Volume One, Chapter Fourteen: Father and Son, Kindred in Misery

Huo Mingting had just stepped out of the hotel when he saw a black Mercedes pulling out of the parking spot next to his car—identical to his own model. He cast it a casual glance, but his pupils contracted sharply. In the brief moment before the window rolled up, he caught a glimpse of the child's face, topped with the blue knit hat handcrafted by Yesheng herself.

That meant the driver had to be Yesheng’s man.

The license plate, too, bore the capital’s exclusive “A” designation.

Huo Mingting’s eyes narrowed. In the capital, aside from his family, were there any other wealthy households sharing the Huo surname? And what kind of man could make Yesheng choose to divorce him, abandon her husband and child, and throw herself in so recklessly?

Most likely a swindler.

Yesheng was naïve; perhaps she’d fallen for some elaborate scam. He hoped she hadn’t gotten mixed up with a criminal ring...

The more he thought, the more uneasy he felt. He took out his phone and called a friend in the police department, asking him to look into that obscure research institute. “Be thorough. When I’m back in the capital, drinks are on me.”

His friend snorted. “Drinks? Let me be clear—if you mean the wedding toast for you and Qin Minshu, count me out. I only recognize Yesheng as my sister-in-law.”

“...”

Both men hung up at once.

Standing in the lee of the wind, Huo Mingting lit a cigarette and took a few drags. He wondered to himself: all his childhood friends were men of strong character, and though they hadn’t met Yesheng more than a handful of times, each had taken a liking to her. When he’d gotten divorced, they’d all come to talk sense into him, as if he were the one at fault, as if he were the one who didn’t know how to cherish her! Every single one of them spoke up for Yesheng. He had no idea when she’d won their hearts.

What puzzled him most was that Yesheng was personable, got along well with everyone, yet she just couldn’t get along with his mother and sister. Perhaps, from the very start, her heart was never truly in his home—she’d been thinking of someone else all along, never focusing on him or their child, never intending to build a real life together.

Thinking this, Huo Mingting’s face grew colder still.

He wanted to see just what kind of man could so completely enchant Yesheng.

He stubbed out his cigarette and tossed it in the trash.

The moment he got in the car, he saw his son, Huo Cong, clutching a broken lollipop, tears streaming down his cheeks. The assistant looked utterly at a loss.

“I’ve tried comforting him for ages, but he just keeps crying. Won’t say a word.”

Huo Mingting took a tissue and wiped his son’s tears. “Alright now, don’t be upset. If you want candy, Daddy will buy you more.”

Huo Cong sniffled.

But no amount of candy could replace the ones she gave him.

She couldn’t even bear to buy him a piece of candy! Selfish and stingy!

Huo Mingting recalled what Huo Cong had said to Qin Minshu at the restaurant and asked, “Cong’er, do you really want me to be with Aunt Minshu?”

Huo Cong acted as if he hadn’t heard, only lifting his head to ask, “Is it because she has another child now that she doesn’t want me?”

Huo Mingting froze, only then realizing what his son was asking. A sudden ache seized his heart.

He and his son—both were the ones left behind, father and son sharing the same sorrow.

If Yesheng didn’t want him, so be it, but what kind of woman would be so heartless as to abandon her sick, biological child for another man?

He’d seen with his own eyes Yesheng’s torment and agony when Cong’er was diagnosed with leukemia. He had never doubted her love for their son. Once, he’d never doubted her love for him, either.

But her actions had delivered a stinging slap to his face, making him feel deceived, discarded—reduced to a joke.

Holding his son, still sobbing in his arms, Huo Mingting felt every bit of his child’s pain as if it were his own.

In that moment, he truly hated Yesheng.