He was following his mother’s dying wish to marry and take care of her. Any love he felt was likely just “a little,” as he had once said. How long could this little love last? In Macau, a city of lights and temptations, it had probably faded long ago.
Love was gone. What reason was there to persist? Better to let go than to become a woman he despised.
Days later, after her fever subsided, Jing Xin quietly returned to City A, continuing to work earnestly and live confidently. Yet her heart felt like a withered leaf, broken and fragile.
The silver ring on her hand was never removed, worn like a hope as fragile as air.
Time passes, and in long, weary years, seasons turn unchanged. Some people are erased by time, while others are deepened in memory, their figures carved into the heart.
Jing Xin stopped four or five meters away, slightly surprised to see a tall man before Jiang’s mother’s grave, speaking softly to the photo. From a distance, she occasionally heard him mention “Xiang Yang.”
This name pierced Jing Xin’s heart. She gave a bitter smile; Jiang Xiang Yang had already decided not to want her. In the three years since her return from Macau, he had disappeared, as if he had abandoned her overnight.
Self-mockingly shaking her head, Jing Xin questioned why she was still so neurotic. Just hearing his name made her heart tremble.
She looked at a man surrounded by several young men in black suits. Moments later, he wiped his eyes and walked toward her. Jing Xin scanned his face; he had a hard, sharp expression and a depth of sadness in his eyes. Suddenly, a thought flashed in her mind—he was the heartless man Jiang’s mother had spoken of, Jiang Xiang Yang’s father.
Jing Xin recalled Jiang’s mother’s last request: to help resolve the conflict between Jiang Xiang Yang and his father, so he wouldn’t live with hatred. Although it seemed futile, she called out as he approached.
“Please wait a moment, are you Mr. Gao?”
The young man beside him warily kept Jing Xin at a distance. The man paused, puzzled. “Yes, who are you? Can I help you?”
Jing Xin hesitated, unsure how to respond.
