Shadowed Echoes: The Hunt for the Enchanted Key

Chapter 15: Love Has Become an Obsession

In the silent hospital ward, Tang Shi opened her eyes. At first, all she saw was a dim light, and then her vision gradually returned to normal.

She glanced around. It was not until someone pushed the door open from the outside that she suddenly came back to her senses.

Bo Ye stood at the door with an obscure expression on his face. The moment he saw Tang Shi's face, countless emotions flashed through his eyes, but finally, they all faded away in his dark pupils.

Tang Shi looked at him numbly and remained silent.

She had once fantasized about many ways of meeting an old lover. The world was really too small. The person she had loved deeply would eventually meet her one day. However, Tang Shi really never expected that Bo Ye would treat her like this.

In an extremely cruel and resolute way, he pushed her into the abyss of despair once again.

Bo Ye noticed Tang Shi's silence and realized that she didn't want to talk to him. He had to stand at the door, clear his throat, and say, "You're awake."

Tang Shi gave him a cold look and didn't say anything.

Bo Ye stepped forward and lifted her chin. When he saw the look of hatred in her eyes, he felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.

"What, are you angry with me?"

He smiled, and a chilling smile hung on his devilishly handsome face. "Tang Shi, I should have strangled you to death five years ago. You should be grateful that I've let you live until now."

When Tang Shi heard his words, she laughed crisply at Bo Ye as if she had heard a joke. "Yes, I should also thank you for showing mercy and sparing my humble life!"

"You feel wronged?"

Bo Ye also sneered, which was even more sarcastic than Tang Shi's.

"What's there to feel wronged about?" Tang Shi squinted her eyes. There was still a weak and sickly look on her face, but those eyes were as sharp as poisoned blades, astonishingly bright.

Under the gaze of that look, Bo Ye actually had the illusion that he couldn't breathe.

Tang Shi smiled charmingly at him. For a moment, the world seemed to lose its color. "Bo Ye, shouldn't I thank you properly? You destroyed my life five years ago, and now you want to take my life five years later! I must have committed some great sin in my previous life to be completely ruined by you in this life!"

When Bo Ye heard Tang Shi's words, he squeezed her chin even harder. "What else do you want to argue for yourself? Regarding An Mi's death..."

"What if An Mi's death has nothing to do with me?"

Tang Shi laughed maniacally, as if there was nothing left in the world for her to cherish, as if she had no way out and had to go all out. She shouted at him, "Bo Ye, I'll just ask you one thing. If An Mi's death has nothing to do with me, can you ever repay what you owe me in this lifetime!"

If An Mi's death has nothing to do with me, can you ever repay what you owe me in this lifetime!

Bo Ye's pupils shrank sharply. Even the next second, he involuntarily let go of her, took two steps back, and looked at Tang Shi in disbelief. "What did you say?"

Tang Shi's voice suddenly dropped, as if the previous counterattack had exhausted all her strength. She said, "Bo Ye, I don't hate you anymore. Because I think you're so pitiful that it doesn't matter whether I hate you or not."

When she looked up, the eyes that used to be filled with love for him were now empty and numb, with not a trace of affection left. All of it had been completely consumed by the hatred five years ago.

Bo Ye laughed out of extreme anger. His face was even more handsomely intimidating when he was angry. The man had the capital to drive all the women in the city crazy. Five years ago, she had also rushed towards him like a moth to a flame, regardless of everything. In the end, she destroyed herself but got nothing in return, not even a shred of sympathy, as he was too stingy to give it.

Tang Shi shook her head, as if mocking herself. She said, "I don't regret it, and I don't hate you either. It's just five years in prison. Now that I'm out, I'm still alive and well. I can live just fine without you."

"Feel free to investigate. Feel free to dig up old scores. Bo Ye, I'm telling you."

The moment she looked up, her eyes were sharp and cold. For a moment, Bo Ye seemed to see the stunning and extremely proud eldest young lady of the Tang family again. Even though her family had fallen, she still had an indelible sense of pride and self-esteem.

Tang Shi's lips opened and closed as she said to Bo Ye—

"I'm telling you, I don't regret at all that I knocked over An Mi's ashes in front of everyone five years ago. Because of her, my family was destroyed; because of her, I was wrongly accused; because of her, a dead person, I endured all kinds of t*****e and humiliation and lived a life worse than death in prison for a full five years! Fortunately, she's dead. It's not too much for me to smash her urn! I'm telling you, if she were still alive, I would also crush her bones and scatter her ashes!"

"How dare you!" Bo Ye was enraged and slapped Tang Shi across the face. His voice was trembling. "Tang Shi! How dare you!! How dare you even say such a thing!!"

The stinging pain didn't force out her tears. Instead, it made her smile even more. Like a gorgeous poppy flower, her smile was stunningly beautiful.

"Yes! I do dare! A dead person made me bear this unfair life. Bo Ye, if you had ever put yourself in my position for even a moment, you wouldn't have made me what I am now! I'm telling you, I never regret what I did to her. I'm just afraid that when you find out the truth and realize that An Mi's death has nothing to do with me, you'll hate yourself!"

Bo Ye's heart trembled at Tang Shi's words. But he was there when An Mi was pushed down. How could he have been wrong? It was clearly Tang Shi who did it!

"Stop pretending to be innocent here. If you were going to say something, you should have said it five years ago!"

"Did you give me a chance to say it?"

Tang Shi finally laughed until tears came out. "Ah, right. You never believed a word I said. I was your wife for five years, but I was like a dog. You never even spared me a single glance, not even one! Bo Ye, you don't love me. Why did you marry me? Do you think you're worthy of me or An Mi?"

"I only love An Mi. I married you just because you climbed into my bed!"

Bo Ye finally couldn't hold back his anger and shouted, "It was you who climbed into my bed back then!"

"Is that so? Is that how you see me? You really have forgotten everything!" Tang Shi laughed. She laughed so hard that her body trembled, and her voice broke. "There's a saying that's really true... Deep affection is utterly useless, and lovesickness is simply ignored!"

Bo Ye, consider all my past efforts for you as nothing but a joke. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely not choose to meet you!

She regretted it, regretted it deeply. Bo Ye, Bo Ye, I only hope that one day you'll regret what you've done!

"I'm not afraid of how you treat me. I'm just afraid that one day you'll regret it yourself."

After saying this, Tang Shi pointed at the door of the ward and shouted at Bo Ye, "Get out!"

The hatred in her eyes was so obvious. She said she didn't hate him anymore and that it didn't matter, but in fact, it was just because she hated him so much that it didn't seem to make any difference whether she forgave him or not—her hatred for him had already gone deep into her bones. From the moment he sent her to prison five years ago, she had personally killed all her love and expectations for him.

At the end of the road, the destruction you brought me has caused me endless pain and struggle in the abyss.

Bo Ye, I don't want redemption. I just want to curse you, wishing that you'll never be able to find the one you love in this lifetime!

Tang Shi laughed wildly. A nurse outside heard the sound and rushed in. Seeing Tang Shi like this, she went up and tried to hold her down forcefully. Tang Shi shuddered and threw the nurse to the ground.

The nurse let out a scream. Immediately, a group of people ran in from the corridor outside. Someone even shouted—

"Tranquilizer, tranquilizer!"

"The patient in Ward V02 is in an abnormal condition!"

"Hurry up! All medical staff and security guards come up!"

"Don't touch me! Get out! All of you get out!"

Whenever someone came forward, Tang Shi would throw things at them. Cups, vases, stools—all these things became her weapons to hurt others and protect herself.

She laughed and cried at the same time. "Get out! All of you get out!"

Bo Ye shouted, "Tang Shi! You're crazy!"

These words were like a sharp sword stabbing into Tang Shi's body, piercing through her heart and lungs. The intense pain spread from her chest to every corner of her body and every strand of her hair, inch by inch, swallowing up her breath.

The woman's eyes turned red in her madness. Suddenly, she knelt down in front of Bo Ye and kowtowed heavily.

"Bo Ye, let me go. I'm begging you... Please let me go!"

"I served five years in prison. I'm no longer a human being. Look at me. Open your eyes and look at what I've become now!"

Suddenly, an indescribable sense of soreness spread from the tip of his heart. Bo Ye's whole body trembled as he stared blankly at the woman in front of him.

Five years ago, she was the proud and self-confident eldest young lady of the Tang family. Five years later, she was a woman with a criminal record who was acting crazy.

His whole body was shaking. There was a deep pain from the bottom of his soul on his handsome face, so painful that his eyebrows were tightly furrowed. "Tang Shi, what's wrong with you...?"

He suddenly thought of the mottled and crisscrossed scars on Tang Shi's right hand. How desperate must a person be to hurt their most precious right hand?

Tang Shi was a designer. She cherished this pair of hands more than anyone else. They were the source of her pride and self-respect. But such a her—had chosen to destroy her most important right hand. How great a storm must she have gone through to be unable to bear the weight of reality and move towards destruction?

Everyone was shocked. Why had Tang Shi become like this, so fragile, so sensitive, and so crazy... What had she experienced in prison?

Five years... Who had destroyed her like this?

Bo Ye suddenly didn't dare to ask for the answer. He was afraid that it was himself... that he was the culprit who had turned her into a monster.

It couldn't be. Tang Shi... Tang Shi loved him so much. How could it be...

Professional medical staff rushed in and held Tang Shi down one after another. The security guards stood by to maintain order. Someone helped the injured little nurse up. The ward was extremely noisy for a moment, and some people even craned their necks to look inside.

Bo Ye was pushed to the side by the crowd. He watched in shock as Tang Shi was pressed onto the hospital bed. The needle filled with tranquilizer was stabbed hard into her arm. Then her pupils dilated, her eyelids closed, and she fell into a coma again.