Half-Sister

A wave of shock came to Yanmei when she learned that Bai Han had postponed their wedding. The two were supposed to have been wed the other day, but from what she heard, the marriage was postponed indefinitely.

Somehow, she felt guilty. She knew her revelations during their rehearsal dinner may have contributed to it, but then again, she told herself, "Who the hell asked me to be there, anyway?" She rolled her eyes before adding, "So much for uplifting her status."

Her father called her non-stop, but it wasn't only Xia Zihao that kept troubling her. Bai Han already made his third visit for the week. It became too bothersome for her that she often rode with Xia Ting home.

As months passed, the news of Bai Han and Yi Miexu's breakup spread on social media accounts. All throughout, Yanmei had kept herself away from her father, her half-sister and especially Yi Liling. She knew they would put the blame on her. In fact, her father had asked for her many times while she was at work. Thankfully, she was successful at avoiding them.

Because of her father's pestering, Yanmei had changed her number and stayed with Xia Ting with his family temporarily. She had already found a place of her own but as she needed furnishing to be done, her cousin offered to adopt her momentarily saying, "I also need a part-time nanny at home. Haha!"

One weekend, she woke up early, excited about their weekend trip with her cousins. She rushed to the adjoining bathroom, not realizing someone was already there. She was then in the showers when she looked through the glass partition. "Ahh! Oh my gosh, you startled me! Who - who are you?"

She saw a woman with the most angelic face, brushing her teeth in the wash bin area. The woman finished what she was doing before answering Yanmei's question, "You must be Yanmei. Wen told me you were staying in the other room."

Yanmei stepped out of the shower area to hear the woman better. She thought, 'Thank goodness I was not naked yet.'

"I'm Andrea Li. I'm Li Wen's sister. It's nice to meet you," said the woman. "I'm done brushing my teeth. You can take a shower, now."

She reluctantly locked the other side of the door and went back to her bath. She pondered for a moment before asking herself, "Li Wen has a sister?"

Li Wen was her cousin's wife. As they had chatted many times before she left for the States, she was almost certain Li Wen never mentioned having a sister. It confused her, but nevertheless, no intruder could dare come inside her cousin's mansion. Thus, she went on with her morning regime.

When she came down for breakfast, Li Wen formally introduced Andrea to her, telling her she was her half-sister and had met just a little over last year.

While they were eating their meal, Yanmei was awfully quiet that Xi Ting had to ask, "Anything wrong Yanmei?"

"Oh, nothing. It's nothing really. I - I am just surprised that you seem to be civil with each other - half-sisters I mean. Haha!" Yanmei replied honestly while trying to fake a laugh.

Li Wen fully understood her words and explained further, "Yanmei, Andrea and I have a special connection with our mother. It started out by needing to know more about her. That's how we became close as sisters. Furthermore, it was not Andrea or her father that broke my family. Thus, I kept an open mind about having a sister."

She saw Andrea and Li Wen smile at each other pleasantly that it made her jealous. For two days that Andrea stayed with her cousin, she witnessed her affection towards Xia Ting's children and closeness between her and Li Wen. It made her rethink her opinion about Yi Meixu. She asked herself, 'Should I give her a chance?'

Eventually, she decided to meet her father and her half-sister after being enlightened by Andrea and Li Wen. Also, since she did not want to waste the opportunity, she asked to meet Bai Han at the same time.

Her grandfather was not at ease, leaving Xia Yanmei to fend for herself in a possible battle. Thus, he also came along with her.

Bai Han came first to arrive at the restaurant where she had reserved for a dinner meeting. Since Xia Zihao and Yi Meixu was not there yet, they had a chance to talk about their last encounter.

They gave their greetings and after settling down, Yanmei spoke first, "Han, I'm sorry for having disturbed your rehearsal dinner. I did not mean to cause any conflict within your family. It's just that I was angered."

Bai Han was only smiling at Yanmei, thinking,' Finally, she agreed to see me. She looked so beautiful today.'

"Han?" Yanmei called his attention, seeing his mind was somewhere else. "Han? Did you hear me?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. You were angered because? Was it because of our confrontation at the cafe when we first saw you?" He asked.

"No. That's not it." Yanmei first turned to her grandfather but seeing he was busy already eating his dim sum, she went back to explaining to Bai Han. "Han, Xuxu had been telling you and your cousins that I was in love with you and had been for the past years. She kept putting me down, making other people think that I was so pitiful holding on to you - but Han… I was never in love with you, to begin with."

Yanmei was engrossed with her narration that she did not notice the frown of Bai Han's face. She continued to say, "I considered you as a good friend and even as there was no chemistry between us, I was willing to be your fiance, having known you for so long. I told myself back then, someday, I would learn to love you. After all, what's not to like about you, right?"

"I just wanted to lay it out on the table, Han. I am not after you nor am I making it difficult for Xuxu to be with you. I have no intention of taking a single attention from her, especially one that would come from you - I," said Yanmei before lowering her head. "I just wanted to make that clear… and I hope you understand."

When she looked up to him, Yanmei saw the hurt in his eyes that she leaned back, she was about to excuse herself when a slap came across her face!

It was from her half-sister, Yi Meixu. "How dare you! How dare you seduce my fiance! You have planned this all along! You want to steal things from me like you stole my father for twenty years of my life!"