"She didn't even know I was standing in front of her until I called out to her. She looked shocked to see me. She questioned me, asking what i was doing there, and how long i had been standing there. I passed the towel to her and told her that I just arrived before sitting beside her and had my eyes on the field and watched other people exercise in the park".

Flashback....

​​

"I thought you would be exercising by now, why are you sitting here." Changying asked her mother.

"I only did a few moves and decided to just sit and watch them." Aunt Lin replied with her gaze on the field as she watched the others exercise.

Since her mother wasn't exercising with the others, she left the park.

"Mum I'm off to work, see you there." She announced before walking away.

"Don't expect to see me, because I may not come in." Aunt Lin replied immediately.

Changying stopped in her steps, then continued immediately, like she never stopped.

Flashback ends...

After Changying narrated this part to Chen Lihua, she took a deep breathe before continuing as Chen Lihua paid rapt attention.

"When I got to the office that day, I had a strong feeling and my spirit was convinced that something was definitely wrong with my mother, so i decided to follow her to the park tomorrow, unnoticed."

Flashback starts ....

The next morning, Changying wore a sports outfit and hid in a corner as she watched her mother leave the house. She followed her till she left the gates of their house.

"Ma'am you left your phone on the dining, and it has been ringing." A servant said to Changying as she passed the phone to her.

"Thank you." Changying said, taking her phone from her. She checked the missed call log and saw from the contact that the call wasn't urgent, and could wait, so she slid her phone into her pocket before slowly walking out from the gate of their house.

Lo and behold, she couldn't find her mother after looking at both ends of the street that was quite some distance away. So she asked the gate keeper, "Did you see my mother, where did she go to?."

The Old man replied respectfully, "Madam has left already in a taxi."

"In a taxi, are you sure of what you are saying?." Changying asked in surprise. Her mo

"Yes, she left in a taxi. She takes a taxi from this spot every morning, or she would walk a little distance away from here before taking a taxi." The gate keeper explained.

"Alright, thank you." Changying looked so weak after the information she digested.

Her mother tells her that she was jogged to the park every morning. Now what is this she was hearing that she always took a taxi to the park just outside the gate to their house?.

There was not time to waste, so she went into the house to take her car keys before driving to the park to look for her mother.

When she got to the park, she saw her mother sitting at the same spot as the previous day. She decided to sit in her car and devote her morning into monitoring her mother to know what she was up to.

After and hour of sitting in her car and watching her mother, she never saw her mother stand up from that bench till the time she decided to leave the park in a taxi.

On getting close to their house, her mother stopped the taxi and came down from it, walking the rest of the journey with her legs.

Changying followed her mother in her car till she entered the gates of their house. From her mother's back, she could tell that she was tired and getting breathless.

'If she was going to the park every morning in a taxi to watch people exercise or to think about important matters, or to take a breather, why would she lie about that?. And why was she already breathless and tired after walking a little distance?. She must be ill.' Changying thought to herself and said in conclusion.

Changying didn't enter the house, instead she turned around and drove to Chen's MALL to buy groceries. She came back an hour later.

"I thought you've left for work already, and what's with the groceries?." Aunt Lin asked, surprised to see her daughter at home, carrying two bags of groceries in her hands.

Two servants came to take the groceries from Changying as she took a sit.

"I will report to work in the afternoon. I decided to do a little grocery shopping since we are running out of some stuffs. How was your morning exercise today?." Changying asked.

"Oh! It was fine, I learnt a new move today." Aunt Lin lied smoothly, accompanied by a smile.

"Wow! that's fantastic. Do you mind teaching me the new moves?." Changying asked in a fake smile.

"I would have loved to, but I am tired now. Maybe next time, I will teach you, so we can do it together." Aunt Lin assured her in a smile.

"Okay." Changying agreed whilst nodding her head.

'Mother, what are you hiding from me, from all of us?.' Chen Lihua asked in her mind as she glanced at her mother who was sitting comfortably, and drinking a vegetable juice from a straw.

Aunt Lin seemed to be enjoying it as she flipped through the women fashion magazine.

"Do you want some?." Aunt Lin asked her daughter suddenly.

"No thank you, enjoy your vegetable juice." Changying said, getting up from the sofa.

"Remember to come back home early from work, your father wants us to have dinner at a restaurant tonight after he gets back from his trip today." Aunt Lin reminded in a casual manner.

"I know." Changying replied before her back disappeared from her mother's view.

Flashback ends .....

"Lihua I am seriously worried about her. My mother's lifestyle has changed. She has lost weight, she changed her diet and she's now eating some weird things that she didn't eat before. She wears makeup at home. The only time you won't see makeup on her face is before her fake morning exercise, and after her night bath. She hardly comes to work, and when she does, she doesn't stay longer than three hours before leaving. Her breath smells like menthol after I noticed she was coughing frequently and asked her to treat it. Well, she still coughs, but not a lot." Changying said in a worried voice before drinking from the bottle of water Chen Lihua passed to her.