My Alleged Husband

Chapter 243 - 223 Seeking Help_1

What could Zhang Zhentian do now? He didn’t know whether he should quietly move away from home or go find his father and ask for help to plead with his son, begging him not to watch him leave.

After struggling for a while, Zhang Zhentian still decided to bite the bullet and seek out his father. He didn’t want to just leave like this; he believed such a departure would be a pain for him, a blow to himself...

"Dad, I have a favor to ask of you, I wonder if you have time to help me?"

When Zhang Zhentian came to the hospital room to ask Old Master Zhang to leave with him, Old Master Zhang understood: his son was actually asking for help, which must mean his grandson was trying to chase him away again. He didn’t know how to handle this situation, torn between his grandson’s decision and his son’s plea; he didn’t know what to do to achieve the best of both worlds, without hurting one and preserving the other.

Regardless, Old Master Zhang still followed Zhang Zhentian out of the ward. He stood outside the hospital room, looking at his son’s haggard eyes, not knowing what he should say or even if he could say anything. He watched his son, waiting for Zhang Zhentian to start explaining the situation to him.

"Dad, about this matter, I know we were wrong. Now someone dares to come and wants to drive me out of the house. I want to ask if you can help us out. He doesn’t want us to leave; we can work like oxen or horses, as long as we can stay in this house and watch her live happily every day, that’s enough."

Old Master Zhang found it ironically amusing. You have harmed your son’s heart time and again with your horrendous actions. So why insist on staying here forcibly? Do you want to keep on hurting your son’s heart over and over again? He didn’t know if he should say these words to his son.

"Dad, why aren’t you speaking? I know I went too far with this, I know. If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have done something like this. If I hadn’t promised her my unconditional support, she would never have hurt her. Xia Jing shouldn’t bear this fault alone; I should take responsibility!"

"I don’t understand. You clearly knew what the consequences of your actions would be. Were you testing my patience, or were you trying to see how much your son could endure? Did you wish to find out his limits? Often, it’s not that others owe you; rather, you really are going too far. Do you have any idea how difficult these years have been for him? You see his brilliance, his radiance, but you have never witnessed his moments of pain. And so, you think no matter how you treat him, he will always happily forgive you, right?" Old Master Zhang just couldn’t understand why his son kept repeating actions that hurt his grandson. Could his grandson be so insignificant in their eyes? Sometimes he truly wished he could see right into his son’s heart, to know whether it was red or black. They kept doing things that hurt Zhang Yichen, and he chose to forgive; but how could his grandson forgive them today? Their mistakes had caused his future daughter-in-law such great harm and potentially robbed his grandson of a lifetime of happiness!

"I know I’ve neglected him for over a decade, and I’m well aware that the love and care I’ve given him has been far too little. But was it all deliberate? Don’t I miss him, long for him? He is my flesh and blood. No matter what, he holds an important place in my heart as a father. If he meant nothing to me, not the faintest bit of importance, then I wouldn’t have traveled all this way from abroad, only to be turned away by you time and again. Do you think I deliberately came back to shame myself? No, it’s not like that at all. I just hoped to come back, to take care of you, to make up for the years I let you down. But why is it so difficult?"

Hearing his son’s words, Old Master Zhang finally realized that no matter what decisions were made or sacrifices his grandson underwent, to his son, it was all taken for granted. His son’s view was always of what others owed him; he never knew how to love or respect others. In his eyes, everything revolved around his self-serving existence.

"I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about this matter. Since you made the decision to harm his girlfriend, don’t even think about coming back here. Your return would only bring greater injury to them. Look within yourselves, and recall since the day you returned home from abroad, what kind of hurt have you caused him? That hurt is endless, like an abyss with no bottom. Do you realize how deeply you’ve hurt people? Just now, you told me your son is in your heart. So I ask, if that were true, you wouldn’t have abandoned him and gone abroad alone. If he were truly in your heart, you should have chosen to come back home when you called ten years ago, but you didn’t, not until a few months ago. And what was the result of your return? To repeatedly injure him, to harm the person he loves. Is this what you think parents should do? Don’t you feel that such actions are against all moral principles? A kind-hearted girl lies motionless in the hospital because of you. Don’t you feel any pain in your hearts? She’s a human being with a soul, who feels pain. Why then do you regard her life as so trivial? In your eyes, do you esteem your own lives above all else, yet treat others’ lives as worth no more than weeds?" Old Master Zhang now wanted no more words with his son; every additional word felt like a wound to himself.

"No, in my heart, he will always be my son. Whether or not you believe me is one thing, but regarding this matter, my conscience is clear. In my heart, I’ve always cherished him as my most beloved son. Do you know how much I’ve missed him these years abroad? I admit it was wrong of me, selfish to abandon him and go abroad, but it’s been over a decade. Why can’t you let go of the past? Does holding on to this bring you joy?" Zhentian couldn’t understand why his father always dwelled on the incident. He wanted to ask his father what it would take for him to be allowed to stay.

"I hope you can acknowledge your mistakes. She must spend some time in prison, otherwise, she’ll never understand what she should and shouldn’t do..."