Dead. Ying was dead and Chuntao felt like the light in her life went out.
How do you say goodbye to the person that matters to you the most? Li Chuntao had no idea.
As she slumped on her sister"s hospital bed, holding her dead body in her arms, Li Chuntao wished she had died with Li Xiuying, so that she wouldn"t have to live knowing that she had lost her only sister, her best friend in the whole world for good.
Everything wouldn"t be the same again. Without Li Xiuying, the road ahead of Li Chuntao would be a long and lonely one. She"d been with her elder twin sister the moment she was born and now that she was gone, Li Chuntao felt like she"d also lost a huge part of herself.
As she held Ying"s cold body, she wailed in pain and misery that made those who witnessed the scene sympathise with her loss. Zheng Yue cried with her as well as Li Yuren.
Lan Jinyao, who had heard from the news on the television, rushed to the hospital only to find out that her friend, her benefactor had pa.s.sed away. She was startled first when she saw a woman who looked exactly like Li Xiuying but later found out that her friend was in fact the older from a set of identical twins.
The inner child inside of Li Chuntao was crying helplessly, crying for her parents, crying for her elder sister who would never come back even how many times she called her name.
From the moment she was born, Ying had been on her side. Growing up, Chuntao had always thought that they came as a set, that it was normal for them to be always together. Wherever one goes, the other follows. Whatever one wanted, the other twin would try to comply.
However, from now on, Li Chuntao had to accept the fact that she wouldn"t have an elder sister to check on, no sister to annoy when she"s bored, no sister to tell her it would be okay if she failed since she was already the best.
The sun was about to rise any moment but Li Chuntao felt like her world was enveloped with darkness and was crumbling beneath her.
Where did it go wrong? What could she have done to avoid this tragic end?
"Ying, don"t you know that I"m nothing without you?"
Li Xiuying had taken the burden and chosen her own fate for Chuntao"s sake. People had always a.s.sumed that she was weak and Li Chuntao was the courageous one but they didn"t know… they didn"t know.
It was Li Xiuying who would raise her chin up and would protect her little sister if needed. She was the only person Li Chuntao knew who never held grudges towards other people.
Li Xiuying was soft-hearted which could easily be mistaken as being naive, but what people didn"t know was that she forgives no matter how much others hurt her because she had a beautiful heart.
Shen Zichen couldn"t bear to see the Li twins like that and had left the room to be alone. He ran through the hallway, going straight to a secluded place where he knew people wouldn"t be able to see him break down from grief.
As soon as he closed the door of the fire exit behind him, Shen Zichen leaned his back on it and slid down to the floor in a daze. He was having a hard time accepting reality.
Li Xiuying was dead. His beloved was dead, she was no more. He would never be able to see her bright smile, hear her beautiful laugh or see her messy look as she tried to mess with him with paints ever again.
Shen Zichen cradled his head with both hands and cried. The guilt and despair eating him inside and out. Not only did he fail to protect Ying but he also broke his promise to Chuntao.
How would he face her later? Shen Zichen didn"t know.
He continued to cry until his tears dried and couldn"t shed a tear anymore but he remained impa.s.sive, not moving an inch from his position. His phone vibrated in his side pocket indicating an incoming call but he ignored it. He didn"t have the strength or will to talk to anyone right now.
When he decided that he had enough, he forced himself to stand on his feet and headed back to Li Xiuying"s room.
Shen Zichen wasn"t sure how long he"d been gone but the cold and lifeless body of the woman he loved wasn"t there anymore. Even the Li family was nowhere to be found. He sat in the waiting area with his shoulder slumped.
"Zi Gege!" He turned around only to see his twin sister, Shen Yuyan walking towards him in a hurry.
Shen Yuyan rushed to the hospital the moment she received his message about Li Xiuying"s pa.s.sing. However, when she arrived she hadn"t seen her brother anywhere and had been looking for him the whole time.
When she decided to come back to Li Xiuying"s room, she finally found him sitting in the waiting area. Her blood ran cold when she saw the way his shoulder slumped and how he buried his face in his hands.
Shen Zichen got on his feet and lifted himself slowly before he faced her.
"Yuyan..." He sounded defeated, weak. Nothing like the cool twin brother Shen Yuyan was familiar with.
Shen Yuyan was gasping for breath when she reached him. She was so worried when she couldn"t see and reach him earlier.
Relieved that she had found him, she wrapped her arms around her brother and cried. Shen Yuyan knew how much her brother loved Li Xiuying and he must be devastated right now upon hearing her death.
Like any other siblings, Zichen and Yuyan always argued with each other but when it comes to serious matters, both Shen twins understood each other from the heart.
"It"s not your fault. Please don"t blame yourself. It"s not your fault…" Shen Yuyan sobbed on his chest.
Shen Zichen looked away, unable to meet his sister"s eyes. As he held her in his arms, he realized that the loss Li Chuntao was feeling now would be the same if he wouldn"t be able to hold Shen Yuyan like this in the future.
"I"ll be fine." He avoided her unspoken question. "Where"s everyone?"
Shen Yuyan released him and sank down to the chair beside the one her brother just vacated. Her eyes looked around them, making sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.
"The Li family requested a news blackout about Sister Ying"s death." She said in a low voice.
Shen Zichen frowned. He didn"t understand the Li family"s intention at all.
Not giving him a chance to question her, what Shen Yuyan said after that shocked him.
"It seems like Uncle Yuren isn"t convinced that it was an accident that caused Sister Ying"s death." Shen Yuyan bit her lip and tightened her hold on her brother"s hand. "I overheard Dad talking over the phone with Uncle Yuren. Uncle Yuren was asking Dad for a favor to convince the Ye family to help them."
Shen Zichen was at a loss for words. Who would want to kill Li Xiuying?