She wouldn’t have existed anymore, and Yuelin would never have been born.
It was the single most terrifying thought he had ever had.
Meilei whimpered, unable to free herself from his arms because deep down, it was the one place she had longed to be all these years. It was the feeling of home he had given her. The longing for him to come back and make it right. For him to see her innocence and still love her. As much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn’t anymore.
Kai’s return and how he was with Yuelin as a father reminded her of all the reasons she had ever loved him. She could forgive what had been done because deep down, she knew his heart had been ravaged too. His trust was broken, and his life was as painful as hers in his own way. This was their chance at a new beginning.
Meilei let him. She stilled, savoring what was once so familiar but so absent for so long that her stomach exploded with butterflies. She leaned into him, making a move while still caught in her despair and emotional state, and kissed him back. An impulsive reaction that shocked her even though she was the one who initiated it.
The longing yet gentleness in her motion held him back from devouring her. He could tell she was showing him a way in, and he didn’t want to take advantage of her vulnerability by trying to push it further. Instead, Kai let her lips and his press for a few seconds before he wrapped her in the kind of hug meant only for lovers. Pulling every inch of her tiny frame into his, burying his face in the crook of her neck, and picking her up off her feet.
“I can’t believe this is the last time we will stand here. It doesn’t seem real.” Suying gazed around the empty room, which somehow seemed smaller without the addition of their furniture, nick-nacks, and all that made it home. It was a vast pale beige space with tired walls, chipped flooring they had never noticed, and naked windows. Everything that had signaled it as home was now missing, and it was a run-down reality of what a rose-tinted outlook borne of sentimentality had veiled.
“Pfft, you can talk, you traitor.” Ling dug her in the ribs with a bony-fingered prod, joking in her accusation as she had no real malice for Suying moving into Qian’s apartment a couple of months prior. It had made sense, given her commute to work and his nearness to the hospital. She had still come home just as much to see them, and all that had changed was she no longer slept there.
This is where they had begun and carved out a life from student poverty and the stress of a baby to being three successful women.
“Yue is a child so enamored with the menfolk in her life she would move out and leave us here without caring.” Ling huffed, hiding her swelling heartache for what they were leaving behind with attitude. She was the one having the hardest time with the changes and the loss of her family unit. She wanted to grip onto everyone so tightly and remain how they had been. “Probably wouldn’t notice we were missing.” She mock sulked.
“I only agreed to it after he sold it and bought the apartment across the hall from our princess’s new abode. I am not one to abandon my family, like some.” Another jab at Suying, which had Meilei giggling.
“Yeah, It still feels weird to know if we marry, I will not be Xuchen, but instead, use my name. I didn’t know that was even allowed. I guess it means Yue keeps her name too, and we don’t have to change anything.”
“Yeah, Minhui is so lovely. I couldn’t ask for a better sister-in-law. She does spoil our little lady a tad too much though.”
Minhui had done the unthinkable after Kai was legally disassociated from his family. She took all her wealth and non-Yanhue shares and set up her own company, cutting ties with her parents. Not even Kai had seen it coming, and now, she co-owned a corporation with Kai that quickly rivaled Yanhue in reviving dying companies. Their success and growing fame had them pegged as a fast-growing success. He had found his new place by his sister’s side, and she had even found love. She was dating an American billionaire with whom she had crossed paths when looking to set up her own company. They were a good match, and their future looked set even if they had reached an age where children were unlikely. Instead, Minhui threw all that maternal love Yue’s way.
“Goodbye, old apartment.” Suying tried to bring them away from a topic that still wound Meilei up, as she didn’t want to tarnish this goodbye with the haunting memory of that family.
“Hello, new life.” Meilei ended her sentiment.
“Hello, new baby playmate for Yue.” Suying bent down and kissed Ling’s belly this time, and then she had to dodge Ling batting for her head.
“Yeah. I guess he turned out to be someone worth sticking around for. Give it time, he may piss me off yet.” Ling could never admit that at the root of her resistance was a genuine fear that another man may abandon her. Tian knew about her past; he was probably the most understanding human she had met.
Suying and Qian’s engagement was enough planning and drama for them in the near future after these house moves; Ling couldn’t contemplate more on top of that and her own bundle of unexpectedness.
A light chap at the door had the three women turn in question to gaze down the hall at the closed front entrance. Lost in their moment here and forgetting movers were waiting on them.
“Why is he knocking? They were in here five minutes ago taking the last boxes!” Suying sighed at the weirdness of these men.
” Fifty bucks, it’s Tian.” Ling knew she was right. His manners were impeccable.