Burning: From Hatred To Love

In the cold gloomy weather, a black Maybach cut through the rain, not slowing down even for the storm. Huge raindrops splattered across the windshield, sliding down the glass and making it difficult to see the road ahead. The man in the back seat of the car, however, seemed completely oblivious to the bad weather as he typed something on his phone.

All of a sudden, the driver slammed on the brake. The screeching sound of tires tore through the air as the car came to a halt on the empty bridge.

"What happened?" Edmund Lu asked unhappily with a frown.

The driver immediately turned his head and said nervously, "Mr. Lu, the car seems to have hit someone. I'll get out and take a look."

Before he could step out of the car, however, he saw a figure quickly approaching the window at the back seat of the car.

"Mr. Lu, please help me. My grandfather is in a serious condition at the hospital. The doctor said that he won't last even two months without a bone marrow transplant. There's no time left. In the whole S City, your bone marrow is the only match for my grandfather. Please save my grandfather, Mr. Lu," Pauline Song pleaded as she slapped the window hard. The rain mixed with the blood on her hands as it slid down the window. "Mr. Lu, I beg for your mercy! As long as you save my grandfather, I'll do anything!"

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and lightning flashed directly overhead. The wind was so strong that Pauline Song could hardly stand. However, she firmly kept her eyes on the man in the car and continued, "Mr. Lu, please give me a chance to explain. I beg you!"

However, Edmund Lu just took a look at his watch and asked the driver to start the car again, as if he hadn't seen the woman outside the car at all. When the engine of the car started all of a sudden, Pauline Song was so startled that she staggered back a few steps and fell down. The rain sliding across her face made it hard for her to keep her eyes open. Instead of crying out or sitting there in pain, she quickly wiped her face and got up to catch up with the car.

To her surprise, she found the driver standing in front of her with an umbrella. She scowled in frustration and grabbed his sleeve. "James, why are you here?"

"Mr. Lu asked me to tell you that you're shameless for appearing in front of him and asking him for help three years after ruining everything. Doesn't Peter Gu have any other means?"

Pauline Song frowned as realization dawned on her. 'It turns out that Mr. Lu is actually Edmund. Of course, how many billionaires could there be in S City with the surname 'Lu'? I should have realized it long ago!' She could imagine the sneer and mockery in Edmund Lu's tone.

Due to the sudden turn of events, her face turned pale and her body trembled slightly. "No, it's not like that," she choked out with tears in her eyes. As if remembering something, she suddenly grasped James Gao's hand tightly and begged in a panicked tone, "James, for the sake of our past relationship, can you ask Mr. Lu to see me? I remember that he will listen to your advice."

James Gao subconsciously glanced at the back seat of the car and saw that Edmund Lu was staring at his hand, which was in Pauline Song's grasp. Feeling nervous, he quickly pulled his hand away. "You can tell Mr. Lu yourself."

Upon hearing this, Pauline Song sidestepped him and happily ran to the car. The door was suddenly opened. Before she could react, she was pulled into the back seat of the car and then into a strong embrace. The light smell of tobacco wafted over to her nostrils. "Mr. Lu!" she exclaimed.

She raised her head and saw a pair of cold and ruthless eyes staring down at her. When she was about to say something, Edmund Lu's powerful hand pinched her chin. He spoke to her in a soft voice as if he was speaking to his lover, but his words were beyond cruel. "It seems that you've grown a lot in the past three years. In addition to stealing, you have also learned to seduce men."

Pauline Song felt a burst of anger after hearing his demeaning words, but she forced herself to calm down. She had come here to beg him for help, so she was already prepared to lose her dignity. Compared to her grandfather's life, her pride was nothing! The reason why she had risked her life to stop this car in the first place was that she could save her grandfather. It was almost impossible for her to get a chance to talk to the great Edmund Lu face to face. How could she waste this chance being pitiful?

Recalling the image of her grandfather still lying in the hospital bed, Pauline Song bit her lips hard and forced herself to endure the humiliation. Then she said in a trembling voice, "Mr. Lu, it doesn't matter how much you humiliate me as long as you are willing to save my grandfather. He can't wait any longer. Please save him for the sake of what happened three years ago."

A sneer appeared at the corners of Edmund Lu's lips. "You want me to save your grandfather? That won't happen unless I die."

His ruthless rejection stabbed her heart like a knife.

Pauline Song felt so helpless that she didn't even have the strength to cry. How could she have thought that he would be as gentle as before? The only reason he was talking to her was that he could humiliate her.

Edmund Lu's eyes darkened as he looked at the drenched woman with pale face. He knew he should have felt happy after saying such harsh words to her, but when he saw her pitiful face, his heart ached.

However, after a second, he regained his composure and his heart became stony once again. Without mercy, he pushed her out of the car. As Pauline Song fell awkwardly in the rain, her knees and elbows were grazed by the asphalt road. At the same time, the window of the Maybach opened a crack. Edmund Lu looked down at her with disgust and wiped the fingers that had just touched her face with a handkerchief.

"Take the money to change your face and seduce another man. It's disgusting." A pile of bills flew out of the window and landed near Pauline Song's feet.

Then, accompanied by the rumble of the engine and the thunder, the Maybach disappeared in the rain.

The strong wind from the departure of the car made the money fly all over the sky.

Pauline Song got up and tried to grab the notes with her hands, but she did not catch any of them. It was just like the 24 years of her life. She had tried so hard to do everything well, but had constantly been rejected by others. Even her grandfather, the only person who loved her, was lying in the hospital now.

It was close to midnight when the storm gradually subsided. Kneeling on the ground, Pauline Song picked up the notes one by one and put them into a suitcase. Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of a necklace. She picked it up and held it in front of her eyes. After standing in the rain for such a long time, she was freezing, and her hand that was holding the necklace was trembling.

The style of the necklace was very special, so she recognized it at once⁠—it was the gift that she had gotten from her grandfather when she turned eighteen years old. She hadn't cried when she was humiliated by Edmund Lu, nor had she cried when she was thrown to the ground by him. But when she saw the necklace, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"You are so useless, Pauline!" she told herself.

'But the necklace disappeared since that night. Was it because...?'

Before she could think it over, the wind came again, blowing all the notes that she had picked up back to the sky.