The days after Lin Meiying got back from Shanghai started to blur together. On the surface, everything was perfect. Too perfect, almost. Chen Weiliang was around more than ever, bringing her fresh vegetables from his family's garden, helping her fix the loose step on the porch, just sitting with her in the evenings like he was making sure she was really there. Lin Yutang called every other day, his voice light and happy now that he didn't have to worry about tuition. The neighbors stopped by with more food, saying how lucky they were that everything had worked out.
And Meiying smiled. She thanked them. She laughed at Weiliang's jokes. But underneath it all, she felt like she was walking around with a secret heavy enough to sink her.
Every time she looked at Weiliang's face so open, so trusting, she felt a pang of guilt so sharp it almost took her breath away. She kept replaying that moment in Li Yuhan's office, over and over again. The way he looked at her. The feel of his hand on her face. The kiss. God, that kiss.
It wasn't that she stopped loving Weiliang. She didn't. He was her rock, her home. But that kiss, it had woken something up in her. A kind of electricity, a chaos that she'd never felt before. And the worst part was, she couldn't even pretend it meant nothing because she had kissed him back. Just for a second. Just for a heartbeat. But it happened.
One afternoon, about a week after she got back, Weiliang and Meiying were sitting on the back porch, shelling peas for dinner. The sun was warm on her back, the air smelled like jasmine from the bush by the fence, and it should have been the most peaceful moment in the world.
"You know," Weiliang said, breaking the comfortable silence, "now that everything is settled with the land and the debt… maybe we should talk about setting a date for the wedding. Properly this time. I know we said next spring, but maybe we can start looking at venues, or talking to the caterer in town?"
Meiying froze, her hands mid-shell. A pod split open in her fingers, and peas rolled across the wooden planks.
"Meiying?" Weiliang looked up, his brow furrowed. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Meiying said quickly, bending down to pick up the peas. Her hands were shaking a little. "I just… I dropped them. Sorry."
"You seem distant lately," he said softly, putting his bowl down. He reached over and took her hand. "Is it still about your dad? Or… is something else wrong? You know you can tell me anything, right?"
Meiying looked into his eyes. They were so kind. So full of love. And she knew, right then and there, that she couldn't tell him. She couldn't say, Oh, by the way, the man who was supposed to be my fiancé kissed me, and I liked it. That would break him. It would break them. And what was the point? It was just one moment. It was over. She was never going to see Li Yuhan again.
"I'm just tired, Weiliang," Meiying said, forcing a smile. "It's been a lot, you know? With Dad's funeral, and then going to Shanghai. I think I'm just exhausted. That's all."
He squeezed her hand. "I get it. Take all the time you need. We don't have to plan anything yet. I just want you to be happy."
"I am happy," Meiying said. And she meant it. Mostly. But there was this shadow, this ghost of a kiss, hanging between them, even if he couldn't see it.
A few days later, the mail brought an envelope that made her stomach drop.
It was postmarked Shanghai.
Meiying was standing in the middle of the driveway, holding the mail in one hand, and she just stared at it. Her name and address were written in neat, formal print, but her eyes were fixed on the return address: Li Group Holdings, Li Tower, Pudong New Area, Shanghai.
Her heart started hammering. She looked around, making sure Weiliang wasn't nearby. He was out helping his dad fix the fence, so she had a few minutes. She slipped the envelope into her pocket and went inside, her hands cold despite the warm day.
She went into her bedroom and closed the door, leaning against it for a moment before she worked up the courage to open it. Inside were several sheets of official-looking paper, covered in legal terms and signatures. And a separate, smaller envelope.
Meiying opened the legal papers first. They were exactly what he promised, documents transferring the title of the house and land back to her name, and a new agreement for repaying the debt in monthly installments. The amount was manageable, more than fair. He had kept his word. He had given her everything she asked for.
She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Relief washed over her, but it was mixed with something else. Nervousness. Curiosity.
She picked up the smaller envelope. It wasn't sealed. Inside was a single sheet of paper, and on it, written in a sharp, confident handwriting, was a short note:
The papers are signed. You're free to go home and live your life. I hope it's everything you wanted.
There was no signature. Just those few lines.
Meiying sat down on the edge of her bed, holding the note. It was so… him. Detached. Formal. A little bit cold. But underneath it, she could almost hear his voice. She could almost see him sitting at that massive desk, looking at her with those dark, unreadable eyes.
Why did he send this? Why not just have his assistant handle it? Why write a personal note?
She told herself it didn't matter. It was just a formality. He was closing the door on this chapter of his life, just like she was closing it on hers. She should be glad. She should be celebrating.
But instead, she felt a strange ache in her chest. Like she was losing something she never really had.
Meiying folded the note carefully and slipped it into the back of her old journal, the one she kept under her bed with all her private things. She hid the legal papers in the drawer of her nightstand, under some old sweaters.
When Weiliang came back that evening, Meiying told him about the papers. She told him Li Yuhan had kept his word, that everything was official now. Weiliang was over the moon. He hugged her, lifted her up, spun her around, saying how great it was, how they could finally breathe easy.
Meiying laughed and hugged him back. She tried to feel the joy he was feeling. She really did. But as she rested her head on his shoulder, her mind was miles away. In a high-rise office in Shanghai. With a man who had set her free, but left her feeling more tangled up than ever.
That night, Meiying lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She thought about the note. I hope it's everything you wanted.
Did she get what she wanted? She had her home. She had her family's future secure. She had Weiliang. She had the life she had always dreamed of.
So why did she feel like something was missing? Why did she feel like, in saving her future, she had somehow lost a piece of herself?
She turned over, pulling the covers up. It's just stress, she told herself. It's just the aftermath of everything that happened. It'll pass.
But deep down, she knew. Li Yuhan hadn't just walked into her life and walked out again. He had left a mark. And no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise, that mark wasn't going to fade anytime soon