The Inescapable Challenge

Chapter 1 My Husband's White Moonlight Has Passed Away

The day Lavaya died was the third anniversary of my marriage to Zyron.

True to being Zyron's white moonlight, even her death was so significant.

Watching Zyron place the anniversary ring, originally meant for me, onto Lavaya's lifeless finger, my world collapsed.

"Then both of you, vanish."

I've always known that Lavaya was Zyron's white moonlight.

Not only was she beautiful and kind-hearted, but she was also a top student.

During college, Zyron confessed to her, but she rejected him.

Her reason was that she wanted to study abroad. Once she returned, she planned to be with Zyron forever.

Who would have thought that her departure would last six years?

Although they kept in touch, the distance inevitably created a rift, and gradually their contact lessened.

During this time, Zyron met me.

Perhaps his feelings for Lavaya were too deep and intense, so when he met someone as simple and obedient as me, everything just naturally fell into place.

It was so simple, it required no effort.

Not long after, with my brother's encouragement, we got married.

I thought our life would continue simply like this forever.

Until that night, when he received a phone call.

"Are you f***ing kidding me?!"

He was so agitated, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes wide, and his face flushed in an instant.

After hanging up, he grabbed his coat and left.

He didn't even tell me where he was going.

On our third anniversary, I waited beside a table full of dishes I spent two hours preparing, until my heart turned cold.

In the early hours, I rushed to the hospital and saw Zyron, devastated and crying, half-kneeling beside Lavaya's body.

Lavaya had been in a car accident, carrying a baby in her womb.

I brought a coat to drape over him.

He silently pushed me away and took out a gift box from his pants pocket.

It was the anniversary ring he had promised to give me.

But at that moment, he gently rubbed the cold, stiff fingers of the body before him, as if trying to restore some warmth to them.

Then he softly slipped the ring onto her ring finger.

And once again, he held her hand and cried bitterly.

Yago saw this and helped him to a hospital bed to rest, then came back to comfort me, "Sis, Zyron might not recover for a while. Why don't you go home and rest? I'll watch over him here."

Yago was Zyron's childhood friend, having witnessed both Zyron and Lavaya, as well as Zyron and me.

"No need, I'll stay here with him."

Yago didn't insist further, and after settling everything, he left.

Perhaps because he had cried for a long time, Zyron fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed, with a faint snore in his nose.

He likely won't wake up anytime soon.

I returned to the morgue and stood beside Lavaya's body.

Her body was covered with a white cloth, her face delicate yet pale.

I tightly clutched a phone in my hand.

It had fallen from the inner pocket when I draped the coat over Zyron.

I entered the password I knew so well, and the beautiful face on the lock screen perfectly overlapped with the pale face before me.

"We meet again, Lavaya."

When did Lavaya return? I wasn't sure.

I only knew that Zyron's car started to get serviced frequently, his clothes were exceptionally clean when he returned from work, and he became very considerate towards me.

He knew which lipstick was the season's bestseller, which bag needed to be sourced, and he gifted perfumes that felt like they were made just for me.

The man who needed my brother's push to get married, how could he suddenly become so understanding of his wife?

Back then, Zyron, after arguing with Lavaya, went through a period of decline.

He drank excessively and skipped classes, eventually dropping out of his graduate program.

Being an outsider in a major city, education was a crucial stepping stone for him.

He could already foresee how bleak his future would be.

My brother offered him an opportunity at just the right time, allowing him to work in our family business. When he was promoted to general manager, he married me.

Zyron was indeed a capable person. We were always open about our relationship, but no one ever said he was living off a woman or climbing up by relying on one.

He achieved both status and respect.

He mistakenly thought he was strong enough to protect someone.

How naive.

Keeping himself too spotless only raised suspicions.

He meticulously covered his tracks and built walls. Unbeknownst to him, those inside the walls were celebrating.

So I easily found Lavaya's traces.

Her social media handle was Leeah.

The first post was from a year ago on Zyron's birthday, showing them holding hands against a backdrop of white sheets and a blurred bottle of Yamazaki whiskey in the distance. The caption read: "We are still who we are."

When Lavaya first went abroad, Zyron was very depressed.

Taking advantage of his birthday, Yago gathered a group of classmates to celebrate, hoping to lift some of his gloom.

I was also invited.

In the noisy space, men and women all tried to showcase their social skills to the fullest, forgetting the original intention of the birthday party.

I ordered a highball and watched the ice slowly melt.

"I mixed it with my own whiskey. It'd be a shame to let it go to waste,"

Under the dim light was a face with sharp features, a tall figure over 180 cm, with a slight melancholy on his face, somewhat reminiscent of a young Mark.

"I'm Zyron."

"Jane."

My health wasn't great, and I had a period of heavy drinking.

Later, I saw a psychologist and started by quitting alcohol.

Eventually, I gave him a bottle of Yamazaki as a start, and officially got to know Zyron.

Zyron said I was very obedient, quiet like a little cat.

We shared the same hobby—an immense love for alcohol, especially after Lavaya left, he kept drinking.

We even made love in a bathtub filled with whiskey.

"Jane, Jane... I love you!"

In moments of passion, he never forgot to express his love for me.

He was a beam of light in my dark life, illuminating the shadowy corners of my heart.

After being with him, I became more cheerful, even often going home to have dinner with my brother.

Mainly to wholeheartedly recommend Zyron to my brother.

Soon after, we entered the hall of marriage.

We eloped during the wedding, leaving behind all my brother's business associates and guests, leaving behind all worldly concerns.

Yago drove a supercar, taking us racing to the airport, my wedding dress fluttering in the wind, just like my radiant smile that day.

I thought our lives would be as pure and bright.

We flew to the seaside in the U.S., embracing as we jumped off high rocks into the sea.

I still remember the sound of the waves crashing in my ears that day, wild and romantic.

Zyron remarked, "We are like one soul in two bodies."

Zyron woke up at noon the next day, and the police came for a routine inquiry.

"It appears to be an accidental incident. We detected residual alcohol in the deceased's blood, likely due to drunk driving."

"We haven't found any records of the deceased visiting a hospital for a check-up, nor any other pregnancy tests, so she probably didn't know she was pregnant."

"Do you know if the deceased was upset by anything that night?"

Zyron, overwhelmed by a series of information, impatiently rubbed his temples.

"That night, I didn't accompany her..." he paused, "It was my third wedding anniversary with my wife, and I didn't accompany her."

"It must be because of this that she was unhappy and drank..."

"How could she be so foolish..."

Zyron's confession was so moving that the police subconsciously glanced at me.

I looked desolate, with tears brimming in my eyes as I stared at Zyron, clenching my teeth to stop them from falling.

"How long have you two been together?"

Zyron looked down, expressionless and silent.

The atmosphere was tense, so the police asked a few more routine questions before leaving.

I sat by Zyron's hospital bed, took his hand, and said softly, "You should've told me sooner. You know I can forgive anything, but you have to be honest with me."

Then I slipped a ring onto his ring finger, the anniversary ring I had prepared for him.

"Because we're two bodies with one soul."

Upon hearing this, Zyron angrily shook off my hand, took off the ring, and threw it on the ground in fury.

"Enough, Jane! When will you let me go? When will you let us be?"

"You're crazy!"

A year after Lavaya went abroad, I took Zyron home to meet my brother.

My brother Blake is 23 years older than me, practically a father figure.

Our family is in the jade and antiques business, and these items, valued differently by different people, easily made my brother a wealthy merchant.

More and more people came to trade, including politicians, businessmen, and celebrities.

"It's not easy to gain resources."

"Is pleasing you enough, Jane?"

My brother looked at Zyron's young face, pacing back and forth beside him.

With each step he took, I could hear Zyron's nervous heartbeat.

"So young, how do I know if you can handle things?"

My brother sat back in his chair, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and looked at him meaningfully.

"Blake, I truly love Jane. As long as you give me a chance, I'm willing to do anything! I just want to stay by Jane's side!"

With that declaration, Zyron dropped to his knees.

He was sweating profusely, whether from nervousness or excitement, each sweat-soaked strand of hair a testament to his sincerity and determination.

"Is that so..." my brother said, slowly exhaling a puff of smoke.

Later, my brother assigned Zyron a task: to escort a replica Ming dynasty blue-and-white porcelain vase to David's home and hand it over to the contact.

That night, I returned home to find Zyron sitting naked in the shower, covered in bruises and cuts.

As if he had been whipped or clawed at.

He curled up, burying his head deep in his chest, and I heard faint sobbing.

As I turned on the shower, a pool of crimson spread beneath him.

Heartbroken, I gently wiped his wounds with a towel. He was like a broken rag doll, burying his face in his chest and sobbing loudly.

"It's okay, it's okay. Everything will be alright."

I held him, letting the rain soak my body.

Now, we truly were two bodies sharing one soul.

Lavaya's funeral was handled by Zyron and Yago.

I didn't attend; Zyron wouldn't allow my presence to taint his mourning for his white moonlight.

At ten in the evening, Yago helped him back, noticing the table full of dishes, just like the night he left me.

"Sister-in-law, Zyron cried too much, he must have a terrible headache now, please take good care of him. I'll... I'll head back first."

Zyron instinctively grabbed Yago's sleeve, as if to stop him from leaving.

Yago assumed he was still sulking with me, patted his shoulder, and then left assuredly.

"If you don't come home, where else would you go? Home is our safe haven."

As I spoke, I took his hand and sat him at the dining table.

"Come on, try the dishes I made. You left in such a hurry that night, you didn't even get to taste them."

Zyron sat down numbly, his eyes filled with impatience.

In an instant, his gaze fixed on my finger.

Under the dining room light, a ring gleamed brightly.

Zyron's eyes hardened as he grabbed my hand, "What is this?! When did you take it?"

Take?

It was originally mine, how could it be theft?

"I just reclaimed what belongs to me."

"This belonged to Lavaya!"

He rushed over, trying to pull the ring off my finger.

During the struggle, we crashed into the coat rack by the door, causing it to fall with bags and clothes scattering everywhere.

A pregnancy test stick fell from my bag.

Two lines appeared.

Zyron was stunned; he slowly picked up the pregnancy test, examining it closely.

"This isn't yours, right?"

"Did you meet Lavaya?" He looked at me in disbelief, his expression shifted as if realizing something, "She knew she was pregnant! She couldn't have been drinking!"

"You met her! You met her a long time ago!"

I slowly tidied my clothes and hair, steadying my breath as I sat on the sofa.

"Yes. Not only did I meet her, but David, Elvis, and Hilton also met her."

With that, I threw a pile of photos onto the ground.

Zyron's shout echoed through the night.