A PROMISE FORGOTTEN
1366 Words
Shen Wanning woke up to the buzzing of her phone.
She groggily opened her eyes and reached for it.
3:29 p.m.
She stared at the time for a few seconds, unable to understand how she had managed to sleep until so late in the afternoon.
Then she saw the notifications.
One hundred missed calls.
All from her father, mother, and Liliana.
There were also more than fifty unread messages.
She hadn’t even opened any of them when her father’s call came through again.
She answered.
The first thing she heard was Liliana sobbing in the background.
“Shen Wanning!”
Her father’s voice was filled with agitation.
“Where are you?”
“Why does that matter?”
Shen’s voice was calm.
She wasn’t going to let them intimidate her anymore.
She wasn’t going to let them walk all over her like they had when she was younger, all because they wanted to protect their precious little angel, Liliana.
“Get yourself here right now!” her father barked. “It’s almost four, and the groom is already here! If you don’t come back before the time is up, Liliana will be forced to marry him, and you know she doesn’t want that!”
Shen was about to answer when the phone suddenly disappeared from her hand.
Gu Chenyuan.
He always appeared when she least expected him.
“Who are you to command my wife?”
His voice was calm.
Far too calm.
There was something dangerous beneath it that made the words sound more threatening than a shout ever could.
There was silence on the other end.
Then her mother’s voice exploded through the phone.
“You b***h!”
Shen heard her mother scream.
“You dare get married just to trap your little sister in this God-forsaken wedding? You really are evil!”
“We wasted all those years keeping you alive!”
Shen’s expression didn’t change.
Then came Liliana’s familiar sobbing.
The kind that always made their parents forget everything else.
“Dad… Mom…”
Liliana’s voice trembled.
“Does this mean I really have to marry Lu Cheng?”
Shen rolled her eyes.
Of course.
She couldn’t wait for this call to end so she could figure out how to leave this place.
She wasn’t interested in understanding why this strange man kept calling her his wife.
She didn’t care why her name was written on that contract.
She didn’t care why her face was hanging on the wall in a wedding portrait.
She just wanted to leave.
She wanted to leave this town that had treated her unfairly since the day she was born.
“Shen Wanning!”
Her father’s voice came through again, louder than before.
“If you don’t get yourself here this instant, I’ll skin you and that useless man of yours alive!”
“That man who claims to be your husband!”
Shen wasn’t surprised.
She knew her parents.
They couldn’t stand seeing Liliana cry.
They would do anything to keep their precious daughter from shedding a tear.
“I’d like to see you try touching her.”
Gu Chenyuan’s voice suddenly cut through the call.
His tone was no longer calm.
“In fact, I’ll find you before you ever find me.”
He paused.
“Get ready to welcome your son-in-law.”
There was mockery in his voice.
He was about to end the call when Liliana spoke again.
“I know my sister must have paid you to pretend to be her husband.”
Her voice was soft and broken.
“So I don’t blame you.”
“Dad, Mom, please don’t fight with my sister because of me.”
She began sobbing harder.
“I know she hates me. I know she can’t stand me.”
“That’s why she found some man to sleep with her, just to punish me.”
Shen’s eyes narrowed.
There it was again.
The same innocent act.
The same manipulation.
“I’ll bear it,” Liliana continued.
“I’ll marry Lu Cheng.”
She took a shaky breath.
“But if he tries to touch me…”
Her voice broke.
“I’ll kill myself.”
“What?!”
Her mother gasped in horror.
Gu Chenyuan’s expression turned cold.
“You don’t have to do that yourself.”
His voice was frighteningly calm.
“If I find you or your parents laying a finger on my wife…”
“I’ll kill you myself.”
He ended the call.
Shen let out a long sigh.
She had no interest in hearing whatever drama was about to unfold because of Liliana.
She snatched her phone back from Gu Chenyuan and headed toward the door.
“And where are you going, bride?”
His voice stopped her.
Shen turned around.
Gu Chenyuan was staring at her with those strangely beautiful eyes and pale lips.
“I’m going home.”
“Home?”
He looked genuinely confused.
For a moment, Shen almost forgot that this man could disappear and reappear without warning.
There was still so much she didn’t know about him.
“This isn’t my home,” she said.
“I’m going back to the countryside.”
“I hate this town.”
She paused.
“And we’re not married, so why do you keep calling me your wife?”
Gu Chenyuan stared at her.
He couldn’t understand.
Why was his bride refusing to acknowledge him?
If she truly knew nothing about him, then how had she found her way to his mansion on the exact day of their wedding?
Was she pretending?
Or had she really forgotten?
Shen turned to leave.
Then Gu Chenyuan suddenly spoke.
“The half-heart gemstone around your neck.”
She stopped.
“What does it symbolize?”
Shen slowly turned back.
Why was he asking about that?
“I don’t know.”
She reached beneath her gown and pulled out the necklace.
It was a half-heart-shaped gemstone.
Her late grandmother had given it to her.
It was the only thing she had left that belonged to her grandmother.
“The only thing I have from her,” Shen said softly.
“It reminds me of her love.”
“I take it everywhere with me.”
“And I’ll never take it off.”
She looked up at Gu Chenyuan.
Then something occurred to her.
“How did you know I had this?”
Her voice became suspicious.
The gemstone had been hidden beneath her clothes.
How had he seen it?
Had he…
No.
Could he have done something to her while she was sleeping?
The thought made her angry.
“Why did you ask about it?”
“And how do you know I have it?”
Gu Chenyuan didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached into his pocket.
Then he pulled something out.
Shen froze.
Another half-heart gemstone.
Her eyes widened.
For a moment, she thought he was holding hers.
But she could still feel the one hanging around her neck.
She looked from hers to his.
They were identical.
Two halves of the same heart.
Gu Chenyuan stared at her.
There was something desperate in his eyes now.
He was watching her carefully.
Waiting.
Trying to see whether she remembered.
“You gave it to me.”
Shen’s eyebrows knitted together.
“What?”
“You gave this to me.”
His fingers tightened around the gemstone.
“And I’ve been waiting for you for one hundred years.”
Shen stared at him.
One hundred years?
“You told me to wait for you.”
His voice softened.
“And I did.”
“I waited.”
He stepped closer.
“I’ll wait for you in every lifetime, my beautiful Shen.”
His eyes never left hers.
Shen’s heart pounded.
“What do you mean I gave it to you?”
She was shocked, confused, and terrified all at once.
Gu Chenyuan simply looked at her.
A hundred years.
A promise.
Two halves of the same heart.
And a woman who couldn’t remember making any of it.
Shen swallowed.
Then another thought struck her.
She stared at him suspiciously.
“Wait…”
She slowly narrowed her eyes.
“How old are you?”
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