Xiu Mei was momentarily distracted by the sound of the shattered vase, as her eyes darted to the object on the ground. The sound ringing in her ears. Her eyes tracing the sharp edges of the broken pieces. Then an old memory floated up within her mind.

  Blood. A pool of blood as she slit her wrist in despair.

  She took a sharp breath, as she felt her body turning numb.

  Her second brother immediately appeared on her side as he moved her away from the shattered vase and made her sit on the couch.

  "Princess!" Panic could be heard from her second brother’s voice.

  He noticed Xiu Mei’s body was shivering when he held her by the shoulders. He quickly realized that her sister was having a panic attack but before he could do anything, another voice appeared behind them.

  "Wife." Lu Chen knelt before his wife, covering her small hands with his and with a soft voice, he tried to calm her down and make her return to her senses.

  "Wife, focus on me." He encouraged her as he held her by the chin to make her look straight at him. He saw her eyes devoid of emotions.

  "Xiu Mei," He called her repeatedly. "Mei’er, come back."

  He whispered in her ears for a couple of minutes, until finally, his voice reached her. This time, she recovered pretty quickly and returned to her senses after just a few minutes of her panic attack. And suddenly seeing her husband in front of her, she was genuinely surprised.

  Why is he here?

  She lowered her gaze and noticed how tight yet gentle he was holding her. And then she glanced at her second brother who currently looked very nervous and worried while watching her.

  Even without asking, she immediately understood what happened. Probably because she was too stimulated with emotions, and then her terrible memories were accidentally triggered by the shattered vase, her panic attack must have set in and she experienced a Freeze Response instead of her usual reactions.

  But before she could continue to wallow on her disappointment to herself, she felt an arm loop itself under her knees and the other on her waist. She was quickly lifted into the air as she reflexively clung to the person who carried her by clinging onto his neck.

  "I’ll bring her home first." Lu Chen stated to her second brother while he princess-carried her.

  Xiu Mo Ruo stared at his sister with a mix of guilt and worry because of what happened. He saw how her sister looked at him as if he was betraying her, and then when she temporarily broke down again, he couldn’t even do anything but just watch his sister’s husband calm her down so skillfully.

  "Take good care of my sister." Was what Xiu Mo Ruo could only say, feeling disappointed in himself. He watched the two figures disappeared from the library.

  He was feeling guilty for lying to his sister, but he felt resolute more than before that it was for the best.

  Looking at her trembling figure, he didn’t want to imagine how she would react if she discovers what happened to his twin or that their mother returned to the army for her.

  Xiu Mei was very quiet on their way home. Her eyes glued on the outside while Lu Chen held her left hand, trying to give her some sense of comfort and security. A lot of things are running in her mind. She took a brief glance at Lu Chen’s side profile before looking out the window again.

  "Chen, can you tell me the truth?" She finally opened her mouth after that long silence. They already arrived home but she didn’t get off the car just yet. Because she wanted to talk to Lu Chen about something.

  Lu Chen’s eyes flashed and he didn’t notice that he tightened his hold on her.

  "What is it, my wife?"

  "Do you know something?"

  "Know about what?"

  "You know what I’m talking about." Xiu Mei’s eyes narrowed. "You appeared so fast in the Xiu Mansion so that means you immediately rushed to leave from here as soon as you got home. There must have been a reason why you needed to rush to follow after me. So why? What’s that reason?"

  "…… Wife."

  "Please. C-Can you just tell me the truth? If all of you think that hiding it from me would be better, then you’re wrong." Xiu Mei’s voice cracked. "The more secret you all try to hide from me, the more I doubt myself. Am I that unreliable? Am I too weak so you all just chose to protect me in the dark while I live here mindlessly without worry?"

  "That’s not wh-"

  "But that’s what I feel. You know me. I’m a very proud person. I don’t often rely on others, and when there are problems, I like to handle them closely. But this is different. Someone is threatening me and my family and we don’t know what that person wants. People kept kidnapping me, and I am very aware of my current situation. That I am not truly a strong person. In reality, I’m just a weak-willed person who is scared of myself, of anyone, of my past."

  Xiu Mei felt her chest clench in pain as she said those words. Because no matter how many times she wants to deny the truth, her only option was to accept the reality. Just like how she made her resolve to get over her past, by accepting her best friend’s death. And accept the fact that she was left to live with that memory for the rest of her life.

  She tried. She really tried. And she was still trying. Accepting wasn’t easy.

  And now, she had to accept the reality that she wasn’t even the person that she thought she was. She thought she would be fine if she didn’t know because she was afraid to worry about her parents and her family. Especially after she woke up from her two months of coma, they got even more protective and unwilling to tell her anything.

  But the more she tries to act like it’s fine to ignore it, to close one of her eyes, and to fool herself, the more her anxiety increased. Lu Chen didn’t want to worry her by getting her too involved with his investigation, and surely, something must be happening in the Xiu family as well that she was unaware of.

  She suddenly realized. That she was too naive, too ignorant, too…… foolish. And now, when she learned her mother might have returned to the army, she blamed herself.

  Was it because of her? That her mother, who chose to spend her life quietly with her family, had to suddenly return to active duty without even telling her. If they didn’t want her to know, then the reason must have been related to her.

  Why? Who is it? Who wanted to target her this badly? Was it not enough for that person to harm her family by breaking her sanity since she was young?

  "I can’t continue acting like nothing is going on. My second brother is not willing to tell me, and I can’t even talk to my mother and father." She pleaded while looking at Lu Chen straight in the eye. She heaved a deep sigh.

  "I can only ask you."

  "……"

  "Chen, can you please tell me the truth? What is really going on?"

  Lu Chen didn’t stand that long against his wife’s pleading. How could he? He didn’t even know that she will be pained this much just because they were keeping everything from her. He even doubted their decision of keeping it a secret from her. Maybe they were really wrong to let her keep away.

  Xiu Mei noticed that Lu Chen’s determined gaze was wavering so she continued pleading for answers. Until Lu Chen sighed helplessly at her that she knew that she finally succeeded.

  "Okay, I’ll tell you what you want to know." Lu Chen sighed in defeat as he leaned over his wife and held her by the shoulders. "But you have to promise me, that if you feel uncomfortable or anything, you have to tell me."

  He brushed the locks of her hair behind her ear. "I didn’t want to tell you because I don’t want you to suffer. But I can’t let you down. So I’ll tell you."

  "Ying Wan Wan is working with Yu Ming Xi."

  "Your first brother went after her in the underground city."

  As soon as she heard that sentence, she immediately had a foreboding in her heart. It was soon confirmed with his next words.

  "He was shot and is now in a coma in the military hospital."

  She gasped. Her hand that was clinging onto his clothes tightened as fear slowly crept in her heart.

  "And your mother did indeed returned to the army, to gain permission to step foot in the underground city."