56 During That Time

Lu Shen walked into the room and opened the French doors that led to the balcony.

He leaned on his elbows against the wrought-iron railing, admiring the miniature Eden below.

He had bought the villa because of its impressive layout, and its stately European design. From the view on her balcony, one could easily see the patio, the swimming pool, the tennis court, and the greenhouse—all of which Lu Shen had not even visited once.

He had so many estates inside and outside the country that he couldn't be bothered to tour them all. He had mainly purchased them for future investment. It had the characteristics of an inflation hedge, after all.

"One week left," he murmured, a smile playing on his lips.

He sipped his coffee, his gaze not anymore on the view below, but on somewhere distant that only he could see.

Lu Shen remembered the accident clearly.

The smell of burning metal, the airbags knocking him back, and what looked like a spreading spiderweb on the cracked windshield. The car had flipped several times into the central barrier before it came to an absolute stop, the seatbelt tugging on his skin with every lurch.

He had lost consciousness, and when he next woke up, Lu Shen hadn't been aware of where he was. He had dragged his body out of the wreck, stumbling into the pouring rain without a distinctive idea of where to go.

Time flew by like a whirling praxinoscope. Lu Shen didn't know how many days had passed, only that when he next woke up, he found himself sleeping behind a dumpster.

His clothes had been reduced to tatters, his whole body covered in dirt and bruises. At first he had been hungry, ravenously eating scraps of food given by generous strangers.

Then the hunger went away, and although he still wanted food, the hunger pangs had disappeared. He continued lying there, closing his eyes and staying motionless as if he had already become a corpse.

And then a piercing shriek woke him up.

It was the first time he had met her, when he was at the lowest point of his life.

Hui Yin had been feeding some stray cats when she spotted his body behind the dumpster, and she had shrieked because she thought she discovered a dead body.

When he opened his eyes and she realized that he was actually alive, Hui Yin had thrown a piece of sardine on his face.

"Ah, don't scare me like that!" were her first words to him.

After feeding the cats, she had stayed around to talk to him.

When she found out that he didn't seem to remember anything about his identity, Hui Yin had looked alarmed and suggested that they go to the police station and file a missing person report.

But Lu Shen did not want to go. He remembered that he was easily terrified during those days—although he couldn't recall a single clue about who he was, Lu Shen was certain that there were some bad people after him.

After much deliberate thinking, and some threats on Hui Yin's part, she finally decided to bring him to the place where she was currently staying.

It was during that time that he had promised to be her fiancé, to be her future husband, to give her everything that he had, including his life.

As long as she stayed by his side, he would have happily sacrificed everything.

Lu Shen swirled the coffee in his cup and slowly lowered his eyes.

"Damn it," he said softly.

He threw the rest of the coffee over the railing, splashing it on the trimmed grass below.

Without looking back, he went out of her room.