The Vault pressed her lips together, swallowing the rest of her words. Julian Grant also remained silent. Father Xia squeezed into a spot, went over and held Summer’s hand, choking up, “Summer, Dad is so worried about you.”

Summer didn’t even look at him, trying hard to pull her hand back.

The moment his palm was left empty, Father Xia suddenly panicked a little. He looked at his unfamiliar daughter, feeling at a complete loss.

He still believed he was right, and he missed the way their family used to live. It wasn’t that he had no feelings for his daughter—after living together for over twenty years, even strangers would develop feelings. But those feelings were shallow, enough to make him sad, but not enough to make him fight desperately.

The Vault bent down and asked, “Can I talk to you?”

Summer remembered how she felt when The Vault held her hand, nodded, and replied softly, “Okay. But only you, alone.”

The Vault: “Alright.”

Father Xia was still saying, “Sweetheart, how did you become like this…”

Julian Grant stepped forward on his own, covered his mouth, dragged him away, and gave The Vault a reassuring gesture.

The Vault pushed Summer into the hospital room and closed the door.

Inside, it was just the two of them. The night light shone quietly, creating a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere, as if time itself was flowing more slowly.

“Why did the police come to see me?”

Summer’s voice was as gentle and pleasant as a stream, and even though it was hoarse, it carried a faint sweetness.

The Vault said, “Thomas Daniels is dead.”

“He’s dead…” Summer was very shocked. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t show any sadness. She said, “I didn’t kill him.”

The Vault: “I know.”

Summer said, “Then there’s nothing I can do. I can’t help you.”

The Vault: “I just wanted to ask you, what do you think of Xavier Daniels?”

Just mentioning the name made Summer’s expression brighten. She smiled, “Brother Xavier is a really good person.”

The Vault softened her tone, asking as if making small talk, “How did you two meet?”

Summer didn’t need to think back; she recounted the events as if narrating a story. Though she spoke lightly, The Vault felt she had replayed it countless times in her mind, always keeping it in the most accessible corner of her memory.

“Someone got drunk and made trouble at the shop, said I was ugly, and tried to touch me. Brother Xavier helped me teach them a lesson. He bought two dragon fruits, twelve yuan, but he gave me fifty.” Summer smiled faintly, “He told me not to tell my parents about the extra money, to keep it for myself to buy something. He also said I looked better with my hair down and told me to buy a pretty hair clip.”

The Vault shifted her posture.

“He really is a good person,” Summer repeated.

This feeling of falling in love was probably like a breeze drifting through the jungle in summer—elusive, yet refreshing and cool, making her remember it for a long time.

The Vault shook her head inwardly and asked, “Why did you use such an extreme way to end your pregnancy? Do you know how dangerous it is to jump from a building?”

Summer shed silent tears, sobbing, “Brother Xavier told me he was very disappointed in me. It was the first time I saw him look at me with such contempt. I ruined his family, but even so, he didn’t scold me. I absolutely couldn’t give birth to the child. I had to make things as if nothing had ever happened.”

She recalled the scene of going to Xavier Daniels for money that day, closed her eyes in resistance, and said, “I hate my dad so much. He killed me once.”

The Vault hesitated, then skipped over the topic and asked, “How did you meet Thomas Daniels?”

She wiped her nose, forcing herself to calm down.

“Thomas Daniels would sometimes come to the school, wander around nearby, and we’d run into each other. He said I looked a bit like his wife when she was young, and that my voice was nice.” Summer was truly regretful, her voice tinged with grief, “I didn’t know he was Brother Xavier’s father, otherwise I would never have gotten involved with him.”

The Vault: “Were you short of money?”

“I wanted to be pretty,” Summer said. “Brother Xavier is very rich, and the people around him are all glamorous. I wanted to earn his praise. I didn’t want to be sloppy like before.”

The Vault: “Did he ever tell you in front of you what clothes or bags looked good?”

Summer shook her head, “He’s not that kind of person. It was my own vanity.”

The Vault watched her expression and said slowly, “So he did. At some point, he casually told you that you looked good in a certain brand of clothes. Or maybe, while chatting with someone else, he said some girl was pretty, and you happened to overhear. He was sometimes close, sometimes distant, sometimes warm, sometimes cold. When you dressed up nicely, he was gentle to you; when you dressed plainly, he was indifferent. Right?”

Summer still said, “It was my own vanity.”

The Vault: “There are people in this world who enjoy the thrill of manipulating others’ lives. Do you understand?”

Summer insisted, “He’s not that kind of person!”

The Vault was at a loss for words.

“Summer, Miss Xia.” The Vault leaned forward, getting closer to her, and gave one last piece of advice, “Humility won’t bring you equality or respect. The more you pity yourself, the more pitiful you’ll become. If you don’t know how to protect yourself, the only people you’ll attract are those who will hurt you, because the one most willing to stab you is yourself.”

Summer: “I…”

The Vault pulled her blanket up a bit and said, “Get some rest. I’m leaving.”

Chapter 72: The Real Person

The Vault walked out with a grim expression, stopping at the doorway. She straightened her collar, nodded at the bored and waiting Julian Grant, and turned to leave first.

Father Xia immediately stood up, wanting to go into the hospital room, but was stopped and pushed out by the nurse who had followed behind.

“Family member, the patient needs to rest now. She doesn’t want to see you… Sir, we need to do some checks, please step outside for a moment…”

Julian Grant listened as the voices behind him gradually faded away, left the inpatient building, and returned to his car.

Behind the hospital parking lot was a barren hill, with many old graves left from before the area was developed. In the deep silence of the night, the atmosphere was unspeakably desolate.

Julian Grant was not used to this gloomy, uncertain feeling. He turned on the car’s interior light, filling the cabin with a warm yellow glow. Basking in this warmth, he asked, “What did you two talk about?”

“Other than Thomas Daniels and Xavier Daniels, we had nothing else to talk about.” The Vault turned sideways to fasten her seatbelt, exhaled a heavy breath, and said, “Xavier Daniels did both his undergraduate and graduate studies at C University. He met Summer very early on. He’s a perfect person—always friendly and approachable, steady and smart. His family is wealthy, he’s good-looking, has excellent grades, and is popular. In Summer’s eyes, he’s someone she admires and looks up to. So, Xavier Daniels easily won her affection.”

Julian Grant asked in confusion, “Then… what about Thomas Daniels?”

“After Xavier Daniels realized this girl liked him, he started to undermine and guide her. Using his influence, he slowly instilled consumerist ideas in her. He led a girl with no savings or income to do things that cost her her dignity.”

The parking lot lights were reflected in The Vault’s pupils, and fleeting glimmers flashed in her pitch-black eyes.

“Xavier Daniels really enjoyed the process. He watched Summer, a pure and naive girl, willing to sell her young body just for a word of praise from him. He experienced a sense of superiority and control. What he never expected was that the person who ended up keeping Summer was his own father, and that Summer got pregnant.”

Listening to this, Julian Grant couldn’t help but sigh at fate. What a coincidence, that father and son would be connected in this way, pushing them toward an inevitable rupture.

As for the Ding father and son, he could say without guilt that they deserved it, but in their drama, Summer was an innocent participant.

You could say she was too weak, but that weakness seemed to be a shackle placed on her by fate from the very beginning, impossible to break free from.

Humans have always known that weakness is useless, but unfortunately, some are just born that way.

Julian Grant followed her reasoning and continued, “Someone as proud as Xavier Daniels—how could he allow an illegitimate brother to appear in his family? Compared to the obedient Summer, what he hated more was Thomas Daniels, who couldn’t control his own desires. Once someone gets used to this kind of thing, even without Summer, there would be a second one. So he hinted at Summer to get an abortion, plotted to kill Thomas Daniels, and had Sylvia Shaw take the blame for him.”

The Vault thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

Julian Grant asked, “What is it?”

“I can’t say, but it doesn’t feel that simple.” The Vault half-closed her eyes, “If, in Xavier Daniels’s eyes, winning without bloodshed is a high-level tactic, then personally committing a crime is a very low-level move. Unless his interests were seriously threatened, I don’t think he would deliberately lower himself to get involved.”

Julian Grant: “Then what could it be for?”

“I don’t know. But it’s probably related to this matter.” The Vault murmured to herself, “What exactly made him feel that Thomas Daniels had to die?”