A baffling murder turns childhood sweethearts into sworn enemies. After ten years behind bars, she walks out of prison bearing the stigma of a murderer. What awaits her is not vindication, but his bone-deep hatred and desire for revenge.
"Murderer": the brand clings to her like a curse throughout the humiliating years that remain of her life. Only after she leaps from a high-rise, clutching a childhood keepsake in her hand, does it become the key to uncovering the truth. As the bloodstained past is revealed piece by piece, he realizes he hated the wrong person. The woman he personally pushed into the abyss was the protector who took every bit of blame for him.
The truth that comes too late is crueler than justice that never comes. He gives away all his wealth and keeps vigil day and night at her grave, measuring the distance of his remorse with the rest of his life. The confession he dictates from his sickbed, the time capsule buried beneath the plum tree: every page is filled with love and apologies he never got the chance to express.
"Wanwan, your big brother came too late." These are his final words in this world. When two plum trees lean against each other before the grave, and their adopted daughter chooses to pursue the defense of justice, this love that crossed the boundary between life and death finally finds its eternal home.
This is a story of misunderstanding and forgiveness, hatred and redemption. When the plum blossoms remain and the years pass by, which will come first, love or justice? If we could start over, would we make the same choices again? At the crossroads of fate, everyone must pay for their choices: some with a lifetime, others with the next.
Clear thinking, delicate writing, and smooth narrative.