The Ex-Wife-to-Be Is Acting Weird After Losing Her Memory - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Serenade Two

The summer of that year, when she was nine, was filled with the same suffocating heat as now.

The air conditioner was probably broken, constantly making a “hissing” sound. Lu Jiayin couldn’t sleep because of the noise, and the air in the bedroom was heavy. She had to get up, wanting to find a glass of water in the kitchen.

Afraid of waking her mother and facing a reprimand, she tiptoed down the pitch-black corridor. The large mansion was silent in the early hours of the morning, enveloped in a quiet, dark haze. As Lu Jiayin reached the end of the stairs, she suddenly heard a faint “creak.”

The sound came from the end of the corridor. The door opened, and the person inside slowly walked out.

Lu Jiayin recognized it was her father. He was dressed neatly and carried a suitcase. When he saw his daughter, her father was visibly startled.

Neither father nor daughter spoke. After a long time, her father seemed to give her an apologetic smile. Then, he picked up the leather suitcase and walked downstairs without looking back.

He never returned.

The air in the room became more sluggish and sticky, almost suffocating. Just as Lu Jiayin felt like she was about to burn up, a hand gently stroked her forehead.

She opened her eyes amid this soft comfort and saw Zhen Zhen’s gentle face.

“You had a dream,” seeing Lu Jiayin’s confused expression, Zhen Zhen smiled at her. She withdrew her hand from her forehead, got up, and picked up a glass of water from the bedside table. “Here, drink some water.”

It was the chamomile tea she had specifically placed there before sleeping. A faint fragrance lingered. Lu Jiayin was vaguely fed a couple of sips of water, and only then did her dry throat feel soothed.

Zhen Zhen checked the temperature and humidity on the control panel again before turning off the light. As soon as she lay back on the pillow, she felt a pair of soft arms wrapping around her.

She reached out and embraced the person who had burrowed into her blanket, asking softly: “You’re not afraid of the heat anymore?”

Lu Jiayin was restless when she slept, always moving around. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, she would complain about the heat and needed to be coaxed for a while before falling asleep. Now, she lay quietly in her arms, hugging her waist and whimpering playfully: “I have to hug you even if it’s hot.”

This felt like a novel experience: in the early hours of a midsummer morning, after being startled awake by a nightmare, with the dark, hazy twilight outside the window. Only this time, she was not just accompanied by loneliness, but also by another warm embrace.

Zhen Zhen didn’t ask Lu Jiayin what she had dreamed about. She shifted to the side to create some space so Lu Jiayin could comfortably rest her head on her shoulder. She then raised her free hand and lightly patted her back, trying to lull her to sleep.

“Where did you learn this skill for soothing children?” Lu Jiayin asked with a chuckle.

Zhen Zhen also smiled: “I don’t remember… I guess I saw other mothers do it. Maybe it was my aunt, or someone else. During those first two years, I often had nightmares. When I wanted to sleep but was afraid to, I would pat myself like this… It was quite effective, wasn’t it?”

She spoke very casually, as if it was an insignificant memory, but Lu Jiayin felt a pang of sadness. She snuggled closer into Zhen Zhen’s embrace and hugged her back in comfort: “Then tell me if you have nightmares next time. I’ll pat you too.”

“I haven’t had a nightmare since I’ve been with you,” Zhen Zhen chuckled softly. She leaned down and kissed Lu Jiayin’s hair. “And knowing you’re nearby makes me feel very secure.”

Hearing this, Lu Jiayin seemed to fall silent for a moment. Just as Zhen Zhen thought she was about to fall asleep, she heard a muffled voice from within her embrace.

“I don’t want to go to the hospital to visit my father.”

This sentence must have been weighing on Lu Jiayin’s mind for a long time, and she finally said it. After speaking, she shifted a bit uneasily: “…Maybe you’ll think I’m too much, but I really don’t want to go.”

There seemed to be strange regrets in the world, like her and Zhen Zhen’s current situation. Zhen Zhen’s parents loved her so much, yet they left her early. In contrast, Lu Jiayin clearly had two healthy parents, but neither of them seemed to love her much.

It takes courage to reveal the darkness inside, especially when facing one’s loved one. Exposing the unpleasant truth feels like personally shattering the image one holds in the other person’s heart. After saying this, Lu Jiayin’s heart involuntarily lifted. She was unsure if Zhen Zhen could understand this mindset.

Zhen Zhen didn’t react intensely as she had anticipated. She simply thought quietly for a moment and then replied: “I believe you have your own reasons. If you don’t want to go, don’t force yourself.”

She then asked with some concern: “As for your mother, do I need to explain it for you?”

She remembered that Lu Jiayin was always a bit timid around Mrs. Lu. If Mrs. Lu knew her thoughts, she likely wouldn’t concede so easily.

Lu Jiayin shook her head: “I will talk to her myself.”

Just being able to tell Zhen Zhen her thoughts made her feel like a burden had been lifted. Smelling the familiar scent of the embrace, Lu Jiayin yawned and, without realizing it, drifted back to sleep in the soft atmosphere.

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about? I absolutely will not agree.”

Compared to Zhen Zhen’s calmness, Mrs. Lu’s reaction was clearly much more intense. Her meticulously drawn eyebrows furrowed in displeasure, and she slammed her coffee cup onto the coffee table.

This was the Lu family mansion in the Mid-Levels. The servants dared not breathe, tiptoeing away from the living room perimeter to avoid being caught in the masters’ argument. Mrs. Lu vented her anger and gestured discontentedly. The well-trained male assistant immediately stepped forward to massage her temples to relieve her stress.

“Lu Jiayin, that is your father,” Mrs. Lu continued. “And he is now on his deathbed. As his family, we should visit him by his bedside. Otherwise, what will people think of you?”

Lu Jiayin had heard this line of reasoning since childhood until she was numb to it. She tiredly ran her fingers through her hair: “He has other family besides us. Why must we go there? His son and daughter will probably think we’re there to fight over the inheritance.”

Mrs. Lu sneered: “Do you think I care about his small inheritance?”

She waved the assistant away, staring at her daughter’s face, asking word by word: “You remember one thing: your surname is Lu. You are the legitimate eldest daughter of the Lu family! No matter how arrogant those petty people are, you are the most outstanding daughter your father has!”

“But I’m not the daughter he wanted!”

The atmosphere in the room instantly solidified. Mrs. Lu’s face changed, and she subconsciously stood up: “Lu Jiayin, dare you say that in front of your mother again?”

Lu Jiayin tightly bit her lower lip, standing in the center of the living room with her eyes cast down.

Just as this awkward silence was about to erupt, a servant quickly ran over. She struggled to speak against the tense atmosphere in the room: “Madam, Miss, CEO Zhen is here.”

Mrs. Lu’s tightly clenched hand abruptly loosened.

A familiar sound of footsteps approached them. Hearing the sound, Lu Jiayin turned her head and saw Zhen Zhen entering the living room. She was still wearing the formal attire she wore when she left this morning, and she politely nodded to Mrs. Lu: “Mother.”

She then walked to Lu Jiayin’s side with utmost naturalness. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Lu Jiayin’s red-rimmed eyes, and then she took her hand.

“It’s getting late. I’m here to take Jiayin home,” she said earnestly. “We will excuse ourselves now.”

For the usually polite and meticulous Zhen Zhen, this action was bordering on strong defiance. Mrs. Lu raised an eyebrow in surprise: “Xiao Zhen, haven’t you spoiled her a bit too much?”

She adopted a stern expression: “This child just told me she won’t go to the hospital to see her father. What kind of talk is that? No basic etiquette or upbringing! If others hear this, they’ll say I don’t know how to raise a daughter. I don’t want to embarrass her in front of you, but this matter is truly… truly too much.”

To Mrs. Lu’s surprise, Zhen Zhen seemed completely unmoved by her words. Her expression was calm, and she said unhurriedly: “Mother, I believe Jiayin wouldn’t say that without a reason. Have you asked her why?”

“I don’t need to hear her explanation! Regardless of the reason, she must go to the hospital,” Mrs. Lu frowned. “Why are you so confused too? If this gets out, what will people think of the two of you…”

Zhen Zhen smiled gently: “I believe Jiayin has her reasons. Why can’t you first listen to her thoughts?”

“Because she doesn’t need me to have thoughts,” Lu Jiayin said softly. “Mom, all you need is for me to accompany you to complete this ‘show.’ You’ve never cared about my feelings, nor are you truly concerned about Father’s illness, because everything you do is to prove that we didn’t lose.”

“But we are not the ones who did something wrong. Why should we make this meaningless proof for someone who left?”

She knew from a very young age that her parents’ marriage was not at all like the beautiful fantasies in the fairy tales she read. Her father was the young master of a prominent family but was wholeheartedly immersed in art, despite his average talent. Later, he married her mother, who also came from a reputable family and graduated from the London College of Art, under the arrangement of the elders.

This should have been a well-matched marriage, but reality was far from it. Her father didn’t like her mother, who had been raised to be a standard lady. Even as her mother’s fame grew, he became more contemptuous of her creative style, which was full of “commercial vulgarity.”

Faced with her husband’s disdain, Mrs. Lu created more diligently. The couple, fundamentally incompatible, gradually lived like enemies under the same roof.

Finally, when Lu Jiayin was nine, her father started an affair with his female model and agreed to divorce her mother.

It was a common occurrence in wealthy families. The only difference was that Mrs. Lu demanded that the divorce agreement not be made public.

She continued to socialize under the title of Mrs. Lu, continued to live in this cold, luxurious mansion that had long lost its genuine warmth, obsessively wanting to prove her husband’s blindness.

The privileged artist’s wife, the beautiful and intelligent daughter—she demanded of herself and Lu Jiayin, with near-strictness, that they live as exquisitely perfect life examples, so that others, when talking about her disgraced husband, would utter the comment, “How much must he regret it?”

How much should he regret it? Such a perfect and outstanding wife and daughter, like glittering pearls on a pedestal, constantly reminded that man that all of this belonged to him, if only he hadn’t made such a foolish decision.

Lu Jiayin didn’t know if her father regretted it, but ever since that night when she was nine, when her father walked past her without hesitation, abandoning his young daughter and the cold mansion behind him, she had hated him.

After her father left, her mother became even busier. She was often away for many days. However, whenever she returned, the atmosphere in the house would become tense. Everything was a silent test: dining etiquette, homework grades, piano playing, oil painting… Every time this happened, Lu Jiayin felt extremely nervous, feeling like she was being tortured.

What saddened her more was her mother’s criticism. Mrs. Lu, with her stunning face, would say with complete disdain: “Why are you as slow-witted as your father?”

Mrs. Lu had been a privileged young lady since birth, flying around the world to hold exhibitions, attend cocktail parties, and socialize with various members of high society. She believed raising a daughter was like ordering a custom Hermès bag—state the demands, pay the quota, and you’d receive the desired product.

“What I want to say is, he left not because we weren’t good enough,” Lu Jiayin’s voice trembled slightly, perhaps because she had never disclosed such thoughts to Mrs. Lu. She spoke tensely, yet with exceptional firmness: “He just didn’t want us.”

“So, I don’t want him either.”

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