Shi Lian is restless. The dark circles under her eyes show she hasn't slept all night. Sitting on the chair in her office, she is gazing at the large windows, thinking about last night's conversation with her mother. After the conversation, she couldn't sleep all night. She came to the office early today and is working since then but her mind is drifting again and again back to last night.

Last night,

"You and Fu Zichen are together, yes?" Sha Sha asked her daughter with a Lil hesitant in her voice. Upon the question, Shi Lian's eyes go wide and her heart was beating rapidly fast. As she expected, her mother did guess about it. Mo Sha Sha placed her palm on her, her eyes searching for hers.

"I-I…..what are you about?" Shi Lian declined to escape her mother's gaze. She should have been careful, she should have and she should also do not let Zichen talked to her mother.

"Shi, it's true, isn't it?" Sha Sha presses and Shi Lian could feel the air inside the room dimis=nishing. How was she supposed to say anything to her? after what her father told her, more like warned her, she wasn't able to say anything about him. Shi Lian looked down at her knotted fingers, chewing her cheeks as she stays silent.

Sha Sha sighs and kept a hand on her shoulder firmly. "Shi, dear you can tell me. I am your mother. I don't want to see you hurt again." Her mother was heartbroken when Shi Lian was in that hospital and till she was in the States. She saw her daughter how depressed she was. The Shi Lian who used to smile brightly and was always cheery was suddenly gone. She doesn't want to see her heart broken again.

"Mother, I-I…" Shi Lian trails, her eyes meeting her mother, and she saw the vulnerability in hers. She doesn't want to see her mother upset because of her. "Yes, it's true." She finally accepted and she was expecting her mother to give her a shocking expression or warn her but nothing came instead, she smiled.

"Why were you hiding this from me?" her mother questioned.

Shi Lian was dumbfounded. She wasn't expecting that question at all. "I-I thought it would be best, for now, to keep it a secret." She scratched her head and gave her a guilty look. "Are you angry?" she whispered, holding her mother's hand in hers.

Pinching her nose, she smiled and said, "No, you didn't do any crime, my daughter but I wished you told me this earlier."

"How did you even know about this?" Shi Lian implored. She was anxious to know how she came to know about the secret.

"I am a woman too. I can sense when someone is in love or has been associated with a man."

Shi Lian blushed and her eyes widen. She yelled and declined it with no hesitation. "No mother! I am not in love if that's what you meant."

"So what is your relationship with him?"

"We….we like each other and we like each other's company." Shi Lian herself is confused about her relationship. She knows she is her girlfriend and he would wait for no second to declare that in front of the whole world if she agreed to it but the situation wasn't the right one. "I feel safe with him." her voice came out as a whisper.

"What about Atian?" Sha Sha asked and Shi Lian couldn't get her head in place why her mother would bring him in between.

"What about him?" her brows knitted together as she retorts the question.

"Shi, you were in love with for more than ten years! Don't you feel anything about him?" This made Shi Lian irritated and she felt the question offensive. Usually, her mother doesn't poke her nose in her business but she was now.

"Mother, it was all in the past. I moved on. You were the one who told me to move on and to stop hanging onto the past!"

Sha Sha's face was wretched with worry and concern for her daughter. "Yes I did but Shi….I thought you still loved him."

Shi Lian lets out a bitter laugh which she now thought was rude because her mother raised her eyebrow and looked hurt. "Mother, I do not love him anymore. I only care for him as a friend. There will be nothing between us again."

To that Sha Sha sighed and shook her head. "Alright, I get what you are implying. But what your father told, what will you do now?"

That's what Shi Lian was thinking. She was in the between of two roads and if she took one and ignored the other, there will be consequences which doesn't wish to suffer. "I don't know, mother. I don't know about anything now."

"Just be careful and do not decide in haste. Whatever you decide, I am with you." Her mother encouraged and gave her a tight smile. Shi Lian got the feeling that her mother wasn't very happy to hear about her and Zichen . she knew what her mother's concerns were and she was right at that. Shi Lian's head might explode after all the heavy conversation back to back.

Her mother left after saying goodbye and Shi Lian closed the door and lay down on the bed on her stomach. Now her mother knows about them and it wouldn't be very long when everyone would be aware of that. Panic hits and she wasn't nervous. With a mournful look, she dropped her face onto the pillow, the pillow compressing with her weight. She was now another thing to worry about and god knows how will she handle it.

With the conversation with her, she gets the feeling that her mother wanted to set her with Atian. She was surprised she would actually think of doing something like that.

With the conversation with her, she gets the feeling that her mother wanted to set her with Atian. She was surprised she would actually think of doing something like that. She rolled over and tried to sleep but her brain was hijacked with thousands of questions that needed answers.

Present

A knock on the made her wake from her thoughts. Ruxi enters carrying the tabloid and other documents in her hand. Strands of hair falling from the sides and her ponytail bounced as she walked. She looked beautiful, she always does. "The models are ready." Ruxi smiles. After the news that the models have been arranged, she finally let her eyes close and took a nap. She was dealing with everything that she had no time to sleep and Shi Lian felt bad for making her do so much work.

"Good. We will go in five minutes to check on them" Shi Lian replies.