"Mm."
The man hesitated for a moment, but still told the child the truth. "Mom suddenly started feeling unwell, so she was admitted to the hospital."
As he said this, the man suddenly froze.
He looked at the child nervously. "Qiqi, were you asleep the whole time just now?"
Could she have... seen something?
Was that why the woman had insisted that the last thing she saw before she passed out was what the child had done?
At the thought, the man's heart began beating faster.
The shadow of seeing his wife die in that car accident still haunted the child. If she had been subjected to another shock...
The man instinctively held his breath.
The girl nodded.
Sensitive to the slight change in the man's mood, she tugged at his sleeve and looked at him questioningly.
The man felt greatly relieved.
He smiled at the child. "Dad's fine."
"Come on, Qiqi. Let's go eat."
The man stood up.
The girl nodded.
She clumsily climbed down from the bed.
A faint smile appeared in the man's eyes. He was just about to help his daughter down when his pupils suddenly widened.
As the child climbed down, her clothes had ridden up.
A patch of blue and purple bruising showed beneath her raised hem.
What was that?
The man reached out and lifted the back of his daughter's shirt.
The vast, horrifying expanse of bruises before his eyes made them ache.
He raised a hand to his head.
He felt dizzy.
Noticing the man's movement, the girl obediently lay down on the bed. Her eyes lifted, meeting the eyes of a stuffed toy.
She blinked.
The man's hand hesitated in midair for a long moment. Then he carefully picked up his daughter and set her on the