Li Yuren shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the ceremony went on. If his mother hadn’t insisted on his company, he wouldn’t come and witness the wedding of his ex-fiancee to Shen Yi. He doubted that Lu Xinyi would mind his presence, and it was a good thing that their previous engagement wasn’t announced publicly.

However, that didn’t mean that the thought that it should’ve been him standing next to Lu Xinyi didn’t cross his mind. Before this, Long Feng had shamelessly reminded him not to ruin Lu Xinyi’s wedding which he vehemently refused to acknowledge.

Long Feng had pointed out to him that it wouldn’t be like those TV dramas where the other party would crash the wedding and confess his unwavering love for the bride. In those scenarios, the bride would abandon the groom, leave him at the altar, and run away with the man who crashed their wedding.

Li Yuren shook his head. That wasn’t going to happen. Their encounters were limited, and they couldn’t even be considered as acquaintances or friends. The Shen family might only invite them out of courtesy.

Not only could he embarrass himself if he objected to the wedding, but it would also ruin Lu Xinyi’s big day. Plus, he was sure as hell that it wouldn’t end well for both of them. He could only watch as Shen Yi wiped Lu Xinyi’s tears with a white handkerchief. It must be happy tears and those sweet, bright smiles she only reserved for Shen Yi.

“Do you regret it now?” His mother whispered beside him, making him groan inwardly. Li Yuren knew his mother was teasing him again.

“It’s your own fault anyway. I did ask you to file a leave for a month to find Lu Xinyi, but you didn’t. Look at who found her and got to marry her instead.” Madam Li chuckled.-.

“Mother, I cannot just leave my work easily. You know that better than anyone else,” he responded.

“I know, but it’s such a pity. I would really like Lu Xinyi to join our family.” Madam Li sighed and chose to drop their conversation. This wasn’t the first time they talked about it anyway.

—

After the ceremony, the couple and their guests moved to the reception hall within the villa. The bride had left with her maid of honor for a while to change her wedding dress to the reception dress Zhang Jingwei prepared for her.

Initially, Lu Xinyi thought that having two dresses for the event was a bit too much, but after seeing the reception dress, she decided to thank her mother-in-law later. Her wedding dress would be too restrictive and wouldn’t give her a leeway to move around while the reception dress, which was a simple dress with a sweetheart neckline, suited her.

What’s more, it had impressive beadwork on its bodice, making it simple but elegant. This probably didn’t cost as much as her wedding dress. It was a satin dress with straps made of Swarovski crystals. The waistline was high, and the dress fanned out a little into the pleated skirt which came right above her knees.

“It looks like you’re having a good time.” Lu Xinyi teased her cousin as Lu Xiulan was practically enveloped by the skirt of her wedding dress.

Literally enveloped.

Lu Xiulan had a hard time zipping down the dress from Lu Xinyi’s back as the long train of the wedding dress and the tulle underneath made it almost impossible for her to help her cousin out of the dress.

“Yeah, it’s been great. I mean after the drama I caused back at home, being threatened by my own father not to come back home. I’m really happy I came back here.”

“So how come you ended up working as my brother-in-law’s assistant and came back with him?” The grin that bloomed on Lu Xinyi’s face made Lu Xiulan shiver.

She groaned and stepped back, glad that she wasn’t the one trapped inside the dress.

“So I was running away from my family as they brought my fiance home for me to meet. I kinda jumped over the walls and ran like a thief. Shen Xue almost hit me with his car,” she mumbled, refusing to inform her cousin about her illness.

“No way! Are you hurt?!” Lu Xinyi gasped and turned around in spite of the fact her loose dress was barely clinging on her figure.

“It wasn’t that bad, Xinxin.” Lu Xiulan sighed. “But I’m glad Shen Xue found me.” Her cheeks reddened at the memory.

“Oh, ho, I smell some sort of juicy secret. Tell me everything!” the little devil insisted. She had noticed that Lu Xiulan had been avoiding meeting Shen Xue’s gaze since the ceremony started.

Lu Xinyi struggled to free herself from the wedding dress and thanked her cousin for passing the reception dress.

“There’s nothing to tell, Xinxin. I only worked as his temporary assistant to pay my debts, nothing more.”

“So how come you’re avoiding him now?” Lu Xinyi was, of course, aware of her cousin’s recent heartbreak, courtesy of Yuan Jin who had told her everything.

That Song Yichen… if he didn’t have any feeling for her cousin, he should’ve made a clean cut.

“You are thinking too much, Xinxin.” Lu Xiulan snorted. “There’s nothing between me and Shen Xue.”

However, Lu Xinyi still was able to see the sadness reflected in her eyes.

“So what happened to your fiance? I swear I’ll give Uncle an earful of advice the next time I meet him.” Lu Xinyi had never been close to her father’s brother and couldn’t remember a time when her Uncle treated her well. She just hadn’t expected that he would treat Lu Xiulan poorly.

“I told him I couldn’t marry him. We talked about it, and he agreed that we’re better off as friends.”

Lu Xinyi changed to her reception dress and faced the mirror. Lu Xiulan came behind her and helped her zip the dress up.

“Then, that’s good. I want you to be happy too, Xiulan. I don’t wanna see you sad and crying anymore.” Lu Xinyi told her as she looked at her cousin through their reflection on the mirror.

Lu Xiulan smiled bitterly.

“I’m okay,” she said, but Lu Xinyi didn’t buy it, “The best thing I did so far was learning to stop fighting for someone who was okay with losing me…”

‘And the hardest thing I’ve ever done is to pretend I didn’t care and I’m okay,’ Lu Xiulan added in her mind, but she knew she was better than this. That she shouldn’t stress herself over for someone who didn’t ask if she was okay.

Hearing her cousin say it, Lu Xinyi felt that it hit home. It must be really hard for Lu Xiulan. Not only her own family abandoned her, but she was also left behind by the person she thought cared for her.

Lu Xinyi turned to face her, taking both of Lu Xiulan’s in her hands.

“Don’t run away like that, okay? You don’t know how worried I am when Jin told me you left the country to marry a stranger back home.” Lu Xinyi said, “Love isn’t always perfect. It isn’t a fairytale, and it doesn’t always come easy.”

Yes, because she learned from being with Shen Yi, love was overcoming obstacles and facing challenges together, holding on, and never letting go. Every second and minute was worth it all because they did it together.