My Alleged Husband

Chapter 974: Chapter 867: Survival of the Fittest

Xia Jing seemed as though he had already made up his mind to leave. He was explaining everything to everyone here, ensuring that every detail was clear. He felt it was necessary to resolve all matters, so his family wouldn’t suffer any harm. For the sake of allowing every member of the family to live a happy life, some matters must inevitably be faced sooner or later.

”My dearest son, I’m sorry. Because of my presence, I’ve brought pressure to your life once again. I truly feel awful about it. Over the years, how I’ve yearned to return to this home, to be by my son’s side. For me, nothing would be happier than living together with my son. But in the end, I realized everything I’ve done, thought, and pursued was far too selfish. I never considered whether you needed this kind of life. During those years, I didn’t give you a single moment of motherly love—not even one day. You... It’s me, your mother, who has been unworthy. It’s me who hurt you time and time again. Whether you resent me or hate me, I accept it all without complaint.

But I hope you can take good care of Grandpa and your father. Everything they’ve done—all the fights—it’s because of me. It’s my existence that caused them to become like this. I hope you can carefully think about it. Consider whether your father and grandfather truly did anything wrong. Everything they’ve done, no matter what, was for this family, for loving you. Every action they took was for the well-being of this family. Yet I disregarded the family’s interests entirely. I ignored everything that mattered to the family and treated every single one of you as tools to exploit. I never thought about your feelings. Whether you hate me or don’t hate me—I don’t care. What I care about is whether you all can live happily and peacefully, whether you can always live joyfully. For me, nothing matters more than this. As long as you are happy, I’ll leave and never return. I’ll do so willingly.

You know, over the years, your mother has done so many terrible things. Step by step, I walked this path to where I am today. This outcome was already predestined; it’s irreversible. No matter what, I’ll never be worthy of anyone’s forgiveness. Every single thing I’ve done has been utterly unforgivable. But I don’t regret it, because everything I’ve done was following my own heart. The thing I regret most in this life was leaving you back then. Leaving you is the eternal wound I can never heal in this lifetime. For so many years, I have missed my child deeply, missed the chance to return home, missed every family member from this home. But back then, when I took that step, there was no turning back. Do you know how despairing I felt? I was afraid—afraid of the family holding prejudices against me, afraid that none of you would want me to stay by your side. I was terrified that everything I did, over and over, would cause harm to you. Yet in the end, I still ended up doing things that hurt you.”

”I don’t understand why you’re telling me all this. These things are actions you should take. Since you feel you owe me, then you should all the more stay and give back all the love you owe me. For so many years, I’ve longed for my parents’ love to fill my heart. Deep down, I’ve craved for even a sliver of parental love. But I’ve never had it. Do you know how tough, how difficult life has been for me? I never thought about what conclusion my life might lead to. All I’ve hoped for is for you to be happy, for you to find joy.

To say I don’t hate you? That’s impossible. I’ve blamed you. Because I know, your actions caused hurt to me. I can’t pretend none of it mattered at all. I, too, hoped my life could have a shred of brightness, but what have I gained after everything I’ve done? I’ve climbed and clawed my way to the top, standing upon the pinnacle of life, trampling everyone beneath my feet, forcing all to bow before me. In that moment, deep inside, I felt pride. But in that same moment, I also felt pain, because my parents weren’t there to witness it. Everything I’ve achieved today has been because of you, yet you—so far away—never saw what that moment truly looked like!

When I acquired other companies and heard those executives pleading with me to show mercy, to give them a way out, do you know how cold-hearted I became? Without hesitation, I destroyed them all. I drove them out of their companies, leaving them with nothing and forcing them to fend for themselves. I felt everything I did was imitating you. Because that’s how you treated me—this is the mindset you instilled in me. You are the ones who hurt me, and because of the harm you caused me, I then hurt thousands of employees. Do you know how desperate those people were in that moment? They might have elderly parents and young children to care for, relying solely on their income to sustain their families. Yet I heartlessly pushed them to the brink.

Don’t you feel now that I am truly terrifying? Do you question what all this is for? Don’t you ever wonder what made your son turn out this way? You want your son to be happy and cheerful, but is your son happy now? Your son is not happy. On the contrary, he’s in pain and suffering deeply. And all of this—I brought upon myself. I have no choice but to endure it, swallowing the agony on my own.

I can somewhat understand the revenge—it’s a thrilling feeling, that pleasure of unleashing it upon others, so full of pride and joy. When I poured all my pain onto others, when everyone was begging me for mercy, do you know how delighted I was? I was so exhilarated I could burst out laughing. I couldn’t hide the excitement surging within me. Watching them plead, I felt that, in this lifetime, I was the most successful person. I stood like a conqueror over the land. But in the end, I realized—even if I claimed the entire world, so what? I could never recover the childhood I lost, never find the love my parents withheld from me.

Everyone views them as pitiable, but in their childhood, they were happier than I ever was. At least they had their parents by their side. And I was merely a solitary figure. I have no idea what it feels like to grow up with parental companionship. All I know is revenge—an eye for an eye. Devouring and conquering are my only paths forward. Only by swallowing up other companies time and time again could I make my own company stronger. In this world, it’s survival of the fittest. The weak are eliminated. If they lack the ability, they can only be pushed out step by step by me!”