Lu Yi stood in front of Lin Yuxi’s grave, gazing at the tombstone. The woman he had loved most in his life now lay beneath this cold slab of stone, and a bitter ache welled up in his chest.
From the bamboo basket he carried with him, he took out a bouquet—not the usual chrysanthemums, nor lilies or carnations, but a bunch of sunflowers.
Lin Yuxi instinctively covered her mouth, letting out a choked sob—though no one could hear it.
It was Lu Yi. It really was him.
He continued taking things out of the basket, pulling out four round lunchboxes with faded cartoon patterns. They were old, the designs nearly worn away.
These were… these were hers.
Lin Yuxi wanted to speak—those were her lunchboxes. Even after so many years, she recognized them at a glance.
Lu Yi opened them one by one. Inside were braised pork, cumin beef, braised pork knuckle, and a box of rice.
The moment she saw the dishes, Lin Yuxi completely broke down. She had only ever mentioned once that these were her favorite foods.
And yet, after all these years, he still remembered—remembered the flowers she liked, remembered the food she loved. Had he truly meant it when he said he liked her back then?
She had lived with Xu Jinghua for so many years, yet he never even knew her preferences. Or perhaps he did—he simply didn’t care.
Xu Jinghua liked seafood. Every time he was home, she would cook it for him—from just one or two dishes at first, to a full table once they became wealthy.
He never once asked whether she liked it.
In truth, she hated seafood.
Lu Yi carefully placed the flowers and lunchboxes in front of the grave, then stood up and looked at the tombstone.
“Lin Yuxi, if you had married me back then, I would have given you the best of everything. I would have spoiled you like a little princess. But your eyes never once saw me.”
“I tried desperately to keep you by my side, but you tried just as hard to run away.”
“You fought with your life to escape me… Fine. I let go. I let you go chase the happiness you longed for.”
“The only thing I could do was step back and stay far away. Otherwise, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to resist keeping you by my side forever.”
“But I couldn’t bear to see that look of hatred in your eyes again. I thought that one day, you’d see his true face and come back to me.”
“And yet… weren’t you foolish? You were deceived for money and your body, and in the end, even lost your life. Twenty years—and you still couldn’t see through him.”
“I’ll avenge you. Consider it the end of whatever fate we had between us.”
“Xixi… loving you was too painful. Waiting for you was too bitter. If there’s a next life… I hope we never meet again.”
A tear fell from his eyes. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.
That tear seemed to fall straight onto her heart, leaving a sharp, aching sting.
“Lu Yi… I’m sorry. I failed you.”
In a daze, she followed behind him, watching as he gathered evidence and eventually sent Xu Jinghua and Chen Siqi to prison.
Xu Jinghua was sentenced to death for intentional homicide and bigamy. Chen Siqi, who had been involved throughout, was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Yet Lin Yuxi felt no joy in vengeance. Instead, her heart grew heavier.
Because along the way, she realized that Lu Yi had never married. He had lived alone all these years.
Occasionally, his old subordinates would visit him. They would drink together, chat idly… and when they left, he would once again be alone.
Once, one of them, drunk, said to him:
“Boss, when Sister-in-law was alive, you didn’t marry because you were waiting for her. Now she’s gone… aren’t you going to find someone?”
“You’ve still got a long life ahead. Are you really going to stay single forever? The older you get, the lonelier it’ll feel.”
Only then did Lin Yuxi realize that his men had always called her “Sister-in-law.” Lu Yi had never corrected them—he had even seemed to enjoy it. And even now, they still called her that.
“If I allowed you to call her Sister-in-law back then, you should understand—”
“In my heart, she is my wife. Whether she admits it or not.”
Lu Yi took out a photo of Lin Yuxi that he always carried with him. Looking at it, he gave a bitter smile.
“This life will be like this. There’s no room in my heart for anyone else. I won’t ruin someone else’s life.”
“If there’s a next life, I’ll find someone who loves me… and finally know what it feels like to be cherished.”
He raised his glass, swallowing the alcohol along with the tear that had just fallen. Bitterness spread through him.
Beside him, Lin Yuxi was already crying uncontrollably.
Lu Yi… I’m sorry. If there is a next life, let me be the one to love you. Let me be the one who cherishes you above all else.
And so, she stayed by his side in this strange way.
During this time, something seemed to guide her to visit her adoptive parents.
Without her financial support, her adoptive parents—who had grown accustomed to a comfortable life—went to find their biological daughter.
It turned out they had long been in contact with her. The one kept in the dark wasn’t just Lin Yuxi—but also her biological parents.
Their biological daughter had never thought much of them. She had only hidden it before out of fear—fear that they might act desperately, fear that her own adoptive family would find out.
But things were different now.
After so many years, she had married well. In recent years, her life had become even better—better than that of her biological parents.
She no longer needed to worry about anything. So she completely ignored them.
Lin Yuxi watched as her adoptive parents went to her biological parents and revealed the truth. The couple was stunned.
Hadn’t they been told that it was just a mistake with the medical test results? That their daughter had never been switched?
When they learned that their biological daughter had already died—that they had never even seen her, never even known what she looked like—
Her biological mother fainted on the spot.
Realizing they had caused trouble, the heartless adoptive parents quickly slipped away.
But before leaving, they made sure to say one more thing—that their adopted daughter had known since childhood that she wasn’t their real daughter, yet had chosen to keep it a secret because their family was wealthy.
After her biological mother regained consciousness, the couple went to confront that adopted daughter.
She admitted it readily. She had known since she was ten years old that she didn’t belong to that family.
It was she who had bribed the doctor, claiming that no child had been switched. She had even forged blood test results to deceive them.
Her biological parents had told her the truth back then—and had constantly come to her for money.
How could she possibly acknowledge such parents?
They had deliberately swapped their own daughter into a wealthy family—not to give her a better life, but to use her as a source of money.
What kind of parents were like that?
Fortunately, the girl her biological parents had raised turned out to be quite capable, earning a lot of money. Only then did those strange parents stop asking her for money.
Lin Yuxi watched as the couple cursed their adopted daughter as an ungrateful wretch—after treating her so well, she had still hidden the truth, robbing them of the chance to meet their real daughter even once.