“Jianyu!”
Chen Liling called him out, but he already went away. She looked at Chen Guiren, and he nodded.
She stared at Huo Xiao Fan, still a little unsure. But she said nothing about it.
She looked at Nana and said, “Nana, I’m sorry. I want to stay by your side, dear, but Jianyu…”
Nana shook her head. “No, Aunt, it’s fine. Go after him. I understand.”
Chen Liling patted her head. “We will meet again.”
She nodded.
As the Chen couple went away, the situation came to a standstill.
She looked at Nana. “Please, I ask you to think about what I said. Even if it takes time, please give her a chance to repent. I know she would do anything to gain your friendship back.”
Nana pursed her lips. She couldn’t promise. The hurt and pain inflicted by Serena were too deep.
Huo Xiao Fan faintly smiled. She had nothing to say anymore. She snorted at Liang Zou. “Enjoy your birthday banquet. Celebrate since you have got your daughter back.”
Liang Zou felt the mockery and disdain in her voice.
He had no idea what to do now. On the one hand, he was the reason behind Huo Xiao Fan’s daughter’s death. But on the other hand, she had also made Nana suffer a lot because of a misunderstanding.
Both were at fault. But, in the end, he still felt that his side was heavier with guilt because, after all, it was a loss of life.
How could any parent bear the pain of his child’s death? At least Nana was alive. They still had the hope that one day, they would surely meet her.
Even if he so badly wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to get angry on her for kidnapping Nana. Because frankly, in her place, he would have simply killed off the entire family. Compared to that, he felt that she went way easy on them.
He could never bring her daughter back. If he hadn’t arrogantly made that decision, then Nana would have been there with her family and she wouldn’t have suffered such fate.
Liang Zou quietly said, “Xiao Fan. I know it is useless, but I still ask for your forgiveness. But I was terrified of losing my family. What would you have done-“
Huo Xiao Fan snarled. “My children were also my family Liang Zou! Do you think you are the only one!!? And what did you ask? What would I have done?”
He kept silent.
She laughed.
“If I could have been that cruel to only think about me if I was you, then I wouldn’t have let you and Xiao Dan live peacefully in the first place! I would have interfered with you two. I would have made you both fall apart in your relationship! I would have snatched you away from her if I was that selfish! But I never uttered about my feelings to anybody! I stepped away from your lives. Wasn’t that enough!?”
Her chest was heaving up and down. Her body was trembling in rage.
Liang Xiao Dan stiffened. She shut her eyes as tears rolled down.
“It was hard, but I backed out from your lives at that time. I gave up on you. But then at the hospital, you still expected me to back out when I lost my daughter!? Should I have given up on my revenge? Do you think I’m a fucking saint!?”
Her loud voice reverberated through the room.
“The ‘what-would-you-have-done’ question doesn’t matter, Liang Zou. Are you implying that the victim should selflessly put herself in the culprit’s shoes and forgive him? The world doesn’t work that way. It only matters what actually happened. Nobody has the time and heart to think about the reverse. Otherwise, everybody would live so happy because there is no hatred and revenge. Everybody would be so understanding. But do you see the world working that way? And that is precisely why I’m also ready to bear the brunt of my mistake of hurting Nana and Chen Jianyu. If they want to take revenge on me, so be it.”
Although Jinhai had taken revenge by making her divorce Huo Shen, she was ready if Nana or Jianyu personally would want to have it too.
Liang Zou couldn’t retort.
She sneered. “And I can ask you the same question. Why don’t you put yourself in my shoes? Knowing how arrogant you are, I’m pretty sure you would have straightaway killed me had Xiao Dan been in my place.”
Liang Xiao Dan tried to intervene. “Xiao Fan, we-“
But Huo Xiao Fan raised her hand. “I don’t want to listen to anything. And one more thing. Even if I have hurt Nana all these years, Liang Zou is the last person I will ask for forgiveness! I don’t need it! As long as Nana forgives me, that is enough for me.”
“Xiao Fan…” Huo Shen quickly held her shoulders. “Calm down. Let’s go now. The things that were supposed to be said and the things that were supposed to be heard are all done. There is nothing left now. Let’s leave.”
She stared at Huo Shen with a whirlpool of heartfelt emotions in her gaze. In all the tough times, only he stood by her side.
But now they were already separated. Although it pained her, she slowly removed his hands from her shoulders.
Huo Shen froze. His smile was laced with sadness.
“Thank you…” She softly said.
She now really had nothing more to say. She glanced at Nana one last time. Then she looked at Huo Shen and Liwei.
“I am sorry for not being able to become a better wife and mother.”
Liwei looked away.
Huo Shen frantically shook his head. “No Xiao Fan-“
“It’s alright, Shen. You don’t need to cover my mistakes anymore. I know deep in your heart somewhere; you do blame me for not treating Liwei and Zhilan well.”
He hesitated.
Huo Xiao Fan said, “Thank you once again.”
With that said, she left, but just as she reached the door, she stopped.
She looked at Liang Xiao Dan. “Xiao Dan.”
Liang Xiao Dan looked back at her.
“I never had any enmity with you. Trust me. Neither when Liang Zou confessed to you nor when my…” she choked, “daughter died. It was Liang Zou’s decision that night alone, and I don’t blame you. But unfortunately, I also made some mistakes. And now…we can never go back to the way how things were before between us. Because neither can I forgive him, and I know that nor you will be able to forgive me either. So I guess this is goodbye…again.”
Both of their gazes pooled with tears. Even if Huo Xiao Fan tried to ruin Nana’s life, Liang Xiao Dan felt a sense of deep loss when she said goodbye.
It reminded her of the time when almost twenty-eight years back, she had left just like that. Only God knew how much she missed her all those years. They were twin sisters. They were so close. They had shared so many good times and memories together.
And now, once again, even after they met again, it was only for a short while. Once again, as sisters, they were getting separated.
Huo Xiao Fan wiped her tears and quickly walked away.
Huo Shen clenched his fingers. He knew he shouldn’t, but his legs automatically went after her. He couldn’t stop himself, and neither did Liwei tried to stop him this time.
He quietly walked away.
Liang Xiao Dan broke down in sobs. Nana hugged her and patted her back.
“It’s alright…Mom…”
Her eyes widened as Nana called her Mom. She said nothing and only continued to cry.
Nana understood it very well.
There was a myriad of emotions swirling in her heart. It was the happiness of getting her daughter back, the anger of how she unjustly suffered, the pain that she perhaps cannot forgive her sister, and the sadness of losing her sister yet again. Liang Xiao Dan was definitely furious with Huo Xiao Fan.
But she also didn’t know that Huo Xiao Fan was silently dealing with unrequited love, bottling the grief all this time. As a sister, she couldn’t be her support in those times. Huo Xiao Fan twice lost her love and suffered heartbreak and then she lost her daughter too.
Life was unfair to her, as well just as it was to Nana.
Liang Zou also quickly held her in his embrace. Tears trickled out from his eyes too.
“I’m so sorry Xiao Dan…it is all my fault…All these years, I didn’t even realize that it was because of me that we lost our daughter. I was the cause of our pain. I…I killed her daughter, Xiao Dan. I can never forgive myself.”
Liang Xiao Dan wiped her tears.
“We all need time now, Zou. So many things had happened. We need time to get through this. There have been mistakes made which are hard to forgive. And we can only rely on time to let it all pass.”
Liang Zou pursed his lips and slowly nodded.
He hesitantly said, “I…I was going to announce about Nana and her identity as Liang’s family heiress in the banquet tonight. But now…”
