"Let's go inside, sit down comfortably, and then I'll tell you what's on my mind," suggested Shui Xian.
Raelle nodded her head in agreement and followed him inside. They ascended the stairs and went to their bedroom. Shui Xian made Raelle sit on the loveseat beside the windows and sat down beside her. Meanwhile, his hands didn't let her hands go.
He pursed his lips trying to come up with the best way to share this news but there was none. So, he decided to go with what his wife really liked. Being straightforward!
"My ex-wife is back," he told her.
"Does she have a name?" was Raelle's response which caught Shui Xian by surprise. He was not expecting this reaction at all.
"She does," he answered uncertainly not knowing where this was going.
"Then use her name from now," said Raelle. "You only have one wife right now and that's me. I told you I don't like sharing what belongs to me. Even if it's my title of being your wife. So, refrain from using the same title for her even if it comes with an ex before it."
Shui Xian was stumped as he stared at her for a whole minute without blinking even once. He couldn't seem to bring himself to do so. Suddenly, a peal of laughter bubbled out of his throat and he couldn't hold himself back.
"You're definitely my wife whose focus is always on something unexpected," he said through his laughter.
"Well, that's because her return has nothing to do with you or me," she said.
Shui Xian nodded his head, "You're right. Whether Tang Hebe comes back or not has nothing to do with me." He took a pause and added, "But what I want to tell you is more than that. She brought back a child with her."
"So? It isn't yours," stated Raelle. "Why are you caring about it?"
Shui Xian looked her in the eyes, "Wife, how do you know it's not mine?"
"Because if that child was yours, you wouldn't be looking so casual about it," replied Raelle. "I don't think my husband is an irresponsible person. And I certainly know that if that child was yours, you'd have known. We are acting in a soap opera where the ex-wife comes back after years with the ML's child."
Shui Xian chuckled at her words, "Oh, when did my wife learn about how soap operas work?" While he was laughing, his heart was thudding against his chest. Was it alright for him to feel so overwhelmed by just the fact that she had so much faith in him? Wasn't it a little scary? Just because she trusted him to be a responsible person, she didn't even have to confirm whether the child was his or not.
"I don't think was what you really wanted to tell me though," said Raelle.
Shui Xian shook his head helplessly and accepted the fact that he couldn't hide from her. He just couldn't do so. "Thank you for having so much trust in me! It's making me feel a bit pressured because I don't want to fail you. But I still love it." He sighed and added, "As for why I'm sharing it, it's only because I know you don't like surprises. It's better for you to know it now."
He was quiet for a minute before he continued, "There are certain things about my first marriage that you don't know about. In fact, you know almost nothing about it. And I know you aren't interested either. But I want you to hear me out." Raelle chose to close her mouth when she heard that and let him continue. "My mom had never liked me hanging around with Tang Hebe. Maybe it was because the Tang family had a feud with the Shui family. I'm not sure but my mom really didn't like it when I became friends with Tang Hebe. However, she never really stopped me from hanging with her either. So, I thought she was okay with it. But later I found out, she was okay with a friendship but she was not okay with me having any other relationship with Tang Hebe.
I was in high school when I told her that I like Tang Hebe and I have asked her out as well. That was the first time my mom ever lost her temper with me and we had a fight. A very fierce fight at that too. She said some things and I said some things, it was not a pretty sight. Later, we started having a cold war."
Raelle patted his hand and he gave her a small smile that looked strained.
"Our cold war continued for a whole year," he told her. "But in the meantime, I did not break up with Tang Hebe which really strained my relationship with my mother to a freezing point. I didn't understand her stubbornness. She said I could marry even a dog but I could not choose someone from the Tang family. I didn't understand what she meant back then and I still don't understand it."
His body trembled a little as he added, "What I do understand is that, that rainy night I again had an argument with my mom that I was gonna marry Tang Hebe. She was so mad that she drove out and never came back." His eyes were stinging with tears but he willed himself to not cry right now. "I'm not really a good person, Raelle. I can't deny the fact that my stubbornness killed my mother. The worst part of it is that my Bà never blamed me for it. He didn't even intervene when I still chose to marry Tang Hebe, knowing well enough how much my dead mother hated her."
"But you didn't kill your mother," was Raelle's response.
"No, but I became the reason."
Raelle shook her head, "If I really accept those words, I'd also have to accept that I was the reason my parents got a divorce and I refuse to accept it."
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