Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

He leaned against the headboard and opened his hand gently. The metal box wasn’t big. He opened it and revealed pieces of shredded paper. Some tiny pieces had been glued together, but there were many which had not. It wasn’t easy to find and piece together, and it would take a lot of work and time to do it.

Though as it was to imagine, but all these shreds of paper—which seemed like a puzzle—had been done by Chu Lui who had been busy. He looked through them bit by bit, pieced, and glued them together.

He took out a piece. It was a drawing of a man with perfectly handsome features. The corners of his lips curled upwards, and he seemed to be smiling—or trying to. He might even be sneering.

He could not feel the smile as he ran his fingers across his lips. Was he really smiling? He couldn’t remember.

He exhaled as he took out the pieces of paper one at a time. Then, he placed them on his lap and tried to find the matching ones. He wanted to know what other expressions he had that he wasn’t even aware of.

That woman had left these behind after he tore them into pieces with his own hands. He had wanted to throw them away, but he was not sure why he could not bring himself to do it each time. Soon, he had treated this trash like his precious treasure which he kept close to him.

While he was focusing on finding the pieces, he had not noticed that the woman beside him had awakened. A pair of gentle eyes started to turn hideous. It was a look filled with jealousy.

Was his heart with her? Could it belong to that woman? Or perhaps, his heart was still in his chest.

And not with this pile of paper.

She was mad with jealousy that she wanted to die. Eyes lowered, she had a death grip on the blanket and wished that she could shred it into pieces.

She pretended to turn in her sleep as she shut her eyes tight. “Four years had passed, Lui. Tell me, where exactly is your heart now? You didn’t give it to me. So, tell me, who have you given it to?”

Her hand went to her stomach and wondered if there would be a baby in there after today. It would be so pathetic if they have to depend on a child to maintain their feelings with each other and their marriage. That was not the kind of life she wanted. However, she had no other way out. She must have a child.

The moon shone brightly in the night sky.

It would seem that a lot of people were wide awake, but more were deep in their slumber where their dreams filled with happiness and anger. In the end, nothing remained.

…

Rainy was snuggling up to her mother with her doll in her arms. Xia Ruoxin merely touched her daughter’s small, tender face and encouraged her with a smile. “Rainy, don’t be afraid. It will only hurt a little. Mommy will be outside.”

Rainy blinked her eyes as beads of tears gathered on her long eyelashes. Then, she hugged Xia Ruoxin’s neck tightly.

“Mommy, will it really only hurt a little?” She cowered in Xia Ruoxin’s arms because she would cry if it hurt.

“Yes, trust Mommy. I have never lied to you before. It will only hurt a little.” Xia Ruoxin touched her daughter’s hair as she felt her pain. She was also lying while tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

How could a small girl like her endure all these? She was only three years old.