Chapter 69 - In a distant memory

As Lina watched her husband rule over his kingdom, her eyes glittered.

This man was truly a king in his own right. He wasn't afraid of anyone, and would not give face to even his strongest of allies if they hurt his darling wife.

It was a miracle to wake up from a coma to a life with him.

She must have done something good to deserve him.

As she absent-mindedly stared at him in the distance, looking like royalty, handsome, charming, and powerful, her heart began to race.

She clutched her chest, confused.

Ever since she woke up, she had felt attached to Shen, and even at times warmth and affection. Her body welcomed his approach, and she knew she trusted him.

But this racing of her heart, the slowing of time as she looked at him, a shortness of breath...was this...love?

Suddenly, this image of him melted into a beautiful memory.

Her eyes began to close and the lights grew dim. All she saw was this handsome king running towards her, his eyes full of worry. As she reached out to touch him, everything went black.

A few minutes later, she was thrown into an unfamiliar place.

But she was was standing in front of a familiar face, smiling down at her.

He was so tall, and his face flawless. The soft dark hair and deep eyes made her stomach flip.

As if outside her own body, she heard herself speak.

"Shen, my darling, I am the happiest woman today. Today I get to promise my heart to you forever."

Lina felt her eyes tear up.

She was in a distant memory, watching on from a window.

She saw herself on the day of her wedding with the man she had been sleeping next to these last few weeks.

The man who thought he had lost her.

The man she couldn't remember.

He was coming back to her slowly.

She saw his face close down on hers and kiss her deeply.

As he pulled back from her, his eyes were gentle, yet full of fiery passion.

"My angel, you are everything to me. I promise to keep your heart safe, and to protect you from sickness and harm from today and everyday hereon."

Lina's head began to hurt as the memory started blur.

As the image started to fade of the handsome man slipping the ring on her finger, she heard both of them say,

"In this life, and the next, and all the lives ahead."

She kept whispering that phrase under her breath until she heard a very real voice calling to her.

This wasn't a memory anymore, this was real.

She was still the ballroom, surrounded by a worried crowd of masked faces.

But she only saw one.

She only noticed one person. The only person who never wore a mask in front of her.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with the same passion she felt in that sweet flashback of a dream.

Shen was taken aback, but relieved she was okay, because she had suddenly fainted while he was giving Ayu orders on the phone.

And then he realised that this sweet bunny was kissing him with a ceaseless hunger in front of the whole room.

But he didn't give a damn.

When she pulled back from him, he could read the emotion on her face, despite the mask.

Something had happened. She was also muttering in her unconscious state earlier, but it didn't seem like one of her nightmares.

"What's going on, baby?" he asked her, gently smiling and brushing back a wisp of her hair.

She smiled at him in a familiar way that he hadn't seen in a long time.

"In this life, and the next, and all the lives ahead."

Her quiet words shook his world.

"What..." he said, the breath knocked out of his chest.

"Today I get to promise my heart to you forever..."

Shen was speechless in that moment.

She was repeating her wedding vows to him.

He gently cupped her face in his hands, his face complicated, but full of emotion.

"My angel, you are everything to me."

These words she said to him had kept him sane by her bedside everyday.

The long nights he stared at her, wishing with all his might to hear her voice again.

To see her eyes look up at him the same way.

And see her smile the way she had just moments ago.

However, their bubble of happiness was easily disrupted.

Sara's loud wails and Madam Yi's yelling brought the two lovers back to reality.

Shen stood up angrily.

"Enough!"

The whole room turned silent.

"Can't you fools see how much you have hurt my wife?! She just fainted right now and all your people are just standing here staring at us like idiots! Where was the doctor you were supposed to call for?!"

Madam Yi had nothing to say.

She just looked at the security personnel and nodded, signalling for them to bring in a doctor.

But Shen declined angrily.

"No need. We will be leaving now. The contract termination papers and fees will reach you by tomorrow morning."

Saying that, he picked his wife up bridal style and began to walk out of the ballroom.

Sara quickly ran up to him, wiping her eyes.

"Brother Shen, brother Shen! Will you still attend my party next weekend?"

Shen scoffed.

"What party?"

Saying those two last words with as much scorn and sarcasm as he could be bothered with, he took his wife and walked out, leaving everyone with their mouths hanging open.