It was fifteen minutes passed midnight and Professor Luo Xia has been forcing his eyes shut since 11:30. He had been adjusting his body for the past half an hour, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Unfortunately, his body tossed and turned profusely.
"Ugh! Can't sleep. Zi Yan is dealing with those two witches. How come I get treated like a child all the time? Sheesh, just because an old man is the survivor of an open heart surgery, he gets taken away from all the bloody gore mess?"
He got out of bed and texted Chen Nan to check on Susu's condition. Within a few seconds of reading the message, Chen Nan replied, "Grandpa, what are you doing up this late? And Susu is doing well. She's got two servants who are giving her arm massages."
"Well, at least she's doing well. I wonder when we can tell her everything. Would it be too soon to tell her all this complicated mess? If only I knew years ago, then this wouldn't have happened. That's exactly why I'm a lonely soul with a runaway wife for half my life, huh?" He sighed and texted back a smirk emoji followed by a sleeping panda on a pillow gif.
For some reason, he missed his wife more than usual tonight and decided to take out an old album of their younger times. The pages to the album were old and a little wrinkled from the number of times that he had flipped them over these years.
His fingertips touched her smiling face on the photo of when they got married. Soon enough, he brought the album with him back to the cold, uncomfortable bed and continued flipping through the same old memories of them. Three-fourths into the album, he stopped flipping to the next page because he knew that there were no more photos after this page.
He hugged the album close to his chest and closed his eyes as he hummed a familiar lullaby that she used to sing when she was alive. "don't say goodbye..when you don't have to go..." he sang the chorus as he fell into deep slumber.
That night, he dreamt of the younger version of himself holding a bouquet of flowers and a ring in his hands. He smiled nervously to check for any leftover foods that may be stuck in-between his teeth and wiped off his sweaty forehead as he rung the doorbell to her house.
She was in a white dress matched with a single braid to the side of her shoulder. His eyes smiled with his curved lips as he gave her the flowers and took one out to form a hair accessory. Although everything was simple, their hearts felt complete.
Her every smile, whether big or small and the number of times she had brushed her hair had been deeply engraved in his mind. The light breeze that blew against her fluttery dress and the random moment when he knelt down by the boardwalk to ask her for her hands in marriage; everything was part of his sweetest memories with her. Though it was awkward and he stuttered a lot, she smiled with patience without caring about everybody else who were staring.
Finally, he finished what he felt like was forever speech and held out the ring to see her dazzling smile. Without a second of hesitation, she nodded and said, "I'm willing." Back then, they had less money and performed a very private ceremony for their wedding. Every anniversary, they would dance to the same song and she would always ask for more than one dance everytime.
This was a song that he had never heard before, but everytime he asked, she would respond, "from the future. You'll understand eventually." Every time she responded with the same words; he would shrug and hug her from behind as they watched the sunset. These were blissful days that soon shattered.
One day, he came back to an empty house, without her presence. No matter where he searched or how long he had waited, she never walked through that door again. All she had left him was a note saying to go to a destination on two specific dates to retrieve something important and that was the last request she ever asked. He could see some smudged words that were still legible on that note. She cried while writing this, but there was no explanation from her.
He tried everything that he could do to look for her across the globe and where they lived, but nothing was found. It was as if she had never existed. Money was running low, and he decided to focus on his career so that he could reunite with her one day. She must have had her reasons and hid her traces extremely well.
After years of effort, his works were recognized, and his name was spread throughout the world. When the first date on the note came, he went to the destination at the specified time, anticipating for her arrival. That was the day that he met Zi Yan. With one look, he knew that she was their child.
She had nothing with her but a purse with relevant documentaries, a stem-like object and a diary. Once he read the diary that his wife had written, he pieced the information together and brought Zi Yan back home with him. It was awkward at first because they were equivalent to being strangers. It took time, but eventually, they opened up to each other and grew much closer. Only when she fully believed in him that she told him everything that had happened after the diary ended.
Soon after, the second date arrived and again, he traveled to the same spot. This time, he found Chen Nan and Ariana. He brought them home and took care of them with his best efforts. Both of them had been through a lot and through his years of nurture, they became successful in their own ways.
Who would have known that there was such a huge conspiracy behind the rich people? Everyone that Zi Yan had mentioned became a part of their avenge plan for breaking up this family. The names of the people involved were: Yin Zin Leung; Liang Yu Qing's father, Liang Yang Guo; Li Shen Wen, Tian Guo Min and possible others. Their greed costed many lives and family separations. And now, their Karma will come back to haunt them.
Professor Luo Xia woke up drenched in sweat and took his medicine. He looked at the time and realized it was already six in the morning. He got up and put away his diary. Staring at the blue sky and energetic birds flying around, he said, "until I witness those bastards death, I promise I won't let anything happen to me. These old bones will last till that day. Until it's time for us to meet again."