The breeze gently rustled the leaves of the cedar tree, and under its shade were two people kneeling in front of a grave stone. Their shadows overlapped each other, secluded in their own world.
"To prevent the culprit from targeting your wife, you decided to pretend not to care about her?" Hui Yin's voice was too soft, too soft that it was almost a whisper. But the coldness in her tone could still be heard.
"I was an idiot," Lu Shen admitted. "I should have told her about what was going on. I shouldn't have...there were lots of things that I shouldn't have done. I was too afraid that I might drag her into my personal problems, and that...she would leave me if she knew. Because she and Nian Zhen were close, I entrusted her to take care of her needs. I didn't know that behind my back..." His fists clenched. "She had left my wife with nothing."
Hui Yin froze. Huh? "What do you mean?"
"I gave Nian Zhen everything she wanted because she reassured me that she would give half of it to my wife. When I asked her why all of my wife's clothes were ragged and why she cut her own hair, Nian Zhen told me that my wife didn't want to depend on my money. I thought she had done it of her own volition. She and Nian Zhen were best friends so I didn't doubt her. But Xiao Yin...Xiao Yin had suffered because of my own stupidity. It wasn't until Nian Zhen personally killed her and my unborn child that I stopped being blinded by her lies. But by then, it was too late."
His features convulsed, his eyes resembling bottomless pits.
"I treated her well because I wanted the culprit to think that Nian Zhen was the woman I loved. I did everything so that Xiao Yin wouldn't be harmed. When the culprit started heightening his attacks, I divorced my wife because I wanted to send her to a safe place. I didn't know she was pregnant, and that she visited the mansion. I restrained myself so that I won't visit her, so that she could be safe, but..."
Lu Shen gazed bleakly at the grave stone.
"In the end, it was my own hands who pushed her over the edge."
Hui Yin's throat was dry. If all he said was true, then...everything she had suffered through was only a result of a big misunderstanding. She thought Lu Shen was close to Nian Zhen because he loved her, while Lu Shen was close to Nian Zhen because he thought she was her best friend.
All of a sudden, Hui Yin wanted to laugh. A giggle escaped her lips.
Lu Shen chuckled. "You must find all of this funny."
"I heard..." Hui Yin tried to speak through her laughter, "I heard that you cheated on your wife with Nian Zhen. She heard Nian Zhen calling your name in the master bedroom."
Lu Shen snorted. "She tried drugging me with an aphrodisiac. She waited in the master bedroom for half an hour without wearing any clothes, so how could I disappoint her? I fed it to one of her bodyguards and sent him there to satisfy her."
"She didn't discover that it wasn't you?"
"She turned off the lights so she could pretend that she was my wife."
Hui Yin giggled again. "Such an idiot..."
She was such an idiot. She was laughing because if she didn't laugh, she would not be able to resist crying. Inevitably, tears still rolled down her cheeks. Hui Yin covered her mouth with her hand to suppress the sound of her sobs.
Lu Shen didn't ask why a maid like her was crying. He didn't try to comfort her either. When she finally recovered her ability to speak, she choked out, "Too late."
There was a beat of silence, and Lu Shen finally smiled. But his eyes were full of pain and devoid of any hope.
"...yes, Xiao Yin, I was too late."