They didn’t understand this at all. Lu Xinyi was pretty sure that the jewelry set her mother-in-law gave her was still complete in her possession so how come there was a perfect replica of that ring on her mother’s deposit box which hadn’t been opened for more than two decades?
Shen Yi took the ring from Lu Xinyi’s hands and inspected it. From the color and the materials used on it, it was really the perfect replica of his wife’s ring. However, how did it end up in Sun Meixiu’s possession?
As they left the bank together, Lu Xinyi cupped her chin as she looked out of the window, watching the streets come in a blur as their car drove away. Her mind was once again filled with questions. This visit hadn’t answered anything but only added more confusion in her mind.
She must have been a fool to believe what her mother said in her dream but that brought her to this predicament. How did her mother obtain a ring that was part of the Shen family’s heirloom?
“Should we ask Grammie and Mom about this?” She asked her husband. After all, only the women of the Shen family held the jewelry set before it was passed to her.
Shen Yi nodded, keeping his focus on the road. Turning right, he crossed the intersection that led back to the capital. They only came back to the town where Lu Xinyi and Tian Lingyu grew up because of the leads Qiao He had given to them.
“We should. The ring on your mother’s deposit box didn’t seem like it was an imitation, but there couldn’t be possibly two rings on the set.” He narrowed his eyes. Even if his Uncle Jin gave it to Sun Meixiu, the intention wasn’t clear to him.
He didn’t think his Uncle was capable of coveting after Lu Xinyi’s mother. Shen Jinxiu wasn’t that kind of person, but Shen Yi was also puzzled by this. He couldn’t remember when his uncle had taken the ring.
Initially, since his Uncle Jin was the firstborn son of the Shen family, the jewelry set was supposed to be handed down to his future wife. However, since he died even before he was able to get married and have his own family, the set was given to Zhang Jingwei—Shen Yi and Shen Xue’s mother—even if she had divorced Shen Huang after twelve years of marriage.
“Do you think it’s fake?” Lu Xinyi took the ring from the case again and lifted it, the afternoon sun hitting the white gold band of the ring. There were numbers engraved inside the band.
‘What is this?” she muttered to herself. Checking the print up close, she realized that it was a date; and a set of names were engraved in it.
’04-23-20xx. Jin and Ai.’
Lu Xinyi was sitting at the passenger seat of Shen Yi’s car. She was white as chalk. Her eyes and her mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise, and although she was sitting next to her husband, she appeared to not notice him asking her what was wrong at all.
“Xinxin!” Shen Yi was forced to stop the car on the side of the road to shake his wife back to reality. “What’s wrong?”
“I…” Lu Xinyi turned but too slowly to be normal. When she spoke, her voice trails slowly like her words were unwilling to take flight. There was sadness in her eyes, the brown too glossy. “I think you should see this.”
She passed the ring and put it on her husband’s hand. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Shen Yi was startled on her sudden change of behavior but did what she’d told him. He took a peek on the engraved text inside the band and knew right then what caused his wife’s disturbance.
He gave her a look of disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing right then. If Sun Meixiu knew about it, why hadn’t she said anything during his uncle’s funeral? If Sun Mingai knew what had truly happened then, would she not lose her mind and caused a lot of pain to Lu Xinyi and to those people around her?
“This is impossible…” he told her, but it sounded like he was convincing himself more than his wife.
“Possible,” Lu Xinyi corrected her. There couldn’t be any reason for her mother to hold this heirloom of the Shens if their Uncle Jin hadn’t given it to her.
Shen Yi’s eyes darkened. Indeed, he couldn’t just ignore the possibility of what his Uncle Jin had done. However, this only made Sun Mingai’s end a tragedy. If she had known the reason for his Uncle Jin’s visitation to the Lu family, would she regret her next actions?
When they arrived back at the capital, it was almost midnight. Shen Lingqing had been sleeping peacefully, sandwiched between Yuyan and Zichen. Lu Xinyi gently kissed the foreheads of her sleeping children before going down the stairs to talk with Matriarch Shen. She sat next to her husband with the black velvet box on her hands.
“Grammie, we’re sorry to trouble you this late, but Xinxin and I want some answers.” Shen Yi sat on the couch, watching his grandmother sip her hot tea.
“You sound distressed. What’s the matter?” The old woman asked. If it wasn’t important, her grandson would never ask for her assistance.
Shen Yi shot his wife a glance and received a nod in return. His wife placed the box on the table in front of them and gently pushed it towards the Matriarch Shen.
Matriarch Shen looked at Lu Xinyi confusedly before taking the box.
“What is this? You’re not giving me a gift, are you?” she lightly joked hoping that it’d ease the unwanted tension between the couple.
“Grammie, we found this inside one of the safety deposit boxes of my mother. We think you should see this,” Lu Xinyi explained nervously. If Shen Yi’s and her deduction were correct, Uncle Jin was planning to propose to Sun Mingai before the accident.
The old woman opened the box, and a brow quirked up upon seeing what was inside.
“I never thought I’ll see this again,” she commented with a sigh. If Shen Yi and Xinxin hadn’t brought this here, she would assume that it had been lost for good.
Matriarch Shen took the ring from its box and lifted it up on her eye level. The ring was simple, elegant, and stunning like what she remembered it to be.
For someone who wanted simplicity yet with flair, this was the ideal ring. The full bezel on the ring protected the diamond and gave the impression that the diamond was much larger than it truly was. Simplicity and elegance could do little justice to describe this beautiful diamond ring.
Her eyes found the inscribed text on the band. No wonder this couple was confused.
“What does this mean, Grammie? I remember Mom gave me the set with the same ring on it?” Lu Xinyi was the one who asked the question that had been bugging her and Shen Yi ever since they saw the ring.
“I originally thought that Jin had lost this. Before I passed the jewelry to Jingwei, this belonged to your Uncle Jin first.”
