Chapter 38: "A Choice of Her Own"
The lake was still. A mirror of clouds above and questions below.
Yuyan stood with her arms wrapped around herself, breathing in the quiet. For once, no cameras clicked. No managers called. No shadows of brothers argued behind her back. Just her heartbeat, steady and calm, and the faint flutter she'd come to recognize in her belly.
She'd spent the past week reflecting—on everything.
Luchen's obsession. Lemin's betrayal masked in sweet concern. Her own dreams that had gone quiet beneath the weight of scandals, contracts, and expectations.
And now, a child.
Her child.
She sat by the water's edge, pulling out the small photo from the clinic. A blurry, bean-sized miracle that somehow felt more real than anything the Zhao empire had ever given her.
For the first time in years, her choice was hers alone.
She reached for her phone and dialed.
"Yuyan?" Lemin's voice came through, hopeful.
"I need to say this once," she said softly. "And I need you to hear me clearly."
A pause.
"You were my first love," she continued. "And maybe in another life, if you hadn't disappeared… if you hadn't let lies fester between us…"
"Yuyan, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just—"
"But you did," she said. "And even now, you're still trying to twist things instead of letting me breathe."
Lemin fell silent.
"I don't hate you," she added. "I want peace between us. We can be friends, Lemin. Nothing more."
"…Friends?"
She smiled faintly. "Yes. Because there's someone else who—despite everything—never lied about how broken he was. And who's been trying to rebuild, one quiet apology at a time."
"You're choosing Luchen?"
"I'm choosing myself, Lemin," she said. "And part of that means giving this baby a future without war."
The line went quiet.
Then Lemin spoke, his voice smaller than she'd ever heard it. "Baby?"
"I'm pregnant," she said gently. "And I'm happy about it."
It felt good to say out loud.
"I hope… someday, you'll find peace too."
She hung up before he could say more.
Then she turned toward the path back to her car. Her decision didn't feel like an ending. It felt like a beginning she'd written herself.
And this time, the story would be hers.
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