A Stand-in Bride

Chapter 17

Yibo

I pause at the sound of Xiao Zhan's voice and lean back against Reba's bedroom door, my eyes closed. Who am I kidding? I came here because I knew this is where I'd find her and not because I wanted to speak to my cousin.

"I'm worried I won't be able change her mind," Xiao Zhan says. "With just a few days left, my anxiety is off the charts. If Cheng Xiao doesn't shows up on her own wedding day, I'll be the one who is getting married."

"Would that really be so sad?" Reba replies.

My heart races as I wait for Xiao Zhan's answer but all that follows is silence. I brace myself and straighten my spine before knocking on Dilraba's door. The door opens and my cousin's eyes widen when she sees me standing here.

I can count the amount of times I have been here with one hand. Being forced to live so close together meant that my cousins and I are very protective of our privacy and normally I would never breach our unspoken rule of respecting each other's private space when we aren't in communal areas.

Today, however, is an exception. I'm not here for Dilraba. I'm here for Xiao Zhan. I look past my cousinn into the eyes that carry a hint of agony.

"Xiao Zhan, can I speak with you for a moment?"

She hesitates but then she nods and rises from her seated position on my cousin's bed. She walks up to me, her dress swaying. Even when she looks this distraught, she's beautiful.

"Follow me."

She follows me as I lead her to my house. "Where are we going?" she asks, her voice soft.

"My place."

It's strange to think that Xiao Zhan might soon be living there with me. Neither of us want this but with each passing day it's becoming more and more clear to me that this is inevitable.

Both of us are just caught in a web of our own deception, convincing ourselves that Cheng Xiao will change her mind, that everything will be the way it should be.

But we both know better.

Xiao Zhan is quiet as she follows me down the long hallway that connects Dilraba's house to the main house. Perhaps it would have been better to take her to the main living room but I'm not certain our conversation would be private there.

I lead her to my home, suddenly seeing it through fresh eyes. Cheng Xiao designed and decorated most of this throughout the years, both of us expecting to live here together someday. I wonder what Xiao Zhan thinks of it. Does she like the monochrome theme like Cheng Xiao went with? I can't imagine what it must be like to even entertain the thought of having to live your sister's life.

"Can I offer you a drink?" I ask as she sits down on my white leather sofa, the same one she and I fell asleep on just a few weeks ago.

Xiao Zhan shakes her head and looks up at me questioningly. "I'm okay," she says. "What is it you want to talk about?"

I sit down next to her and turn to face her. "You know exactly what I need to talk to you about Xiao Zhan. We can neither avoid nor ignore this for much longer."

She looks down, trying her best to hide her distress from me. "Yibo," she whispers, her voice breaking.

I can't stand seeing that torment in her demeanor. I hate knowing that I played a role in the pain she's feeling and it kills me to know that from here on out, I will only break her heart more.

"I'll speak to her," she promises, but I shake my head and grab her hand.

"You know that won't make a difference. Don't you think I've tried?"