”His name is Shadow.” she offered with a small wince

”Are you serious?” Lei Zhao bit out, extremely out. He remembers that mysterious guy that was following his wife back in New York

He insisted on it, on account of….” Yan Mei trailed off with an incredulous look on her face, “because he said that was all that was left of his past, he never talked about his past too”

”Oh my God” the words followed by a choked sob from his mother

”Yan Mei” he didn’t know who to turn to

”I promise you, Lei Zhao , I know him”

”It’s alright, she is just, we can’t even begin to even imagine it.” He explained, unmanned by the tears in his mother’s eyes

”Let me arrange a meeting” Yan Mei pleaded

”Yes, please. Tell me how you met him.” His mother responded softly

”I think it’s better you have this talk with him, but I met him on the road side, severely bruised. I saved him and once he regained consciousness he had no idea who he was. He decided to protect me with his life as a form of payment. My father needed someone to keep an eye on me at that time,so he became my bodyguard in the shadows, earning the name shadow.”

”Just like him” the voice was filled with equal parts hope and disbelief

”He was very good at it”

”He had a brief stint in the Marines” he offered

”That’s it! I saw a tattoo on his left shoulder.” Yan Mei pointed out triumphantly

”Could this be true,” Lei Xiao Tong asked absently,

”I swear to you mom, I’ll bring your son home to you,” Yan Mei promised but she recognized the look in her eyes, a look of hope that had already died a thousand times.

”I promise you,Lei Zhao , I’ll bring him to see you, I’ll bring him home” she promised humans he believed.

**********************************

Lei Xiao Tong gasped after taking one look at the person they had come to meet and turned into her husband and burst into tears.

Mr. Lei stroked his wife’s back as he looked at the man now standing in front of him with a look of pure confusion with tears in his own eyes. Three years was a lot of time to be desolate and love with despair, a happy reunion was almost as painful as a loss.

”Lei Zhang?!” Lei Zhao couldn’t help exclaiming, he couldn’t believe it.

”Hello, is that my name?” Those innocent words spoken had the effect of a bomb on the company of four, Lei Xiao Tong sobbed harder, Mr. Lei closed his eyes as if he was in pain and Lei Zhao tried to get everyone seated.

It was a good few minutes before everyone settled enough to have a conversation.

”You don’t know what your name is?” Lei Zhao queried softly

”I don’t remember anything except the crash so, yeah I called myself Shadow” Lei Zhang replied with a self-deprecating smile that was so familiar it drew his mother into another gale of tears

”Because that was what was left of your past… How are you, big bro?” Lei Zhao finished softly

”I’m good, I just…. This is all so surprising for me, I never knew, I mean are you sure?” Lei Zhang questioned, cautious hope shining in his eyes

”You have three birthmarks on your back, I held you on the day you were born and you gave me the oddest look” Mr. Lei replied easily

”I believe you, my default look makes people confused, I get that all the time. I believe you about the birthmarks too, it’s both insignificant and important at the same time.”Lei Zhang replied before softly adding “this is unnerving”

”For us too, we held a funeral for you” his father softly chimed in, “and here you are alive and well with us”

”I still don’t know who you guys are, or who I am for that matter”

”My son,” Lei Xiao Tong pronounced emphatically before wiping off fresh tears

”Calm yourself, honey, he’s not going anywhere

”It’s been three years, I’ve cried many times, I don’t know why I still have tears left”

”Please don’t cry, it makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong” Lei chimed in with a look of anguish

Lei Xiao Tong gasped again, “do you hear that? Just like he used to say to me all the time, the same way he says it whenever we have to say goodbye.”

”I can hear him, baby”

”It’s my son, it’s him”

”Our son”

”Three years, three years of crying myself to sleep”

”I know baby I know”

”I don’t know if you remember anything yet but I’m not going one more minute without getting a hug from you.” Lei Xiao Tong decreed and got to her feet to embrace her son for the first time in years. It started like an embrace between two strangers and ended as a familiar hug between two people who had so many years of love between them.

Lei Zhao didn’t have words, he felt that if he opened his mouth he was going to start bawling like a baby.

”I remember your perfume” he confessed as he hugged her tighter

”I remember your hug” she replied as she reciprocated the hug

”Hello Mama” the two words drove fresh tears to her eyes, this was happening

”Hello, my little love” she whispered.

Lei Zhao had left his parents with his younger brother at the seaside Cafe after the two of them had made their plans to catch up later and walked back to the beach to Yan Mei .

From afar he found himself riveted with his wife as she played football with a ragtag group of kids. Watching her come alive after the events of the past few weeks, he couldn’t help being overwhelmed by his emotions for her.

She must have felt eyes on her because she turned around to look at him then started racing in his direction. He caught her into a small twirl that ended in a breath-stealing kiss.

”You look beautiful,” he said with a soft smile.

Yan Mei giggled, a giddy sound he cherished as a blush spread all over her face. “How was it?”

”It’s him for sure, he had memory loss and couldn’t come home.” He answered as he absentmindedly stole another kiss.

Yan Mei smiled up at him as she replied, “he never talked about his past, I was curious for the longest time.”

After a short emotion-filled pause Lei Zhao finally said “Thank you”

”Don’t thank me,” Yan Mei returned as she tried to wave his words off, “he is like a brother to me, now I find out he’s my brother-in-law. I did it for a perfectly selfish reason”

”It’s not selfish if it gives me everything I’ve ever wanted, you’re everything I’ve ever wanted and every day, you amaze me. I love you so much I can’t begin to explain how much.” his voice was low but filled with so many emotions

”I love you too” she whispered back

”And it seems you’ve been doing it before you knew me.”

”Huh?”

”If you could give my brother happiness, a sense of home and love and belonging long before you knew me, long before you even saw me then I must say you’ve loved me long before I loved you.” Lei Zhao concluded logically, but the look in his eyes was more poignant than his deceptively light tone”

”Lei Zhao”

”What I’m trying to say is what are the chances of that… Just a step short of impossible. It’s like you’re meant for me and in this vast world, I found you. It humbles me, you humble me and you are everything.”

”Lei Zhao .”

”Don’t say a word, thank you for loving me in ways I can never repay, thank you for loving me.” He finished with tears in his eyes.

She stood on tiptoes to kiss the tears away before kissing him with all the passion brewing between the two of them. “Thank you for letting me love you and no matter what our future brings, I’m happy to have you.”

”Are you afraid? Of our future?” He asked tentatively

”No, not as long as I have you.” She returned, so confident in her answer. “I love you so much”

”I love you too”

A

/N: hy guys please I have released a new book, The Beautiful Monster please check it out! And add it to your library