My Alleged Husband

Chapter 516 - 495 Alms (2)_1

"You don’t need to say these things to me anymore. Even if you exhaust all your tricks to deceive me back home, I’ll never leave my heart there. When I left home, my heart had already died. I can’t live under someone else’s control, a life where I have to blindly obey. That life has never suited me. All I want is my own freedom, to reclaim the rights I should have and control my own destiny. For years I’ve roamed the world, used to a carefree life. If you ask me now to return and submit to other’s rule, I can’t do it. Why should I hand over the freedom I’ve fought so hard for, offering it up to someone else again? Why should I debase myself time after time? Is my life really worth so little in other people’s eyes? I don’t ask for much, just to live a happy life. Is that such a difficult request for all of you? Why won’t you let me do what I want, instead imposing your will repeatedly? You might not think the freedom I want is freedom, but it is what I want the most. You’ve already taken away my right to freedom over and over, so are you going to strip it away again? Are your hearts really that hard? Do you really hate me so much, unwilling to allow me the happiness and freedom, to be happy?"

"Dad, how can you say that? We’re your family, and of course we want you to live happily. Does being with us really make you that unhappy, to the point where every time you’re with us, you want to leave? Don’t you see your family at all in your eyes? Grandpa misses you so much. Since you left home last time, it’s been a huge blow to him. Since then, he’s poured all his love for you into me. He only hopes that one day you’ll understand how genuine and deep his love is for you, that you’ll feel this love and come back home to stay by his side. But why is that so difficult for you? Why won’t you grant him this small wish, breaking it cruelly over and over? In fact, Grandpa has come to terms with the freedom you want. He has decided to give you everything you want. Whatever you wish for, he will do his best to fulfill it. But what about you? You hurt him like this; do you still deserve to be his son? How can you have the right to make demands of Grandpa when you act like this? Don’t you feel pain in your heart doing such things? He’s your dad, your own father. No matter how badly he treated you, at least he worked hard to raise you. If not for him, how could you possibly live so well now? Maybe everyone sees things from a different perspective, so the conclusions are different. You hate Grandpa because of what he did to you back then, which is why you ended up here today. But did Grandpa really do wrong? He just wanted you to have a better life and imposed his own thoughts on you. You resent him so much that you’re willing to harm him like this!"

Zhang Yichen just couldn’t understand why his father had to treat everything this way. His grandpa was such a kind and amiable person, but why did he seem so pathetic in his father’s eyes? In his dad’s eyes, was everything his grandpa did wrong? His grandpa had done so much for him, but this was the last thing he wanted. It was truly incomprehensible, leaving everyone unable to accept this outcome. What sort of result could make them understand that everything should return to its original beginning?

"Child, I must apologize to you. Dad has never hated Grandpa; sometimes I just disliked him a bit. I dislike him for no other reason than I just can’t understand why he treats us this way. What’s wrong with us? We wanted to come home time after time, but he cruelly turned us away. I will never forget that pain. If one day you understand what this pain is like, you’ll see just how much Grandpa has overstepped. You might think it’s nothing because he transferred all his love for me onto you, as you said yourself. So, he tries his best to be good to you, but how could he treat me this way? I’m his biological son. In his eyes, he only wished to manipulate my life, control my destiny. He wanted to keep me at his side, expecting me to follow his orders blindly. But that’s unrealistic. I am a living person, and I have my own resentments, even more so a spirit of rebellion. The more he tries to force me to stay by his side, the more I resent him, and the less I want to continue living with him. Do you understand? This kind of love can’t just be forgotten, and such feelings can’t simply be cut off. No matter what, I will never give up on your mother, even if she’s unwilling to come back to me. I will always protect her silently from behind because her love for me is something no one else could ever understand in this lifetime. She’s given up so much for me, yet I’ve hurt her. I have to find a way to make amends, to have her come back to me!"

There are so many things you don’t understand right now, so please don’t get involved anymore. It only makes it difficult for Dad. You know I haven’t been by your side over the years and I feel guilty for that; so using this guilt to bring me back to you is absolutely out of the question. What I want, I have always striven for and never given up easily. I don’t want to go back home now, and even if you force me back, it would be futile. It would only lead to endless arguments with Grandpa, making him even sadder. I know he’s very sad now, but this sadness is temporary. Do you want him to remain sad for the rest of his life?"

Zhang Yichen didn’t know what to say. Perhaps in his father’s eyes, Grandpa’s love was really just a handout. But he clearly understood that this love was not a handout, it was the purest love.