“Hedoesntknow。”“Hedoesntoknowimmediately。”
Yulalookedfrightened。Suyuansqueezedherhaly。“Khasarisnotcruel。Ibelievehewilltreatyouwell。AndonceyouleaveYounis,youwillhaveacetolivesomewherethatisnttrolledbytheKhanshousehold。”
YulawassilentforalongtimeandsheuoodwhatSuyuanwas。Freedomnotthekindthatcamefromwinning。Thekindthatcamefromfinallybeingfarenoughawaythatnoonecoulddecideyourlifeforyou。
“Butwhataboutyou?”
Suyuansmiledfaintly。
“Illstay。”
Suyuanssmiledisappeared。
“BecausethereissomethingImustfinish。”
Yulalookedintohereyes。Forthefirsttime,sherealizedthatSuyuanwasntaskiostealherfuture。ShewasgivingYulahers。
“Yourereallynotingwithus?”
Suyuandidntanswer,shedidnto。Yulaseyesslowlyfilledwithtears。“Youreterrible,”shewhispered。Suyuanalmostlaughed。“Iknow。”
“Youreaskioleaveyoubehind。”
“Yes。”
“Idontwantto。”
“Iknow。”
Yulawipedhereyes。
“AndifIrefuse?”
Suyuanlookedathergently。
“ThenIllfindanotherway。”
ThatmadeYulalaughthroughhertears。
“Youreallyarestubborn。”
“Soareyou。”
Theysattogetherinsilence。
Finally,Yulanodded。
“Illdoit。”
Suyuanseyessoftened。“Thankyou。”
“Butyouowemeohing。”
“What?”
“Youhavetopromisethatifthereisanyceforyoutoleavesafely,youwilltakeit。”
Suyuanlookedatherforalongmoment,thenshenodded。
“Ipromise。”
ItsanotherliebutYuladidntknowthat。
Andforthefirsttime,SuyuanhadsomeonewillingtowalkawayfromYounisbecauseshebelievedhersisterdeservedthecetolive。Theweddingpreparationstinuedoutside。Noonekhatthebridehadalreadyged。Onlythenameremaihesame