Unexpected Second Chance at Love

While Yue Ling and Lu Tian make their way home, a white car enters their driveway. In the driver seat was De L’amour’s fashion forecaster, Ju Suo.

She kept a calm posture throughout her entire assignment. She sees a familiar black car, and a smile curls on her face.

”They’re here.”

She murmurs in a voice only loud enough for her to hear. She parks the car and shuts the engine off.

Her petite body turns to the back of the oar and smiles a smile that reached her eyes.

”We’re here.”

In the back seat sat a teenage girl about the age of fifteen. She was still in her school uniform but held her schoolbag close to her chest.

Her head was lowered, and one could see a mixture of fear and nervousness in her face.

When she heard Ju Suo, she looked up at the woman but didn’t dare to look out the window.

Her mind couldn’t help but think back about everything that had happened.

Ever since her older brother was taken away by a gang, life for her and her younger brother wasn’t easy.

There wasn’t a day that their father didn’t beat them. Whether he was drunk or not, he got angry at every little thing.

She had tried her best to protect her little brother in place of their older brother. However, her body could only take so much beating.

There was a time when their father tried to kill her for talking back. He grabbed a knife and cornered her in the living room. She could see the rage and hatred in his eyes and knew he wasn’t going to regret ending her life.

When she saw the knife nearing her, she thought she was going to die.

However, death wasn’t what she was afraid of at all.

What she was afraid of was leaving her little brother behind with the evil man they called father.

Liu Ye was already gone. If she were to die, no one would protect Jianan.

She watched as the blade of the knife neared her. She wanted to move, but her legs were rooted to the floor. She could only stand there and close her eyes in wait of death.

She told herself that she would ask God why he let a cruel man like their father live if she died.

One second passed, then another. In the end, she did not die. However, her spirit did that day.

Jianan had jumped in front of her and used his tiny body to take the hit from the knife in their father’s hand.

When she saw his body covered in a puddle of blood, she thought he had died. However, after picking him up, she felt a pulse. She begged their father to call an ambulance, but he feigned ignorance. 

She carried Jianan on her back and rushed to the nearest hospital. 

Luckily, he was saved by the doctors. However, he sustained a large wound on his back and had to get stitches. She then learned that the wound would leave a permanent scar on Jianan.

Their father didn’t even followed. He only came to the hospital when the doctors started suspecting abuse. However, he lied that Jianan was playing around and caused the injury himself. 

She tried to tell the nurses and doctors the truth, but everyone just smiled and brushed her aside. No one even stopped to listen to her.

After Jianan was discharged from the hospital, their father did not show any remorse but grew angrier.

He said that because of them, more debts have piled after another.

From the day Jianan protected her, she came to realize adults cannot be trusted. Even her older brother disappeared without contacting them. 

Whether he was still alive or not, she had no clue.

With this mindset, she studied hard in school. She wanted to hurry and become an adult so that she and Jianan can escape from their father.

However, she suddenly encountered Ju Suo.

She comes back from her thoughts and stares at the petite woman.

The woman suddenly appeared at her school and said she (Ju Suo) was here for her. 

At the time, she was afraid but steadied herself. She had been preparing for this day as she knew her father would sell her off too. 

She had planned to make a deal. If she were to be taken away, she would beg them to let her take her younger brother with her. Whether it was to a bad place or not, she would not abandon him.

Ju Suo blinked her big round eyes at the girl. She could see mixed emotions in her eyes, but kept a friendly smile.

”I know you have a lot of questions and do not trust me, but there are people waiting inside for you.”

The girl stiffened at the mention of people. Did this mean that she would have to sell her body to those people? Is this the reason why Ju Suo brought her here?

”Jie!!”

Just as her thoughts trailed, a little boy’s faint voice called out to her from outside of the car.

She frantically turns in the direction of the voice and sees Jian an. His little body stood in front of a huge house. His arms waved to her, and on his face was not fear but an ecstatic smile.

”J... Jianan...”

The girl’s eyes turned moist as tears made their way into her eyes. Her lower lip trembles, and she places a hand on the window.

”Jianan...”

Ju Suo felt regret and sadness stir inside her as she watched the girl’s reaction. She didn’t need to ask and could already imagine the pain this child had to suffer.

”I know my words might have made you think of something bad, but it is not what you are thinking. I brought you here because of a favor.”

She looks in the direction of Jianan. She sees a little boy waving his arm and smiling like he was at an amusement park.

”You should go to him. He must be excited to see you.”

Hearing this, the girl didn’t need to think twice. She pushes open the door and runs toward her little brother.

”Jianan! Jianan!”

”Jie! Jingyi!”

Liu Jingyi dropped to her knees and embraced her younger brother. The two siblings hugged one another with tears streaming down their faces.

It felt as if they had been apart for years and were finally together again.

Ju Suo stepped out of the car and walked towards the house. She made sure not to disturb the siblings’ moment together.

She stepped onto the front porch of the house and met with Liu Shan at the door. He gave her a nod in thanking, and she shrugged her shoulders.

After a long heartfelt moment, Jianan pulls away from his older sister. He sniffles and wipes away his tears while his other hand tightly holds onto her hand.

”Jingyi... father... he can’t hurt us anymore.”

Liu Jingyi stares down at Jianan with tears still in her eyes. She wanted to ask what he was talking about, but before she could, his childish voice continued.

”Older brother... Ye... He came back for us. He didn’t forget about us and came back.”

Jianan sobbed his words as he remembered the incident. His little hand gripped tightly onto his sister’s hand, and his tears fell again.

”Ye found an angel and came back to save us... The angel told her friends to bring us to her home so that father cannot hurt us anymore.”

Seeing his tears, Liu Jingyi couldn’t help but cry more. She stood on her knees and stroke the top of his head.

”Jianan... I know you miss him too, but Ye isn’t here anymore. We don’t know what happened to him.”

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that Liu Ye had come back for them. However, it’s been months, and they heard nothing.

Not even a trace of his shadow could be seen in the streets.

”Jingyi...”

From the side came a familiar voice. Liu Jingyi looked at the person, and her heart stopped beating. She stared at the person for a long moment as her unending tears shed.

After what felt like years had gone by, her trembling lips finally choked out a name.

”Ye...”

Liu Ye’s eyes shook as he stood between Liu Shan and Ju Suo. He was inside helping with chores, but when he saw that Jianan had disappeared, he panicked.

It was then when he saw the front door open and came out to check since Liu Shan was also not inside the house.

However, what he saw outside made his world stopped.

He takes one step forward, then another. Before he knew it, he was already in front of his siblings.

He trembles a smile and places a hand on Liu Jingyi’s head while trying his best to force back his tears from falling.

”I’m back.”

More tears welled from deep inside Liu Jingyi and coursed down her cheeks.

She stood up and never blinked her eyes. She was afraid that her older brother would disappear the second she blinked.

However, whether it was a mirage or not, she didn’t care. She jumped into Liu Ye’s arms and cried.

”Older brother!”

She hugged him like he was a person who had returned from death’s door. However, in a split second, anger washed inside her, and she punched his back.

”Why?! Why?! Why didn’t you write to us? Didn’t you say you would protect us from father? When you left, we heard no news... I even thought that you died...”

She wailed in his arms and continued to hit him like she was taking out all the anger she had bottled upon him.

”I rather believed you were dead... That way, you would be free... Free from this nightmare...”

Her punches grew faint, and she clutched his shirt with tight fists.

”What took you so long...”

Liu Ye didn’t feel any pain from her punches. He deserved it because he had left them alone with a demon.

His time at Red Moon was scary, but it wasn’t as frightening compared to what his siblings had to go through.

Imagining all the cruel things that were done to them by their father, he trembles a deep breath. He hugs his sister, and the tears he fought so hard to hold back slid down his cheeks.

”I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

All he could do was apologize. He couldn’t tell his sister that their father had intended to sell her to Red Moon.

Liu Jingyi’s tears poured over and flowed down her cheeks as she heard his apology. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to say sorry, but her tears would not end.

Jianan watched his older siblings cry, and he wept with them. He stretch his arms and hugged them in his little embrace.

Without them, he would have long died at their father’s hands.

Liu Shan and Ju Suo stayed in silence from the side.. It was as if they were not there and allowed the siblings to cry to their hearts’ content as they were finally reunited.