Chapter 57 - Memories (2)

After Jin Qing left, Shao Lin looked at Long Mei, whose expression was flushed and cold.

"Do you know Mr. Jin?" Shao Lin questioned.​​

Long Mei looked startled. She grabbed for her tea, shaking her head. "No. Don't be foolish."

Shao Lin narrowed her eyes, and she gaped at her younger sister-in-law. "You do know him!"

Long Mei coughed over her drink. "Perhaps you're not as easily gullible as I thought you were."

Shao Lin ignored that remark. "Why do you pretend you don't know him?"

Long Mei sighed. "Because if I had truly forgotten the last two years, then I wouldn't know him."

Shao Lin gasped. "You remember everything?"

Long Mei nodded. "I don't think I could ever forget. The last two years shaped me."

"Then why…?"

"Sister-in-law," she began calmly. "If I told my family I did, then there would be too many questions. Too many concerns. I don't want them to worry about me, so I lied."

"But why…?" Shao Lin could not wrap this around her mind.

She sighed. "Have you ever felt like you were so bent on revenge that you were willing to do anything to get it?"

Shao Lin sucked in a breath.

"My brother told me about how you two got together. You hated him at one point because you thought he was the cause of your father's demise? You didn't care about the risks. The dangers. You wanted that vengeance. You were driven by hate," she said and paused. "You remind me of myself. So, please, understand that I have to lie to get what I want. I will tell the rest of my family eventually."

"You're after revenge?" Shao Lin questioned, and she wondered if she should tell her sister-in-law not to go after it that it will only send her to a darker place, a place that will be difficult to escape from.

"Yes," Long Mei replied.

"For your fiancé?"

Long Mei released a breath. "No. He was a dirty cheat. I want revenge for myself."

Shao Lin gaped. "What do you mean? What happened…?"

Long Mei's eyes lowered at the cup in her hand. "I was on my way to elope with my boyfriend, but I was too careless, naïve, and in love to realize that he did not feel the same as I. He only wanted the connection he had with my family. I realized this when we were on our way. I begged him to take me home, that I didn't want this anymore, that I changed my mind. He didn't listen. He cheated on me several times before, but I didn't care as long as he loved me the most…" she trailed off.

"I was stupid. I wish I hadn't gone or stayed with him. I wish I had the courage to leave him before and not wait until the last minute. It was wrong. I felt it. But…"

"You felt the pressure," Shao Lin began, "you didn't know how to escape." She knew precisely how her sister-in-law was feeling. She was in the same situation with Zhong Bai before she left with Long Yat-sen.

Long Mei looked at her. "When I saw you. I knew you were like me, and if I didn't know Yat-sen, I would have thought you were foolish for being with him. But I know my brother, and I know he's good to you."

Shao Lin nodded. "He is. I—"

"Love him?" Long Mei questioned.

Shao Lin's heart nearly skittered to a halt. She never said those words out loud before, and she still hasn't. She knew what she felt for Long Yat-sen was deep and sincere and raw, and perhaps what she felt for him was more than what love can describe, but it terrified and thrilled her to be aware of it.

"Yes," Shao Lin breathed.

Long Mei smiled.

Shao Lin changed the topic. "But how do you plan on getting revenge for yourself?"

Long Mei sighed. "My ex-fiancé's dead, and he broke me. He nearly got me killed. So part of it is complete."

"And now?" Shao Lin replied.

Long Mei stood. "Now I'm after the ones that killed him because they were after me too. Had they succeeded, my life would have shortened. I would have been taken from my family, and I can't forgive anyone for that. I'm doing this for me."

Shao Lin stared at Long Mei and realized that the once sweet and naïve girl was gone, replaced by a harder, stronger version of herself. Long Mei was no longer foolish, no longer swayed by pretty words and false promises. She changed…not that Shao Lin knew how she was before, but she felt it.

Long Mei had become what Long Xia and Long Yat-sen were like. She wasn't easily fooled. Long Mei hated cops. She wanted revenge. She feared nothing.

"Does Jin Qing have something to do with this?" Shao Lin questioned her.

Long Mei shrugged. "Perhaps, but I'm not sure. He is my ex's older half-brother. They weren't particularly close, so I don't know what he wants with me."

Shao Lin could think of several things he may want with Long Mei, but she said nothing.

"Anyway," Long Mei continued. "I need you not to tell my family. They will interfere and tell me I'm stupid. Plus, I need to keep up the act with the public. It's the only way to keep my enemies at bay."

Shao Lin nodded.

…

"Mei remembers everything!" Shao Lin told Long Yat-sen in their apartment, not wanting to feel the burden of keeping things from him. Things were going well between them, and she didn't want secrets that weren't shared with him.

His eyes widened slightly. "Why has she been lying?" he questioned calmly.

Shao Lin then explained everything. She told him what happened before Long Mei's accident, why she was motivated to lie. "And I think Jin Qing is in love with Mei, but he's engaged with Long Xia who's in love with Yuan Bojing, and I think I'm going crazy!"

Long Yat-sen chuckled.

Shao Lin pouted. "Why are you laughing?" she pretended to be sad.

He kept his wide grin. "I'm sorry you got so involved with my family's affairs. We are a dramatic bunch."

Shao Lin couldn't help but chuckle too.

Long Yat-sen lifted a hand and gestured her to sit on his lap. She went toward him, sitting on him, resting the side of her head on his shoulder. "They're your family...and mine, so I don't care if you guys are a dramatic bunch," she said.

Long Yat-sen cradled her. "I'm glad you told me everything, and I can tell you want to help them all, but you're unsure what to do."

Shao Lin looked at him, meeting his clear blue gaze. "My sister-in-law, who's also my best friend, is getting herself involved in an unwanted marriage, while my other sister-in-law is out for blood. They're all hurting, and I feel helpless."

He kissed her head. "There's nothing much you can do in their journeys, but what you can do is provide them support and shed some light to them, as you've done for me."

Her breath caught. "What do you mean?"

He reached out, brushing her hair with his fingers. "You've done more for me than you'd ever know. Your presence fills me with warmth and scares the dark away."

Shao Lin gaped at him. She then leaned forward, as his breath hitched. Her lips parted, kissing him, sweet and slow, then rough and passionate.

Indeed. She was showing him just how she cared for him too.