Unrequited love is a form of self-destruction.
Swallowing poison with a smile, a thing not forgotten in a lifetime.
I will not forget.
I don't want to forget.
Past images flash through my mind like a carousel, every page representing a humble weakness.
Zhao Weiliang gathered her torn long skirt. Her messy long hair fluttered in the night wind. Her eyes, filled with residual shock and tremors, stared at the distant lights.
Even without witnessing it for herself, she knew very well the bustling scene that would take place tonight in the city's most luxurious, top-tier hotel.
The Nie and Shangguan family’s marriage alliance, both hailing from the powerful Da Feng Corporation, the pair is gifted with beauty and talent, a match made in heaven, childhood sweethearts in fact. Everyone thought they were meant to be.
Up on that brightly lit rooftop, in the grand hall representing Shangguan Corporation's wealth and power, amongst the crowd of elegantly dressed women, the superficial laughter, the flattering compliments...
Tonight’s stars are the man she cherishes most in this life and another woman. Zhao Weiliang had once fantasized that perhaps, if she worked a little harder, there might be a possibility for her to stand by his side.
Her pale lips curved upwards in a subtle smile. The dried blood on her lips only made her exceptionally fair skin appear more desolate and melancholic.
Zhao Weiliang gazed at the distance before her that she couldn't bridge, pondering upon her lack of eligibility, or perhaps, her lack of effort to fight for it.
She never knew that no matter how hard she strived to improve herself, she would always be nothing but a joke in his eyes.
Silently accompanying him since childhood; secretly following him from domestic grounds to international ones; silently working hard from school to the company... All due to her so-called family background, meaning she could never match up, all due to the so-called family love, meaning every retreat she made led to nothing but the sale of her interests...
The cool wind, mixed with the mist blowing from the sea and carrying a faint fishy smell, Zhao Weiliang knew it was about to rain, yet she still sat facing the sea on the small balcony, her expression indifferent as she gazed at the direction she could never return to.
Engulfed in a marsh of hopelessness, the more she tried to struggle, the tighter the shackles of despair, not allowing her even a moment to breathe.
Through Zhao Weiliang’s bitter eyes, she saw a blurry world. She didn't know what to do, never knew what was the right thing to do in front of him.
Every time she has a glimmering chance to get closer, reality ruthlessly throws her back to square one. Publicly slapped, humiliated with splashes of drinks, subjected to all kinds of ridicule and contempt... it was a sin too grave to forgive, like harboring thoughts she had never shared before.
Even her only biological father eventually taught her personally how she should recognize her identity.
Zhao Weiliang was feeling a fatigue she had never encountered before. Her strength seemed to be drained, and a chilling sensation slowly seeped into her body and gathered at her heart.
She watched the rolling dark clouds on the horizon, horribly monstrous like a beast ready to devour the sky. The sea breeze was whining, and the rain began to fall.
Zhao Weiliang curled up her frail and slender body, as the raindrops increasingly larger splashed onto her. However, she didn't feel any pain and held herself tightly.
Her smile deepened, alone in the quiet night, next to the pouring sea under the heavy rain, in the hopeless rainstorm. From a silent bitter smile, it had grown into a hysterical laughter.
She laughed like a madwoman, her indomitable spirit scattering in the world where only she existed.
She dropped her head and examined the forced imprints left by others on her body—indelible traces. No matter how great the rain was, it could not wash them away.
Zhao Weiliang had known long ago that crying was the most useless and unnecessary act for her. However, perhaps, she was really helpless.
The tears she thought she no longer had, fell from her eyes.
She felt like a lost child in the night, unable to find the way back home.
She didn't know how long she had been drenched. The night after the rain was even quieter, and the wind blew stronger. The only sound around her was the sea beating against the cliffs.
Zhao Weiliang, seemingly numb, slowly stood up. The white dress she was wearing was soaked and clung to her body. Wet strands of black hair also plastered onto her pale face.
She sit on the smooth balcony, the turbulent sea loomed beneath her dangling legs. The deep blue-black sea was like a beast with its mouth wide open.
Zhao Weiliang looked up at the starless sky, the last glimmer in her eyes fearfully disappeared.
"It's clean now," her ethereal voice murmured softly, filled with hollow relief.
Another gust of wind rammed at her, the white figure was blown away like a white feather into the boundless sea…