The woman wore a long woolen dress and the dress was a vintage-styled dress that was cinched the waist, showing off her slender curves. Her skin was fair and smooth and her dark hair was swept aside with a hairpin encrusted with crystals. She was a very beautiful woman and there was even a dash of handsomeness in her beauty which added to her allure. She was already 30 years old but she looked very young, as though she was in her twenties.

She looked at the man who approached her and pursed her thin lips, her gaze never left the man, not even for a second.

“Shaoqian…” she finally said as the man was about to reach her side. This was the man that she had missed every single day for many years and she seemed very excited as she waved at him.

Chen Jiahang has been walking over but he stopped when he heard her call out to him. He looked like he couldn’t take the last few steps toward her but he ultimately still made his way to her side.

He frowned and his expression seemed solemn.

Soon, he entered the wooden hut and saw the woman who waited for him inside.

“Ziya,” he said.

The moment he called her name, a slender arm wrapped itself around his waist.

“Shaoqian, I can’t believe you’re still alive! This is great news!” she said excitedly as she hugged him tightly as though she wanted to meld her body with his. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and he could feel her warm breath down his neck.

Chen Jiahang froze and bit his lips. His arms hung awkwardly and limply by his side.

“Shaoqian, I’ve rushed back from America the minute I heard the news that you were alive,” she said and her bright eyes quickly filled with tears. Tears streamed down her fair face and fell like raindrops on his neck.

Chen Jiahang closed his eyes when he felt her tears. He felt as though worms were biting at his heart where it throbbed painfully. He wanted to hug the woman but he stopped himself from doing so just when his hand was about to touch her waist.

He knew that he could no longer do so.

“Ziya, let’s have a chat,” he said as he patted her shoulder.

Ziya suddenly bit down hard on her lips with such force that she looked like she was about to draw blood. It was a while before she finally left the warmth of this familiar embrace.

They sat on a wooden bench by the river.

Chen Jiahang turned to look at the woman beside him, his ex-girlfriend Lin Ziya. Technically, she wasn’t his ex-girlfriend because they had not broken up before he had the accident.

They were still a couple, a couple who had been apart for nine years.

“Ziya, I’m so sorry,” Chen Jiahang said, his eyes downcast. The grave expression was replaced by an apologetic expression and even his eyes looked apologetic.

He didn’t mean to hurt her but he had hurt her deeply.

During the 9 years that he had disappeared, she missed him terribly and she was still single till this day, but he could no longer fulfill the promise that he made when he was Gu Shaoqian.

He had once promised to take her as his wife but now, he had to renege on his promise. He could no longer do so.

Chen Jiahang was consumed with guilt at the thought.

Lin Ziya twisted her fingers together and her palms were cold.