My Alleged Husband

Chapter 1143 - 1003: The Unresolved Knot in the Heart

Old Master Zhang couldn’t help but silently sigh. If they had known earlier that it would turn out like this, why would they have made such choices in the first place? Whether they’re truly regretful or just pretending, he has no way of measuring it, nor can he make it as if none of this ever happened. Perhaps time really does change everything.

Watching his own child standing there with lifelong friends as elders, deep down in his heart, he could never be happy. But some things can’t be changed once they happen. No one can make it as if it never happened, and no one can make everything live on as carefree as before.

All the past injuries will ultimately disappear one day.

"Child, do you regret it now? Back then, when you abandoned us, do you know how painful we felt? Being abandoned by your closest person is nothing else in everyone’s eyes, but you chose not to have us. You thought we were a burden on your life. You walked the hardest road, but you never considered that as parents, all we ever wanted was to give you the best. We never wanted to hurt you in any way, yet you found the best way to hurt us!

Time has passed, and I don’t blame anyone but myself for being too foolish, too naive, too insistent, thinking everything was perfect but forgetting that none of it was the kind of ending I wanted. Even if we are finally together, in your eyes, we are just a means to an end. You never considered that everyone in this family needs your care and concern.

Do you not feel proud or boastful looking at such an excellent child standing in front of you? Although you didn’t personally educate him, and although every step he took was different from ours, he achieved everything through his efforts. He has let no one down. If I were him, I could still live with a clear conscience.

Do you consider your child not filial enough because he chose not to come back home with you? But do you understand how difficult it is for him to get to where he is today on his own? He has relied on no one. Over the years, I’ve seen him grow up. If he truly has any mistakes, it would only be because of my lack of guidance. I don’t blame anyone else, only myself. I blame myself for having a good son and my grandson for having a good father!"

Zhang Yichen didn’t want his grandfather to rebuke his father in this way. No matter what mistakes his father had made, in his eyes, he was still his most kind and gentle father. All he wanted was for his father to be happy.

Even if his father’s thoughts weren’t on him, and instead of giving him perfect love, he thought about hurting him, he would still love his father without hesitation.

Perhaps this was due to love, or maybe it was the closeness of blood ties.

"Grandpa, I don’t want you to criticize my dad in this manner. No matter what mistakes he’s made, he’s still my dad. We are still a family. If we really have to distinguish between ourselves, then is this still a family? I don’t want this family to end up like that.

I’ve seen too many families, torn apart by small issues or disharmony. Is that really the life we want? Isn’t the one thing we all want the most is for our family to be perfect, to live happily together?

If we really have to sacrifice our family for those unhappy memories from the past, then I’d rather forget all the unhappiness. A happy family matters the most to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve lacked so much of my parents’ love and care. I’ve missed it for so long, hoping and dreaming for it, only to receive nothing in the end."

Old Master Zhang knew every word his grandson said was true. Yichen indeed went through a lot. He longed for the care and love of many, but in the end, he really got nothing. Time and again, witnessing what he became, how could his own heart ever forget?

"Zhentian, Xia Jing, maybe both of you don’t know what your son has been through. I watched him grow with my own eyes. You both knew better than anyone how I treated him, though you were always by his side, yet never really there. Do you know how many times I watched him with hopeful eyes slowly turn to disappointment, and finally to despair? Do you know how much it pained me in the depths of my heart?

I would rather bear the feeling of despair again and again. I don’t wish for my descendants to suffer even a bit of harm. I would rather die here and now than see him so hopeless. Those innocent eyes of his. I watched him, step by step, become who he is, and I was helpless. I couldn’t comfort him because I was deeply troubled myself. Who caused all this? It all ends with you coming back to this family, but why did you keep making the same decisions over and over? In your eyes, is family really insignificant? Not worth cherishing? Do you think that you can just take and leave family as you please? Every family member can be discarded casually. You see us as your burden. You failed to notice that in your most needed times, it’s always family standing behind you, supporting you wholeheartedly, giving you the strongest backing.

Surely you both have felt that during your toughest times, the ones standing behind you weren’t the friends you made, but your relatives. When you needed consolation the most, those friends disappeared without a trace, yet only your family silently supported and comforted you. This is a knot in his heart that will never truly be untied!"