled mess of anxiety inside. Catching sight of Liang Jinmo's icy expression and terrified that he would clash with Liang Zhenguo at this moment, she hurried to say, "Uncle, I-I have some things to take care of with Brother Jinmo, so we're leaving first."

Liang Zhenguo's breathing turned heavy; he was genuinely infuriated.

Under ordinary circumstances, he wouldn't say anything, but at a matter-of-life-and-death moment like this, Liang Jinmo and Xu Zhi were simply walking away without a care.

Liang Jinmo didn't even spare him a glance, keeping his eyes fixed entirely on the LED floor indicator.

He simply turned his gaze to Xu Zhi instead. "Our grandfather was never unkind to you in the past... Muzhi and your affairs—he was always the one backing you up. And you're just going to leave at a time like this?"

Xu Zhi's already chaotic mind was thrown into even greater turmoil by this question.

Why did everything have to collide all at once? She couldn't handle it; she couldn't think of any solution at all. She stammered, "I... I will come back later."

Liang Zhenguo's tone grew heavier. "The next time you come back, it'll be for his funeral!"

Xu Zhi felt as though the tightly strung cord in her mind was about to snap. Why was everyone backing her into a corner?

The elevator doors opened, and Liang Jinmo stepped inside without the slightest hesitation.

He didn't wait for Xu Zhi, nor did he invite her to come along.

Just as she was about to step forward and follow him in, she saw him press the close button.

In truth, she could have blocked the door with her body, but that single action of his left her frozen in place.

She knew there was a lack of trust between them. She had been working hard these past few days to give him a greater sense of security so he would stop suspecting her, and she had even planned to explain today's events, except that...

The elevator doors closed, cutting off her line of sight to him.

He had kept his eyes lowered, not sparing her a single glance.

The humiliation of having Liang Zhenguo witness this scene was secondary; the pain in her chest was far more suffocating, leaving her standing bewildered in her spot.

Watching the elevator display descending numbers, Liang Zhenguo clenched his fists. "I actually thought he was more sensible than Muzhi... Looks like I overestimated him."

With that, Liang Zhenguo turned to leave.

Xu Zhi hurriedly called out, "Uncle Liang!"

Liang Zhenguo paused in his tracks.

She said, "I... Can I stay here in Brother Jinmo's place to keep watch? He... he's just too devastated..."

She knew such an excuse might not hold water, but she couldn't think of anything else. Liang Jinmo still had his own plans within the Liang Corporation; if he left at this juncture, Liang Zhenguo would undoubtedly hold him accountable, and she didn't know if it would affect his career at the company.

She had no idea how to salvage this thoroughly chaotic mess.

Without turning back, Liang Zhenguo replied, "Muzhi and his mother both opposed your relationship, but I had already accepted the two of you. Now it seems perhaps I was wrong."

Having said that, Liang Zhenguo walked away.

Xu Zhi stood in place, listening to the footsteps gradually fade into the distance, suddenly entirely at a loss as to where she should go or what she should do.