Chapter 499
The revelation left Lu Xinyi greatly astonished. How could someone kill the one they claim they love? Couldn’t it be that there was a mistake? Did Sun Mingai really kill Shen Jinxiu out of jealousy?
“How? How did this happen?” She couldn’t stop herself to ask her aunt.
A bitter smile crossed on Sun Ruying’s lips.
“I guess Shen Yi hasn’t told you yet… how they lost their previous young master,” she muttered. The silence she got from her niece had told Sun Ruying that she was right.
“It makes sense. He must have gotten trauma from that car crash. It was surprising that he was able to survive that accident,” Sun Ruying spoke in an odd yet gentle tone.
Her words shocked Lu Xinyi. Accident? Why Shen Yi never told her he was previously engaged in an accident. She could vaguely remember the fading scars her husband had on his back. Once, she had lightly traced them with her fingers while Shen Yi half-closed his eyes as basked in the touch. She never asked them about it, and neither did he say anything from where he got them.
“You seem surprised? So it seems that the Shen family still refused to talk about their loss.”
“My mother… she’s not involved with it?” Lu Xinyi’s voice was fragile and shaking.
The older woman shook her head. She removed her gloves and rubbed her hands together. “No, she wasn’t, but Ming Jie blamed her for Shen Jinxiu’s death.”
“Didn’t you say that Sun Mingai is the one responsible for Young Master Shen’s death?” Lu Xinyi countered.
When Sun Ruying didn’t say anything, Lu Xinyi frowned at the absurdity of her aunts. They all blamed her mother for their sufferings but never admit their own mistakes that brought sadness in their lives. It’s quite pathetic, really.
“I don’t think I’m the right person to tell you what happened that day. You may ask President Shen himself.” Sun Ruying looked away. She had nothing to do with the Shens anyway. It was her older sister Mingai who coveted after Shen Jinxiu.
“Then, tell me how my mom died?” There was a hint of despair on Lu Xinyi’s voice. So many times she spent sleepless nights thinking of what had happened. Why did she lose her parents so soon?
Sun Ruying hesitated to continue. She lowered her gaze to her hands. How was she supposed to say she witnessed her sister’s last moments? That it was their eldest sister who caused her death?
She knew she’d done something pretty awful when she had to work so hard to justify her decision. The more demanding the reparations her subconscious required, the worse she knew it was. However, no one was going to look after her daughters and keep their futures secure if she didn’t do what she had to do. Within the Sun family, no one would step up to help her or save her ass when they had a psycho sister like Mingai.
Qiyan and Qiushan were still young. Even the young Feiyan could easily step up as the next heiress of the family. So in the end, she cut her competition down any which way she could, fast and dirty. She turned a blind eye and didn’t help her dying half-sister, Sun Meixiu. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
That night, she drove right past an accident scene where her sister Mingai set the false car accident which everyone believed was the cause of their younger sister’s death. Now, it squeezed at her brain, obliterating the thinking she needed to keep the secret and buried it with her until death. However, her conscience was still haunting her until this day.
“After Shen Jinxiu’s death, Ming Jie seemed to lose her sanity. She was mentally unstable and irritable. I get it that his death had broken something inside her. She returned to her previous self but became more devious to us, her sisters, especially to Meixiu…”
At the moment, a flash of anger protected Lu Xinyi from the pain. Were she to relive her childhood years until meeting Shen Yi, she would have tried to summon more strength.
She never understood before why she was left alone; she did now. It was all because of one’s greed and jealousy that she had to lose her parents.
So she was forced into something new to work on, to watch for that flash of darkness and strive to live a better life. The problem was never her, or her mother. To be able to reach this far, she had to walk alone. Just knowing that her parents left her alone with a heavy heart, Lu Xinyi unconsciously balled her fists on her lap.
“That night… that night, Meixiu went home to talk to our father. Willing to come back to the family for your sake, but our father was on a business trip. It was Ming Jie whom she found home. There was a heated argument between the two that I forgot how it started in the first place.”
She paused, trying to find the right words to describe the scenes that haunted her for years.
“Meixiu was about to leave, forcing her way to the hallways, and turned to go down the stairs; but Ming Jie stopped her. When I stepped inside the mansion, all I could hear was Ming Jie’s harsh words towards our sister. About how Meixiu took everything from her as well as Shen Jinxiu. She said she was ready to start a new life with him, but Meixiu even took that chance from her.”
Sun Ruying closed her eyes. The memories flashed in her mind like tidal waves. It had been years, and yet in her mind, it was crystal clear. The pristine white floor that was covered with Meixiu’s blood, her words of pleading to help her echoed and continued to play in Sun Ruying’s mind.
Her half-lidded eyes revealed the grief and guilt that she’d tried to suppress for a long time.
“Meixiu didn’t try to defend herself, but her face showed how sad she was for Shen Jinxiu’s passing. She stared at Ming Jie with eyes filled with pity. I know she neither hates us, her half-siblings; but Ming Jie went overboard and killed your father…”
Lu Xinyi had to force herself to sit down and listen to her aunt’s confession, but it didn’t stop her from shedding tears for her parents. The pain came to her at full force. Her tears rolled down her cheeks without any signs of stopping.
Jiao Jiao and Zheng Qing had chosen to keep their silence. It was the second time for them to see their mistress this vulnerable.
Since Sun Qiushan’s death, Lu Xinyi faced the world with a cold facade. She tried to stay strong for her loved ones, but her heart was still grieving over the death of Sun Qiushan and Meng Jiao. The two had been dearly close in her heart, and yet she lost both of them because of the Sun family.
“Then suddenly, Ming Jie slapped your mother, forcing her to step back. Not noticing the steps behind her, Meixiu fell down the stairs and hit her head hard…”
Sun Ruying had to force herself to narrate the events to her niece. She knew… she knew that Lu Xinyi would never forgive her or Sun Mingai, but if she had to sell her sister out to find her daughter, she would.
The guilt sat not only in her chest but inside her brain. What she had done she could not un-do. She could make amends in subtle ways, but confession was out of the question until now that she needed to see Sun Qiushan.