Jiang Zihui wished his heart didn"t foolishly skip a beat. His anger was washed away by the fear in her tiny voice, like a terrified child without a guardian. She needed him. She needed someone to rely on and tell her everything was going to be okay.
He released Jiang Yinan"s collar and ran a hand through his hair. Breathing in deeply, he closed his stormy eyes. When it opened again, there was fondness within them. "Why are you out of your bed, little b.u.t.terfly? And you"re not wearing house-slippers either." He stalked towards her, with Jiang Yinan closely following behind him.
"That is not how a proper young lady should behave." Jiang Zihui stopped in front of her. His heart fluttered when she had to crane her neck to see his face. She curiously studied his features, her large eyes wandering over every nook and cranny. What was she looking for?
"Come now, I"ll take you back to bed."
"I don"t want to rest. I"m not tired." Zhao Lifei stubbornly replied, dodging the hand reaching for her shoulders. She was finally on the defense. With no knowledge of who he was, she couldn"t trust him.
Jiang Yinan pressed his lips together and gave his brother a knowing look. They seemed to have a conversation without words. "Just lie to her already!"
Jiang Zihui"s eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I need time to think things over!"
Zhao Lifei grabbed her elbow and awkwardly stood around in uncomfortable silence. She dropped her gaze to the necklace that was pulled out from her nightgown. Her eyes examined the golden ring with a sole emerald. It was so beautiful and oddly enough, it rea.s.sured the tremors of her heart. She was scared. Who was her enemy? Who was her friend?
Luckily enough, when she caressed the emerald, something flashed in her head. A man. His face was blurred, but she could tell he was beyond charismatic and suave. She rapidly blinked at the snippets of jumbled memories.
"Do you know who gave me this ring?" Zhao Lifei finally asked, growing tired of their ongoing eye-conversation.
Jiang Yinan glowered at Jiang Zihui who was stuck between the crossroad.
After careful consideration, Jiang Zihui finally settled his mind on a decision: He was going to fake it until he make it. "I did."
Her head snapped up to him.
He desperately wished he knew what she was thinking. Her face used to be an open book for everyone to see. He was always good at figuring out what was inside that pretty little head of hers. Undoubtedly, at this moment, he wasn"t able to do so.
Zhao Lifei was skeptical of his words. His strong features did indeed look a bit similar to the blurred face, however, the distinction was in their lips and brows. Then she began to self-contradict herself.
"What if the blurriness s.h.i.+fted the size of their lips and brows? Why would this man lie to me?"
"What is the meaning of this ring?" Zhao Lifei carefully asked him, wrapping her fingers around it. When he reached out for it, her eyes widened and she took multiple steps back, shaking her head. "What are you doing?"
"There is no meaning behind the ring. I gave it to you when I wasn"t as wealthy as I am now. Here, give it to me, my little b.u.t.terfly. It"s worthless and inexpensive." He didn"t know if the latter was true or not, because the ring looked very custom-made. He didn"t know about this particular piece of emerald, which had been cut from a large one discovered in a rainforest mine. He didn"t know the pure green color should"ve been the first distinction about the value of the emerald.
"I am glad you"ve kept it all these years, though, I regretfully didn"t know. You"re now the Madam of this estate, you shouldn"t be seen with such a puny little stone like that."Jiang Zihui didn"t think he would be doing this earlier than planned. He reached into his suit jacket and brought out the velvet box he always carried. "This is the Jiang"s heirloom for the next Matriarch. It is yours now."
Jiang Yinan"s bewildered face mirrored hers. "When the h.e.l.l did he did get this ring?!" It was their grandmother"s and the ring was supposed to be pa.s.sed onto the wife of the eldest son. It was an extremely monumental ring that held too much importance to be easily given away like that.
Zhao Lifei"s lips parted at the accessory in the small box. The ring had a princess-cut ruby whose bright red color resembled hand-raised roses. It was embellished by melee diamonds that curled on both sides of the ruby before spiraling down the edges of the white gold band.
Any normal heiress would"ve squealed and instantly struck their left hand out to try on the ring. She didn"t. Her eyes flickered. She suddenly remembered an image. A large vanity with jewelry to last a lifetime. Then she rapidly blinked. Where was that vanity?
"What"s wrong? You don"t like it?" Jiang Zihui dejectedly asked her. "It"s alright, I will have another handmade for you."
"No, it"s very beautiful. I was just surprised, that"s all." Even so, she was still hesitant about accepting the ring. Worried about his reaction, she nervously glanced up at his face. He didn"t seem mad or irked by her actions.
Her eyes grew when he tenderly placed his hand behind her neck, stroking the skin leading to the place where her neck met her shoulder. "That"s alright, my little b.u.t.terfly. I figured this wouldn"t suit your taste."
Zhao Lifei slowly nodded her head and forced herself to not fidget under his touch. She worked hard to ensure suspicion did not cover her face. She was suspicious that his family heirloom was ruby red, but the ring on the necklace was emerald. Maybe she was thinking too much into it, but she couldn"t help but feel uneasy around him. Even though he had never made any violent or harmful behaviors towards her…
"This is such a late question, but who are you? I-I never got your name or what your position in my life."
Jiang Zihui"s finger stopped caressing her skin. He was hypnotized by his actions. He glanced at Jiang Yinan for the briefest second before he said, "It pains me to see you"ve lost your memories, but it completely breaks me to know you"ve completely forgotten about me."
Guilt filled Zhao Lifei whose eyes say it all. "I-I"m sorry…" She blamed herself for being such a selfish woman and ramming her head into...into the lamp post? Speaking of which, she didn"t see it anywhere out of her window. In the distance, she could see the pearl white metal gates, but never once did she see the lamp post that the other man mentioned.
Jiang Zihui sighed. "It"s alright, my little b.u.t.terfly. We will overcome the obstacle together, similar to how we"ve done it in the past." He cupped her face and it almost seemed like he was going to kiss her forehead, but decided against it and kept his head where it was supposed to be.
"I"m your husband. My name is Jiang Zihui and the idiot standing there is your, uh brother-in-law, Jiang Yinan."
Zhao Lifei felt her entire world crumble out of pure shock. Her husband?! She rapidly blinked her eyes, a ghastly look was etched into her face. When he said his name, a snippet flashed across her mind. A man in a navy green uniform undoing her hair. The location was so...strange. Why did it look like it could be a military base?
Jiang Yinan gave her a small wave and smile. "What? You look like you have seen a ghost."
"I"m just a bit surprised." Zhao Lifei curtly said, brus.h.i.+ng Jiang Zihui"s hands away. She was slowly, but surely, regaining her memories.
Neither of them knew it would just be a matter of time before she remembered everything.
"T-then who am I?" She asked them to which they exchanged looks.
"The daughter of a middle-cla.s.s family." Jiang Yinan blurted out. He needed to make sure she kept her self-esteem low so that she would be grateful for the extremely well-off and wealthy Jiangs. Although their wealth came nowhere close to the Zhaos, they still had a lot of influence and power.
"And my parents? Where are they? Do I have siblings?" Zhao Lifei pestered on, confused from his words. Middle-cla.s.s family? Then did that mean the large vanity with accessories belonged in this house?
"Your parents mistreated you all your life. I ensured they would never harm you again." Jiang Zihui chilly answered for her.
Zhao Lifei felt he was telling the partial truth. She did suddenly recount fragments of an older man who never looked her way and a mother that glared at her with hatred.
"In regards to siblings, you have a sister." Jiang Zihui didn"t disclose anymore, for he just saw something that frightened him. For a second there, she looked like she recollected something.