Ever since Lu AnLing had met Anna for the first time she had known that the girl was an artist. The first time they had met, and every day thereafter, Anna spent the most of her days drawing and this left Lu AnLing with enough time to sink within her sadness and then when she began to feel better, to write music.
Lu AnLing had never known the extent of how good Anna's sketches were or how she had lived before she entered the institution. Lu AnLing had been so concentrated with herself that she never tried to penetrate Anna's walls and was satisfied with the girl's shell.
For the first time, Lu AnLing wished that she could go back in time and understand Anna better. Maybe if she could, Anna wouldn't have died.
This was a ridiculous thought. No one could change the past, but that was the only thought keeping away a pang of guilt so strong that, if allowed to roam free, would eat Lu AnLing alive.
Anna had thought of her like family...
As Lu AnLing's face darkened, Kang Jun's did also.
Looking at the drawing in his hands, Kang Jun's lip tugged downwards.
"This is Mingyu."
Lu AnLing's face twisted. She then approached Kang Jun and pointed to the sketch of the baby. "This? Are you sure?"
Kang Jun touched his lip and rummaged through his mind as Lu AnLing patiently awaited an answer.
Kang Jun: "Yes."
Suddenly, the man got off the bed and took the paternity tests off the table. He then went back to the bed and handed Lu AnLing's paternity tests to her while he kept his own.
Seeing the envelope in her hand, Lu AnLing's heart skipped a beat. As much as she wanted to know if Kang Mei Xue or Kang Mingyu was her child, she was still afraid to know the truth.
What if none of them was her child? She would be back to the beginning; pinning after leads which might lead her nowhere
Looking at her, Kang Jun could see the negative emotions running through her mind, so he reached over to hold her hand and then he gave it a squeeze.
Lu AnLing looked up at Kang Jun. his eyes almost spoke to her, saying, 'Don't worry, I'll be here for you. No matter what.'
Seeing this, she went right ahead to open it.
Meanwhile, Kang Jun looked at his own tests.
Despite giving Lu AnLing courage, Kang Jun was in a predicament of his own. As he opened his own paternity tests, Kang Jun felt as if his heart was stuck in his throat. It was one thing opening a DNA test alone in the comfort of his office and opening it in front of Lu AnLing.
He hadn't told her about the possibility of him being the father of her child. But if he was, would she hate him?
Though now that he was finally opening it, he understood that he shouldn't fear. No matter what would happen she was his wife now and they would need to work things out the way a husband and wife should; through conversation.
As he pulled out both of the off-white papers out of the two envelops and began to read the results, the gavel of the fates slammed down on his life and said...
Biologically, Kang Mei Xue was his daughter, but Kang Mingyu was not his son.
Out of all the tests, the results he had gotten here in France were the ones he trusted 100 percent. No one would be able to tamper with the results of a random small-town hospital, and even if they could, Kang Jun had a friend overseeing the results in Paris.
He now knew the truth.
Kang Jun folded his results and put it to the side and then he looked at Lu AnLing who, she herself, had finished reading her results.
Not wanting to pressure her, Kang Jun looked at the girl in silence. When she was finished gathering herself, she turned to the man and handed him the papers.
Her results mirrored his.
Realizing completely, for the first time that they had a daughter together, Kang Jun's heart skipped a beat. Though this feeling was instantly replaced with dread.
He had to tell her...
But how? He wasn't completely sure, but whatever words would come out were much better than not telling her at all.
Kang Jun took his eyes off Lu AnLing's results and then he turned to her with eyes full of determination.
"I have to tell you something..." The man said without beating around the bush. Lu AnLing looked at him as if she was ready to hear whatever he would say. Her look made his palms sweat but he still pushed himself to say, "I'm the man you slept with at Hotel Helios. I'm Mei Xue's father."
Hearing this, Lu AnLing's face didn't change.
Lu AnLing: "I know."
Kang Jun knitted his eyebrows. He was about to ask questions but Lu AnLing's sudden blabbering stopped him.
"I...ugh... what I mean is I assumed. I mean, you taking a paternity test thing itself is strange, right? And I already assumed that one of your siblings had to be the father since... why would the Kang's take my child away, right?" Lu AnLing continued to speak without stopping to take a breath.
Kang Jun, meanwhile, looked at her with disbelief. He knew he wasn't being all too secretive and that his wife was smart, but still...
Seeing a strange expression creep up on Kang Jun's face, Lu AnLing felt her heart sink. She then reached for his hand and said, "I never really cared who the father of my children was. Back then... that was just a one night stand. Whoever the father was, I wasn't planning on telling him to take responsibility or something, but right now, I'm really glad that it's you..."
With her words, Kang Jun's heart was warmed and his face brightened like the morning sun.
He put his hand on her cheek and said, "I'm sorry... I don't remember what happened that night. I was really drunk. Are you sure I didn't give you a bad experience?"
Lu AnLing laughed girlishly. "I've been having wet dreams about you since I was 19... I'm sure it wasn't bad. How can the all-mighty Kang Jun think such a thing?"
"I'm not all-mighty," Kang Jun laughed. He then stroked her cheek and said, "Right now I am but a man, who only wants his wife to be happy."
Kang Jun's words touched Lu AnLing's heart as it had never before.
The man truly loved her and wanted her to be happy. Lu AnLing couldn't stop thanking the heavens for leading her to Kang Jun. She suspected that things could be hard in the future but with Kang Jun by her side, she could overcome them. She wouldn't end up as she had back then...
"What do we do now? You said you need to get in touch with your grandmother in order to adopt Mei Xue right?" Lu AnLing had many questions she wanted to ask but that one seemed like the most pertinent.
Kang Jun: "If Mei Xue is our first child then we have to find the second one now."
Hearing this, Lu AnLing's face instantly paled. Seeing this, Kang Jun brought her into an embrace and said, "I promise I will find them."
Lu AnLing was speechless at first, but then she broke their hug and said, "H-how did you know I had twins?"
"Chong Feng found out about it from Doctor Su. She was one of your nurses."
Lu AnLing's face filled with questions but she ignored everything else. There was something she needed to say. Coming back to what Kang Jun had said, Lu AnLing touched his arm softly.
"Jun... I need to tell you something."
Hearing the way her voice trembled, Kang Jun's heart squeezed.
As he watched her in silence, the girl quickly went to her bag. She then pulled out the book, The Little Prince. At first Kang Jun was confused but then, as she flipped through the pages she removed a bunch of pictures. They were placed strategically in between the pages.
When she was done, Lu AnLing gazed sadly at the pictures for a second before she handed them to Kang Jun.
The first picture was one of two newly born baby girl. The second was one of only one of the children but this time she looked a bit sickly as she cried. Then when Kang Jun pulled out the third picture his face turned pale.
The picture was of a grave.
"W-what happened?" The man's voice shook for the first time.
Hearing Kang Jun say this, tears began to instantly fall from Lu AnLing's eyes. She sobbed hard but she was able to say, "A couple of weeks after I got admitted into the institution someone anonymously sent me a letter telling me my children were okay. They send me letters once a month... then..." Lu AnLing began to choke on her tears. "3 months after, I got sent a letter and these pictures telling me that my child... m-my baby girl had died..."
Lu AnLing bawled her eyes out though she tried her hardest to stop.
Kang Jun wanted to comfort her, but at the moment, he wasn't in the right state of mind.
Because of Chong Feng, he thought the twins were fraternal twins; a boy and a girl... so this meant that Lu AnLing had twin girls. How did this information vary so much from reality?... That was something Kang Jun would have asked himself if he was calm, but at the moment he wasn't. His mind was set ablaze.
Kang Jun had had two daughters and he didn't know. Then one of his daughters had died and he didn't know. What had he been doing the day his child had died. What had he been doing when Lu AnLing was crying her heart out. He felt disgusted with himself despite it not even being his own fault.
A strange feeling crawled up from within him. Kang Jun wanted to cry, though at the same time he wondered why. He hadn't known that he had a child until a month ago but now, finding out that one of his children had died made an empty crevice open up in his heart.
Looking at the man's face pale, Lu AnLing held him as she cried.
Kang Jun strongly believed that the child wouldn't have died if they hadn't been so cruelly taken away from Lu AnLing.
Thinking of this, something that had never once manifested within him appeared. It was darkness unrivaled by the darkest of caves or the deepest of abysses.
Kang Jun wanted revenge. Anyone who had a hand in this would be punished severely and he didn't care what relation they had to him. Someone had killed his and Lu AnLing's child.
They would pay.
The man promised this.