The storm outside returned with a vengeance. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a roll of thunder that rattled the windows.
Meilin stood in the hallway, frozen, staring at the faint light slipping under the study door. She could hear Rui's voice — low, tense — speaking on the phone.
> "No one can know she remembers," he said. "If she asks again, stall her. Do you understand?"
Her blood ran cold.
For a moment, she couldn't breathe. The phone message from earlier echoed in her head like a curse: Ask him about the night of the fire.
She stepped closer, her heartbeat drowning out the rain. The door creaked slightly under her trembling hand, and Rui's words became clearer.
> "We'll keep the report sealed. I'll handle the rest."
Her chest tightened until she thought it might break. She pushed the door open.
"Handle what, Rui?"
He froze. The phone slipped from his fingers. "Meilin…"
"Who were you talking to?" she demanded, her voice shaking. "And what are you keeping from me?"
He took a step toward her, calm but wary, like a man approaching a wounded animal. "It's not what you think."
"Then tell me what I should think!" she cried. "Tell me what happened that night!"
Thunder cracked again, lightning illuminating his face — pale, conflicted, and full of something like sorrow.
"You were never supposed to remember," he said finally.
Her breath caught. "Remember what?"
Rui's shoulders dropped, his voice barely above a whisper. "That I was there when the fire started."
The world tilted.
She stumbled back, shaking her head. "No… no, you can't mean—"
"I didn't start it," he said quickly. "But I knew who did. And I didn't stop them in time."
The room blurred through her tears. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you hated me enough already," Rui said hoarsely. "You would never have believed the truth."
"What truth?"
He met her eyes, and for the first time, she saw the guilt he had been carrying for years.
"It wasn't Li Chen who caused the fire, Meilin. It was my brother."
Silence fell — thick and suffocating.
"Your… brother?" she whispered.
Rui nodded. "He was drunk, angry. He wanted to scare Li Chen, not hurt anyone. But things went wrong. I found out too late, and when I got there, you were trapped inside the flames."
Tears streamed down Meilin's face. "You let me hate an innocent man. You let me destroy myself!"
"I tried to tell you!" Rui's voice cracked. "But you wouldn't listen. Every word I said only pushed you further away. I thought… I thought if I bore the blame, you might at least live."
The confession hit her harder than the storm outside.
All this time — her pain, her anger, her death — all built on a lie… and a sacrifice she never asked for.
"Why now?" she whispered. "Why tell me this now?"
Rui's voice trembled. "Because I can't lie to you again. Not when I've already lost you once."
For a moment, she wanted to reach for him — to forgive, to fall back into his arms — but the past held her fast.
"Rui…" Her voice broke. "I don't know if I can ever love you again."
He closed his eyes, tears slipping down his face. "Then I'll wait," he said softly. "Even if it takes another lifetime."
The storm raged on, lightning splitting the darkness.
And for Meilin, the night of the fire had just begun to burn all over again.