32_'I'm sorry, mom.'

"I want to go back this afternoon. Book me a ticket." Mu Lihai told Zhu Kang as soon as his assistant walked inside the master bedroom in his presidential suite at seven in the morning.

Zhu Kang immediately frowned hard. It was not because he heard his boss said he wanted to go back a day earlier than planned but because he saw Mu Lihai working on his bed with his body bundled up to a ball. Together with countless papers and files scattered around him on the mattress.

"You didn't sleep last night." it wasn't a question. Zhu Kang's scowl turned more apparent.

"I want to go home early, that's why." Mu Lihai answered without sparing Zhu Kang a glance. He was still typing furiously on the laptop.

"You should at least sleep for a while. How much sleep did you get?" Zhu Kang walked to the edge of the king-sized bed, picking up the scattered important paperwork.

"Just 3 hours.. or was it less than that? I don't know." Mu Lihai said nonchalantly. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked too damn tired from the all-nighter.

"You shouldn't do that Lihai, sleep is crucial to you. Your body won't stand this. If it's anyone else then it's fine but not you!" Zhu Kang sighed hard as he showed his displeasure towards Mu Lihai.

"Yeah yeah, I know! But I couldn't sleep well last night." Mu Lihai reasoned. He really couldn't fall asleep as he was too worried about Li Yao. She still wasn't answering his calls.

"You better don't do this again!" Zhu Kang raised his voice a little. Ever since he got to know about Mu Lihai's condition and that incident, he turned into a very protective friend and assistant. He knew Mu Lihai needed to have a proper sleep to maintain his body temperature regulation. Less sleep would make him feel colder.

Mu Lihai lifted his head from his laptop and finally looked at Zhu Kang's way. He heaved a helpless sigh as he ruffled his hair.

"Don't raise your voice at me. You're my assistant." Mu Lihai said. There was intimidation in his voice.

"I'm not yet your assistant for today. I'll only be your assistant at eight sharp." Zhu Kang countered while he continued sorting out the scattering papers.

"So you're talking as my friend now? Not an assistant?" Mu Lihai raised his brow instinctively. His eyes darted to the clock and it was 7.05 am.

"Yeah, so listen well to this friend of yours." Zhu Kang said while a smug smile flashed on his face. It gained him a 'tsk' from Mu Lihai. He could see Mu Lihai's lips curved into a faint smile albeit it was just for one second.

*

Head Attorney Wang was feeling conflicted. He soon put down the old notebook on top of the files and finally faced Li Yao who was sitting quietly.

"This is a serious offense, Li Yao. Especially when the driver is our most important client.."

'.. and your boyfriend.' he left the last part unsaid. His face was hard to discern.

"I'm not going to charge anything against president Mu." Li Yao strengthened her back. Head Attorney Wang frowned.

"As you can see.. he wasn't in the wrong. It was an accident." she continued.

"But it doesn't change the fact that-" Head Attorney Wang's words were cut off.

"My mother killed herself, Head Attorney Wang. She jumped in the middle of the road." Li Yao's voice cracked a bit. That broken voice was enough to render the man speechless. He didn't have anything to say against her.

"I read the whole thing. She even wrote in this notebook that she isn't going to come back home that day." Li Yao felt a lump in her throat that she couldn't get rid of. That grocery thing was never true. Her mother made that up.

Now that she thought back to that day, her mother didn't really have any reason to go out that day. They had planned to reheat the leftovers for their dinner. But her mother changed her mind and said that she needed to go to the supermarket.

"But his BAC was 0.04%. You know that he should be punished by law accordingly just for that reason alone." Head Attorney Wang told Li Yao and she clenched her hands slightly due to his unusually cold voice.

"I plan to talk to him later so.. just.. right now I don't want to focus on president Mu." Li Yao faced Head Attorney Wang. Her eyes shone with a peculiar but strong conviction.

'Is it because he is your boyfriend?' he wanted to ask her so badly but he knew he doesn't have the right to. Head Attorney Wang's eyes darted elsewhere to avoid looking her way. He was more than frustrated.

"I want to put those people who took everything from me and my mother, to where they belong. The diary, it's enough as evidence to support the charge. My mother wrote everything. Their threatening letters and blackmailing attitude towards her." Li Yao explained. Those shameless people who claimed to be families were all snakes. They were the reason her mother was broken to the point of no return.

Her mother even suffered from depression!

Losing her father wasn't enough, those people even dared to exhaust her mother's mentality and snatched away everything she and her father worked hard for. Their love for their respected careers and passion, were all trampled down by those hateful people!

Li Yao would never forgive them for her whole life. She would now live with both regret and hatred. She didn't care if they will one day consume her and rob her of her sanity.

At the very least, this was the way she could repent. It was her apology towards her mother who had been battling alone.

'I'm sorry, mom.' Li Yao smiled faintly as her eyes gazed over the old notebook on the table. Her misty eyes gone as fast as it appeared.