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CHAPTER 417
Liu Xueyi stared at her with narrowed eyes before shaking his head slowly.
"You are lying."
He stood up straight again with no sign of emotion or anger anymore but rather coldness laced with disappointment.
"Why would you lie? You know how much we loved each other."
Zheng Ying shook her head again but this time there wasn't any sadness but fear instead.
She knew he wouldn't believe anything she said so why bother trying to convince him otherwise?
"It is true that I didn't tell anyone about the pregnancy until I gave birth to your child because I was afraid that if I told someone, then... I hated being a laughing stock."
"Zheng Ying, I loved you!" He half yelled; his brows snapped together as he glared at her.
She shrunk where she sank. She knew this day would come when she had to confront her past. Now not even the air she had been putting on would save her from his rage.
He had every reason to be.
"How could you? Wasn't what we had something good? You claim you loved me, we made love, spent a vacation together and then after I was gone for a business trip, you disappeared."
"I was scared, Xueyi."
"Of what?!"
"Well, you... we were of different backgrounds. Even though you did not make me feel that way, I knew one day your family would disagree. So, I took my chance and left before I hurt too deeply later."
"Bullshit! The Liu family would never!"
"I know my family wasn't poor and I am from the middle class but your world was just too..." She shook her head and closed her eyes, unable to complete her words.
"Can you hear yourself? When did I not promise you marriage? And no one would ever look down on you. I did everything to assure you. I was bloody in love with you."
"I know. I am sorry. I felt insecure about that and then later when I found out I was with child, I was worried that you might have changed your mind and decided to leave with my son to punish me."
"Are you mad? Don't you know me? That alone was a big ticket to prove that we would get married."
"No," she snapped her eyes open. "Worse even if your family agree because I was with child, I would have been a mistress at best. I did not want that."
He grunted in frustration.
Was his love for her so little that she could imagine all of this in her head?
She was his heart and life. He wanted nothing more than for them to be together forever and yet she did not believe him.
He lifted his eyes only to catch the tears streaming down her face and heaved out a sigh.
Slowly, Liu Xueyi massaged the bride between his brows and questioned in a calm voice, "What madness made you ever doubt my love and capabilities to secure our future, huh?"
"I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I was also terrified that worse, your parents might find out and take my son away. I couldn't risk it. I was hoping that everything would settle down by the time I came back and I could explain everything to you. But then he got sick and when I got here, I saw Andromeda and you were already a couple and..."
"And what? You thought I would forget those 6 years of pain? You thought we were going to fight over you? You're mistaken, Zheng Ying."
She looked up into his eyes as they filled with anger again but there were no signs of rage anymore but rather disappointment instead.
She knew now how much effort and pain went behind those eyes before finally settling on her like a stormy sea after a long period of rain.
She had never seen such an expression on anyone's face until today. It was terrifying.
It was almost too late for her though because she was still trying hard not to cry uncontrollably while she spoke out loud in desperation: "Please don't hate me!"
Liu Xueyi shook his head slowly in disbelief at this turn of events—at least she didn't run off to another man or abandon their child to do so.
But why did this have to happen? Why did things have to go this way? Wasn't love supposed to be eternal? Didn't love conquer all?
Why didn't she believe in his love?
"You know I loved you. I would have done anything for you." He sighed heavily. He took a deep breath and let it out. He stared down at the floor and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am sorry for being angry with you."
She smiled weakly.
"Thank you." Her voice cracked with emotion.
"I'm sorry I lied to you. I was scared and I was afraid that if I told you, you might leave with my son and I couldn't bear that. I was selfish. I should've trusted you more than that."
He nodded. At the very least she was ready to own up to her mistake but then with all she had done, he wondered if really, she was. Or was this just an act to prevent him from taking the case to court?
"So what is wrong?" he asked again.
"Nothing," Zheng Ying said quickly as tears started streaming down her cheeks again.
"Zheng Ying..."
"He is sick now, all because of me. I am so sorry." She held her hand out and begged for mercy as she wiped away her tears and sniffled loudly.
Liu Xueyi looked at Andromeda who stood by the entrance watching them both closely before turning back towards Zheng Ying once more.
"Fine. What do we do about this sickness? What really is wrong? Tell me already."
She hesitated but finally drew in her nostrils and swallowed.
"He is diagnosed with cancer."
******
Andromeda sat on a chair inside the restaurant waiting patiently when she caught sight of Liu Xueyi.
He stood up and began walking away, leaving Zheng Ying alone at the table.
Zheng Ying watched him walk out on her, feeling uneasy inside even though there wasn't anything really bad happening right now.
The air around her suddenly became heavy, almost suffocatingly so.
Her chest tightened painfully when Liu Xueyi disappeared through the door without looking back once before closing it behind himself to speak to Andromeda.
They exchanged some words and soon walked out of the restaurant together. His expression never changed but she saw Andromeda keep up her smile.
Zheng Ying felt like crying.
She knew how much pain she caused to the man standing beside the doorway—the man she loved and wanted to be with forever—and yet she lost everything thanks to her silly mistake.
It was too late for that anyway since they were no longer together and he had moved on with his life. He had found someone else to love, marry and have children.
But was this really the end for her?
She balled her hands into fists by her side as she watched the couple leave.
No. She did not travel far just to watch this end.
She wanted him and she planned to get him by whatever means possible.
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