**Disclaimer, read this chapter at your discretion**
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The projector displayed the years when Wei was younger, speeding home while covering her ears. Other kids ran close to her while throwing their things at her back.
It was an act of ridicule directed toward Wei, she had been admitted into a [Divinity] academy, and in the first week, she admitted to only living with her grandmother, and was the first to say what her [Divinity] was.
Her biggest mistake letting others see who she was.
Once they found out it wasn't something that would help her in fights or wasn't someone to fear they decided to take theirs out on her. Her school life became unbearable with the taunting and mocking, yet everyone knew she wouldn't tell anyone since it would be her who would be asked to move schools.
So, she tried making herself more likable with her appearance, putting on heavy makeup, and sewing her clothes.
When Wei was outside of others' eyes, she'd slouch, and breathe loudly, only when she was home with her grandma. Like a baby scrunching itself and then releasing—a mechanism they do to find its lost warmth.
Wei's grandmother never took notice of Wei's bruised arms, ruffled clothes, or when her hair was a mess.
She had a hard time seeing and her age was only worsening it. After school every day she had to come home and take care of her grandmother, pretending that her day was good as she cooked a meal for the two of them and hand-fed her stand-in guardian.
Wei's grandmother was more focused on her granddaughter's ability always asking her to induce it more so she felt more calmer.
Wei started having pent-up emotions that slowly turned into anger. But all of that seemed to go away momentarily when she met Liu.
He went to a school a few streets away from hers, at the time he had a girlfriend, who ironically was in the same class as Wei. She had a pretty face, no need for makeup but that only went for her physical attributes.
Inside of her, she had an ugly personality, considered a two-faced beauty. It was Liu that made her uneasy, he could never stay in one relationship so when the two got together many believed that she'd be the one to make him stop being a player.
Wei watched as a bystander as the two's relationship progressed, waiting for a chance of her own at love.
Inevitably Liu cheated on his girlfriend, she came to her friends in tears as they comforted her in the back of the class. A few weeks went by, and the two had broken up. Liu's ex began spreading rumors about how he treated her until Liu, himself showed up sneaking in as one of the students.
He stormed into her classroom yelling at her, bringing a crowd of those who wanted to watch alongside him. Liu recklessly looked for a girl despite the one he gathered attention on.
Liu's eyes landed on Wei, he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and kissed her. No one in the academy could brag about having their first kiss yet, but they all witnessed Wei have hers. After the height of his anger cooled down Liu and Wei looked at one another deeply.
Wei had finally caught the attention of someone else.
Once Liu left, everyone in the class went to Wei's side in shock, all the girls swarmed by her side, "Doesn't this make you two a thing now?"
With that, she won the class over because of Liu. His ex-girlfriend was unable to get back at her because she had gained so many supporters. Wei went home skipping and gleefully smiling, one kiss was all it took for her to feel loved again.
Her grandmother complimented her daughter's happy attitude, Wei hadn't felt such high spirits in a long time.
When she got back to school the following week, she started having a circle she was close to. She took it as an opportunity to learn more about Liu and what he liked before approaching him.
When she felt satisfied with her knowledge, she fell back to fixing her appearance. Her friends brought her nice clothes and taught her which look suited her face more.
Many watched behind the corners as Wei made her way to Liu, they could make out the two speaking for a bit, and after the two were happily laughing while looking into each other's eyes.
Something you'd have to witness every few hundred years to see it happen again.
They hit it off, began dating and it worked for a while. There were still some photos Wei kept under her mattress of the good times as well when the couple used to look united and complete as a whole.
The only evidence Wei could use to show she did love Liu with all her heart at one point. Each one was inked with the date it was taken on and contained a brief description on the back of that day.
Her disclosed way of showing that love—something Liu will never come to see.
It was only
When there was one last year left Wei found out she was pregnant. She hid it from her grandmother, who started becoming more ill with Wei's sudden change.
Each morning she had morning sickness and high levels of anxiety.
'Would the other girls still like me?'
Wei worried she lost all the good things she had going on, she didn't want to go back to how it was. So she planned to hide it from everyone, and Liu.
She did numerous things to not have the child, no one was able to notice the bulge in her belly since she started to bind it. Nothing was working as her stomach started to get larger, and she felt heavily nervous about it.
Liu noticed his girlfriend's new behavior, he asked her if she wanted to go on a date during the weekend to get her mind off test week. Wei was touched by this and quickly agreed. She went to school in a better mood.
When she got to class everyone stared at her in wonder, she sat next to her friends unsure of the commotion, 'Did they find out?' She checked if her stomach was noticeable before one of the girls whispered into her ear, "He cheated on you Wei!"
The class was silent as they watched Wei's face twinge with the color red, and warm tears streamed down her face. The whole class felt suffocating to her, Qi is known for lifting burdens, but that day Wei was heavily weighed down, and everyone could feel how she felt and more.
She stormed out of the school the moment classes ended in search of Liu, who was nowhere to be found.
Wei felt as if she had a thunderstorm above her head, 'He cheated while I was pregnant with his kid?' Her stomach started to stir, and become heavier by the second. Her emotions were holding every part of her.
By the time she got home, her emotions surged through the household.
Her grandmother quickly reacted to it, "Wei! Calm down, I can't breathe in this," she started gripping her chair while repeating this.
Wei gripped her stomach, unable to hear her grandmother with the rush in her head. She tried to breathe into her pillow from the hurt. Yelling into it as she gasped for more air, and to exhale the migraine started to form.
She quickly sauntered to the bathroom, she went into the tub letting the water run before going in clothed in her nightgown leaving a dark rose color in its water. Further in the night, she cleaned the tub with her eyes watering from just, everything. From her parents to her failure in even being a mother.
Once she had fully calmed down she carefully stepped towards her grandmother, "Grandma, I'm sorry I-" She planned to tell her about everything but took notice of the lack of movement of her chest, "Grandma...?"
The projector quickly flashed back to young Ely and Wei. Her face was tucked into her arms after she had spilled everything to her young son. She closed her eyes and took deep sighs—something she tended to do when lost in deep thought.
It is said that when the father meets another woman in his life, what's surely to come next is another family. Whom he'll come to understand better than his first.
When Liu found out about his unborn child he became colder to Wei, and more open about his acts. Even continuing his bad habits a week after their wedding, he got worse with time.
It was only when he focused on Ely getting a wife did he slowed down.
But it was already too late, the pain had been done. Wei might act happily in love with her husband in front of others, yet the same way he could become terminally ill or in a lethal accident, she will turn her head the other way.
Ely continues watching his young self on the projector.
Usually, Ely would go to his mother and lay beside her hands while she continued to speak about what was causing her pain or softly wept while caressing his head. But he didn't that day, he watched as his dejected mother caved inside her arms.
Andy turned to Ely. It all turned dark again when the screen vanished, everything fell silent.
A well-kept secret, now gaped open—the secret was now exposed.
This was the work of a [Divinity].