My Alleged Husband

Chapter 233 - 213: Old Master Zhang’s Pursuit_1

Several hours later, Zhang Zhentian walked down from the airplane. As he descended, he found everything slightly familiar yet at the same time somewhat strange. He hurried towards the home of Ran Zhihan’s parents. When he arrived, he discovered the place had already been vacated. He knew he was one step too late; his wife had taken the two middle-aged people away from here. Where should he go now to find his wife and these two adults? He knew that if he couldn’t stop Xia Jing’s actions this time, she would never be able to return to the Zhang Family again in her life. If Xia Jing had indeed committed a crime, he knew the severity of the law would deal with her strictly, showing no mercy. He didn’t want his wife to end up in prison, he didn’t want those things to happen to him, and he certainly didn’t want them to happen in his family. He was aware of how much his father valued face, yet his father had forsaken his face time and again for him, and in the end, it was he who had hurt his father’s heart. Given all this, what right did he have to make his father sad for him again?

Zhang Zhentian quickly called Xia Jing, hearing the phone ring several times, but no one answered. He knew that Xia Jing was definitely avoiding him, not even picking up the phone. When he tried calling again, Xia Jing had turned off her phone. He knew that nothing he said now would be of any use; he must find Xia Jing as soon as possible to prevent a tragedy, otherwise, everything would be too late.

Somehow, Old Master Zhang had found out Xia Jing’s whereabouts and how she would act, even before Zhang Zhentian did. When Old Master Zhang found Xia Jing, he didn’t say anything. He just asked her one question, "Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to harm the parents of your son’s beloved girl? Are you sure there’s a way back if you go through with this? Are you sure you won’t regret this?"

Xia Jing really hadn’t expected her father-in-law to find her so quickly, and he already knew what she was planning to do. At this moment, she realized there was no turning back, and rather than halting, she might as well keep making mistakes, continuing down this erroneous path. However, she didn’t know that besides Old Master Zhang, Zhang Zhentian was also searching for her. Zhang Zhentian was worried more than anyone else; he understood the motive behind his wife’s actions, and knew his involvement played a part in her present course. If it weren’t for his own words, how could his wife have taken such a step? He was conscious that the fault wasn’t solely hers, and that much of the blame lay with him. But what could he do? All he could do was forcibly contain himself. Right now, he wished for nothing but to quickly find Xia Jing, to whisk her away from this place before she ended up in jail.

Zhang Zhentian didn’t know how many times he had called his wife, but her phone was always turned off. Helpless, he could only turn to his father. When he had called his father, he found out Xia Jing’s exact location; Old Master Zhang had already informed Zhang Zhentian where Xia Jing was. He hoped Zhang Zhentian could hurry over to persuade Xia Jing. He did not wish for such a tragedy to truly occur here. Even if he could put aside his own pride and dignity, he could not allow his grandson to suffer such harm.

"Dad, this is no longer about what I regret the most. Since I have chosen this path, there is no turning back for me. Since I’ve taken this step, I will persist to the end. Even if I can never return to the Zhang Family or see my son again, I must keep going. Because you said, if it’s a path I’ve chosen, then I must finish it, even if on my knees. I can’t give up halfway if I want to succeed. Although this path is wrong, I still hope to complete it, after all, this is the education you’ve given me. I hope to fulfill the words you once said to me. If one day I really go to prison, I hope you can take good care of my son. These past years, it’s me, his mother, who has let him down. I’ve neglected him and let him endure the ridicule of others. Over the years, I have never been by his side, not there when he needed me most. I truly do not deserve to be his mother. Even though he hated me before, I still love him. Not for any other reason, but because I am his biological mother. You know a mother cannot help but love her own child. It’s just that I chose the wrong path and ended up on a road of no return, which led my son and me to this point. Now that things have happened, there’s no going back. Dad, I hope I can call you ’father’ again in the future. I know that you had a reason for opposing my relationship with Zhang Zhentian, because you saw right through what kind of person I am. Since you saw through me, I don’t understand why you still agreed to let me be with him. Could it really be because I saved your company?"

"You are wrong. My agreement to your union with my son was not because you saved my company. The company is important, but my son is more important than my company. In my eyes, as long as my son is happy, even if it means losing the company I built for decades, I would willingly do so. Even when he repeatedly defied me for your sake, in my heart, he was always my son, because he is my flesh and blood. I would never abandon him over any matter. I always believed that as long as I agreed to your being together, you would become better and stop doing those heinous things. Even if you were a mercenary, I never expected to be wrong because having you with my son led to you abandoning my cherished grandson. In allowing you to be with my son, I never imagined you would ultimately destroy your son’s future happiness and threaten the lives of his parents. Do you realize your actions are no different from a beast’s? You may not want anything, you may not care about anything, but don’t you care about your son’s thoughts, about how he sees you? Don’t you want to hear your son call you ’mom’ once? I know you should have been waiting for that ’mom’ for over a decade. Having waited so long, why can’t you wait a little longer for him to come around and forgive you? Why must you now take actions that hurt his young mind? He’s just a child. In my eyes, no matter how old, he will always be my dearly loved grandson, always a child. Not watching him grow up, I know some of what he has been through, what trials he has endured. Why can’t you understand? Is it because you weren’t by his side that you can’t empathize with him? Do you know that when he was little, he missed you and Zhang Zhentian, sometimes hiding under the covers to cry secretly? I saw his tears, witnessed his eyes turn red from weeping. Do you know how much my heart ached?"