Chapter 16; Shut up....

They looked like a perfect family.

A normal, loving, happy family.

Yueyao's phone slipped from her trembling fingers and clattered onto the sheets.

Her chest felt like it had been hollowed out with a blunt knife, every breath scraping painfully against her ribs.

She pressed her palms tightly against her eyes as fresh tears spilled out, her shoulders shaking silently under the thin hospital blanket.

She didn't know how long she sat like that, broken and alone, before Aunt Mei came back with a fresh thermos of soup.

On the fifth morning, the doctor finally signed her discharge papers.

Aunt Mei packed up her few belongings and folded her cardigan neatly before helping her stand up.

"You are still weak, Young Madam. Lean on me," she said softly, supporting Yueyao's fragile frame as they walked slowly down the bright corridor.

At the reception desk, the nurse handed Aunt Mei the bill and asked, "Will you be paying now or…?"