Chapter 16
Edward Quan ·
Three minutes.
At last, he looked up.
"Yes."
I stared.
Tears still marked his face.
"This time…"
"I don't want to be a coward."
He stood and walked toward the book.
Lu Changsheng roared at once.
"CHEN MINGYUAN!"
Mingyuan stopped.
"You dare betray me?"
He turned to look at him.
After a long while, he laughed.
"You know something?"
"For seventeen lives, I kept telling myself I had no choice."
He looked down at his hands.
"But my wife was right."
"I always did."
He placed his hand on the book.
"I was just too afraid to die."
Lu Changsheng struggled wildly.
"STOP!"
Mingyuan closed his eyes.
"I, Chen Mingyuan."
"Fourth-generation heir to Chen Youde."
"Of my own free will, I renounce every benefit granted under this pact."
The book burst into flames.
Lu Changsheng screamed.
Mingyuan continued.
"From this day forward…"
"The Chen family owes no more lives."
Boom!
White light flared.
I was thrown backward.
Before I lost consciousness, I saw Mingyuan turn.
He looked at me.
And smiled.
"Qinghe."
"This time…"
"I choose our child."
Chapter 11: The Child Who Stopped Speaking
When I woke, I was in hospital.
Sunlight streamed through the window.
The familiar smell of disinfectant.
The steady sound of a heart monitor.
I reached for my belly at once.
Still there.
Still round.
I began to cry.
"Nian'an?"
No answer.
I went still.
"Sweetheart?"
Silence.
Panic rose.
"Nian'an!"
The door opened.
Mom came in.
Seeing me awake, she burst into tears.
"Qinghe!"
I gripped her hand.
"Where's my baby?"
She stared.
"What baby?"
"Nian'an!"
I was almost shouting.
"Where's my daughter?"
She hurried to call a doctor.
After an examination, the doctor said the baby was fine.
Her heartbeat was normal.
No signs of danger.
I breathed out.
But the unease remained.
Because Nian'an had stopped speaking.
I called to her all day.
Nothing.
I tried telling stories.
Singing.
Resting my hand on my belly.
She still kicked.
But her voice was gone.
I began to fear.
Had destroying the array taken away her ability to speak to me?
Or worse…
Had her soul been hurt?
I couldn't bear to think about it.
That evening, Mom sat beside the bed and held my hand.
"Qinghe."
"There's something I need to tell you."
I looked at her.
She lowered her head.
"Mingyuan is dead."
I said nothing.
For a long time.
At last, I asked quietly, "When?"
"Three days ago."
I looked out the window.
It was raining.
"They found him in the old house," she continued.
"There were no signs of injury."
"He looked as though…"
Her voice caught.
"He'd just fallen asleep and never woken up."
I closed my eyes.
Tears slipped down my face.
I'd hated Mingyuan.
Hated him enough to want him out of my life.
But hearing that he was truly dead brought no joy.
Only an enormous emptiness.
Three years of marriage.
Seventeen cycles.
He'd loved me.
And betrayed me.
Tried to save me.
And driven me to despair.
In the end, he'd chosen to be a father.
At the cost of his life.
I didn't know whether to forgive him or keep hating him.
Perhaps I'd never know.
Mom held my hand.
"Qinghe."
"Try not to grieve too much."
I nodded.
After a long while, I asked, "Mom."
"Did Grandma really tell you never to let me marry into the Chen family?"
She was silent.
Then she nodded.
I smiled sadly.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She began to cry.
"Because I didn't believe her."
I looked at her.
"I thought it was superstition."
"Before she died, your grandmother said so many strange things."
"That the Chens were cursed."
"That if a Song daughter became pregnant by a Chen man, something terrible would happen."
"I didn't believe it."
I said nothing.
She wept.
"I did this to you."
I shook my head.
"No."
I held her hand.
"You didn't know."
But I understood.
Not every mistake could be put right.
Sometimes, one act of disbelief was enough to change a whole life.
A week later, I left hospital.
I didn't return to the home I'd shared with my husband.
I moved in with Mom.
My mother-in-law was taken in for questioning over the suspected misuse of medication and her earlier actions.