A Long Walk
3824 Words
“How old are you?”
Gu Chenyuan looked at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Wanning waited.
He didn’t blink.
She folded her arms.
“Well?”
“You ask strange questions.”
“You gave me a strange situation.”
His expression remained calm.
“I am one hundred and twenty-seven.”
Wanning stared at him.
Then she laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because she genuinely thought he was joking.
“Okay.”
She nodded slowly.
“Good joke.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
Her smile disappeared.
“You’re one hundred and twenty-seven?”
“Yes.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Years?”
“Yes.”
Wanning pointed at him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t particularly care what you believe.”
That answer annoyed her more than the number.
She stood from the chair.
“Fine. Then you’re one hundred and twenty-seven. Congratulations.”
She walked toward the bedroom door.
Behind her, Gu didn’t stop her.
That surprised her.
She had expected him to say something dramatic.
Instead, he simply said,
“The main road is not close.”
Wanning stopped.
She looked back.
“How far?”
“About three hours.”
Her eyebrows pulled together.
“What?”
“Three hours.”
She stared at him.
“That can’t be right.”
“It is.”
“I walked here last night.”
“No.”
“I did.”
“You didn’t.”
Wanning’s mouth opened.
She closed it again.
“I remember walking.”
“You remember leaving the road.”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember walking for three hours?”
She hesitated.
Rain.
Darkness.
Trees.
Mud beneath her shoes.
The strange mansion.
The open gate.
The contract.
The portrait.
Gu.
Everything had happened so quickly.
She remembered being exhausted.
She remembered stumbling.
She remembered thinking she had walked for a long time.
But three hours?
She couldn’t remember three hours.
Wanning’s face slowly changed.
“How did I get here?”
Gu watched her carefully.
“That is what you should be asking.”
She stepped toward him.
“Did you bring me here?”
“No.”
“Did somebody carry me?”
“No.”
“Did I get into a car?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“I don’t know.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re the owner of this giant creepy mansion and you don’t know?”
“It doesn’t mean I know everything that happens around it.”
Wanning looked toward the window.
The rain had stopped.
The sky outside was gray.
For the first time, she really looked at the landscape.
There were trees everywhere.
Tall, old trees.
Beyond them was nothing that looked like a city.
No buildings.
No roads.
No sound of traffic.
Just forest.
Her stomach tightened.
“This isn’t the city.”
“No.”
“Where are we?”
Gu gave her the name of the area.
Wanning’s eyes widened.
“That place is nowhere near the city.”
“I know.”
“My parents’ house isn’t even that far from the city.”
“I know.”
She turned around.
“Then how did I get here?”
Gu’s gaze remained unreadable.
“That is the question.”
Wanning hated his calmness.
Everything about him was too calm.
His voice.
His face.
His movements.
Even when he said something impossible, he sounded like he was discussing the weather.
She grabbed her phone.
The battery was at nineteen percent.
She immediately opened the map.
No signal.
She moved closer to the window.
Nothing.
She raised the phone.
Still nothing.
“Great.”
She looked at Gu.
“Do you have a car?”
“Yes.”
“Take me back.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You just said the road is three hours away.”
“I said the road is three hours away from here.”
“Exactly. So take me.”
“You are not leaving today.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve just spent the night in the rain.”
“I feel fine.”
“You fainted.”
“I was tired.”
“You had a fever.”
“I don’t have one now.”
“You haven’t eaten.”
“I can eat on the road.”
“You’re not going.”
Wanning stared at him.
“Do you normally order people around like this?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m not one of your employees.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t order me.”
He looked at her for a moment.
Then he stood.
“Eat first.”
She stared at him.
“That wasn’t a request, was it?”
“No.”
“Unbelievable.”
Gu walked past her.
Wanning followed.
“You know, for a man who claims he’s one hundred and twenty-seven, you have terrible manners.”
“I’ve had a long time to develop them.”
She stopped.
She wasn’t sure whether he was joking.
That was becoming one of the most irritating things about him.
She followed him downstairs.
The mansion was even stranger in daylight.
At night, she had barely seen anything.
Now she noticed the enormous staircase, dark wooden floors, paintings lining the walls and chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling.
It looked like a place that belonged in another century.
Wanning stopped beside one painting.
A man in old-fashioned clothing stood beside a woman.
She recognized the face.
Her face.
She moved closer.
“That woman…”
“Don’t.”
Gu’s voice came from behind her.
Wanning turned.
“Don’t what?”
“Touch the painting.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking about it.”
“Are you psychic?”
“No.”
“Then stop assuming what I’m thinking.”
Gu walked away.
Wanning stared at the painting again.
The woman looked exactly like her.
Not similar.
Exactly.
Same eyes.
Same nose.
Same lips.
Even the small mark near her eyebrow.
Wanning touched her eyebrow unconsciously.
Then she looked at the painting.
A strange thought entered her mind.
She immediately rejected it.
No.
Impossible.
She hurried after Gu.
“Who is she?”
“My wife.”
Wanning nearly walked into him.
“You said that already.”
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
He didn’t answer.
“Gu Chenyuan.”
He continued walking.
“I’m talking to you.”
“I heard you.”
“Then answer me.”
He stopped.
For the first time, something changed in his face.
Not anger.
Something older.
Something Wanning couldn’t understand.
“Her name was Shen Wanning.”
Wanning went silent.
Her own name.
Again.
She folded her arms.
“You’re saying there was another woman named Shen Wanning who looked exactly like me?”
“Yes.”
“Was she my ancestor?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know her name?”
Gu looked at her.
“Because I married her.”
Wanning stared.
She rubbed her forehead.
“This is insane.”
“You’re beginning to understand.”
⸻
Across the city, the Shen household had descended into chaos.
Liliana was lying in bed with a wet cloth on her forehead.
Her mother sat beside her.
Her father paced around the room.
The wedding that had been scheduled for that morning had collapsed before it began.
The bride had suddenly become too sick to stand.
At least, that was what everyone had been told.
“I can’t do it,” Liliana whispered weakly.
Her mother stroked her hair.
“You don’t have to.”
“I don’t want to disappoint Daddy.”
“You aren’t disappointing anyone.”
Her father stopped pacing.
“We’ll move the wedding.”
Liliana slowly looked at him.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Until when?”
“Next month.”
Her expression softened.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
Her mother sighed with relief.
Everything was going according to plan.
Almost.
A phone rang.
Her father’s face changed when he saw the caller.
He answered.
“What?”
Silence.
Then his eyes widened.
“What do you mean?”
Liliana sat up slightly.
Her father listened.
His face became increasingly uncomfortable.
“Are you sure?”
Another pause.
“Fine.”
He ended the call.
His wife looked at him.
“What happened?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Liliana noticed.
“What is it?”
Her father looked at her.
Then at her mother.
“Wanning got married.”
The room went silent.
Liliana blinked.
“What?”
“This morning.”
Liliana sat upright.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“To who?”
Her father hesitated.
“To Gu Chenyuan.”
Liliana stared at him.
The name meant nothing to her.
“Who is that?”
Her father swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you saying his name like that?”
“Because someone from the Gu family came to the house.”
Her mother frowned.
“The Gu family?”
“Yes.”
Liliana’s expression changed.
Everyone in the city knew the Gu name.
But knowing a name was different from knowing the person behind it.
The Gu family rarely appeared in public.
Their businesses were everywhere.
Hotels.
Apartments.
Commercial properties.
Private clubs.
Construction.
Investment.
Real estate.
There was hardly a wealthy neighborhood in the city that didn’t contain something connected to the Gu family.
But the family itself remained almost invisible.
People talked about them.
People respected them.
People feared them.
But almost nobody could say they had actually sat across a table from a member of the family.
Liliana had certainly never seen Gu Chenyuan.
“Wait.”
She looked at her father.
“You said Wanning married him?”
“Yes.”
“This morning?”
“Yes.”
Liliana’s face went blank.
Then she laughed.
A small, disbelieving laugh.
“She got married?”
Her mother nodded.
Liliana’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“But she ran away.”
“We thought she did.”
“So she found someone?”
“No.”
“Then who married her?”
Her father looked uncomfortable.
“The Gu family.”
Liliana’s smile slowly disappeared.
“Which Gu family?”
Her father finally said it.
“The Gu family.”
Her eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me…”
Her mother reached for her hand.
“Liliana.”
“Is he rich?”
Nobody answered.
That was enough.
Liliana’s eyes sharpened.
“How rich?”
Her father looked away.
“Very.”
“How rich?”
Her mother whispered,
“The richest.”
Liliana sat completely still.
Her headache suddenly disappeared.
She threw the wet cloth onto the bed.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where is Wanning?”
“The Gu mansion.”
Liliana stared at him.
“The Gu mansion?”
“Yes.”
Liliana’s heart began pounding.
Something ugly and jealous slowly took shape inside her.
Wanning.
The sister she had never wanted around.
The girl their parents had sent away.
The girl who had always been treated like an inconvenience.
That girl had somehow ended up with the most powerful bachelor in the city.
Liliana’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
Her mother frowned.
“No what?”
“She can’t have him.”
Her father looked at her sharply.
“Liliana.”
“I said she can’t have him.”
“You’re already engaged.”
“To Lu Cheng.”
“And?”
Liliana laughed bitterly.
“Do you honestly think I care about Lu Cheng now?”
Her father slammed his hand against the table.
“Enough.”
Liliana flinched.
Her mother immediately defended her.
“She is still recovering.”
“She is pretending to be sick.”
Liliana looked down.
Her father continued.
“The wedding is next month. You will marry Lu Cheng.”
Liliana said nothing.
She waited until he left.
Then she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her face was beautiful.
She knew that.
Everyone told her.
She had spent years being praised for it.
She had never believed Wanning could compete with her.
Not in beauty.
Not in charm.
Not in anything.
Yet somehow, Wanning had walked into a mansion and come out as the wife of the richest man in the city.
Liliana’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
She whispered it to her reflection.
“I won’t let you keep him.”
She picked up her phone.
“Find out everything about Gu Chenyuan.”
⸻
Back at the mansion, Wanning sat at a long dining table.
She looked at the food.
Then at Gu.
“You live alone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I prefer it.”
“That makes two of us.”
He glanced at her.
She picked up a piece of bread.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know.”
She ate.
The food was good.
Annoyingly good.
She hated that.
After several bites, she looked at him.
“You said you’ve waited one hundred years.”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gu didn’t answer.
“Did I know you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is the only one you’re getting.”
Wanning dropped the bread onto her plate.
“You are extremely frustrating.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“By who?”
“Many people.”
She stared at him.
“Do they survive?”
His mouth moved slightly.
Almost a smile.
“Most.”
Wanning blinked.
Was that a joke?
She wasn’t sure.
She continued eating.
After a while, she asked,
“What happened to her?”
Gu looked at her.
“The woman in the painting.”
His expression became unreadable.
“She died.”
“How?”
Silence.
“Gu Chenyuan.”
“She died three days after our wedding.”
Wanning’s appetite disappeared.
“Three days?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to discuss it.”
She looked at him.
There was something in his voice.
Not anger.
Pain.
But it vanished almost immediately.
Wanning lowered her eyes.
She didn’t push.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she suddenly realized there were questions even he wasn’t ready to answer.
⸻
That evening, Liliana received the information.
She sat on her bed reading it.
Gu Chenyuan.
Only son of the Gu family.
Owner and controlling heir of the Gu business empire.
Hotels.
Real estate.
Investment companies.
Private developments.
Several businesses whose names Liliana recognized immediately.
Her eyes widened.
“He owns all this?”
Her friend sitting beside her nodded.
“Almost everything.”
Liliana scrolled.
There was barely any personal information.
No recent photographs.
No social media.
No public interviews.
Nothing.
“Where is his picture?”
“That’s the strange part.”
“What?”
“Nobody has a recent one.”
Liliana frowned.
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know.”
She stared at the screen.
A man worth more money than she could imagine.
A man nobody saw.
A man Wanning had somehow married.
She smiled.
Slowly.
“Then I’ll be the first woman everyone sees beside him.”
Her friend looked uncertain.
“Liliana…”
“What?”
“Wanning is already his wife.”
Liliana laughed.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“She is married to him.”
“On paper.”
“Still.”
Liliana tossed her phone onto the bed.
“Men don’t stay because of papers.”
Her voice became softer.
“They stay because women know how to make them stay.”
She stood.
“Find out where the mansion is.”
Her friend hesitated.
“Why?”
Liliana smiled.
“I want to visit my sister.”
⸻
The next morning, Wanning woke before sunrise.
She sat up.
For a moment, she forgot where she was.
Then she saw the unfamiliar room.
The mansion.
The contract.
Gu.
The gemstone.
She touched the necklace around her neck.
Her grandmother.
That was the only person who had ever made her feel like she belonged somewhere.
And she was dead.
If there was anyone who could explain the strange gemstone, the name Shen Wanning appearing in an old painting, or why a mysterious man claimed to have waited a century for her, it wouldn’t be Gu.
It would have been her grandmother.
But she was gone.
Wanning’s gaze dropped.
Her grandmother’s old house was still in the countryside.
Maybe there were things there.
Old photographs.
Letters.
Documents.
Anything.
She had never cared much about the stories her grandmother told when she was younger.
Now she wished she had listened.
A knock came.
She looked up.
Gu stood outside.
“Are you awake?”
“Yes.”
“Come downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Breakfast.”
“I can eat here.”
“No.”
She sighed.
“Why not?”
“Because I need to speak with you.”
Wanning got out of bed.
“About what?”
“The countryside.”
She stopped.
“How did you know I was thinking about it?”
“I didn’t.”
He turned away.
“I want to take you there.”
Wanning stared at him.
“Why?”
“To find answers.”
She studied his face.
“And if I don’t want you coming?”
“You’ll go alone.”
That surprised her.
“You’ll let me?”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re not going to stop me?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say I couldn’t leave yesterday?”
“Because you were sick.”
Wanning stared.
Then she slowly nodded.
For the first time, his reasoning made sense.
She followed him downstairs.
But before she reached the dining room, she heard something.
A bell.
One clear sound.
From somewhere deep inside the mansion.
Wanning stopped.
Gu did too.
“What was that?”
He didn’t answer.
The bell rang again.
This time, it came from behind a closed door at the end of the corridor.
Wanning pointed.
“What is in there?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“That sounds like exactly the kind of thing people say before something terrible happens.”
Gu looked at the door.
Then at her.
“Stay away from it.”
“Why?”
His voice became colder.
“Because I said so.”
Wanning frowned.
She hated being ordered around.
But something about the door made her uneasy.
So she walked away.
For now.
⸻
By afternoon, Liliana had made her decision.
She wasn’t going to wait until next month.
She wasn’t going to marry Lu Cheng.
She was going to get Gu Chenyuan.
And if Wanning believed being his wife protected her, Liliana intended to show her how easily that could change.
She put on a simple dress.
Nothing too flashy.
Soft makeup.
A gentle smile.
The perfect image of an innocent younger sister.
Her mother watched her descend the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
“To see Wanning.”
Her mother frowned.
“Why?”
“She is my sister.”
Her father looked up from his newspaper.
“You aren’t going to cause trouble.”
Liliana’s eyes filled with tears instantly.
“Daddy, why would I?”
Her father stared at her.
“I only want to see her.”
Her mother touched her shoulder.
“Let her go.”
Liliana smiled.
“Thank you, Mommy.”
As she walked outside, the sweetness disappeared from her face.
She whispered,
“Let’s see what kind of man you married, Wanning.”
⸻
Three hours later, Wanning stood at the front entrance of the mansion.
She looked at the road.
Then at Gu.
“You weren’t exaggerating.”
“No.”
The road stretched through the trees.
There was no city.
No houses.
No familiar landmark.
Wanning looked at her phone.
Still no signal.
Her stomach sank.
Last night she had thought the mansion was just somewhere outside the city.
She had assumed she had walked for an hour or two.
But now she understood.
She couldn’t have reached this place normally.
Not in that storm.
Not on foot.
Not without passing a proper road.
She turned to Gu.
“What happened to me last night?”
He looked toward the forest.
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it is true.”
Wanning looked back at the mansion.
The enormous gates.
The forest.
The impossible distance.
Then she remembered something.
The night before, when she had first entered the mansion, the rain had been pouring.
She had looked back.
The road had been right there.
Or at least she thought it had.
Her memory suddenly felt unreliable.
She touched her necklace.
The half-heart gemstone was cold against her skin.
Gu’s hand moved toward his pocket.
He pulled out the other half.
The two pieces seemed to pull toward each other.
Wanning stepped back.
“No.”
Gu looked at her.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“I know.”
She stared at the gemstones.
“Then why do they do that?”
Neither of them answered.
A faint sound came from the forest.
Footsteps.
Wanning looked up.
Gu’s expression changed immediately.
“Get inside.”
“What?”
“Now.”
His voice left no room for argument.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence returned.
Wanning looked into the trees.
Nothing.
Then, far between the branches, she saw a woman standing there.
Wearing white.
Watching them.
Wanning blinked.
The woman disappeared.
“Did you see—”
Gu was already moving.
He stepped in front of her.
“What did you see?”
“A woman.”
“Where?”
Wanning pointed.
“There.”
He looked.
Nothing.
His jaw tightened.
Then he said quietly,
“We’re leaving for the countryside tomorrow.”
Wanning looked at him.
“Why tomorrow?”
“Because if someone else has started looking for you…”
He paused.
His eyes moved toward the forest.
“…we need to know why.”
Wanning swallowed.
For the first time since entering the mansion, she understood something.
Maybe the biggest mystery wasn’t why Gu Chenyuan claimed she was his wife.
Maybe it was why someone—or something—had brought her to him in the first place.
And somewhere in the city, completely unaware of what waited ahead, Liliana was already on her way to the Gu mansion.
She wasn’t coming to rescue her sister.
She was coming to steal her life.
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