Volume 1, Chapter 145: I Am Your Son, and You Are the Only One I Acknowledge

Their eyes met in unbroken silence.

Ye Sheng had almost forgotten that rainy night. It was the eve of graduation. She had drunk too much wine, unaware of what had been slipped into it. A searing heat surged through her limbs, leaving her in a dizzy haze where a few blurred figures flickered before her eyes, and amidst the spinning world, she was tossed onto a waterbed...

She truly could remember nothing of the process.

Only that night, her body had felt as though it were coursing with electricity, as if a soul suppressed for years had finally found some form of release.

When she woke up, the first thing she saw was Huo Mingting's face.

She knew who Huo Mingting was—a legendary figure at Western University.

Sometime later, she discovered she was pregnant, and the two of them naturally got married.

In truth, Ye Sheng’s mental state back then had been far from well. The pressure of her studies and the uncertainty of her future left her breathless. Marriage and motherhood—were they not simply a form of escape?

Yet who could have imagined that she had married the wrong man... If Huo Mingting was dumbfounded, she was even more so.

"Daddy," Huo Cong suddenly spoke up, looking anxiously at Huo Mingting.

As if jolted violently awake, Huo Mingting strode forward, swept Huo Cong up in his arms, and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him with a loud bang.

Ye Sheng and Huo Lindong simultaneously looked toward the door.

Ye Zhun and Wan San Dao both sprang to their feet in alarm. "He won't hurt Huo Cong, will he...?"

"No."

Ye Sheng and Huo Lindong answered in unison, then exchanged a glance.

Both of them knew that Huo Mingting would never harm Huo Cong; he was his son.

***

Huo Mingting brought Huo Cong back to the Huo Mansion.

After handing Huo Cong over to the servants, he locked himself in his room, ignoring every knock at the door.

With reddened eyes, Huo Mingting poured drink after drink down his throat, drinking frantically.

His entire body was trembling. He was consumed by fury, yet he had no idea where to direct the overwhelming rage.

At Ye Sheng?

Her reaction had made it abundantly clear—she had been just as clueless about what truly happened.

At Huo Lindong?

If Great-uncle Nine ever learned that Huo Cong was his child, he would likely have snatched Cong'er away from him long ago.

His wife, his son... Ye Sheng, Huo Cong.

The two people he loved most in the world belonged to him, yet neither was truly his.

Huo Mingting felt as though two chunks of flesh had been hollowed out from his heart. The pain made his entire body spasm, and stinging tears slipped uncontrollably down his face. The pain was too excruciating, chilling him to the core as if he had been plunged into an icy abyss.

He even wanted to bind his own hands, terrified he might lose control. The last shred of reason reined in his surging violence.

He was afraid of hurting himself, and afraid of hurting others.

The key turned in the lock, and a small figure walked in, clicking on the lights.

Hearing the commotion, Huo Mingting buried his head deeper into his knees, refusing to lift it or turn to look. He already knew who had entered.

"Get out!" he growled in a low voice.

The footsteps at the door paused slightly, but after a moment, the door closed, and the small figure walked quietly toward him.

"I told you to..." Huo Mingting roared irritably, but before he could finish, his hand was grasped.

Huo Cong hugged him tightly and called out, "Daddy."

Huo Mingting’s eyes instantly turned red.

Huo Cong wedged himself between his father's knees, tucking his small body into his embrace—an action he had learned from Huo Xiaobei.

Clasping his arms firmly around his father's waist, Huo Cong rested his head against Huo Mingting’s shoulder and said in a muffled voice, "I am your son. I only recognize you. You can't leave me behind."

Those few words acted like a lifebuoy thrown to Huo Mingting, hauling him back from the freezing deep sea.

Huo Mingting held Huo Cong tightly.

This was his son, and he would give him to no one!

***

Ye Sheng sat on the balcony for a long time.

Huo Lindong sat not far away, watching over her in silence—not too close, yet not too far.

"Brother Lin," Ye Sheng suddenly turned her head, calling out softly, "can I talk to you?"

She opened two cans of beer.

Ye Sheng and Huo Lindong lifted their cans together and clinked them. Ye Sheng tilted her head back and downed half the can in one go.

"You can smoke if you want to," Huo Lindong said.

Ye Sheng turned to look at him. In his deep eyes, she saw gentleness and indulgence. He was always like this; as long as she was within his line of sight, she could do as she pleased.

"I don't feel like smoking anymore," Ye Sheng said.

Without her even realizing it, she had already quit.

Huo Lindong gazed deeply at Ye Sheng. A thousand words lingered on his lips, condensing into a single sentence: "Ye Sheng, I still want to keep pursuing you."

"Pursuing what..." Ye Sheng trailed off, freezing abruptly as she raised her head to look at him.

They had already become parents, but suddenly sharing a child had upended their identities and disrupted the rhythm between them.

Yet Huo Lindong was telling her that no matter what had happened along the way, his feelings had not changed. He still wanted to pursue her.

After a long silence, Ye Sheng said softly, "Then go ahead and pursue me. I'm right here."