Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

She pursed her lips as drops of tears fell onto her hands, which made her shrink further into her body in pain. Very soon, the sound of the children’s intermittent singing started. Despite going out of tune at times, their childish voices made the adults’ hearts soften. To the adults, it sounded extremely pleasant to the ears.

Rainy placed her hands on her lap, occasionally wiping her tears away with her sleeves.

…

Xia Ruoxin looked at the sky, which was overcast and heavy. It looked like it was about to rain soon. She held an umbrella in her hand, ready to deliver it to Gao Yi. She quickened her pace. It would be harder to walk if it started to rain while she was on her way.

“Xia Ruoxin?” Someone called out her name uncertainly. She stopped abruptly in her steps. This voice was…

“Xia Ruoxin, you’re Xia Ruoxin? Is that really you?” The person sounded surprised and a little shocked. “Sister!”

‘Sister’. That word made Xia Ruoxin think that it came from hell.

She turned around and looked at the woman in front of her. She took a few steps back, startled. Xia Yixuan? The Xia Yixuan who had died four years ago?

She had never felt like she had done anything against her conscience and didn’t believe in ghosts, but the sudden appearance of a person who was supposed to be dead for four years was too disorienting.

“Sister, don’t you recognize me? I’m Yixuan!” Xia Yixuan was happy to see Xia Ruoxin. They hadn’t met for four years, after all. It must be such a shock to everyone to see her again like this. Even her father was shell-shocked when she appeared.

“Don’t be scared, Sister. I didn’t die. It’s the truth.” She explained immediately, thinking that Xia Ruoxin was afraid of her. She was alone at home now and was feeling bored. She quite missed the foolish sister who would accompany her for everything in the old days, where Xia Yixuan got everything good while Xia Ruoxin could only settle for the worse things. With a sister like that, Xia Yixuan was extremely contented.

“You’re not dead?” Xia Ruoxin asked Xia Yixuan incredulously. No other encounters in this world would drive people as crazy and speechless as this one. A person who had been dead for nearly four years appearing in front of someone suddenly and saying they didn’t die. So who died?

“Yes. I didn’t die. The car got into an accident, but I’m fine.” Xia Yixuan admitted plainly. She already had her identity restored anyway, and her father would handle the rest.

For example, she was actually saved by someone; but she was in a coma for four years before waking up. Or she was indeed in an accident, and she survived… but lost her memories and only remembered who she was recently. There were countless possible reasons that her dad could choose from.

“Then, why didn’t you tell me that you weren’t dead? Why did you disappear for four years?” Xia Ruoxin clenched her fists tightly. Little did she know—if she had appeared sooner, she might not have to go through so much torture and pain.

“You wouldn’t be able to marry Brother Lui if I weren’t dead. Wasn’t it better this way? It’s such a pity you didn’t cherish the opportunity.” Xia Yixuan still didn’t feel like she was to be faulted for anything. “Anyway, I just felt like I didn’t love Brother Lui that much anymore so I gave him to you. I thought you would be happy. You love him so much, after all.”

Xia Yixuan looked at her sideways as she fiddled with her fingers. There was slight jealousy in her eyes. Even though she knew she didn’t quite love Chu Lui anymore, she was still rather unwilling to be her sister’s substitute.

“You’re probably still in the dark.” She raised her hand to her neck where a white necklace was hanging instead of the amulet. The empty feeling around her neck made her uncomfortable.

“The amulet that I snatched from you when I was young actually belonged to Brother Lui, and you were the person he was actually looking for.” Xia Yixuan pouted. “I’m still peeved about the fact that I was your substitute for so many years, so what are you angry with me for? We provided you meals for so many years and not even a shred of gratitude from you. What an ingrate.”

“Enough!” Xia Ruoxin interrupted her abruptly.

“Xia Yixuan, how could you be so selfish? What gives you the right to start playing games when you don’t think you love him anymore? Is Chu Lui just an object to you? One that you can just give to others whenever you feel like it? What did you take your father as? Did you think that he wouldn’t be sad?

“What did you take me as? Your scapegoat?

“Do you know what I’ve been through, what I’ve suffered from, in these four years? I shouldered the blame for your death for four years, for more than 1500 days and nights. You’ve provided me with meals, but haven’t I repaid that? Since when did I owe you? Since when did I owe the Xia family? I’ve already given you everything that should have belonged to me—my mother, my amulet, everything. What more do you want?

“You say you’re my substitute, but what have you, the substitute, received compared to what have I received? You received his love, but all I got was his hatred. The more he loved you, the more he hated me.”

Xia Yixuan’s words forced Xia Yixuan to take a step back.

She couldn’t say a word and was slightly afraid of the Xia Ruoxin who now retaliated and fought back, unlike in the past. Now, she wouldn’t just take it all in quietly.

“You ate our food and stayed at our place. We were the ones who raised you.” Xia Yixuan tilted her chin up, not to be outdone by her, but she herself knew how her confidence was wavering. Everything Xia Ruoxin said was right. She was selfish. She had been like this since young. She only cared for herself and did not think about others.

She didn’t think about her father or Chu Lui—and definitely not Xia Ruoxin. She was enjoying her life freely for four years, but she was unaware of the huge trouble and conflicts she had caused. Even the relationship between the two families had changed drastically.

She had even utterly destroyed the most-innocent Xia Ruoxin’s life.

Yet, Xia Ruoxin felt like she didn’t want to be angry anymore. She smiled, very sarcastically. “You’re as selfish as always. I was raised by the Xia family, but haven’t I paid a high price for that? Doesn’t my mother love you? Because of you, she even abandoned her own daughter.”