The Most Annoying Sister-in-law, The Most Wonderful Aunt (Part Two)
Walking through the streets of Hong Kong, Dream Monroe felt both deeply immersed in and utterly detached from the hustle and bustle of humanity. People and cars rushed by her, but it was as if she was strolling through a mirrored dimension, untouched and uninvolved with everything around her.
The axis of the world was like a twelve-hour clock—six odd numbers, six even numbers, each marking its own place in the universe. Now that her destiny had awakened, Dream Monroe understood that each pair of evens had its own flavor, its own emphasis. Her starry, distant eyes saw futures others couldn’t, and she saw her own mission, too.
The tangled threads of destiny and time—that’s fate. Fate’s a slippery beast: say it wrong, do it wrong. But no matter what, she couldn’t let the sad future she’d seen come to pass. So, whatever it took, she’d defy the heavens and rewrite her fate.
Defying fate is no easy task. No matter how she wracked her brain, only one path lay ahead.
Severing worldly attachments, severing worldly attachments—once cut, they’re nearly impossible to mend. Only by slicing away her karmic ties to this world could she truly break free of the cosmic furnace, escape the chessboard of all living things. She might not be the mastermind moving pieces behind the scenes, but when the time came, she could still play her hand and flip the game.
Today, she arrived in Hong Kong and did what needed to be done.
Her hand was dealt, her ties were cut, and she patched up the last weak spot. She walked through the bustling world, untouched by it all. The crowds and traffic swirled around, yet nobody noticed her.
She succeeded.
Now, so transcendent, she could finally return to Shanghai and finish the cosmic patchwork she’d once failed to complete—restabilizing the city’s space-time fabric.
But on those dazzling Hong Kong streets, Dream Monroe suddenly sniffled, a wave of sourness and grievance surging in her chest. She wandered aimlessly, her mind lost, as memories kept bubbling up from the depths of her heart.
She remembered that unforgettable memory from two years ago. That ill-fated entanglement hadn’t just hurt Jill Young—it scarred more than one soul. She remembered the night Jill came to talk, and how she felt hearing Jill confess her feelings for Qi Xi. Nobody knew that after Jill left, she curled up with her pillow in the corner of her bedroom, silently sobbing. Nobody knew the agony she endured.
Love comes from two emotions: one is 'I hope you’re happy,' and the other is 'I hope to be with you.' If you can’t manage the first, love turns to pain. If you can’t manage the second, love turns to hate. It’s just that everyone’s mix of these feelings is different, giving rise to all the wild forms love can take.
In front of Jill, Maggie Monroe was gentle, generous, and strong, always giving quietly. But watching Jill and Qi Xi from afar—who could say she didn’t have a bit of resentment, a touch of bitterness? Of course she did. Not having any would be downright weird.
Six pairs of numbers, each unique, each opposing the other. Yin and yang, good and evil, life and death—Maggie Monroe and Dream Monroe were dust and divinity. Maggie was the 'mortal self,' surviving in the thick of the world; Dream was the 'divine self,' dwelling high above.
She came from the super-ego, absorbed the super-ego, but wasn’t quite the super-ego herself. She was supposed to be as close to perfect as possible, but who’d have guessed all that resentment and bitterness, piling up over the years, ended up inside Dream Monroe. So when Dream Monroe was born from the Wheel of Brahma, she absolutely couldn’t stand Jill.
When she heard about Qi Xi’s wedding, she and Maggie had a fierce argument and finally settled on three ground rules: I’ll let you call him, but you have to stay on the sidelines—no matter what happens, you let fate take its course, no meddling allowed.
She really did resent him, hate him, get mad at him, and absolutely couldn’t stand him.
But when Maggie finally got together with Professor Yang and her wish came true, Dream could only pinch her nose and accept it. Fine, she’d just make sure never to run into Jill during her own activities. As for Maggie—she could do whatever she wanted. There was really no reason to force a split.
But who would’ve thought her relationship with him would become the biggest obstacle to breaking free? If that’s not a perfect, official excuse, what is?
Break up, break up, break up! With a heaven-sent chance like this, if I don’t break up now, I’m not even human! Jill, oh Jill, you put me through so much misery back then—today I’m finally going to get my revenge! So after much hesitation, Dream Monroe steeled herself and came to Hong Kong.