Shen Yi sat in his wheelchair, his attention focused on the funeral of his uncle. The reality that his Uncle Jin passed away still hadn’t sunk in his young mind, refusing to believe that his playful uncle would never return to them.

The sun shone brightly in spite of the chilling wind around them. It was as if the sun conspired to show him how the world would go on without Shen Jinxiu. It shouldn’t. Everything should be as gray and foggy as his emotions, Shen Yi thought to himself. It should be cold and damp with silent air.

As he bid his last goodbye to his uncle, the long-held back tears began to flow. Shen Yi was not ashamed to shed tears for him. He loved his uncle, respected him so much that he’d rather spend more time with him than his own father. Now that he was gone, a light had been extinguished forever in his heart. He sat still in silent grief and waited for the end of the funeral service.

Suddenly, people around him started whispering to each other, making him curious as to what was happening. Lifting his head, he saw Sun Meixiu and Lu Sibai arrived with their daughter. The three were wearing black clothes that even little Xinxin was in her black little dress. The girl was sleeping in her father’s arms unaware of what had happened to her Uncle Jin and Brother Yi.

Sun Meixiu was crying while Lu Sibai had a crestfallen face over his best friend’s sudden death.

Once the funeral service ended, Sun Mingai pulled her younger sister’s arm and brought her to a secluded area.

“What are you doing here?! Didn’t I tell you not to come back? If it wasn’t for you, Jin wouldn’t have died!” Sun Mingai spat out with a trembling voice. Her tears were brimming in her eyes as she glared at her sister.

Sun Meixiu pulled her arm from her sister’s hold.

“Ming Jie! What are you talking about? Why are you blaming us for this? It was an accident. No one has wanted it to happen!” she exclaimed.

“ENOUGH!” Another voice rang out stopping both women from arguing with each other. Shen Matriarch, together with Shen Huang and young Shen Yi, arrived. The old woman regarded the two sisters, her eyes narrowing at them.

“Isn’t it enough that you drag Jin to your family’s feud and mediate between the two of you?” she asked, “that even on his funeral you continued with your pointless argument, disrespecting him?!”

The Sun sisters lowered their heads in shame.

“Sun Mingai! If you didn’t make a scene that day, my son wouldn’t have died!” the Shen Matriarch yelled.

Sun Mingai froze while Sun Meixiu’s eyes widened, confused as to what the old woman meant. Her sister caused Shen Jinxiu’s death?

“No… no! No! I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean to!” Sun Mingai cradled her head and cried out, denying the Shen Matriarch’s accusation. Shen Jinxiu was the last person she wanted to be hurt. Anyone but him.

Indeed, that day when the doctor informed them that Shen Jinxiu’s chance of survival was low, she ran and forced her way towards the operating room where her lover was and made a scene inside. She stood there in shock as she found Shen Jinxiu in a life-and-death situation.

She was then dragged outside by the Shen family’s people, kicking her out of the hospital, forbidding her to see their young master. However, her slight interference was enough to cause trouble to the doctors, delaying the procedures they needed to do to save their patient’s life.

“From now on, the Shen family has nothing to do with the Suns. Our family will never enter business with you,” the Shen Matriarch said with finality. Her wrinkled face was downcast as she mourned over her eldest son’s death. “No Sun family member can enter our household.”

…

“Aunt Ruying said it was Sun Mingai who caused your uncle’s death, but it doesn’t seem like she wanted him dead,” Lu Xinyi said after the long silence between her and her husband. She was starting to understand where Sun Mingai’s hatred came from, but that still wasn’t enough to push her parents to their own deaths.

“Even if Sun Mingai didn’t interfere during the surgery, my uncle will most likely end up dead according to my mother,” Shen Yi replied.

“Mom told you that? How so?” she asked, confused as to why the elders keep blaming themselves or the others for Shen Jinxiu’s death. Sun Mingai blamed her mother for his death while the Shen Matriarch and Sun Ruying pinned the blame on Sun Mingai.

“As you know, Mom is one of the best surgeons in the capital. When our family heard about the accident, Grammie begged Mom to supervise or join the team of doctors treating Uncle Jin. However, Uncle Jin suffered from head and brain injuries.

“Even with her expertise, she wasn’t able to save Uncle’s life. That was also the catalyst for falling out of my parents’ marriage. Mom blamed herself for Uncle Jin’s death. Dad didn’t say anything about it and had stopped talking to her for months until their divorce was finalized.” Shen Yi said in a low voice, remembering how his Uncle Jin’s death almost tore the Shen family apart.

“Sun Mingai might have lost it then, but that didn’t give any right to kill my mom and dad.” She clenched her fist on her lap. It was nobody’s fault why that accident happened. Her mother would never wish such a tragedy to happen to anyone, what more to a friend.

Shen Yi watched his wife’s form. At least, he was able to fulfill his uncle’s wish when he’d married her six months ago. If that tragedy never happened, his uncle must be happy by now to have Xinxin as his niece, and Sun Mingai wouldn’t lose her logical mind and wouldn’t have conspired to kill Lu Xinyi’s parents.

However, Shen Yi was aware that whatever happened in the past, they could never change. He could only do his best to protect Lu Xinyi’s life from Sun Mingai’s madness.

“By the way,”—Lu Xinyi’s voice brought him back to reality—”did you find out what the favor your uncle asked my mom was?”