Yanyue jumped in surprise. Her heart was beating so fast as if she was stealing cheese.
"Shush!" she whispered as she put a finger in front of her puckered lips.
Then, she looked down again only to find that the two shadows were not in the garden anymore.
Jason crooked his head in confusion and peered in the direction that Yanyue was looking.
He whispered back, "What are you doing? What's so interesting about the garden?"
Yanyue swung back and sighed. She contemplated telling the man, but she had no evidence to support what she had just heard. She needed to confront her sister to verify the truth first.
It was wrong to lie to Beichen who was the prince. But to lie to the king was considered treacherous.
Wanyue could face serious consequences for cheating the royal family, which might affect the Shen family. And Yanyue did not want to see her father embroiled in all of this mess.
Instead of responding to Jason, Yanyue rushed out of the balcony to find her sister.
"Sorry, I will explain this later!"
"Yueyue, where are you going!?"
Jason tried to reach the woman's arms, but he missed. He ran after her, but there were too many people blocking his way so he lost her after she ran out of the banquet hall. He felt terrible not being able to catch up with a pregnant woman. He learned to never underestimate a pregnant woman when they were in a hurry.
The garden was empty. There was no trace of anyone being there as if the two shadows that she saw were ghosts.
When she was about to give up, she stepped on a hair clip leading up to the large platform with railings. She picked up the hair clip. It was adorned with pearls and diamonds. She seemed to see this on Wanyue's hair. And only Wanyue could afford something this high-quality being Beichen's lover.
Yanyue toughened herself and worked her way up the stairs to the platform. When she got to the top, she saw a figure in the darkest part of the platform; lights coming from inside the windows could only reach so far.
"Wanyue?"
The mysterious figure walked out from the shadow. Wanyue was now in front of Yanyue. The two sisters who had never gotten along were now facing each other with their breaths almost touching one another.
"What a coincidence, elder sister?"
Yanyue had always avoided confronting her sister, even when her sister did wrong. But this time was different because the Shen family would be in trouble if anything were to happen.
"Wanyue, what did you do? Is your child his highness's?"
The woman chuckled, almost as if she was expecting Yanyue to ask this question.
"So, it was you earlier. Well, that's perfect."
Yanyue's eyebrows crinkled, showing the concern in her beady orbs. With her head slightly shaking, she asked, "What do you mean by perfect? Do you know that you're putting the Shen family in danger by lying to the royal family?"
"You're so naive, older sister," said Wanyue as she stepped behind Yanyue. "The royal family's opinions don't matter because Beichen will protect me no matter what happens. He loves me very much. Don't tell me that you're jealous, sister?"
"How can I be jealous? I know Beichen loves you," Yanyue stated hopelessly, "so why did you betray him? Is that what all his love means to you?"
Wanyue's eyes darkened. Her voice rose in pitch and she replied fiercely, "I never betrayed him! He betrayed me first by sleeping with you at the hotel and marrying you later on!"
Yanyue was taken aback. Her eyes drooped depressingly. "You misunderstood! Beichen never disappointed you. It was I who took advantage of him when he was drugged. I wanted to save him, but I didn't know that things would be like this. I'm so sorry!"
Wanyue snickered. "There is no point in saying sorry now. I thought that even though he's married to you, he will still love me! He never touched me in all these years, but he slept with you! So, I slept with someone else to become pregnant and lied that it was his child," she chuckled, "and he believed me!"
Wanyue looked at her sister with bloodshot eyes.
"Everything is because of you. Now, I can't even keep this child because there is too much risk," she walked over to Yanyue and took the woman's hands, "so sister, since you're the one who caused all of this, then I will make your life like hell!"
Yanyue hands that were held tightly by Wanyue were shaking. She had an ominous feeling in her stomach. Before she could even do anything else, she saw Wanyue's weightless body was in the air.
"Sister, you pushed me!" shouted Wanyue.
Yanyue's eyes enlarged in horror.
"Wanyue!"
She reached out her hands to grab onto her sister, but she was too late. Her body froze on the spot as she watched her sister rolled down the cemented stairs like a helpless log.
Just then, a terrified shriek came behind Yanyue.
"Ah!!!"
This attracted people in the building to the platform. Soon, many of them came out to see what was happening.
"She pushed her!" declared the young woman who screamed earlier. Her fingers were shaking as she pointed to Yanyue.
The people gasped when they saw Wanyue's lifeless body down at the bottom of the stairs. The blood seeping out of Wanyue was like a scene from a horror movie.
Yanyue stood on the top of the stairs, too perplexed to speak. When the shock was gone, she rushed down the stairs.
She shook her sister's warm body and repeatedly called her name, "Wanyue!"
Blood was all over her, but that didn't seem to bother her at all. Even though they were not close, Wanyue was someone whom she grew up with. She had called this woman sister for as long as she could remember, so there were emotions of anxiety and fear that her sister's life might be in danger.
A crisp voice came from above her.
"Give her to me!"
Yanyue looked up and saw Beichen. She could tell that he was angry because the veins on his temple popped out stiffly. She felt chills running down her spine as he looked at her coldly. If stares could kill, then she would have been dead multiple times. Speechless, she slumped on the ground with her soul crushed.
Beichen picked up Wanyue's body and walked away as some guards guarded him to the car. Without ado, they headed straight to the hospital.
"Yueyue!" called Jason as he approached the shocked and silent Yanyue, who was still on the ground.
As Yanyue looked up at Jason, the tears that she had been holding in until now poured out like raindrops.
"Jason, it's my fault! I-I was too late!" She cried so much that she could barely speak. "I couldn't stop-"
"It's okay, it's okay," said Jason softly, his voice full of concerns.
"Take me to her," Yanyue asked desperately. But as she tried to get up, she felt lightheaded and she fainted.
Jason was scared and yelled her name multiple times, but she was not responding.
He picked up Yanyue from the ground and headed inside the central Palace.
Jinchen and Suyin were left with easing the crowd. The feast-full banquet came to an end just like that.
*
"Sister, no!"
Yanyue's eyes snapped open as she woke up out of breath.
"Yueyue, it's good that you're awake," Jason said softly. Behind him were Jinchen and Suyin.
Yanyue looked around the room. When her spirit was better, she recalled the scene of Wanyue rolling down the stairs. She became unsettled again.
"My sister, how is she?" she asked desperately.
But before anyone could answer her, the door burst open. Beichen walked into the room full of force.
"You don't deserve to ask about her," voiced out the man angrily.
Jason was afraid that his brother might hurt Yanyue, so he stood protectively in front of Yanyue.
"Brother, don't hurt her!" said Jason defensively.
Beichen was never one to show much emotion, but his silent stares at the moment pierced Yanyue's heart until she found it was hard to breathe.
"Out of the way," demanded Beichen.
Jason refused to do so. He knew his brother's temper well. If he moved even a step away from Yanyue, then who knew what his brother would do to her.
"This woman is not worth your protection," said Beichen impatiently.
Jason roared out, "I will protect her because I believe that she is innocent!"
Beichen pushed him aside and asked, "Do you want to protect a killer?"
Jason paused. "What do you mean?" he asked skeptically.
Yanyue's eyes grew and her heart began beating warily as she heard the word killer.
What did he mean by that? Was she a killer?
"Is she," Yanyue breathed out, "is she okay?"
Beichen chuckled as he pinched her chin.
"Okay? I warned you that if you ever touched her again, then I won't spare you. Be prepared to receive your punishment."
His words were so calm, but only she knew how dangerous his threat was at the moment. She felt that he was going to kill her alive, or rather torture her until she was no more than dead.
Tears streamed down her face as she spoke hopelessly, "You don't believe me at all, do you?"
Beichen was going to say something, but her sincere eyes stuck in a part of him. But as he gazed down at her bulging stomach, he suddenly became angry again.
"A life is lost. If you didn't do it, then who did when there were only you and her on that platform?"
He didn't wait for her answer and continued to accuse her. "You're indeed one evil woman, not even sparing an unborn life."
He flicked her chin away.
"Take her," he said decisively.
Two men appeared from the door.
"What do you mean by taking her away!?" asked Jason as he looked at Beichen.
"None of your business," Beichen answered simply.
Jason grabbed hold of the man's collar and tried to punch him, but was stopped by Yanyue who was now up from the bed.
"Jason, we can solve this on our own," said Yanyue.
Her eyes showed so much conviction and resolve that Jason became even more worried.
"No, I won't let you go with him!"
Yanyue shook her head swiftly and said with a weak grin, "Everything was my fault, to begin with. Thank you for always believing in me."
After the last sentence, she followed Beichen out of the room. The two bodyguards did not dare touch her because she was the princess consort.
Jason yelled to the crown prince as he couldn't stop Beichen or Yanyue. "Brother Jin! Stop him!"
Jinchen was silent throughout the whole time because it was a matter between a wife and a husband. He couldn't interfere in this complicated relationship.
"We can't interfere in their married couple's problem. Let them solve it themselves."
After hearing that, Suyin gave Jinchen an annoying glare and walked out with an angry exhalation. She did not understand the full story of Yanyue and Beichen, but her short interaction with the woman told her that she would never do something like harming her sister. As a journalist, Suyin had this gut feeling that there was something much deeper to this issue.
Jinchen, who could read his fiancee's mind, couldn't do anything besides following her back to their residence, The Sun Palace. He understood that she had a sense of justice.
Anything that she deemed was wrong or immoral, she would try to seek justice for it. That was one reason why he fell in love with her. But, she had become very temperamental ever since she came back. She was not the quiet and docile girl that she used to be from back then.