She shook her head in a failed attempt to clear her thoughts before stepping out of her office to finish the details of Gu Yuyao's wedding dress. Her dress was personally made by her and each precious stone and embroidery design was done by her too.

  Gu Yuyao's grandfather surely was loaded with money, giving her the freedom to use as many stones and expensive materials as she needed for the wedding dress. Looking at the white dress, Li Meili wondered if there would come a day when she would also walk down the aisle dressed as a bride, and not just another bridesmaid.

  Her parents' worries were understandable, after all she wasn't getting any younger and was reaching her 30th birthday a little after the empress's birthday.

  She groaned inwardly. Not gonna happen, she thought.

  When Tang Moyu asked her why she didn't consider getting married or getting serious with her previous boyfriends, she felt a little bit guilty. Li Meili didn't know how she was supposed to explain to her best friend that she had a one night stand with her best friend's brother five years ago.

  She wanted to curse herself for her stupidity and hit her head several times from the lapse of judgement that night with Tang Beixuan. Jeez. He was still on the cusp of adulthood and yet she'd picked the cherry with him.

  Tang Moyu would kill her, chop her body and incinerate it before throwing her remains in the pacific ocean where sharks resided. She definitely didn't want to ruin her relationship with her best friend just because of her mistake of having an affair with her younger brother.

  Right now, she was living the life she always wanted for herself. She had a nice job that paid generously, which was basically getting paid for something she loved doing the most and being surrounded with good friends.

  And yet…


  Why did she still feel empty inside? She could feel that she was missing something important.

  What she had with Tang Beixuan was a mistake that shouldn't have happened in the first place, no matter if he claimed that it wasn't. It was just impossible for them to be together. She should have known better than to forget that her best friend's brother was off-limits. She should be the one who needed to be responsible and level headed that night.

  'Stupid Meili,' she chastised herself and yet five years later, she still found herself thinking about him once in a while.

  It shouldn't have hurt. She should have considered him as another man that didn't deserve her attention, and yet… her traitorous heart still wanted him. She had kept her distance from him, hoping that she would be able to forget their slight slip that night.

  Although Tang Beixuan had a carefree and outgoing personality, he seemed to have more mature mentality in contrast to his age that would put her, a woman five years his senior, to shame. Just like the empress, his sister, he was a smart and level headed person. He was also good at numbers, probably because of the adoration for his sister.

  Li Meili forced herself to focus on the work she had at the moment. She needed to finish this dress as soon as possible so she could move on to the next one waiting for her attention. She worked nonstop until she felt a pain on her forefinger, when she pricked it with one of the needles on her other hand.

  She sighed dejectedly and glanced at the clock in the room she was in and saw that it was already past six in the evening and her employees might have called it a day and left the office.

  Li Meili cleaned her wound, disinfected it before taking her car keys and handbag from her small office. She wasn't able to see her favorite little buns yesterday because too much work was keeping her here. However, now that the hardest part was done on Gu Yuyao's dress, she should be able to spare some time to relax and clear her head.

  Since it was also a general time for employees to get off work, the road leading towards the Peach Blossom Garden was congested with traffic and corporate employees hanging out. She puffed her cheeks in frustration.

  Could this day get any worse than it already was? She just wanted to see her best friend and her little buns and probably eat a good meal that Feng Tianyi made for them.

  Not that her family restaurants' menus weren't better, but there was something about good home cooked meals that made it enjoyable when it was shared with everyone.

  After an hour of driving, Li Meili finally reached her destination and pulled up her car next to her best friend's. She made her way to the guest house after confirming with Auntie Lu that the Tangs and Feng Tianyi were there, getting ready for dinner.

  Sounds of laughter and voices reached her ears as she slowly opened the front door, stepping into the hallway.

  "Eh? Have you started dinner without me? Little Star? Xiao Bao?" She called out as she reached the sitting room, where she could see the kitchen and the dining area from where she stood.

  "Auntie Mei!" Little Star ran towards her excitedly.

  Li Meili smiled and looked around, her smile faltering, eyes widening upon seeing the person she'd been trying to forget.

  "Sister Meili, it's been a long time." Tang Beixuan greeted her.