Inside the rundown factory, time flew by as Yue Ling and Liu Shan sat in the main room with the others. Although the place looked like it could collapse at any moment, she was not bothered by it.
She and the three men chatted away as laughter could be heard echoing inside the room. It was as if Yue Ling had never parted ways with them.
Yue Ling notices something from the corners of her eyes and turns her head to look in that direction. It was set aside as if to hide, but she knew what it was when she focused on it.
She stood up not too slow nor too fast before walking over to it.
“What’s wrong?”
Song Jing Li was quick to ask when he saw her suddenly move. His head turns to the right, following her gaze, as did everyone else. Their hearts froze when he and the others saw what she was walking toward, excluding Liu Shan.
“Noona…”
The young man could squeeze out the word, but everything else fell into utter silence.
Yue Ling walks up to a table with scattered books and paper. She moves a few aside before picking up a magazine.
On the front cover were her and Lu Tian. It was the magazine when they announced their engagement and upcoming wedding.
She held the magazine in one hand as her free hand gently traced over the photo.
“I guess you all knew about my relationship with Lu Tian.”
Her angelic voice sounds, but hearing no response, she sets it back down and turns around.
“But why did no one call to congratulate me?”
She looks at Song Jing Li, then to Kira, before stopping her gaze at Qin Jun. However, the expression on their faces was that of guilt.
She felt a sharp stab in the center of her heart, and she smiles a sarcastic chuckle at the three men.
“Is it because you all consider me an outsider for deciding to leave City Z, or is it because I am no longer grieving over Shin?”
When she first came to Imperial, she stayed in touch with Hana, but the distance gradually drifted them apart. However, she never stopped thinking about them.
She knew everyone was busy with their life and didn’t think much when no one called to congratulate her on finding her new happiness.
However, seeing that they already knew, she would be lying if their negligence did not hurt her.
Qin Jun saw the solemn expression on her face, and he shook his head to answer her.
“You’re wrong. It has nothing to do with hyun. We all wanted to congratulate you. We were happy to know that you were moving on, but….”
“But we weren’t sure about Lu Tian.”
Before Qin Jun could finish his words, Song Jing Li abruptly stood up and cut him off. He looked at the woman he considers his older sister and pursed his lips.
“Well, Jun and Kira were fine, but I was skeptical about him.”
He lowers his eyes and clenches his fists before continuing.
“I… What if he can’t protect you? What if he puts you in danger?”
His words fall, and he looks up at Yue Ling again.
“Noona, Lu Tian is a dangerous man. He is impenetrable and cold-blooded. Do you know what he does to the people who cross his line? Yes, people say he is capable of doing anything, but you haven’t been in Imperial for long, and look at what you’ve already gone through. Why did he let you encounter danger and lose your unborn child if he isn’t dangerous?”
The second his last words escaped his mouth, he knew it was too late to take back what he had said.
Yue Ling’s face turned expressionless as the room fell into silence again. She stared at the young man standing in front of her, but there was no longer any traces of warmth in her bluish-green eyes.
“So that’s how you see Lu Tian?”
She slowly steps forward as if to close the distance between them.
“You think Lu Tian is a heartless man because his hands are stained with blood? You think it’s his fault for losing our unborn child?”
She laughs in disbelief, but everyone in the room can hear the bitterness behind her laugh.
“And here I am wondering why none of you congratulated me. None of you thought to console me, even when you found out about what happened to me.”
Her words struck like thunder to the hearts of the three men. Song Jing Li wanted to apologize for speaking out of line, and Kira wanted to apologize for their actions while Qin Jun sat in silence.
All three men knew they were wrong for not contacting her since she moved, especially Qin Jun. He was the one who kept insisting that they keep a distance from her.
In the end, his decision backfired on them. Instead of protecting her as he had promised, he caused her pain.
Their silence hurt Yue Ling, but she steadied herself by inhaling a small deep breath. She straightens her posture and looks at Song Jing Li dead in the eyes.
“Song Jing Li. You say that Lu Tian is dangerous, but what about me? Isn’t it known in the underworld that I, the leader of Fate, am also dangerous? Does that mean I am also impenetrable and cold-blooded?”
She takes a step forward, then another as her voice continues to sound.
“You can think whatever you want about Lu Tian, but to me, he is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Just when I thought my life was falling deeper into darkness, he pulled me out of it.”
She slows to stop in front of the young man in the proximity of three feet.
“When I lost mine and his unborn child, he was there to comfort me when I needed it the most. Even when he learned about my past and how my hands are also stained with blood, he didn’t leave but remained by my side.”
She wanted to say more but stopped herself. She knew better than anyone that if she were to continue speaking, the situation would not end.
She looks away from the young man. Her hands clenched in tight fists.
“I don’t expect you to accept him because I already accepted him. Whether you like it or not, it’s not my problem.”
She ends the discussion and turns around from him.
“It’s getting late. I have to be somewhere else, so I’ll let you all get back to whatever you came here to do.”
Before anyone could respond, she ensured they weren’t given a chance and stridden away.
“Let’s go, Liu Shan.”
Watching her leave, Liu Shan could only shake his head at the three men before following his boss. At the same, Song Jing Li stumbles in his steps to chase after Yue Ling.
“Noona…”
He grabs her by the forearm like a child who is going to be abandoned by his mother, and Yue Ling stops in her steps.
She doesn’t turn around but closes her eyes to take a small breath. When she opened her eyes again, her lips parted to speak.
“Although I made the decision to leave, you all are still family to me. Feel free to visit me anytime during your stay here.”
Song Jing Li’s eyes grew moist, but he held back the urge to cry. He could sense that Yue Ling was hurt by his words. However, feeling her pull away from his grasp, he does not stop her.
All he wanted to do was punch himself in the stomach for making this reunion painful for her.
“Ma— Yue Ling.”
Qin Jun calls out from behind, almost saying the name she had discarded. He quickened his pace to meet her before she walked out the door.
“I’m sorry for not contacting you. We’re all sorry for not contacting you. We… No, I thought it was for the best since you finally moved on. I thought keeping our distance for you to move on from the past was better.”
He spoke from the bottom of his heart, but Yue Ling did not stop to look back. It was as if she didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
Yue Ling’s expression was calm and collected, but Liu Shan knew even without looking that she was deeply hurt. If it had been anyone else, she would have been fine, but these people were once the closest to her and the ones she considered her family.
As the sound of her and Liu Shan’s footsteps fade out the door, Kira walks over to join Qin Jun. The two men watch as the boss and assistant enter the car, but neither speaks.
It wasn’t until the car drove away did Kira’s voice sound.
“Why didn’t you tell her the whole truth? You know this might be the last time you can tell her.”
Qin Jun stares out the door to the heavy rain and where Liu Shan’s car was once parked.
The moment he saw her appear in front of them, he had wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her the truth about Shin’s death, but the more he looked at her, he couldn’t bring himself to do so.
His eyes search through the rain as he stares at the back of the car that could be vaguely seen in the far distance.
“How can I tell her after what just happened?”
He spoke in a quiet voice containing regret for their behavior. He could still remember her expression when she turned to look at them after finding the magazine.
“Did you see the way she looked at us? Her eyes were filled with so much pain and disappointment. Even when our actions hurt her, she still saw us as a family to her.”
As he inhaled a deep breath, Kira’s expression wasn’t far from Qin Jun’s. He thought everything was going smoothly, but Song Jing Li had to speak out of line, worsening the situation.
He raises his left hand and rubs his forehead. If they had never learned the truth about Shin’s death and put all their attention into finding Choi Li Sun, this situation wouldn’t have happened.
“We really messed up this time.”
