Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 222; Shopping 6

His phone was buzzing in the plastic bag with his personal effects. Yueling, probably. Calling to ask where he was, why he hadn’t arrived at the hospital yet. The thought of her made his chest tighten with something that might have been guilt or fear or both.

What would he say to her? How could he explain this?

"I love you, Shuyin," his mouth formed without permission, and Lu Zeyan felt something crack inside his chest that had nothing to do with the accident.

City General Hospital’s emergency department was already chaotic when the ambulance arrived. Lu Zeyan was wheeled in quickly, the paramedics rattling off his vitals to the receiving doctor.

"Male, thirty-two, motor vehicle accident, conscious but displaying severe confusion and possible traumatic brain injury. Keeps repeating the same phrase...."

"I love you, Shuyin," Lu Zeyan interrupted, and he could hear the desperation in his own voice now, the edge of hysteria.

The doctor leaned over him, shining a light in his eyes. "Mr. Lu? I’m Dr. Chen. You’ve been in an accident. Can you follow my finger with your eyes?"

Lu Zeyan tried. He really tried. His eyes tracked the doctor’s finger left, right, up, down.

"Good," Dr. Chen said. "Now, can you tell me where you are?"

"Hos... I love you, Shuyin." Lu Zeyan’s hands clenched into fists against the gurney. "I love you, Shuyin. I love you..."

"Get him to CT immediately," Dr. Chen ordered. "I want a full neurological workup. Page neurology."

As they wheeled him toward imaging, Lu Zeyan caught sight of a familiar figure in the waiting area. Yueling’s mother, her face tight with worry. She saw him being wheeled past and started forward.

"Lu Zeyan! What happened? Yueling is upstairs, she’s been so worried...."

"I love you, Shuyin," Lu Zeyan said, and he watched her face change from concern to confusion to something darker.

"What did you just say?"

"I love you, Shuyin," he repeated, and tears were streaming down his face now because he couldn’t stop, couldn’t control it, couldn’t do anything but watch as everything he’d built began to crumble. "I love you, Shuyin. I love you, Shuyin."

"You’re delirious," Mrs. Lin said, but her voice had gone cold. "From the accident. You don’t know what you’re saying."

But Lu Zeyan could see she didn’t quite believe that. Could see the suspicion taking root.

They pushed through doors marked RADIOLOGY, and Mrs. Lin disappeared from view. But Lu Zeyan knew it wouldn’t matter. The damage was done. She would tell Yueling. Yueling would come down. And what would he say to her?

"I love you, Shuyin."

That’s what he would say. That’s all he could say.

The CT scan showed nothing.

No bleeding. No fractures. No obvious trauma that would explain his condition.

Dr. Chen stood in the imaging room, studying the scans with a growing frown. "This doesn’t make sense. The scans are clean. There’s no physical reason for this kind of verbal perseveration."

"Could it be psychological?" the radiologist suggested. "Shock from the accident triggering some kind of episode?"

"Maybe," Dr. Chen said, but he didn’t sound convinced. "Let’s get him admitted for observation. Psych consult, neuro consult, the works. And someone contacted his family."

Back in the examination room, Lu Zeyan lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He’d stopped trying to speak. Every attempt just resulted in those same four words, over and over, until his throat was raw and his mind was screaming.

Something was very wrong.

Not just the curse, though that was horrifying enough. But there was something else. A fog is creeping in at the edges of his thoughts. A sluggishness to his thinking that hadn’t been there before the accident.

He tried to remember his phone password. The numbers swam in his mind, just out of reach.

He tried to remember his assistant’s name. It started with... C? J? He’d known it this morning. He’d known it for three years.

Why couldn’t he remember it now?

"Mr. Lu?" A nurse had entered, carrying a clipboard. "I need to ask you some routine questions. What’s your full name?"

Lu Zeyan opened his mouth carefully. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, if he focused all his willpower.....

"I love you, Shuyin."

The nurse made a note. "And what’s today’s date?"

He knew this. He’d checked his calendar this morning. It was... it was...

"I love you, Shuyin."

But that wasn’t an answer. The date was... November? December? What month was it?

Panic spiked through him, sharp and cold.

"Who is the current president?" the nurse continued, her voice patient but growing more concerned.

President of what? The company? The country? Lu Zeyan knew this. Of course, he knew this. It was...

"I love you, Shuyin," he said, and his voice cracked.

The nurse set down her clipboard. "I’m going to get the doctor," she said gently. "Just... try to stay calm."

But Lu Zeyan couldn’t stay calm. Because he was trying to remember his mother’s name now, and it was slipping through his mind like water through fingers. He could see her face clearly, sharp features, perfectly styled hair, that look of perpetual disappointment, but her name...

Gone.

His office address. Gone.

His father’s birthday. Gone.

Information that should have been automatic, foundational, permanent, all of it dissolving like sugar in water.

"I love you, Shuyin," he whispered to the empty room, and this time it sounded like a prayer or a curse or both.

Ten minutes later, Yueling burst through the door.

She’d been crying, her makeup was smudged, her eyes red. She rushed to his bedside, grabbing his hand.

"Zeyan! Oh my god, I was so scared. When mama told me you’d been in an accident...." She broke off, studying his face. "Are you okay? What did the doctors say?"

Lu Zeyan looked at her. His girlfriend. His mistress. The woman he’d chosen over Shuyin, the woman he’d hidden from public view while maintaining his engagement for appearances.

He wanted to tell her he was fine. Wanted to comfort her. Wanted to explain that something impossible was happening to him.

"I love you, Shuyin," he said instead.

Yueling froze. Her hand went cold in his.

"What?"

"I love you, Shuyin," Lu Zeyan repeated, and he could see his own horror reflected in her eyes. "I love you, Shuyin. I love you....."

"Stop it," Yueling said, her voice sharp. "Stop saying that. This isn’t funny."

He shook his head desperately, trying to mime that he couldn’t control it, that something was wrong, that this wasn’t a choice.

"I love you, Shuyin. I love you, Shuyin. I love you..."

"STOP!" Yueling yanked her hand away, backing toward the door. "What is wrong with you? After everything we.... after what you did to her, how can you...."

"I love you, Shuyin," Lu Zeyan said, tears streaming down his face now.

Yueling’s expression shifted from hurt to something colder, harder. "My mother was right. You’re delirious. Or..." Her eyes narrowed. "Or you never really let her go. Even after everything. Even after you chose me."

She turned and fled.

Lu Zeyan tried to call after her, but of course, the only words that came out were: "I love you, Shuyin."

He was alone again.

And the fog in his mind was getting thicker.

And the fog in his mind was getting thicker.

By evening, the hospital was buzzing with whispers.

The nurses had talked. The paramedics had talked. Yueling’s mother had talked.

Lu Zeyan, a successful businessman of the Lu family, was formerly engaged to Lin Shuyin before her imprisonment. He was in the hospital after a car accident, unable to say anything except "I love you, Shuyin."

The same Lin Shuyin who’d been released from prison a few days ago. The same Lin Shuyin who’d shown up at the southern branch and apparently terrorized an entire board meeting.

The coincidence was too perfect. Too suspicious.

But how could anyone prove a connection? Lu Zeyan had been in a car accident. He was exhibiting signs of brain trauma. These things happened.

Didn’t they?

Across the city, in the presidential office of Yuyan Conglomerate, Lu Yuze sat behind his massive desk reviewing quarterly projections. The numbers demanded his attention: profit margins, expansion opportunities, and strategic acquisitions that required careful timing.

A knock at the door interrupted his concentration.

"Enter," he said without looking up.

Ah Ling stepped inside, carrying a tablet and a slim folder of documents...