Beghar Billionaire

Morning light spills over a sea of flowers, dewdrops clinging to the tips of roses. She’s wearing the haute couture Chanel dress I gave her, strands of hair dancing in the morning breeze, laughing like she did when we first held hands at seventeen. He kneels on one knee, a newly bought diamond ring resting in his palm: "This time, let me propose to you." I smile and reach for it—my fingertip just brushing the ring box— "Hey, sis, your zipper's undone." I turn. My sister stands at the end of the flower path, holding the medical report I left behind last night. Terminal leukemia. The words blurred by rain. I freeze. But he rushes forward, snatching the paper, face paling. "You knew? Why didn’t you tell me?" "What good would it do?" I laugh bitterly. "You couldn’t even stand up to your own mother—how could you fight your entire family for me?" Before the echo fades, engine roars cut through the air. A black Rolls-Royce glides to a stop beyond the flowers. The door opens. An elderly woman in a qipao steps out, leaning on a cane. Her eyes land on me, cold as ice. "Lin Wanru, your father’s last words were—better to have no heir than to acknowledge you as my daughter." I clutch the ring tighter, nails digging into my palm. Suddenly, he steps in front of me. "Mother, I’m taking her away right now. Either accept her, or from this day on, don’t call me your son." The old woman laughs, pulling out a check from her coat. "Five hundred million. Take it. Leave him." Wind sweeps across the flower field, rippling waves of crimson. I don’t reach for the check. I just look at him. "You once said—you’d rather go bankrupt than leave me." He stands silent for three seconds—then raises his hand and slaps his mother across the face. "When you kicked me out all those years ago, did you ever think this day would come?" She stumbles back, the check fluttering into the mud. In the distance, sirens begin to wail. My sister suddenly screams, "Sis! Your medicine—!" Only then do I notice—the thermos has rolled into the flowers, pills scattered everywhere. He drops to his knees, picking them up one by one, hands trembling uncontrollably. "I’m sorry… I thought if we just held on… it would be enough…" I watch his hunched back, and whisper, "If I die… will you marry someone else?" He snaps his head up, eyes bloodshot. "I’ll burn down every grave in the Lin family cemetery—and follow you straight to hell." The wind dies. The flower sea falls utterly still—only our breaths remain. And above, dark clouds creep slowly across the sky.