Chapter 280 - I can't lose you as well

Xiao Lei turned around as she slowly sat upright. She pushed her messy hair back and tied them up into a ponytail as she asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling well?" 

She blinked as she tried to get a good view of him in the dark. Her eyes were so swollen that she could barely form an open slit to see out of. When her gaze finally focused, she looked up at her son, whose eyes looked not much different from hers. 

"You didn't eat," Xiao Zhihao said while averting his eyes. "You're pregnant. You should know better." 

Her eyes landed on the tray of food, and she smiled before turning back to him. "Did you bring them in?" She then chuckled. "Of course you did. There are only two of us in this house." 

Xiao Zhihao hesitated for a while before mumbling, "Then you eat. I'll go back to my room." 

"Wait..." Xiao Lei grabbed onto his wrist when he turned to leave. When her son looked back at her, she said in a soft voice, "Let's talk, Zhihao. Whatever that's bothering you... Let's talk about it. Don't just keep it in your heart..."

Xiao Zhihao looked at his mother, and after a while, he asked, "Are you going to tell me the truth?" 

She nodded. "Whatever you want to know..." 

"Do you like Han Ye?" he asked immediately. The moment he uttered those words, he could feel his mother's grip on his wrist loosened, and he watched as she pulled her hand back. 

Xiao Lei placed both her hands in front of her, and after a while, she nodded. "I like him."

"More than friends?" Xiao Zhihao asked in a cold voice, and he watched as his mother's splayed out fingers curled into fists. 

"Yeah..." she mumbled. However, she quickly added as she looked up at her son with a worried expression, "I've never betrayed your father! Nothing has ever happened between me and Han Ye... It's just... It's just that a lot of things have happened... And I really need someone to talk to, and he's the one that I can talk to at the moment. Please don't be mad at Han Ye. If you want to be mad at anyone, then be mad at me. Han Ye really hasn't done anything."

Upon hearing his mother's words, Xiao Zhihao clenched his hands into fists as well. "I don't like him. I don't like the fact that you are working under him."

Xiao Lei sighed as she looked at the pained expression on her son's face. She then turned and took the framed photo of her, her husband, and her son before placing them on the bedside table. While looking at her son, she patted the empty space next to her and said, "Come lay down next to me, Zhihao. Like before... Can you?" 

Xiao Zhihao thought for a moment. After hesitating for a while, he slowly walked to the other side of the bed and climbed in. Xiao Lei lay down on her side as she looked at her son. 

"Zhihao, why are you angry at Han Ye? This is unlike you... I know that Yun Qi's and your father's deaths had hurt you a lot, but that's not a reason for acting that way toward Han Ye earlier."

Xiao Zhihao was also lying on his side, with a hand under his pillow just like Xiao Lei. In a small voice, he mumbled, "No reason. I just don't like him..."

"Zhihao..." Xiao Lei patted her son's cheek. Lately, his cheeks had sunken in a little, and he was slowly losing his boyish looks. Xiao Lei hoped with all her heart that these changes were caused by him entering puberty instead of sorrow and sadness. "Please don't push me away... Talk to me... You're all I have now..." 

Xiao Zhihao did not say anything. He merely stared at his mother with eyes that seemed to be way older than his age. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly asked, "Why did you act that way around Mr. Murong earlier? What did he mean when he said, 'have you ever thought about how I felt when you left me just like that'? Were you guys together before?"

Xiao Lei shook her head vigorously. "Never! And don't you go near him again! It's not safe!" 

"Why?" Xiao Zhihao asked. "Mr. Murong told me that he had someone he loved; no, he's still in love with her. Are you the one he was talking about?"

Xiao Lei gulped, and she thought about lying to him, but in the end, she still nodded tersely. "He... had feelings for me before... and I used him." 

Xiao Zhihao was surprised by his mother's reply. "What?" 

Xiao Lei closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she asked, "Do you want to know the truth? Even if it would change your mind about me?" 

Xiao Zhihao frowned slightly as he thought about what his mother was trying to say. After debating internally for a while, he nodded. "I want to know the truth." 

Xiao Lei sighed and nodded. "Alright then... I'll tell you the truth..." 

And for the next hour, she explained everything that had happened between her and Murong Yu, and why she did not want him to get near to Murong Yu. 

"Murong Yu is not a forgiving kind of person... Not only did I hurt him badly back then, but I even stole from him. He had gone and gotten rid of most of your father's old gang, and I don't want him to get near us. Mostly, you..." 

She caressed her son's cheek as she said softly, "I can't lose you as well, Zhihao..."

Xiao Zhihao gulped. He knew that there was something suspicious about his parents' past, but he could have never guessed it was to that extent. "I want to know more..." he suddenly said, changing the direction of the topic. "About you and Dad... Why didn't you have any proper identification? Are you guys really orphans?"

Xiao Lei smiled. "Your dad wanted to tell you this when you are older... But if you're ready--"

"I am!" Xiao Zhihao snapped. "I'm ready for everything! Please don't hide any more things from me!"

When Xiao Lei looked at him with a hesitant expression, he added softly, "I don't want to be left in the dark again..."

Xiao Lei's eyes opened wider slightly when she heard her son's words. She remembered her husband telling her the same thing before.

"I don't want to be left in the dark again..."