52 Welcome home III

"Yang Yang!"

A woman in red threw herself over Yang, which caused him to stumble a few steps before he managed to steady himself.

"Yang Yang, my baby! Let me take a look at you." Ember grabbed her son's head with her hands and pulled it in all kinds of direction to not miss a single corner of his face.

He felt like his head was going to fall off because of the abuse, but didn't care enough to complain.

"Good, you haven't thinned." She let go of him and her worries, before she saw the dejected look on his face.

"What's wrong, baby?" Her tone was filled of concern.

"Nothing, mum." He mumbled and attempted a smile, but failed badly.

"Yang Yang, I can clearly see that there's something pulling down your mood." She softly said as she guided them inside.

With a hand sign, she dismissed all the servants. They then sat down around a table filled with delicious food, but contrary to what was normal, Yang didn't even spare them a glance.

"Look, you don't even drool now when my handmade dishes are in front of you. That's a grave sign of something wrong."

"Mm." Her son responded absentmindedly as he stared down at the tablecloth.

"Baby, you know that you can tell your mother anything. I will always be here for you." Ember reminded him earnestly.

"I know."

Seeing how unresponsive and down Yang was, caused her eyes to be soggy.

"Is it the trial that is on your mind? Or is it something else? Please talk to me, baby."

He shook his head slowly.

"Yang Yang, I hate to see you like this. Please talk to me." Her voice broke towards the end, as she was getting more and more emotional.

The sound of hurt in his mother's voice, caused Yang to finally look up. When he saw her teary eyes, his dam broke.

"Mum." He enveloped her with his arms as tears started to glide down his cheeks.

"Mum, it hurts." He cried in pain as Ember caressed him gently.

"Where does it hurt, baby?" She whispered to him sweetly before kissing him on his forehead.

"My heart hurts. It hurts so much. It feels... it feels like as if thousand nails have been drilled through it. It feels so heavy... so heavy that I find it hard to breathe."

"I want it to stop... but I don't know how. Please make it stop." His entire body shook, so he hugged her even more tightly.

"Please." He whimpered.