Nearby, a gentle breeze rustled the bamboo chimes hanging from the pagoda beams, their soft tinkling mingling with the distant laughter of some maids.
For a brief, golden moment, everything in their world felt unbreakable, unshakeable, and eternal.
—
LU MANSION – STUDY ROOM
On the second floor, Lu Zi Zhen stood silently by the large bay window, his tall, slender frame silhouetted against the golden afternoon light.
The faint breeze drifting through the slightly ajar window ruffled his dark hair, revealing his sharp jawline and the faint scars of a boy forced to grow up too fast.
His long fingers rested lightly on the window ledge as he gazed down at the garden below.
His mother/auntie, Lu Wan Ruyi, stood among blooming roses and gardenias, her delicate shoulders shaking with soft laughter as she bent to pick a pink rosebud.
Beside her, Lu Zhi Hao watched her with quiet amusement, his eyes tender and protective as he brushed stray strands of hair from her glowing face.
Zi Zhen's gaze softened despite the heaviness sitting deep in his chest.
Years ago, as a little baby, he had stood like this, staring through glass at a different man by her side, Li Feng, his biological father.
Even as a child, he had understood the cold sneer twisting Li Feng's lips whenever he looked at Ruyi, the disdain in his eyes as though her very existence was a nuisance.
He remembered those days vividly, silent dinners where his mother ate mechanically, her eyes fixed on her plate, her thin hands trembling each time Li Feng spoke.
He remembered the harsh words Li Feng would spit at her behind closed doors, words that seeped like poison into his small heart, teaching him far too early that love was fragile… and fleeting.
But everything changed when his mother fled abroad with him, leaving Li Feng and that suffocating darkness behind them.
It was in those years away from that dark home that she slowly began to smile again, to hold him close without trembling, to laugh softly in the mornings as she brushed his hair. And when Lu Zhi Hao entered their lives, things shifted, this time, for the better.
Zi Zhen lowered his gaze to his mother's glowing face now. The sadness was gone from her eyes. Where once there was only quiet resignation, now there was warmth, strength, and a happiness that made her entire being glow under the afternoon sun.
He raised his phone, its sleek black casing cool against his calloused fingers, and quietly snapped a few photos, his mother's radiant smile, Lu Zhi Hao pressing a kiss to her forehead, their bodies leaning into each other as though nothing else in the world mattered.
Click.
Click.
He swallowed, blinking rapidly against the sudden heat burning behind his eyes.
His health had always been frail as a child under Li Feng's cold household, constant fevers, chest pains, breathlessness that had him clutching his inhaler through sleepless nights.
But now… he barely remembered the last time he fell ill. His body was stronger, his mind clearer, his heart lighter, and it was all because of them.
Because Lu Wan Ruyi had chosen freedom and him, it was because Lu Zhi Hao had welcomed them into his protective embrace without a moment's hesitation.
"Mom… Dad…" he whispered softly to the empty room, his voice hoarse with unspoken gratitude, "You really are happy, aren't you?"
He watched as they began walking back towards the mansion, Lu Zhi Hao's strong arm draped around her shoulders while she leaned her head against his chest, their steps slow and unhurried.
Lu Zhi Hao bent to whisper something in her ear that made her cheeks flush pink, her laughter floating up faintly through the jasmine-scented breeze.