Darkness was the first thing Shen Yi noticed when he regained his consciousness; the next thing was the pain that radiated throughout his body as if he’d been hit by a truck or slammed on the wall at full force.

Shen Yi groaned before cracking his eye open to see who was holding his hand.

“Dad?” he mumbled which was followed with a grunt as it hurt to breathe in at the moment.

“Yi, don’t move,” Shen Huang told him. There was a mix of emotions swirling in his eyes as he looked over his son.

“What happened?” The boy tried to sit up but failed. His injuries were so severe that he cried out in pain that shot throughout his body. It was as if he was reliving the accident that instantly reminded him of what transpired after leaving the Lus.

His eyes stared with disbelief at his father, his hand reaching up to hold Shen Huang’s wrist.

“Dad, where’s Uncle? Is he alright? Please, tell me he’s okay,” he demanded, but the pained expression written on his father’s face was already a giveaway.

“About your uncle…” Shen Huang hesitated. He was also still in shock and disbelief from what happened. “I’m sorry, Yi. Your uncle didn’t survive.”

“Dad, stop joking,” Shen Yi glared at his father. “This isn’t funny. Where’s Uncle Jin?”

His father grasped his smaller hand and shook his head. Shen Huang also wanted to believe that none of these were true, and his elder brother hadn’t died from the accident.

“Yi, the car crushed him upon impact. Your uncle wouldn’t be able to heal from the severe injuries he sustained. The doctors said that even if he survived, he won’t be able to talk, walk, or live like a normal person for the rest of his life. I’m sorry, Yi. Your Uncle Jin has been dead for three days now,” Shen Huang said in a low voice, his eyes brimming with tears as he remembered the last time he spoke to his brother alive.

Had he known that it was the last time he would be able to see him alive, he wouldn’t have allowed his brother and son to visit the Lu family under such circumstances.

“You’re lying!” For the first time since forever, Shen Huang saw his eldest son cry. “Uncle Jin can’t leave us!” His body began to shake as he sobbed on his hospital bed. Shen Huang sat at the edge of the bed to hug him, feeling useless that he couldn’t protect his own child from the pain.

Shen Jinxiu had thrown himself to cover Shen Yi and took the full brunt of the impact. However, the boy still had suffered from two broken ribs, a head concussion, a broken right arm, and legs that will keep him invalid for the next two years. If Shen Jinxiu hadn’t shielded him, Shen Yi would mostly die with him.

—

Grief. Sun Mingai thought that it felt like an expanding hole in her heart. A sheer of nothingness that somehow took over and held her soul, threatening to kill her entirely. It gave her this heavy feeling that was like the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders, and there was nothing she could do to get out from under it.

It was like a hole in her heart left by the one she’d lost and made her feel the need to wipe away any non-existent tears that she wanted to form but can’t. Her eyes had gone dry, squeezed to the last drop.

The emptiness in her heart, the numbness pounding her brain, the salty tears that flowed unchecked from her eyes… the sheer nothingness that now took hold of her soul threatened to engulf her entirely. Her legs buckled, knees sinking into the sodden earth as she watched the casket lowered to its final resting place.

Shen Jinxiu…

The man she fell in love with, the only person who believed there was still kindness in her heart despite people around her believed otherwise. How could he leave her like this? Just as she was about to relinquish the hatred and jealousy she’d been keeping for years against Sun Meixiu and their father, he vanished.

Sun Mingai felt that, suddenly, the world was against her. The only person she cherished the most was taken away from her. The awful hollowness… the waves of wretchedness threatened to engulf her mind, body, and soul. His passing was so sudden that it didn’t give her time to say the words she wanted to tell him.

One day, she would grieve for Shen Jinxiu; but first, she would have to accept he was really gone. The only thing that remained for her was the memories she’d shared with him.

She never got to tell him how much she loved him one last time. She wasn’t able to hold him close before he slipped away. She never even got a look at his face, which always brought her so much happiness and peacefulness, before he died.

It happened so quickly and quietly while she was away, brooding over some unimportant business obsession while trying to prove herself not only to her father but to everyone that she deserved to be with the Shen family’s young master.

People had accused her of seducing Shen Jinxiu, that she was using him to spite her half-sister Sun Meixiu, and questioned her motive for being with him. However, none of their opinions had mattered for she knew that he believed in her; and that was all she needed to know.

She remembered returning home, only to find out that death had taken him. The pain that shot through her chest was unbearable. Shen Jinxiu had been her anchor all this time. Her friend when she had none. He had always been there for her with a smile shining in his bright eyes, and now, he was gone. Forever.

Sun Mingai found herself alone again.

Her anger slowly dissolved to sadness as tears embraced her eyes, making the black letters and gray background of his headstone blend together. Waves of pain washed over her, and her body convulsed. He was gone, his light consumed by death’s empty darkness; and all she had left of him was his fading image in her mind.