When our wedding invitations were sent out, as the final stage of our engagement, Lucas suddenly went abroad alone. At that time, I assumed it was for work.
My mother, concerned about how hard he worked, insisted on seeing him off at the airport. "Lucas, you’ve worked so hard. Don’t worry about things at home. Just leave it to us."
Unexpectedly, after sending him off, my mother and I had a car accident and were kidnapped by a rival family.
Recognizing Lucas's license plate, the assailants rammed into us with the intent to kill him. They never imagined that it was my mother who was driving.
She was knocked unconscious on impact and rushed to the emergency room. Though I was seated in the backseat, I was also severely injured. After my mother stayed in the ICU for days and nights for intensive treatment, I called Lucas, but he never answered.
The only time the call was picked up was when Anne answered it by accident. When I heard the sweet female voice on the other end, my heart ached so deeply I could barely breathe.
I hung up the phone in tears. As I stared at my mother in her hospital bed, a sense of helplessness consumed me. When Lucas returned to the country, he brought his personal assistant.
The moment he learned that my mother's misery had been because of him, he was overcome with grief and promised to take good care of her. And for several days, he stayed by her bedside every day. He even proposed to postpone the wedding until she recovered.
My father, who had initially opposed the marriage, nodded in agreement.
But the happy time never lasts. The next time I saw my mother, she had already passed away. The doctor said her condition had deteriorated. Hearing this was like a bolt of blue for me. My legs gave way and I passed out.
Staring at the familiar urn before me, the grief was too hard to bear. Consumed by it, I did not notice my brother's arrival.
“You look pale and have lost so much weight,” my brother said gently, his voice as soothing as a spring breeze.
After all these years, he was not the frail boy I remembered, but a dependable adult. Even though we weren't biological siblings, he was so good to me and was the only family I had left.
My brother wiped away my tears before stepping outside to greet the guests. To my shock, Lucas arrived with Anne, their hands clasped tightly, as if they were husband and wife.
When Anne stepped forward to burn a candle for my father, I immediately stepped forward and confronted her, "Who invited you here? Who gave you permission to burn candles?"
My eyes blazed with fury. This was so ironic—a murderer paying respects at the funeral of her victim. Yet she never showed any fear.
With utter disgust, I knocked the candles she had lit to the ground, scattering the ashes. I watched clearly as the ashes drifted through the air, yet she deliberately leaned in and managed to ‘burn’ herself.
While holding her scorched arm, she shrieked loudly before throwing herself into Lucas's embrace.
"Lucas, it hurt so much," she whimpered softly while cradling her arm.
Seeing the faint red mark on her forearm, Lucas's eyes filled with pity and he said angrily to me, "What's wrong with her wanting to light a candle? Why do you have to hurt her?"
Anne turned her tear-filled eyes toward me, sobbing, “It's all my fault. If I hadn't come to your wedding, none of this would have happened. I just wanted to give you the wedding gift I made with my own hands...”
She pulled out an embroidery piece that she had made. Her fingers were filled with prick marks. "Nova, please accept this. Don’t be mad anymore. Lucas had already punished me and I've learned my lesson."
Her performance was flawless and she was able to move everyone, including Lucas.
But I knew it was only an act.
