Imperfect Desires

Ah-Si didn't take long before stating honestly, "Actually I heard you both talking at the wedding. And since then I had been bothered by a lot of things. As for what those things are, I don't think I need to tell you both."

Hearing his words, Xiu looked at Darren and smiled sheepishly, "I should have checked the surroundings before babbling so much nonsense."

"Were you in the condition to check your surroundings?" retorted Darren. He still couldn't get the image of her trembling in his arms out of his mind. He had never seen her looking so vulnerable before. And seeing her in that condition, even he forgot that they were not home. He should have been attentive. He looked at Ah-Si and asked, "You heard all of it?"

Ah-Si nodded his head, "I heard all of it."

"How much of it did you believe?" asked Darren.

"That's the tricky part here," said Ah-Si. "I'm not sure what to believe and what not to believe. And that dilemma is currently bothering me."

Darren pressed his lips together and looked at Xiu. She thought about it before saying, "I'm sorry!"

"For what?" Ah-Si raised his brows in question.

"For what you heard," replied Xiu. "And how it's affecting you as well." She tried to laugh it off by saying, "But you're really overthinking things. I was just talking nonsense."

"Which part?" questioned Ah-Si. "The part about how Chen Xiu died or the part about how you're Chen Xiu."

Xiu thoughtfully said, "Both?"

"How strange though what you said about Chen Xiu's death had already been confirmed," said Ah-Si. "Now I wonder if I should believe the other bizarre occurrence as well or not."

"Definitely not," stressed Xiu. "There is no reason to believe in that. How can things like reincarnation be real? Be practical, Ah-Si!"

"Oh?" responded Ah-Si while Darren stayed quiet. "Then what were you talking about back then?"

"Actually," Xiu tried to look for the right words before saying, "Oh, yes! It was a script I'm writing."

"When did you turn into a scriptwriter?" asked Ah-Si.

"Why can't I be a scriptwriter? I'm a film maniac! I love watching movies. That's how I developed the passion for writing as well."

Ah-Si silently stared at her face for a long while before asking, "Why are you lying to me?"

"Hey! Why do you think I'm lying?" retorted Xiu. "Isn't script writing more believable than reincarnation stuff?"

"It depends on who is saying it," said Ah-Si. "You don't sound very believable right now."

"Ah-Si," Darren called out. "Stay out of this matter."

"Why?" 

"Because it doesn't concern you," replied Darren.

Ah-Si chuckled at him, "Do you what her identity is right now? She is Bai Xiu. Apparently, the long lost daughter of my uncle and aunt. That identity makes her my cousin. And you're telling me it doesn't concern me?" He licked his lips saying, "I deserve to know who is occupying the body of my cousin. Don't you think so?"

"It's not like I took it by force," Xiu chimed in. "Do you think I wanted to have this body or this identity? No, of course not! When I decided to jump down from that balcony, I indeed was willing to die! I never asked for this weird second chance. Although I've come to love this second chance, however, I never asked for it!"

"So, you're accepting that you're Chen Xiu?" asked Ah-Si.

"When did I accept it? Do you have any evidence to prove your words?"

Ah-Si nodded his head slightly before he took his phone out and played the video he had accidentally recorded that day. Seeing the video both Darren and Xiu again gave him a look. 

"It was purely an accident that I ended up recording it that day. Ava was playing around, I wanted to record her moments to show it to Nora but you both ended up getting recorded instead because I was so lost after listening to you both that I forgot to turn the camera off."

Xiu rubbed her forehead as she felt a headache coming up. What a weird day she was having today! Everything was going in the direction she never thought it would! 

She looked at Darren and silently asked through her eyes, 'Can we keep up with our lie?'

'What do you think?' was his silent response.

Xiu sighed out before she deleted the video and threw the phone back at Ah-Si saying, "Kiddo, keeping such videos can be dangerous. Don't you know how many people wanted Chen Xiu dead? What if you got involved in this mess?" She kept rubbing her temple before adding, "You didn't make a copy of it, did you?"

Ah-Si shook his head, "I didn't." 

Seeing how he was still staring at her, she asked, "What are you waiting for now?"

"To hear what I came to hear," replied Ah-Si.

Xiu placed her hand under her chin as said, "You already have the answer to your own question though."

"I do," replied Ah-Si in a rather calm tone now. "But I would like to hear it from you."

Xiu breathed out and looked straight at him as she said, "I am Chen Xiu." Ah-Si nodded his head as he heard her telling it straight to him. "Whether you call it a miracle or my mental illness, it doesn't matter. But it won't change the truth that I am indeed Chen Xiu. Now, it's up to you what you're gonna do with this fact." She took a pause and added, "But I'd suggest you make peace with it as soon as possible. It's a fact you won't be able to confront."

"Who else knows about it?" asked Ah-Si. "Apart from Darren?"

"Dylan knows," replied Darren.

"And he believed it?" questioned Ah-Si strangely.

"It's not like he had any other choice," said Xiu. 

"If you can't come to terms with this truth," said Darren. "I suggest you forget whatever you heard, Ah-Si. As I said earlier, it really doesn't concern you. Because whoever is inside the shell, it won't change anything around here."