"Do you still want to leave?" he asked softly.
"No."
"I've calmed down too."
Grace heard the sound of the door being broken and our argument. Supported by Oliver, she walked slowly upstairs, trying to mediate as she went: "Victor, you've been working too hard today. Get some rest, we can talk tomorrow..."
But when she reached the door and saw us embracing, she paused, face full of disbelief, and let Oliver guide her away.
Victor paid no attention to the comings and goings of others. He just held me tightly and said, "Are you afraid of me?"
"No."
"Will you go back on your word?"
"No."
His voice sounded so tired. After a long while, he finally said:
"If I die, there will be other men beside you. Will you smile at them the way you did today?"
So this was the real reason.
Even for Victor, even though he never admitted it—he was human, and he had vulnerabilities too.
He asked so carefully, burying his head so low, as if the crook of my neck was a perfect harbor.
"No."
I answered decisively, firmly.
I cupped his face, looked into his eyes, saw the dark shadows beneath them, kissed his lips, and gently coaxed him to lie flat and sleep.
Until his edges softened, his breathing grew even, and he slipped quickly into sleep—his palm still gripping my hand tightly.
I dropped a light kiss on his forehead:
"You will be healthy and safe, and you'll be with me for a lifetime. Victor, we can do this."
Later I learned the full story.
Early that morning, at the docks, a shipload of heavy weaponry had been seized. Victor had acquired these American Brownings—comparable in quality to German Mausers—for free. He should have been pleased by such a windfall.
But two things had infuriated him.
First, these arms had been ordered by that traitor. The money to buy them had been earned through unsavory partnerships with the Green Gang—selling opium and trafficking people.
Second, when he went to eliminate the mastermind behind the trafficking, he saw another man inviting his woman to dance. Not only that—they were chatting and laughing.
He had been working nonstop for days, exhausted in body and mind.
And then he had fought with me, and fallen asleep with his head in my lap.
The Green Gang boss had lost his living eldest son. The opium dens, gambling houses, and brothels had all been raided. He wanted to strike back, but even the arms he had previously ordered had been entirely seized.
In the end, because of his close ties with the Japanese, he was branded a traitor. Someone pulled strings, and after he was released from prison, he fled the country. Though he was still a potential threat, as long as there was no war in the north and troops were stationed on the outskirts, these people couldn't make any waves.
Sungate was, for once, peaceful. Clean.
After that, I never actually moved to the Institute, and he never restricted me from going out.
Because Victor vanished the very next day.
Someone said they saw the Young General board a plane heading abroad—perhaps to Europe.
Grace's complexion grew increasingly rosy.
She said the Vane family had accumulated too many sins of violence. It was my care for the children that had earned blessings for her and her child.
This was what had brought her baby to her.
So I dared not slack off—not only because these seeds would one day rebuild the Benevolence Orphanage and raise me, but because this was Grace's heartfelt prayer for her unborn child.
A few days later, I was discussing the establishment of a foundation with Claude.
When Claude arrived, he brought me a bracelet:
"I visited the Taihu market while sourcing cloth, saw this bracelet, and thought it would suit Miss Ouyang, so I bought it."
My gaze fell on the exquisite ruby bracelet. One look told me it was not something that could appear at a market stall:
"I'm not used to wearing bracelets. I appreciate the thought."
I politely refused.
He looked at me, his gaze ambiguous.
Then he smiled mildly and told me that on the morning Victor left, he had visited the Chase household and returned Luna's dowry.
Victor had personally gone to apologize, saying he hadn't known beforehand and could not delay Miss Chase's marriage prospects. He would publish a newspaper notice thanking Miss Chase for supporting the military, and at the same time declare his comradeship with her.
He was trying to sever the connection, even pulling out the word "comrade" as a shield.
President Chase certainly understood the implication. After much negotiation and another promise to double military funding the following year, the matter was settled.
Luna had thrown a tremendous tantrum at home.
Claude had been accompanying his sister shopping and distracting her, expending considerable effort these past days.
"But at least my sister has accepted reality. This little bracelet really is just a small token of appreciation."
Claude was not what Victor called him—just a pretty face.
He was fair-skinned but not short, with slicked-back hair in a three-seven part, occasionally wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
He often wore light-colored suits, was refined and well-spoken, with unique insights on politics and economics. As the son of a wealthy businessman, he also had a sense of social responsibility.
He could be called a rather perfect young man of this era.
But his timing was peculiar, and his overtures a bit abrupt.
I tended to give people the benefit of the doubt and not overthink things, but this was a special era—I couldn't afford to let my guard down entirely.
During the quarter-hour Claude and I exchanged pleasantries, Grace and Oliver finally arrived.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chase. I've been sleeping in so late lately."
Her pregnancy wasn't yet showing, and her makeup was still impeccable, but Oliver's all-encompassing protection made it obvious at a glance that she was with child.
Now that her pregnancy was stable, the doctor had said she could walk around more, which would help with a smoother delivery.
"I was really worried about leaving everything to Rose these past days. Thank goodness you were here to help."
Grace thanked him sincerely. "Now that I'm feeling better, I can pitch in too!"
I invited Grace to join the foundation's establishment. At the very least, she could buffer things between me and Claude, and Oliver's occasional presence would make anyone with ulterior motives think twice.
Whatever his intentions or motives.
Even with Victor not beside me.
In front of me, he had already shed his hard shell, revealing his soft underbelly. I could not let him suffer so much as a scratch.
I had once asked about that traitor—Declan, the man Victor had once treated like an older brother.
The Elder General's sphere of influence had originally been limited to Chesterfield.
Ten years ago, they expanded northward, seizing territory. Declan had fought on the front lines all the way to Taicang County.
After that, he guarded the hard-won Sungate for the Elder General.
He was the Elder General's most trusted confidant—closer than a son.
In close combat and marksmanship, he had taught Victor nearly everything.
When Victor was young and couldn't sit still, he would scold: "If you don't study, you'll end up like me—illiterate, risking your life charging forward, and one day a bomb will blow you to smithereens."
He had used heavy wood to build a desk and chair, tied Victor to the seat, and forced him to read.
"I'm already too old—it's too late for me. But you are the young marshal. You must study. You need to read the military academy books, and you need to read foreign books. They're stronger than us, so we must learn—learn until we're stronger than them, and never fear them again."
Victor had both hated and admired him since childhood, genuinely regarding him as his own big brother.
Until Victor went to study in Germany, and this man ultimately colluded with the very foreigners he claimed to despise.
People's hearts can change. After gaining enormous power, he began to enjoy himself, secretly conspiring with the Green Gang behind the Elder General's back.
Growing opium, running brothels, using old military uniforms to recruit bandits and thugs for robbery—he had done it all.
When the Elder General found out, he reminded him to restrain himself out of old affection, but he no longer listened.
He argued with perfect reason, countering: "If others can do it, why can't we?"
Because most warlords across the country were no different from bandits.
The Elder General was so furious he had him imprisoned, saying he wouldn't be released until he'd reflected on his actions.
Later, war broke out, and the Elder General had no choice but to release him.
But the pretext was that he would assist the newly returned Victor.
When Victor was in Germany, he had refused to believe that his big brother could do such despicable things. So after coming back, he treated him exactly as before.
Then the Elder General fell gravely ill.
With the garrison troops away, the Green Gang—backed by the Japanese—became the largest organization in the area, causing trouble locally.
Even the police commissioner didn't dare to arrest them.
Oliver tried to allocate the remaining garrison troops, but Declan's loyalists repeatedly stalled him. He could only use the General's Estate's remaining forces, combined with the full police force, to finally suppress the Green Gang.
Telegrams were sent to the front, warning Victor to watch out for Declan.
But Victor trusted Declan more than he trusted Oliver.
Declan also knew that if he went back, old accounts would be settled.
So on one hand, he tried to drive a wedge between Victor and Oliver, and on the other, he attempted to assassinate Victor.
Victor survived several near-death experiences, even suspecting his own brother-in-law Oliver, and sneaked back to the General's Estate in the dead of night to steal the city defense maps.
He didn't want to believe his own big brother would harm him.
Until that morning meeting at the Cathay Hotel, when he confronted Declan and asked why.