The sun shone brightly in the sky that day. The sky was clear and anyone could read that they’ll have really good weather for today. The leaves swayed lightly when the cool wind passed, dragging along the piece of small grass that was caught up with it. One or two birds would stop by on the windowsill from time to time, knocking the glass window with their pointy beaks before they flew away.

  The weather was so good that day but the person inside that room was just sleeping through it. The sunlight slipped inside the room through the window, filling the quiet room with warmth and indescribable calmness. In the middle of the room lay a woman in a comfortable lavender cotton dress.

  Most of her body was covered by the duvet and her hair spread out on the pillows. The woman slept so beautifully that one would be afraid to make a sound else they wake her up.

  Everything was still peaceful and fine until the sound of the door opening broke the silence. A man clad in a white shirt appeared and walked towards the glass door opposite him. Inside was a wide walk-in closet filled with various clothes, half of it are for men’s and half are for women.

  Lu Chen grabbed his black Brioni suit, chose a navy blue Gucci tie to pair with it, and a Patek Philippe watch. He was fully dressed more than usual for today since he was attending a high-profile event full of various CEOs, politicians, and superstars. The event starts later after lunch, but he still had to go through some doc.u.ments before he leaves for the event so he starts his day early.

  As he busied fixing himself in the closet, he failed to notice that the woman who was asleep on the bed had awoken from her slumber.

  As soon as Xiu Mei opened her eyes, she was welcomed by an unfamiliar ceiling. Her body felt a bit heavy, and she felt a pang of pain hit her. She raised her hand to lightly massage her temples, a futile attempt to ease her headache.

  She slowly rose from the bed, the duvet slipping off her body. Her eyes automatically examining the room she was in. Xiu Mei knew that she’s never been here before but somehow, the room feels familiar. She didn’t feel nervous at all despite not knowing where she is at the moment.

  The interior of the room was minimalistic. The room was full of monotone colors—black television, white sofa, white bedside table, etc. Basically, everything was in black, white, and gray.

  She, who was in lavender color stood out like a sore thumb inside the room. Xiu Mei was still examining the room when the glass door opened again. Her eyes darted towards the door, and she froze when it finally dawned to her where she was.

  "Lu Chen?"

  Xiu Mei got surprised as soon as she spoke. Her throat felt dry as her voice sounded very scratchy and almost gone. She brought her hand to her throat as she lightly massaged it. Why was she suddenly losing her voice?

  While she was still wondering, Lu Chen, who got startled at first quickly approached her. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then he slowly handed it over to her.

  "Drink first."

  "Thank you."

  Xiu Mei gladly accepted the glass and drank it slowly. Finally, her throat felt refreshed and the dry feeling went away. She handed the empty glass to Lu Chen, who was now sitting beside her on the bed.

  Lu Chen placed the glass on the table as he shifted back his attention to the woman. The two of them looked at each other eye to eye for a while without speaking. A few seconds later, Xiu Mei broke the silence between them.

  "How long did I fall asleep this time?"

  When she asked him this, she sounded a bit anxious at the same time, her question sounded like she was just asking something normal.

  Lu Chen tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he answered her question, "3 days."

  Hearing his answer, Xiu Mei’s mood declined. She slept quite long this time. If this continues, she’s afraid she won’t wake up from slumber anymore.

  As she got depressed over her thoughts, a warm palm cupped her face instantly filling her with comfort and peace. She raised her head and saw Lu Chen’s gentle gaze on her.

  "Don’t worry, I’ll always be here. I’ll help you." Lu Chen grabbed one of her hands and pressed his lips over her fingers. He kissed it so gently as if he was kissing a fragile glass that would instantly break if not properly handled.

  Lu Chen quietly assured Xiu Mei when he finally remembered something. He pulled out a little red book from his inner b.r.e.a.s.t pocket and placed it on her palm.

  With just the color alone, Xiu Mei already knew what he was giving to her. Her eyes traveled first to Lu Chen’s face, as she reluctantly turned it over.

  The familiar gold logo appeared in front of her and as she flipped the book open, she saw both of their names and a picture of the two of them. The picture was taken from the end-of-the-year company event last year, both of them in white. Lu Chen in a white suit and Xiu Mei in a white long dress.

  As she finished checking out their marriage book, she finally realized something wrong. Did this marriage book…… just came out of Lu Chen’s inner pocket?

  Xiu Mei looked at Lu Chen who was gently staring at her……

  was he this kind of person? A person who brings their marriage book everywhere?

  Lu Chen’s image…… is very different to what she had known him for in the past 4 years. The more she knows about him, the more mysterious, childish and weird he’s becoming in her eyes.

  "What about our one-year contract?"

  "It’s been already prepared. I’ll let you sign once you’re all better."

  "Hmm."

  "……"

  "……"

  "Did you have a hard time registering this?" She was talking about registering their marriage at the Bureau of Civil Affairs. Surely, her family’s people who’ve been placed there would immediately alert her family about the sudden registration of her marriage.

  And it seems that Lu Chen has his own people inside too since their marriage application was successfully registered. It would have been very difficult for him to push this through once the Xiu family interferes with it.

  "I got people so it was done smoothly."

  Lu Chen chuckled, as he thought back three days before when he received a death threat call from Xiu Mei’s brothers. He had already taken the initiative to visit her parents the moment he received the two red books so they weren’t really surprised at all. However, they clearly held doubts against him, especially with the sudden marriage the two of them have gone.

  "My brothers must’ve tried to meet and kill you for more than once now?"

  "They tried, but I never backed down to those kinds of fights. Most especially if they’re demanding me to divorce you, which would be very impossible. After all, they didn’t know what I’ve gone through just to let me marry you."

  Lu Chen smilingly whispered to her, as he ran his fingers on her soft and silky hair. His face a few inches closer to hers.

  "Well, they’d have to wait for the final verdict after a year." Xiu Mei remarked as her lips curled up as well as she imagined her brothers’ reactions.

  The two of them fell into another period of silence. Lu Chen just kept caressing her hair and Xiu Mei just shut her eyes and enjoyed the service Lu Chen was doing for her.

  Later, she finally asked the question that she was very hesitant to ask at all. Because she knew that the answer would be something she would be scared to hear out.

  "Why was I moved here?"

  Lu Chen’s action paused for a second before he resumed weaving his fingers in her hair. Xiu Mei looked straight at Lu Chen, whose face had gone cold for a few seconds before he finally opened his mouth.

  "Someone came to visit you."

  Xiu Mei’s breath hitched.

  "And that person could be related to your accident 10 years ago."

  The man waving at her before he disappeared flashed in front of Xiu Mei’s as her heart started to pound so hard in nervousness. Cold sweat ran her back, as she felt her hands started to get a bit clammy.

  "You saw the paper?"

  "Hmm."

  "My family too?"

  "They did."

  Xiu Mei’s depressing mood returned as she realized that she brought another problem to her family again. Ever since that accident, her family grew increasingly worried over her. Since she didn’t want them to worry too much about her in the future, she decided to become independent.

  She wanted to show them that she could survive in her own two feet, and she was not as weak as they thought her to be.

  And right now, she knew how foolish she was. They were right. She was weak. To faint over something that happened 10 years ago, she was really mentally weak. Ah, how foolish she really was.

  "Xiu Mei."

  Xiu Mei’s train of depressing thoughts stopped the moment she heard Lu Chen calling her name. The next thing she knew, she was now buried in his arms. Warmth slowly filled her cold body.

  "You’re not alone."

  We’ll fight it together, was what Lu Chen left unsaid.