PART 60

Eros glanced at Gu Wei, noticing the surprise in his eyes. “Let’s go inside,” Eros said. Gu Wei hesitated, feeling a wave of uncertainty wash over him. He was scared of what he might discover, but in the end, he followed Eros inside, though his heart felt heavy.

Once they entered, it was pitch dark until the room gradually illuminated, and Gu Wei’s jaw nearly dropped at what he saw.

A large picture of their wedding was displayed, with a handwritten note that read, “We got married, and he is the person I love.” Gu Wei scanned the room, seeing pictures of each member of their families, each labeled with their relationship to Yibo. There was also a large glass box filled with perfumes, each labeled with a name.

His gaze shifted to a familiar picture, the same one from Yibo’s office. A handwritten note read, “They are my family.” Gu Wei’s eyes traveled to a photo of Liying. “This is Liying. I married her not because I love her, but to punish myself for the wrong I did to my husband, Xiao Zhan.” Before Gu Wei realized it, tears were already streaming down his face.

Gu Wei's gaze shifted to the screen, where Eros was repeating what he had said earlier, before the video transitioned to Yibo introducing each picture.

“I made this video because I’m not sure what will happen after my surgery. I’m slowly losing the ability to recognize the faces of the people around me. But maybe, after the surgery, everything will go back to normal,” said Yibo in the video playing on the TV screen. What followed was footage from their wedding, with more videos, some of which were taken by Xiao Zhan himself. It had been a tradition between Eros and Ebisu to record every significant moment in their lives and watch them together later.

Gu Wei covered his mouth to stifle the sound of his sobs. "Zhan, even if I can’t remember any of that, there’s still a part of my heart that tells me you're the only one I will ever love," said Yibo, standing behind Gu Wei. But Gu Wei didn’t turn to face him.

"I spent years trying to become familiar with them. I made that video so that if I couldn’t remember them after the surgery, I’d have proof that they are a part of my life. But I was deeply disappointed when I completely lost the ability to recognize people." He paused and wiped away his tears.

"I found out that the reason I couldn’t recognize faces is because I have prosopagnosia, or more commonly known as face blindness. (Please correct me if my explanation is wrong) “That made everything even harder because not only could I not remember them, I couldn’t recognize them either. But do you know what’s strange? The moment you walked into the mansion, my world stopped. For the first time in 15 years, I could clearly see a face—and it was yours. I realized that maybe fate isn’t entirely unfair, because even though I can’t remember that you were a part of my life, you're the one person whose face I can still see. Yet, despite that, there’s still this deep sadness because I can’t recognize the face of our own child."

"I love our child so much, but it hurts that I wasn’t able to take care of him when he was young, and worst of all, I don’t know what his face looks like. One day, I made a mistake between him and Andro, because if you look at them, their body types and heights are nearly the same. So, I thought Andro was A-yuan.

At that moment, I decided to distance myself from him, because I kept hurting him every time I mistook Andro for A-Yuan. When I asked my mom to buy clothes for A-Yuan, I would pass on specific instructions about what kind of clothes or colors to get, so I could familiarize myself with them. But later, I would find out that Andro was the one wearing them. I’ve scolded Andro countless times, telling him not to use the clothes or things mom buys. Because I memorize them so I know that they belong to A-Yuan. But with Liying always around, A-Yuan never gets a chance, especially when I’m not there.

However nomatter what excuse I give, I’m still a useless husband and father, Zhan.” Yibo began to sob uncontrollably, and this time, Gu Wei finally turned to look at him. "I even set up a perfume factory, where I created a unique scent for each person so I could recognize them by their fragrance without them knowing. I’m so thankful that they didn’t question why I kept giving them perfumes. But sometimes, I would smell A-Yuan's scent on Andro, and I would get it wrong again. Yes, it was a mistake to distance myself from him, because I didn’t realize it would make him wonder what he had done wrong or if I even loved him." Yibo sank to the floor, holding his head."

“My life is such a mess, Zhan. It all started when I lost you. Maybe I was really cursed. Do you know what it feels like to be surrounded by a family you can’t even remember? and you're just relying on videos to remind you. It’s so hard... so hard. But it was even harder when I saw the scars on your back." Gu Wei froze in place.

"For 15 years, no one in my family knew what I was going through because I learned to hide how I truly felt. But when I saw your back, I whispered to myself that what you went through was far worse than what I’m dealing with." Gu Wei knelt in front of Yibo.

“You’ve suffered more than me because, even though I lost 16 years, I can still recognize them and remember all of you,” Gu Wei said, his tears continuing to fall.

“Z... Zhan, what happened to you when you disappeared? What happened to your back? What did they do to you?” Yibo asked in quick succession, gripping Gu Wei’s hand. Suddenly, Yibo felt Gu Wei’s body stiffen and tremble. Realizing this, Yibo spoke quickly, “You don’t have to answer.” But he soon felt Gu Wei tighten his grip on him.

Gu Wei shook his head. “We’ve reached this point,” he began, and Yibo could feel the trembling in Gu Wei’s voice. “I didn’t go off with another man. I was kidnapped during the time you didn’t come home. I received a message from an unknown number, a video clip just a few seconds long, and a picture of you kissing someone else. I waited for you that night, hoping you’d explain what it all meant, but you didn’t come home. So I called Liying, thinking I could ask her to come over, but she refused. Instead, she suggested we meet at the park. I waited for her for a few minutes, and then a van pulled up.”

(Ps: I didn't detail Ebisu's experiences because I didn't feel comfortable, I just said the main thing that happened)

Gu Wei paused and took a deep breath. “They pulled me into the van, and I saw Liying taking pictures of me. I fought to break free, but I slowly lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I didn’t know where I was,” Gu Wei struggled to breathe as he continued. “They started by burning my arm. And it was my own sister who did it,” he said, Eros’s eyes widening in shock. “But they weren’t satisfied with just that,” Gu Wei sobbed uncontrollably and pulled his hand away from Yibo. “I was r@p@d... and my own sister was there.”

Gu Wei’s voice broke as he tried to finish, his words trailing off as he began to vomit. On the other hand, Eros was frozen in place, stunned, as if his senses had gone numb. All he could hear was Gu Wei’s voice, repeating those horrific words over and over again.

"Ebisu..." Eros called out to him, reaching out to touch Gu Wei, but Gu Wei pulled away. "Don’t touch me. I’m dirty, I’m filthy. I could’ve accepted it if they had burned my entire body with a hot iron, but they violated me over and over again while my sister watched. Every day, they hurt me. I endured all kinds of pain, and I forced myself to survive for you and A-Yuan. You two were the reason I stayed alive. And when I found out you married the person I despised, all I wanted was revenge on both of you." He covered his face with both hands. "I have nightmares every single day because of what they did to me. I’m tainted, I’m dirty."

"Five years ago, I came back after barely surviving the people Liying had sent. I killed them all, and we burned down the house where we were held captive, but we took all the money they had. I returned to our home and saw you happy with Liying, A-Yuan, and Andro. But I grew even angrier at you when you rejected our child, yet you accepted Andro." Gu Wei sobbed as he spoke.

"So, when my mom mentioned you, she already knew you had returned, but I didn’t listen because I had leukemia, which they managed to treat," Yibo whispered, but Gu Wei heard him. Gu Wei turned to look at him. "I can’t take this anymore," Gu Wei said, and suddenly, he collapsed. Before his head could hit the floor, Yibo caught him.

THANK YOU FOR READING IT 💚 ❤️ 🥰