He was back.
Li Mei's breath caught as memories of their childhood flooded back. Chen Wei, her companion through the sunlit forests and the stormy nights, had returned. His presence stirred something deep within her—a mixture of longing and fear, hope and doubt.
She broke the gaze first, her fingers curling into her palms. "Why are you here, Chen Wei? Why now?"
"I heard," he said softly, his voice calm but weighted with emotion. "About the marriage. And I couldn't stay away."
Her heart pounded against her chest, threatening to shatter the fragile composure she had carefully built. "You shouldn't have come."
"Why not?" Chen Wei countered gently. "You need someone to stand by you."
Li Mei shook her head, refusing to let her walls down. "You don't understand, Chen Wei. This isn't about standing up for me. It's about control, about them deciding my future without my consent. You can't change that."
"I don't need to change it," he said. "I just need to remind you that you're not alone. Not now, not ever."
Her breath hitched again, and this time, she couldn't stop the emotion from showing. "You don't know what they've done. How much they've taken from me."
"I know," he whispered. "But love isn't something they can take away."
"You don't know what love is," she spat back, her voice sharp with bitterness. "You left once, Chen Wei. You chose to leave. How can you pretend to know what it means to stay?"
The room fell into a tense silence. Her words hung in the air, sharp and final. Chen Wei's expression wavered, the sadness deepening in his gaze. "I left because I thought it was what was best for you," he said softly. "But I've come back to fight for what's right."
Li Mei turned away, her back to him, her breath hitching in small, uneven gasps. "You can't fix this. You can't fix them. You don't understand the weight of this."
"I understand more than you think," he said quietly. "You've always been the strongest person I've known. Don't let them break you."
Her shoulders trembled slightly. "Strength is useless when it feels like the world is closing in."
"Then let me help you open the door," he murmured.
The room seemed too small, the silence too loud. Li Mei felt her emotions crash against her defenses, the walls she had built for so long cracking under the weight of his words.
She closed her eyes, the darkness she had known for years embracing her once more, but it wasn't suffocating this time. It was comforting, grounding.
"Come with me," she said finally, her voice a whisper. "To the willow tree."
Chen Wei's eyes softened, his sadness giving way to a gentle smile. "Anywhere, Li Mei."
Together, they left the confines of her home, the moonlight guiding their steps as they made their way toward the ancient willow tree. The village seemed distant, irrelevant, as if they had stepped into a different world, a space where only they existed—a space where the weight of expectations couldn't reach them.
Under the willow's gentle sway, Li Mei felt the first true breath of freedom in years. And for the first time in a long time, hope flickered in her heart.