144 Prime Responsibility

Jia Li tried pulling her fingers out of Wei's grasp yet again, only to be told quietly that her wound would get a strain with her actions.

Through the journey, Wei kept up a smooth flow of talk, which didn't really require a response from her side. In no time, she had fallen asleep. Stopping at one of the traffic signals, he reached over and reclined her seat, making her sigh softly in her sleep. Placing her hand back on her lap, he twisted to get the throw from the back seat and tucked it around her. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he paused to soak in her features and feel her breath on his face. After a sweet minute, he drove on. A smile hovered on his lips. It had crept up without him even being aware of it.

Xie Mansion

"What happened to you? Who did this? Why didn't you tell us?" Mrs. Xie fretted over Tang's bruises which were ranging from black to yellow, with a little purple and red patches on his face.

He explained the chain of events which had occurred in the past seventy two hours, including the fact that his memory had returned. Mei Zhen breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he didn't mention her involvement in the same. Maybe he was willing to let the issue go. She had been dreading it throughout the journey from Moganshan to Shanghai.

If his attitude hasn't been bad enough, Ethan and Chu had been there to make it worse. Not once had either of them tried to intervene or come to her defence. It was as if they all suspected her.

A grim looking Mr. Xie said, "I always knew that this girl would bring you trouble. But never did I imagine that the impact would be this lethal. Henceforth, I don't want anyone to even think of her name, let alone utter it loud in this house."

Tang looked at him with cold eyes and said, "I am afraid that's not possible."

Mr. Xie raised his voice and said, "Xie Tang! Be thankful that we haven't questioned your original intentions of going after that woman, that too behind our backs. You may seem to have forgotten that you are married and are responsible for someone else's happiness as well. But I haven't forgotten the promise that I made to the Liang family when I brought their daughter to our house. Her well-being is your prime duty and you better remember that. I may have been swayed temporarily to behave foolishly when you were in the hospital but now that all is well, let's go back to the way our family was, prior to this unwelcome intrusion."

He wasn't finished speaking yet but his son beat him to it.

"You mean go back to being the artificial family that we have been for the past many years, right. I want to let everyone know here that I am done with this farce of a marriage and will be applying for a divorce soon. Everyone is entitled to their opinion as am I. This is my life. I find myself not compatible with Mei Zhen as a life partner and hence there is no point in continuing with this relationship where we both can't keep each other happy," he stated, matter of fact.

Mr. Xie looked at him in consternation while Mrs. Xie wore a horrified expression on her face. She couldn't understand how had matters deteriorated to this extent within a span of few days. Chu and Ethan stood as silent observers. Mei Zhen was the one who was impacted the worst. She hadn't expected Tang to boldly declare something like this in front of everyone.

"But my happiness comes from you," she blurted out.

He studied her clinically for a minute before saying, "then how happy were you when you stood outside Jia Li's house, knowing that Fu had gone in with ill intentions towards her and me?"

Mei Zhen gasped at the insinuation.

"What d…do you mean by that? How can you even say that?" her face was flushed with the right mix of indignation and hurt.

Mr. Xie intervened and said angrily, "do you even know what you are suggesting? Her love for you is clear to everyone here except you. But you have never given yours to her. I am warning you, Tang. Better think twice before uttering the next set of words."

Tang looked at his father with acute disappointment in his eyes, "it was my fault. It was completely my fault. I chose the absolute wrong person to look up to, to admire. It is because of my reluctance to go against your wishes that I ended up losing the precious most person in my life. I caused her so much heartache, I lived an unfulfilled, near empty life…all for whom? You and your convoluted notions of pride and prestige. Did it ever bother you?"