My Alleged Husband

Chapter 188: Chapter 171: Don’t Believe_1

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Wei reflected on the words his nephew had said to him, feeling utterly unsure of what to do. On one side were his sister and brother-in-law, and on the other was the nephew he had cherished for twenty years. Which side should he choose to support? Supporting either side would offend the other. He knew how hard his nephew had struggled over the past twenty years, as well as how carefree his sister and brother-in-law had been. Eventually, he chose to support his nephew because he had personally witnessed his nephew’s growth and seen the many hardships he had endured. Therefore, he could only let go of his sister.

”Xiao Wei, did you try to persuade Yichen for me? What did he say? Did she agree to forgive me and his father?” Xia Jing called Xiao Wei again, and he didn’t know whether he should tell her the news.

”Sis, I’m sorry, I really tried my best to convince him, but you know our nephew—you know what a stubborn temper he has. Nothing I said made any difference. Once he has made up his mind, no amount of persuasion will sway him; it will only be when he figures things out for himself that he might reconsider his decision. So, I can’t help you with this. If you really want to return to the Zhang family home and be by his side, you shouldn’t have abandoned him in the first place. Because of your absence, he’s had a big void in his heart these past twenty years. If you had come back ten years ago, maybe that void wouldn’t be so huge. But now it’s been twenty years, a full twenty years. Do you understand what that means?”

”I know, how could I not understand what these 20 years mean? If I hadn’t realized that I can’t lose my son, I wouldn’t be here today asking you to help persuade him. But now that I know my mistake, why can’t he just forgive me? I’m his biological mother. If it weren’t for me, where would he be? Without me, how could he possibly have what he has today?” Xia Jing felt her son had no right to hate her, even though she had abandoned him for twenty years. How could he understand that the void in a child’s heart is something that can never be filled, not in a lifetime?

Upon hearing Xia Jing’s words, Xiao Wei was speechless.

”Sister, how can you still not understand? What you abandoned back then was your very own son, the affection between you and him, the chance to be by his side and watch him grow, and this happy family,” Xiao Wei scolded, ”Since you chose to abandon all that, you should not come back now claiming how much you love him. Do you know? I admire my nephew greatly; my business in the United States faced a severe economic crisis, and do you know who solved it? It was your son, my nephew, who helped me out. Are you aware that his company, his business empire, now spans across the globe, including brokerage firms here in the United States? How could you possibly compete with him? By abandoning him, you abandoned the whole world. Sure, it’s true that without you, there would be no him, you did give birth to him, but how could you harm him, why didn’t you raise him? If you decided not to raise him, there was no need to bring him into this world to suffer the world’s mockery. You know what it’s like to undergo cold sneers and derision, don’t you? That feeling of despair, I’m sure you understand it. But he didn’t give up because he wanted to prove to his mother and father, who he always felt had abandoned him because they were only there for his birth and did not truly love him. And now you come back to tell him that you always loved him. If I were in his shoes, I would ask you, if you truly loved me, how could you have chosen your own freedom over me? I was only one month old, do you understand the pain of being abandoned at such an age? Yes, when you abandoned him, he had no memory, but his grandfather remembers. Even if his grandfather kept silent, as he grew, other children would ask what his parents did, why they never appeared. What was he supposed to say? That his parents had abandoned him, that they didn’t want him? Do you realize how much that hurts a child? You’ve always been selfish, only seeing what you needed, never considering what your child needed, never thinking about your family. You made decisions without consulting us, leaving as if on a whim. You already had a child, yet you embarked on a journey so casually. Was that appropriate? The child was already a month old when you abandoned him. When I came to the United States, I brought my wife, my son, my father-in-law, I never abandoned them. Despite how my father-in-law treated me, I never abandoned him. How could you heartlessly abandon such an innocent son? Sister, I’m not blaming you; I just want you to understand that from the day you abandoned him, he decided to hate you. From the day you abandoned him, fate decreed that you and your son would meet but not recognize each other, and even if you did, he would refuse to acknowledge you, because parents like you are a disgrace to a child, and even more so to him, for he stands in the realm of economics. How do you think the world views an economic king whose backstory is one of being abandoned, unwanted by his parents? Will they not see him as just an orphan cast aside by his own parents?”

Xia Jing couldn’t help but retort, ”Xiao Wei, how can you take her side and lecture me? I’m your sister, she’s just a child. Shouldn’t you consider my perspective? Don’t you think the things you’re saying today really hurt a mother’s heart? You’re a parent too; what would you feel like if your son hated you?”

Xiao Wei found it amusing as he replied to Xia Jing, ”I’m sorry, Sister, but regarding what you just said about how I would feel if my son hated me, let me tell you, there will never come a day when my son hates me, because I would never abandon my own flesh and blood. He’s my son, and my blood runs in his veins, how could I ever bear to leave him? Moreover, if I were you, I wouldn’t have abandoned your child either. Think about it, your son has become a world-renowned economic emperor, and his accomplishments are already so immense. Yet here you are, coming back to tell him that you love him, but where were you during those twenty years when he most needed support while starting his business? You were out enjoying yourselves, whereas he was here fighting tooth and nail alone. Do you think that kind of child would forgive you? Do you know how strong your son’s self-esteem is? For years, I’ve hardly ever seen him cry, not even once. Think about it, by tomorrow it’ll have been twenty years, and he’s never shed a tear, holding on to the reason to show his parents that he is the strongest person in the world. He wanted to make his parents pay and remorse for abandoning him; that, to him, is the ultimate revenge. Now, I won’t involve myself in any of your affairs anymore, because I don’t want to lose my nephew. If you have anything else in the future, you can come to me, but if you ask me to convince your son to forgive you, then don’t contact me again, because I will always stand by his side and support him unconditionally...”

Xia Jing was stunned; she hadn’t expected her dearly loved brother to side with her son against her. She couldn’t believe this was reality. In her eyes, she didn’t think she had done anything wrong—she always believed her decision to abandon her son was correct because, without that abandonment, her son would not have achieved what he has today. However, the world believes it was precisely because of their abandonment that her son became so incredibly strong, embarking on such a fierce path of retribution.