"Quick act natural and she"ll never know." Justin quickly got the gears in his mind spinning."Haha we"ve been actually talking a lot over the past couple of days, haven"t you noticed? Plus I managed to get him to give me his number that first day when he showed up, gotta keep a good stockpile of numbers for my little black book just in case." Hearing that Chang rolled her eyes and snorted him.
"So I know about that, even if you didn"t tell me miss tight lips, I wanted to know all about what happened after he spirited you away. I had no idea you were such a talented artist. My favorite was.. This one." Sweating he scrolled through his phone for a second acting like he was searching, before Jian sent over a picture of a painting.
"I hope this is one of her works. If it is though, my G.o.d.."
He hadn"t actually seen any of them before but had heard about it briefly from Jian. Seeing the picture brought a lump to his throat. It looked like an oil pastel with a silhouette of two women with their backs to the image.
The two women sat on a wooden hanging swing, one with her head on the others shoulder while the other leaned her head on the first beneath what looked like a willow. The colors of the tree were a soft blend with just a hint of pink in spots between the leaves and white to hint at the sunshine.
Holding his phone up he tilted it to Shar.
Her eyes softened seeing the picture and she tried to swallow the lump in her throat.
"That was me and my mom, she really loved that swing beneath the willow tree in the water gardens Lahat." Shedding a light tear while smiling a little she swiftly and gracefully wiped it away with a finger.
"Painting was just an old hobby of mine I picked up again while we were down there. It was something I used to do with my dad sometimes. My mom was so happy when I began to paint again, because I think it would remind her of him, so I made quite a few for her while we were there. She was anyways so happy and proud when I"d bring her another.
"I"m actually really glad, I got to do that for her and that she had so much beauty around her towards the end of her life."
Looking up her eyes met Joan"s filled with words she didn"t even know where to begin with.
Seeing them getting lost in their moment Justin found an excuse to leave them and sent a message to his accomplice.
"I would ask that you send me more of those as a token of your appreciation sir."
Liang JianAmal had seen that Justin had needed a.s.sistance earlier and helped him by sending him his actual favorite.
Most of her paintings had been left in Lahat in the room Lihua had used, but he had taken a few with him to Shanghai and hung in his office where he could see them more often. He retrained copies of them all though on his phone.
"You don"t need to say anything Chang I would do it all a hundred times over for you."
"Still I need to thank you, and not just for that. You know, I might not have even known before that she was dying, until she was in the hospital. Until she would have been right on deaths door."
Sniffling she tried to hold back the tears from the old hurt her fists clenched at her sides.
"I still don"t understand why she hid it from me for so long. It hurt so much to find out so suddenly."
Grabbing one of her hands Liang Jian Amal pulled it out of it"s clenched position studying her beautifully manicured and clean hand before meeting her regretful expression.
"It may not have been the best choice but shedid not want you to live knowing what she did. Lihua wanted you to live every day to the fullest, happy. Your happiness brought her joy."
"I was so angry being lied to for so long and sometimes I"m still angry at both of you for that. The truth would have been best. I get why you did it and I accept it, but every now and then I can"t not be bitter."
Unable to stand seeing her in so much pain he pulled her close into his arms. Held in his arms she could only smile bitterly while numbly accepting it.
"It"s all in the past its fine."
After a while they separated but walked through the rest of the building with their hands held until they met up with Justin again when she slipped her hand out of his.
Her head down Chang cried bitter tears in her heart, despite everything. Even when she wanted to feel joy and fully reciprocate his love it felt like there was a dead dry patch inside of her now. A hollow that only stole light and happiness instead of giving it.
"I"ve changed too much... I"m so sorry, as much as you give me joy, I don"t think I can do that for you anymore. Why are you so wonderful when it only makes it hurt worse. What do I do Jian?"
The rest of the day pa.s.sed by in a blur lit with only brief highlights. When they left she wasn"t sure she only realized she was driving again, when they ate she wasn"t sure what it was as the taste of ash filled her mouth.
That night like she had done the previous night she went to his room after everyone had retired. Pushing open the door silently Chang saw Jian laying in bed awake. Through the dim light she could see that he had pulled the covers back for her to slip in. Silently she moved into the spot he left for her and lay with her back to him as he sheltered her in the blankets and his arms.
Laying awake long after she heard his breathing become even and shallow, Chang allowed herself to cry a few tears aloud before sleep took her as well.