Chapter 49: The Weight of Secrets
The moonlight poured through the lattice windows, silvering the quiet hallways of the Murong estate. Mei Xiao sat alone on the steps of the eastern pavilion, hugging her knees, her chin resting on them. Her usually witty, bold self was nowhere to be seen.
She had tried so hard to play it cool—to pretend she was just a sassy, loud-mouthed girl from the capital. But how could she hide the truth forever? The truth that she wasn't supposed to exist in this world. That everything about her was borrowed—this body, this life, this love.
Behind her, soft footsteps approached. She didn't need to turn. She knew it was him.
"You've been avoiding me," Murong Jing He said quietly.
She gave a dry laugh. "You noticed?"
He didn't reply. He just sat beside her. For a moment, the silence stretched, heavy and complicated.
"I thought I could keep lying," she said eventually. "But the closer I get to you… the harder it is."
Murong Jing He looked at her, his expression unreadable. "What are you hiding, Mei Lin?"
The name stung. It wasn't her name. Not really.
She turned to face him. "I'm not Mei Lin."
He frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I mean… I'm not from this world. I'm from a different time. A thousand years in the future. I woke up in Mei Lin's body one day. I don't know how or why. But everything I am, everything you see—it's borrowed."
Jing He stared at her. For a moment, he didn't speak. Then—
"You're serious."
She nodded.
A long pause. Then he laughed—softly, incredulously. "That explains… so much."
"You're not mad?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I don't care who you were before. You're the one I fell for. Even if you fell from the sky."
Mei Xiao blinked. Her throat tightened.
And for the first time in