Chapter 148: The Disappearance of Kim Nana

"Last night?" Elder Jin's tone carried a hint of displeasure. "The housekeeper at home said Nana went out to see you last night. Yunqing, I watched you grow up, and I've always thought of you as a sensible young man. How could you start indulging Nana in staying out all night?"

"Nana didn't go back at all last night?"

Jiang Yao instantly lost all drowsiness, bolting upright from the bed. "What?"

In the Jin residence, inside that magnificent mansion resembling a palace.

Elder Jin puffed on his cigar one after another.

Madam Jin sat on the sofa, wiping her tears incessantly.

Jiang Yao and He Yunqing stood to one side, recounting last night's events to the police.

At the breakfast table early this morning, Elder Jin had not seen a trace of Jin Nana, which struck him as odd.

Jin Nana could be willful at times, but no matter how late she stayed out, she would at least return in the morning to have breakfast with her parents.

Today, however, the seat that exclusively belonged to Jin Nana remained empty.

After repeated questioning, the housekeeper finally told the truth: last night, Nana had gone out to look for He Yunqing.

At first, Elder Jin had not anticipated that things would become so serious, assuming simply that his daughter was growing up and could no longer be kept at home. But after three consecutive phone calls went unanswered, Elder Jin's expression gradually grew solemn.

When he called He Yunqing next, he learned that He Yunqing had not even met Jin Nana last night.

So where on earth had his daughter gone? Elder Jin dared not imagine.

Initially, he thought someone had set their sights on the Jin family's wealth and wanted to extort a ransom through Jin Nana.

If that were the case, things would be easy to handle; money was the one thing the Jin family did not lack. As long as Jin Nana came back safely, he was willing to pay whatever amount the other party demanded.

Yet, from the moment Jin Nana disappeared until now, he had not received a single ransom call.

Unawares, evening had arrived.

The family was growing increasingly anxious.

Madam Jin, usually so elegant and poised, was crying louder and louder. "My Nana has never suffered a single hardship since she was a child. What if those bad guys hit her, what if they starve her..."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze, filled with fury, toward He Yunqing. "How has your auntie treated you over the years? How has Nana treated you?"

He Yunqing reached out, intending to steady her somewhat swaying figure, but she violently swatted his hand away.

"Everyone in the Jin family has treated you so well, why would you do that to Nana? What kind of place is Breeze Pavilion? You left her there all by herself, and you left her for an entire night! Did you ever stop to think that she is a fragile woman who could encounter danger? Did you ever consider how terrified she must have been at that moment? If anything happens to her, you are the murderer!"

Elder Jin stepped forward to support her. "Calm down first."

"How can I calm down? Our Nana is still missing, and she is our only child! Kept in the palm of our hands all these years without suffering a single grievance—if anything happens to her, I don't want to live anymore!"

With that, Madam Jin frantically grabbed He Yunqing by the collar. "Let me tell you, if anything happens to my child, none of you will find peace!"

Elder Jin extinguished his cigarette barehanded against the table and waved a hand at the servants. "Madam is tired. Take her to rest."

"I am not tired, I am not leaving! I want to stay here and wait for my Nana to return, my poor Nana!"

Supported by several people, Madam Jin was finally coaxed back to her bedroom.

Elder Jin cast a glance at He Yunqing and Jiang Yao, his expression extremely grim. "Follow me."

The two of them followed Elder Jin into the study.

Elder Jin gestured with his hand. "Sit."

Neither of them sat down.

"The two of you, were you together last night?" Elder Jin asked with a frown.

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. I fell ill, and in order to take me home, He Yunqing missed his appointment with Nana," Jiang Yao said preemptively.

Elder Jin glanced indifferently at Jiang Yao, then turned his gaze back to He Yunqing. "Answer me. Did you really leave Nana there alone last night?"

"I'm sorry."

He Yunqing did not deny it.

"Ha... ha..." Elder Jin suddenly let out a laugh, a sound that could make anyone's hair stand on end.

The next second, he snatched the ashtray off the desk and hurled it directly and forcefully at He Yunqing.

He Yunqing did not dodge.

The transparent crystal ashtray brushed past He Yunqing's cheek with a sharp gale, crashing straight into the wall behind him.

It shattered.

"Get out!" For the first time in his life, Elder Jin flew into a rage at He Yunqing. He strained his neck, veins bulging, and roared at him, "Get out! Never show your face in the Jin family again, and never let me see you again!"

He Yunqing silently gave Elder Jin a faint bow and turned to walk out the door.

Jiang Yao cast a worried look at Elder Jin and prepared to follow him out.

"Stop right there."

Jiang Yao's footsteps halted. Elder Jin's words were directed at her.

Hearing this, and fearing that Elder Jin might give Jiang Yao a hard time, He Yunqing stopped in his tracks and did not leave.

Jiang Yao gestured repeatedly to He Yunqing. "You go on out first, I'm fine."

Only then did He Yunqing look at Elder Jin once more before stepping out of the study.

Uncertain of what Elder Jin wanted to say to her, Jiang Yao stood rigidly in place.

Elder Jin silently lit another cigarette and, after a long pause, finally spoke. "A-Yao, when I said I wanted to treat you well, I meant it. I can also understand why you might hold a grudge against me."

"No grudge," Jiang Yao replied calmly. "It's just that I survived well enough without a father in the past, and I don't need to start having one in the future either."

"If that's the case, why on earth did you have to steal a man from your sister?"

"Steal a man?"

Elder Jin let out a faint scoff, his gaze sweeping indifferently over Jiang Yao—not the affectionate gaze of a father.

It was more like the disdain of someone in a superior position toward someone beneath them.

A sudden realization dawned on Jiang Yao: perhaps, in his heart, this was also how he had viewed Jiang Zhihua.

His so-called paternal affection for her was nothing more than an effortless charity, a masquerade to cement his persona as a good man.

After all, money was the one thing the Jin family did not lack.

He could throw a vast sum of money at her, this illegitimate daughter kept in the shadows, simply to complete the illusion of being a virtuous father.

"Although Nana didn't share a mother with you, and can be a bit willful and arrogant at times, she is still your own sister. How could you do this to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her. I know she is my sister, and I don't dislike her. On the contrary, I sometimes find her quite adorable. Why would I ever hurt her?"

Elder Jin scoffed lightly. "So it was all in my head? Didn't you know that Nana had an appointment with He Yunqing, and purposefully lured him away? Is it really such a coincidence that you fell ill—not a moment too early, not a moment too late, but precisely at that exact time?"