Little Wife's Diary: My Husband is My Boss!
Chapter 242: Past, Present, Future ( 1 )

Chapter 242: Past, Present, Future ( 1 )

Noticing the concern in Yan Yuling’s voice, Jin Zhiwen smiled and replied, "I’m much better now."

Yan Yuling looked at her father for a moment before saying, "These past days, I have thought a lot about our family. To be honest, I can’t completely forgive you for what you did to my mother back then. But I know my mother wouldn’t want me to resent you."

"Before she passed away, she showed me a photo of you and her. In that photo, I could see that both of you loved each other and were very happy. I only want to know what happened back then that made you leave my mother."

When Jin Zhiwen heard this, he sighed and looked out the window.

After a long silence, he said, "Back then, I was just a boy from a poor single-parent family, while she was the daughter of a wealthy family. The first time I met her, I was 15 years old. She came to the mainland from Shanghai as an exchange student."

"I knew that our family backgrounds were worlds apart but I was still attracted to her like a moth to a flame. I fell for her from the first time I saw her, but I knew it was impossible for us. So, I tried to distance myself from her. Yet, she kept approaching me, making me yearn for more."

"We went to the same high school and university. After seven years, it was still her who confessed to me when I didn’t even have the courage to take a step toward her. For the first time in my life, I was greedy and wanted to ignore everything just to be with her," he said with a bittersweet smile.

Taking a deep breath, Jin Zhiwen continued, "I thought that as long as I worked hard, we would be able to be together forever. But reality hit me hard. During our short two years together, I was so happy. It was the happiest time of my life."

"When her father came to find me, I realized how naive I had been. Compared to her family, I was nothing. With just a word from her father, I lost my job and my scholarship. Even my mother couldn’t get treatment for her illness."

"At that time, I was young and refused to give up. I tried my best to earn money and study. When I was at my limit, I learned that your mother had a fiancé, and they would get married once she returned to Shanghai."

"This news threw me into a living hell and shattered my confidence. When I went to find her to clarify the matter, I saw her hugging a man. I felt so angry and jealous."

"I thought she had betrayed me. I even thought that her father’s words were true and that she was only playing with me since I’m different from the men in her circle."

"I had nothing to fight against that man and her family, and I needed money for my mother’s treatment. I have so many burdens on my shoulders. If she followed me, she would suffer. How could I bear to let her suffer with me?"

Yan Yuling clenched her fists and asked, "So, you decided to break up?"

Jin Zhiwen nodded and said, "I thought it was for her own good and forced myself to leave. Even after we broke up, she still refused to let go, so I asked a friend to help. I knew she would come looking for me, so I let her see me with another woman, hoping she would hate me and move on. But I was wrong."

"When she stopped contacting me, I thought she had moved on. Although it hurt, I was willing to bear the pain if it meant she was happy. Only a few weeks later did I find out she had disappeared. She didn’t attend her classes or return to her dorm."

"I went to her father, only to learn she had neither accepted her family’s arrangements nor returned home. From that point, I realized how selfish and wrong I was. I searched for her everywhere. I even waited at places we used to go, but she never showed up."

"I created a program to find her, but even that couldn’t locate her. For twenty years... I only wished for a glimpse of her, but it’s impossible now."

Yan Yuling looked at him and asked, "Why didn’t you ask for my mother’s opinion? Why did you make the decision alone?"

Jin Zhiwen closed his eyes and said nothing, but a teardrop rolled down his cheek.

Yan Yuling opened her bag and took out an old diary. She had asked Wei Zheming to send it over, and it had finally arrived yesterday. She handed the diary to her father and said, "This is my mother’s diary. You should read it."

After she finished saying those words, she stood up and left the ward.

Jin Zhiwen held the diary in his trembling hands, staring at it for a long time before finding the courage to open it.

When he finally did, his eyes reddened, and tears began to fall. He gently touched the traces of tears on the pages and broke down, sobbing. The dried flower on the first page of her diary was actually a wildflower he picked for her on the way to school.

"Xing’er, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry," he sobbed as he hugged the diary.

For a long time, the only sound in the ward was the man’s quiet sobbing. Yan Yuling stood outside the door, waiting patiently. She didn’t know exactly what her father felt, but she could sense his heartbreak from his cry.

She looked out the window and softly asked, "Mom, do you still resent my father?"

Just as she finished her words, a beautiful butterfly flew toward her. At that moment, she recalled what her mother had told her a few days before passing away.