Mei Zhen had not gone to the Xie Mansion, post coming back from Moganshan. Instead she chose to go to her parents' house. She hadn't even ended up going to work these past couple of days.
Till date, no one knew about the true state of her marriage with Tang. She had been keeping the charade of being a happy couple going for many months now. But the recent events had left her utterly exhausted. Her heart had chosen to overlook Tang's reaction to the news of Jia Li's divorce. She had naively believed that Tang would seek comfort in her arms after seeing that green eyed witch's involvement with Wei. But instead, it had driven him to go behind her back and plot an entry back into Jia Li's life. Had it not been for the accident, she would have not known about his visit to Moganshan and his secret plan of associating himself with Wei's project.
She wrung her hands in frustration.
"You have been so quiet ever since you came home. I understand you are upset and worried about Xie Tang. But I am sure he will get better soon," her mother consoled her.
"You don't understand, mom. What if he doesn't get his memory back anytime soon? What am I supposed to do till then?" she voiced her inner most worry.
"I have full faith that he would recover soon enough," her mother replied, trying to console her.
"And even if he doesn't, we will go ahead and tell him about the marriage. He has to fulfil his duty as a husband, memory or no memory," her father said firmly, as he entered the lavishly decorated living area.
The Liang family was known for their shrewd business sense and ruthlessness, which is what made them extremely successful and powerful in the society.
Whether it was their eclectic style of designing their multiple hotels or the grandeur architecture of their home, everything screamed money and power. The house had more artefacts on display than a small museum, most of which had been collected personally by the father and daughter on their various sojourns to different countries over the years. Mr. Liang often lamented upon Mei Zhen having been born a girl. Despite that, he had brought her up with the sensibilities of his heir to the business.
Mei Zhen looked at her father's determined face and drew comfort from it.
"He is right. Why should I be the one getting worried? I am his lawfully wedded wife. He can't escape it. It is a matter of few hours. Once, he is back in Shanghai, I would not let him out of my sight. Who knows, maybe this time we can restart our relationship on a new ground," she thought with a firm smile.
Mrs. Xie entered her son's hospital room and was taken aback. Jia Li was fast asleep, her body on the chair and head on the hospital bed, next to Tang. Exhaustion was etched on her face, or maybe it was worry. He, on the other hand, had few strands of her hair woven around his finger and was playing with them, a gentle smile resting on his lips. She stood there looking at his unguarded expressions.
Normally a reserved person, he kept his emotions tightly in check. But his love for the woman next to him was blindingly visible to anyone who chose to look into his eyes at the moment. Mrs. Xie couldn't recall the last time she had seen this kind of contentment on her son's face. For those brief seconds, she deeply resented her husband for putting their son through so much pain over the years.
She coughed politely to alert him of her presence in the room. Tang looked up at her and flashed her a quick grin. Placing a finger on his lips, he gestured his mother to not make any sound.
She shook her head and came near his bed.
"I think you better wake her up. Your father is on his way in as well. He may not, err, this may not…" her voice trailed off.
Tang thought of disagreeing with her but decided against antagonising his father in this moment. He knew that the brunt of it will be borne by Jia Li instead of him. He placed a tender kiss on Jia Li's forehead.
"Wake up sleepyhead. I am the one who has been prescribed the rest but seems like you are the one who needed it more," he whispered in her ear with a smile.
His words tickled her out of sleep. She opened her eyes to see him looking at her with a loving expression. It felt familiar. Multiple times in the past she had imagined herself waking up next to him and every time he had the same expression on his face as he did now.
She returned his smile and sat up, only to freeze the next second.