Incendie mystérieux

Chapitre 43

The old lady nodded calmly, a smile slowly blooming on her face along with her wrinkles:

"No need to be shy, just call me Mom, Don Dolly."

Volume 3: The Sheep's Song from Hell Records (Part 17)

This was the aunt who had cared for her for eighteen years—that's what Dolly's intuition told her. The white-haired old woman looked somewhat familiar, perhaps because Dolly had seen her when she was a child. But, Mom? What was going on?

Dolly is clearly an orphan.

The old woman's smile was like that of a queen, elegant yet imposing, leaving no room for resistance, only obedience. She looked at Dolly with a motherly, pitying expression, and then slowly began to speak:

"Don't panic, don't be afraid, just listen to me quietly."

"Due to certain reasons, I am unable to acknowledge you as my parents, and I have no choice but to send you children to an orphanage. In name, my husband and I are your guardians, but in reality..."

She suddenly stopped and reached out to wipe away the tears that kept flowing down her face.

“We are your biological parents!” she said, her voice trembling with tears in her eyes.

Dolly's head swelled up with a buzzing sound. Uncle and Aunt were her father and mother? So, she wasn't an orphan at all, but had a complete family? She was so excited she almost jumped up. "Mom" and "Dad"—words that had once seemed so distant and beautiful were now so close to her!

"You must be feeling a bit lost here, right? I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Yang, and my given name is Chunxia. Your father passed away a year ago. His name was Wan Shifa, the founder of Wanshi Group." The old woman slowly and gracefully raised one hand, exuding a regal air from her slender frame. "This is the Summer Palace, commonly known as the 'Golden Palace'."

A golden palace! What a terrifying name! Although she had already heard about the immense wealth of the Wan Shi Group from the White Tiger, Dolly was still incredibly excited to witness this lavish, almost otherworldly, furnishings. Behind this frail-looking woman stood the Wan Shi Group, a fortune of $1.3 billion—good heavens! good heavens!

So, does that mean Pandora and Chen Aili are also Wan Shifa and Yang Chunxia's daughters, and Wan Li's younger sisters? Baihu's guess was right; someone—most likely one of the Lis—sent assassins to kill the other sisters in order to monopolize the inheritance. How cruel! A sharp pain shot through Dolly's heart.

"Excuse me..." After hesitating for a long time, she still didn't have the courage to call out the word "Mom." After all, the emotional gap of eighteen years couldn't be bridged in a short time. "Pan Saili, Chen Aili, Li Fuli... are they all my biological sisters?"

Yang Chunxia glanced at her sharply, seemingly seeing through her thoughts:

“They weren’t as lucky as you.” She sighed deeply. “Before I could find them, they all either disappeared or were murdered. In the end, only you came back to me.”

Indeed, without Baihu's protection, Dolly would have died on the road like her other sisters. Though a bit eccentric, he truly protected her, and… her face flushed as she recalled the infinitely tender moments she'd shared in his arms the previous night. Baihu was not only an excellent bodyguard, but also a superb lover!

"It's all thanks to my uncle and aunt for hiring the white tiger to protect me..." She blurted out without thinking, but there seemed to be a contradiction in her words. Something just didn't feel right.

“White Tiger…?” Yang Chunxia repeated.

"Yes, wasn't it a birthday present from my uncle and aunt...?" She abruptly stopped talking, her heart freezing in an instant.

What did Yang Chunxia just say? "Uncle" Wan Shifa passed away a year ago... Baihu's information also mentioned that Wan Shifa died suddenly of a heart attack a year ago...

Why would a dead man hire bodyguards? Yet, the note Baihu used as proof did indeed bear her uncle's signature. A thought vaguely surfaced in her mind, but she forcefully suppressed it. "I don't believe it!" she desperately tried to convince herself, "Baihu wouldn't lie to me!"

“I have heard of the name White Tiger,” Yang Chunxia replied slowly.

"Really?" Dolly was overjoyed; this was almost her last remaining hope.

“He was Wanli’s personal bodyguard,” Yang Chunxia’s first sentence dealt a cruel blow to Dolly, “but he suddenly resigned a few months ago.”

A chill slowly rose from behind Dolly.

"What...does he look like?" She jumped out of bed urgently, yelling at Yang Chunxia, "Tell me! Tell me now!"

The gilded doorknob slowly opened, and the person standing there immediately caught the mother and daughter's attention. It was a woman in a wheelchair, her legs covered by a thick Persian blanket, revealing only her beautifully sculpted upper body. She was smiling, yet her upturned lips were filled with disdain and arrogance. A small, pure gold crown, studded with dazzling diamonds, adorned her jet-black hair, styled in a high bun. She was as beautiful as a queen.

However, it wasn't Wanli's extravagance that held Dolly firmly in her grasp. Her surprise, her shock, her anger—all stemmed from the man standing behind Dolly, respectful as a servant. He had once arrogantly proclaimed himself "King of Beasts," yet now he groveled before a crippled woman. When Wanli extended her well-maintained, delicate hands to him, he immediately lowered his head and offered a faithful kiss to the queen he served.

Dolly felt breathless; she would have fainted if Wanli hadn't been there.

White Tiger!

Two similar faces met in mid-air. Dolly stared fiercely at Wanli, her older sister who was eighteen years her senior—what exactly she hated was perhaps even she couldn't say. Had Wanli stolen the man she loved and treated him like a servant? Or was it the other way around?

Baihu was originally a spy sent by Wanli to Duoli.

Wanli's gaze towards her was anything but friendly. Although she was well-maintained and still beautiful, she was, after all, a thirty-six-year-old woman, and neither her looks nor her figure could compare to the youthful and radiant Tang Duoli—this was evident from the very first glance she gave Duoli. She didn't treat Duoli as a sister at all.

Instead, he was an enemy—not just a rival in love, but an irreconcilable enemy who had seized her happy family and invaded her luxurious life.

Dolly let out a soft "ah".

Who cares most about the $1.3 billion estate of the Wan Shi Group? For an orphan like Dolly, receiving even a tenth, no, even a hundredth, would feel like a windfall, bringing immense satisfaction. However, for Wanli, the heiress born into wealth thirty-six years ago, her many sisters are undoubtedly hateful enemies who will divide her inheritance. Eliminating just one of them would mean an extra $200 million…

Everything became clear. Dolly stood tall and proud; there was no one else in her sight, only the white tiger's still bright and sunny smile.

Volume 3: The Sheep's Song from Hell Records (18)

"You did it all, didn't you?" she whispered to herself, unsure why, but she was certain that the White Tiger opposite her could hear her thoughts. This disguised birthday gift, the loyal bodyguard, the tender lover she spent a night with... her heart ached, his sweet words still seemed to echo in her ears... Yet!

Only he is the real killer!

“Mom,” Wanli said at that moment, “I want to talk to my sister for a while.”

Even now, Dolly still doesn't have the courage to call out "Mom," but Wanli calls out so naturally. After Yang Chunxia left, Baihu slowly pushed Wanli's wheelchair forward. Although the speed was extremely slow, the movement was full of pressure. Dolly subconsciously took a step back.

“The poor and lowly are lucky,” Wanli’s eyes were as cold as ice, full of contempt. “They actually made it to the Golden Palace alive. For that, please allow me to applaud you.”

"...It really was you." Dolly's guess was correct. Wanli, in order to seize all the assets of the Wanshi Group for herself, had murdered her own sister, and the assassins she sent...

"White Tiger," Wan Li ignored her completely, turning her head to call the man's name, "People are hopelessly stupid! They don't even realize they're about to die, hahaha!"

"You're right," the white tiger replied briefly.

Wan Li's already moist eyes grew even more watery, a boundless ocean of desire. She extended her small pink tongue, gently licking between her full, parted lips. "Hold me..." she almost moaned, "Strangle me with your strong arms..."

She wrapped her arms around Baihu's neck, frantically demanding his lips, like an inextinguishable fire of desire burning within her. Dolly was utterly horrified by her actions; she felt nauseous, wanting to cover her eyes and shut out her senses to avoid any stimulation. Yet this vivid and sensual scene continued cruelly; her favorite man was being forcibly kissed by a woman old enough to be his mother, and in Baihu's eyes, there was no pleasure, only submission.

Helpless compliance.

After what seemed like an eternity, Wanli finally released him with reluctance. "You're amazing," she said, her alluring gaze sweeping powerfully over his body. "Can you feel it? My passion is burning because of you."

“You have always been full of energy,” the white tiger replied noncommittally.

Wan Li giggled, "Wait for me at 'Gion Shrine' after you've finished your business."

She wheeled herself away, leaving only Dolly and White Tiger, her former lovers, in the room. No, all Dolly understood was that she had loved White Tiger unconditionally. But what about White Tiger? Wasn't he just going through the motions, sleeping with her to complete a mission?

Her heart pounded, but before she could react, Baihu spoke first.

“I’ve been lying to you all along,” he said with surprising sincerity. “I’m sorry.”

Dolly stared at him, bewildered. Her face was filled with confusion and courage, but all that remained were memories—memories that were sometimes sweet and sometimes laughable. She repeatedly went through the dreamlike, magical experiences of the past few days in her mind. Those jokes that she had once dismissed now sounded like absolute truths, especially coming from the White Tiger.

The fact that we were deceived.

“I’ve always been an assassin. I started killing even before I was born, while I was still in my mother’s womb. It wasn’t my own will; they deserved to die simply because they angered my mother. Even after my mother was killed by my father, I still had to obey my new employer’s orders to kill people I had never met. My life’s destiny is to struggle on a path mixed with human flesh and blood.” He frankly recounted his background, and his detached indifference to the world pained her. “Later, Miss Wan took me in and asked me to protect her.”

He suddenly burst into a long string of laughter from his chest.

“But in the end, she still made me kill someone!” He smiled innocently, revealing a row of neat, white teeth. “From Mom to Miss Wan, they’re all the same! The job that suits me best is still an assassin!”

"So, the deaths of Chen Aili and the others were indeed caused by you..." Dolly carefully changed the subject, hoping the man in front of her would reveal the truth behind everything.

Baihu nodded, his frankness almost endearing. "Besides me, who else could do this without leaving a trace? I claimed to be their bodyguard, and of course, the signed letter of authorization was provided by Miss Wan, so every girl believed me."

Just like Dolly… using the deaths of other girls as bait to scare Don Dolly, and then establishing an unbreakable bodyguard image in the subsequent heroic rescue, leading her step by step toward death… “I don’t understand,” Dolly was eager to know the truth, “were the people who attacked me also deliberately arranged by you?”

A meaningful sneer appeared on Baihu's face. "Silly girl," he said, "haven't you noticed yet?"

"Those people are Yang Chunxia's men!"

He didn't use honorifics like "Madam," which is enough to show that he doesn't respect anyone except Wan Li—no, it also indirectly shows that Wan Li doesn't respect her mother. Although they are biological mother and daughter, their relationship doesn't even reach the level of friends.

Because they were under Yang Chunxia's command, the men declared they wanted her alive when they offered the bounty, and in their subsequent actions, they only released anesthetic gas, without harming a single hair on her head—a case of "throwing a stone at a rat for fear of breaking the vase," they also dared not let anyone around Dolly get hurt. If it weren't for Baihu constantly interfering and leading Dolly to hide and flee, Dolly would probably have already reached the "Golden Palace."

"No, that's not right!" Dolly cried out in alarm. "Weren't you the assassin who came to take my life? Why did you only take me with you? Just before we parted, you asked me to trust you and personally brought me here... Moreover, what you did to me..."

After doing that kind of thing...

Her face suddenly flushed, and she choked on her words. The brilliant starlight of last night seemed to shine before her eyes again, filling her with both anxiety and pain.

"Do you have feelings for me...?" A question flickered in her mind, but she feared it was just wishful thinking.

Did you fall in love with me, which is why you let me off the hook?

Volume Three: The Sheep's Song (19)

As if reading her mind, Baihu's thin lips curved into a beautiful yet cruel smile.

“Foolish girl.” His answer ruthlessly shattered her illusions. “It’s just my habit when I kill, nothing more.”

"Habit?" Her eyes widened in disbelief, the overwhelming pain nearly crushing her. "Could it be that Chen Aili and the others also..."

She suddenly fell silent, recalling Chen Aili moving out of the orphanage for a man who drove a sports car, and Li Fuli's mysterious disappearance from the orphanage… Wasn't this a living specimen of a man who could seduce girls with his charm, making them willingly jump into a death trap? As for twelve-year-old Wen Jiali, perhaps she was too young, and his charm wouldn't work, so he resorted to violence to eliminate her? As for herself…

To outsiders, didn't Tang Duoli also mysteriously vanish from her apartment overnight? No one saw the man beside her; Bai Hu always wore sunglasses afterward, obscuring his face, except for Mi Hua…

She closed her eyes in pain.

"So you killed Mi Hua?" She felt her muscles tremble uncontrollably, her mind replaying the events of that night. Bai Hu walked in, disheveled and slightly out of breath, as if he had just had an argument; how could she have been so foolish, completely believing that Mi Hua had taken advantage of him…

"You finally figured it out?" Baihu grinned smugly. "Actually, for me, there wouldn't be any clues for an amateur like you to see through. But I wanted to gamble with your brain, so in that scene alone, I deliberately revealed three flaws..."

"Smack."

Before he could finish speaking, a bright red handprint appeared on his face. Dolly raised her arm, her entire arm trembling uncontrollably, her eyes blazing with fury.

Why target America?

In that instant, anger turned into tears, welling up in her clear, moist eyes. She cried and threw herself into the white tiger's arms.

"Your target is me. Kill me or torture me, it's up to you! I'll accept it if I die by your hand! But Mi Hua knows nothing..."

“She is innocent…” Dolly’s sobs gradually turned into choked sobs.

The white tiger froze, something gleaming in his sapphire eyes. He paused for at least half a minute, then reached out his blood-stained hands, intending to strangle her slender neck, but instead moved them up to stroke her black hair.

“You big idiot,” he said tenderly, pressing her head against his chest like a lover, “I didn’t want to kill innocent people either. If she hadn’t forced her way into my arms…”

He paused for a moment, as if weighing the weight of his next words:

"I have never been that angry in my entire life."

Dolly raised her head, her eyes reflecting a mixture of sadness and relief.

"You hate Mi Hua that much? Just because she hugged you, you killed her..."

The white tiger avoided her gaze and only gave a brief reply:

"I hate being hugged by women I don't like."

Dolly didn't have time to process his unspoken meaning; she was completely captivated by Baihu's sorrowful expression. Mihua had indeed taken advantage of Baihu, and thus died from her frivolity. But what about herself? It wasn't just a hug; they'd had such an intimate relationship… Thinking back carefully, aside from their first kiss, which Baihu initiated, the subsequent one-night stand was entirely her doing; Baihu simply followed along, pressing her down… He was indeed seducing her, sometimes uttering cheesy lines without batting an eye, sometimes acting like an innocent, endearing child. It was all an act! He used these two masks to firmly steal her heart. Even during their intimacy, he never said he loved her!

So, it turns out that it was all just wishful thinking on my part from beginning to end?

“I still don’t understand!” Dolly stared at him with such intense intensity. “You could have easily taken as many lives as you wanted by ambushing me on the road. It would have been so convenient and quick. But you did it differently. You disguised yourself as a birthday present, approached me, flattered me, and went to all this trouble. What was it all for?”