Chapter 3

After I left Zhang Yanqiao, the rumors that he brought misfortune upon his wife seemed to come true in me.

When spring came and the snow melted, I fell and broke my leg. Then, while preparing Grandma’s medicine, I badly burned my hand.

I scarred easily. The two injuries left ugly marks.

None of these mishaps was catastrophic, but they never seemed to stop. Worried, Grandma took me to a well-known temple nearby. She asked for a protective charm and made a donation. Nothing seemed to help.

Not long afterward, a small van struck me as I was walking down the road.

This time, I ended up in hospital.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, I kept thinking: I wasn’t his wife anymore. Why did bad luck still follow me like a shadow?

If his fate harmed his wife, surely I shouldn’t be the one suffering?

The Zhang family must have completed all the divorce formalities. Yet one misfortune followed another.

Grandma grew anxious and went back to the temple to pray.

A monk told her, “Perhaps the young woman should remarry. A new marriage would sever the old karmic bond. The ill-fated tie would no longer follow her.”

She believed him at once.

Grandma had become very frail. Her private doctor had quietly told me she might have only six months left.

I couldn’t bear to say it. But perhaps she had guessed. She began making arrangements for after her death, her only remaining worry the granddaughter she would leave behind.

Two months later, I recovered and left hospital. That was when the marriage discussions began.

The driver who had hit me was Song Jiahao, a childhood friend.

After we grew older, he had confessed his feelings for me. I was sixteen then. It frightened me to hear such strange words from someone I had always thought of as an older brother.

I avoided him after that. Later, he moved to the mainland with his family to study, and we lost touch.

Grandma said he sent her gifts and health supplements every year. He was twenty-eight now and had never had a girlfriend.

Throughout my two months in hospital, he had cared for me attentively.

Grandma was pleased.

“A-Ni, Jiahao is a good man. I watched him grow up. He’s kind and hardworking, and he can support a family. He’s thought of you all these years without loving anyone else. That’s a rare blessing. I could rest easy if you married him.”

But I didn’t want to.

I didn’t love him. He was still the boy I had thought of as a brother.

Without love, marriage would only make us both miserable.

Jiahao, though, gave me an honest, bashful smile, his face tanned.

“A-Ni, I know you don’t love me. I don’t mind. Being able to marry you would be enough. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. Just seeing you every day would make me happy.”

He sat opposite me, scratching his head awkwardly. His eyes shone, but whenever I looked back, he quickly glanced away.

I couldn’t help smiling.

“But Jiahao-ge, that wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“I don’t care about fair,” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t trade the chance to marry you for a mountain of gold.”

Still, I couldn’t say yes.

He was his family’s only son, with four older sisters. They placed great importance on carrying on the family line.

And my heart still belonged to someone else.

Marriage would be unfair to both of us.

But Zhang Yanqiao was about to marry.

His bride would be Miss He, the shipping magnate’s eldest granddaughter. Their backgrounds matched. So did their looks and accomplishments. No one could object.

Ironically, the person who told me was his timid younger cousin.

She had gone to considerable trouble to find my number, just to say this over the phone.

“Sister-in-law… oh, that’s not right. I suppose I can’t call you that now.”

“Anyway, our new sister-in-law will be joining the family soon.”

“How do you feel, Shen Ci?”

“I’m delighted. Knowing you won’t have anything to be smug about makes me so happy.”

She laughed freely at the other end.

I couldn’t understand it.

I had never done anything to hurt her. She was an orphan living with the Zhang family. The other young ladies kept their distance, and even the servants treated her with little respect.

After I married into the family, I often spoke up when they were unkind to her.

I wasn’t trying to win anyone over. I simply thought it was pitiful to be orphaned and dependent on relatives.

Now I understood. Kindness didn’t always come back to you.

I ended the call, but the weight in my chest wouldn’t lift.

Zhang Yanqiao really was getting married.

Someone else would be Mrs. Zhang. Another woman would stand beside him, receive his kisses, and share his life.

I had never hurt like this.

It was so hard to breathe, yet I couldn’t cry. In the end, all I could do was retch.

I had promised Madam Zhang that Grandma and I would leave Harbor City and never appear before him again.

Now I couldn’t stop myself.

I wanted to see him once more. Just once.

Afterward, I would make myself let go completely.

I returned to Harbor City in secret.

I hadn’t expected to encounter a member of the Zhang family the moment I arrived at the airport: the arrogant second young lady who had never liked me.

“Sister-in-law?”

The word slipped out before she covered her mouth and frowned.

“Shen Ci. Why are you back?”

“Didn’t my mother tell you never to return to Harbor City?”

She reached for her phone.

I stood still. There was no point explaining anything to her.

But she stopped, put the phone away, and studied me for a long time.

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

I didn’t understand.

The Zhang family had suppressed all news of the accident. I didn’t know he had lost his memory and forgotten everything between us.

Those words, “It doesn’t matter anymore,” only made my heart ache harder.

“Come with me.”

“I’ll let you see for yourself. Then you can give up.”

“I’ve booked my return flight,” I said quietly. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

She took me to her car with a cold little snort.

“Just like you. Always so meek and timid. My brother protected you, and you still couldn’t stand up for yourself. You really aren’t suited to being a Zhang daughter-in-law.”

I lowered my head and said nothing.

She went on grumbling.

“Actually, I don’t like you, but I don’t hate you either. Consider this my good deed for the day.”

The car stopped outside a private club.

“My brother is having dinner here tonight. See him if you want. But don’t say anything you shouldn’t. You know what will happen.”

My voice caught.

“Thank you, Second Miss.”

“Shen Ci, you really are cold. You used to call me your little sister, and now…”

She turned away.

I gave a small smile, my eyes stinging.

“Thank you, little sister.”

“Go on. Don’t let anyone see I brought you.”

“I understand.”