COLD CEO AND ARROGANT WIFE, VOLUME 4 - Season 8 Episode 60

Zhai Yanjun was actually very amused by his father’s statement of being a ‘free man’. From the moment he learned that his parents divorced, he noticed how his father’s mood had taken a shift. From a cloudy day to sunshine. That’s the evaluation he had.
He never even knew how much this marriage affected his own father. He always thought his father was a gloomy and serious old man. At least, that’s what his impression was. But only now, did he figure out that his father was originally not like that.

“Are you listening?” Zhai Kuijun’s voice was heard and it snapped Zhai Yanjun out of his daze.

“Yes, I’m listening,” he answered.

“Then when are you coming?” asked Zhai Kuijun.

Zhai Yanjun checked the time and said, “I’ll be back soon.” He hung up the phone and sighed to himself.

Meanwhile, when Zhai Kuijun went back inside the living room where his parents sat with their in-laws. Oh, it was ex-in-laws now. He softened his steps and tentatively took a seat before telling them, “Jun will be back soon.”

He heard a grunting sound from Old Master Yue and lowered his head.

“Son-in-law, how about we talk?”

Zhai Kuijun looked at Old Madam Yue and could only nod his head in response. What else could he do now? Even if they weren’t his parents-in-law anymore, they were still his son’s grandparents. And even keeping that aside, just the fact that they were Yue Yue’s parents was enough for him to maintain the respect he had for them.

“Sure,” he stood up and directed Old Madam Yue to another sitting area. “Please, take a seat.”

As soon as Old Madam Yue sat down she started, “About your divorce with Ah-Lan… You should have discussed it with us. Don’t you think you took a very hasty decision?”

“Did I?” Zhai Kuijun’s lips curled up as he asked. “I think I already wasted too many years. I should have taken that decision a long time ago.”

Old Madam Yue didn’t expect him to say this. She was taken aback for a moment. “Kuijun, this isn’t an age for you to act impulsively. Have you thought about the consequences of this? Do you even realize how it’ll affect your son? Yes, Yanjun has grown up but his parents’ divorce will still have some impact on him.”

“You don’t have to worry about Jun,” stated Zhai Kuijun calmly.

“How can I not worry about him? He is my grandson. And he is already at the age of marriage. You already spent years with Ah-Lan and yet got a divorce at this age. Do you think it won’t have any effect on Yanjun’s marriage?”

Zhai Kuijun looked at her and suddenly chuckled. “As I said, you don’t have to worry about Jun. My matters won’t affect his life.” Before she could say anything else, he added, “But I can tell you, this marriage has already affected my son very much. I don’t know what effect the divorce will have on him but it can’t be worse than what my marriage did to him. Or to be precise, what his mother did to him.”

“Kuijun, Ah-Lan is Yanjun’s mother,” said Old Madam Yue. “She won’t hurt her own son.”

Zhai Kuijun snorted, “Don’t you ever say that to me again. If Jun had told me what she did to him, I’d have divorced her years ago! And you’re still here defending her?” He was trying to hold back his anger. He didn’t want to disrespect her right now. But he seriously couldn’t take it anymore. “Aren’t you tired of defending her?” His expression was dark as he said, “Even after all these years, she isn’t willing to accept you as a mother. To her, you’ll always be a stepmother. And she’ll never stop blaming you for her mother’s death even when the whole world knows you had nothing to do with it. You threw away your own daughter for her. Why didn’t you think about defending your own daughter even once? It’s been years, do you even care if she is dead or alive? Maybe I shouldn’t even ask this question. Because you only see Ah-Lan but keep forgetting that you gave birth to Ah-Yue.”

Old Madam Yue’s eyes turned red when she heard that. Her eyes were stinging from tears that brimmed up and the way her heart clenched was painful and awful. Yet, she was helpless. She was really helpless because she couldn’t say anything to refute his claims. Every single word he said was the truth. The truth of her life where she abandoned her own daughter for the sake of her step-daughter.

She was the worst mother but it was too late already. There was no going back now.

“We are talking about Ah-Lan right now,” she spoke up after calming down her emotions. “We are not talking about Ah-Yue. Don’t bring her up. It’s because you don’t forget her that Ah-Lan loses her temper with you. If only you had stopped looking for Ah-Yue back then, your relationship would have been fine.”

“No,” denied Zhai Kuijun. “Our relationship was never okay. It was my own delusion that everything was fine. It was I who was blind to not see, the real Yue Lan. She kept deceiving me and I fell for it. But we can’t pretend for life. By the time I saw her real self, she was already my wife. Didn’t I still try to make this marriage work? What happened? Her paranoia and jealousy towards Ah-Yue never went away.” He clenched his fists as he said, “I have been saying for years that Ah-Yue and I were just friends. But you and your Ah-Lan keep trying to tell me that no, what I feel for Ah-Yue is love. But do you realize that once a lie is spoken repeatedly, it becomes the truth? Maybe now, it has really become true and I do love Ah-Yue. What can you all do about that? It’s already too late anyway.”

“You!” Old Madam Yue was shocked by what he just said.

She knew how Yue Lan had been repeatedly hounding Zhai Kuijun for years and every time, her argument was that Zhai Kuijun loved Yue Yue and not her. And for all those years, Zhai Kuijun repeatedly tried to prove himself and his loyalty but Yue Lan was truly blind. She never cared about the truth. All she cared about was her own self. And if she said black was white, then no matter what you say, she won’t believe it.

“You removed everything related to Yue Yue from your life just to prove to your stepdaughter that you have really cut ties with Yue Yue. You even stopped saying her name as if it was a crime. You act like she never even existed. I stayed quiet and minded my own business because I thought maybe in this way, my marriage will work out. But what happened? Your stepdaughter is standing right where she stood years ago.”

“Even if you’re silent, you never stopped searching for Yue Yue,” said Old Madam Yue. “Do you think I don’t know that? Any wife will feel insecure with a husband who keeps secrets like these. You know very well how much Yue Lan dislikes Yue Yue and yet, you have to do something that hurts her? Do you think you had been sincere in this marriage?”

“No one can question my sincerity!” Zhai Kuijun’s voice turned somber. He was a qualified businessman. How could his intimidation be lower than a woman who was just a housewife and only knew how to associate with the wives of the government officials? “I had always been loyal and sincere. Just because you all want to forget Yue Yue’s existence doesn’t mean I’ll follow your lead. Why should I? I met her first. She was my friend. A very important friend. She was the reason I even met Yue Lan. She was also the reason why I went out with Yue Lan. Her place had always been special in my life. Even before our marriage, I made it clear to Yue Lan. I am not someone who would abandon his friends just because I found a lover. And that’s why I warned her not to force me to make a choice. I’m not that emotional that I’d choose love over friendship. But Yue Lan had to test me over and over again.”

Old Madam Yue could see how stimulated he was right now and felt a little uneasy. She of course knew why Zhai Kuijun put so much importance on Yue Yue. And she should feel happy about that too since he was always standing up for her daughter. But she was that unfortunate mother who just couldn’t be happy in such a situation. She was bound to disappoint her own daughter from the very beginning. And that’s why she had once wished for Yue Yue to not have been born ever.