The wedding celebration had ended, and the couple finally arrived home. Keira was so exhausted that she immediately laid herself down on their bed, still in her evening gown.
Zach followed her onto the bed. He laid on his side to face her while he circled his arms around her waist before he moved closer to bury his face on her neck.
This had been a long day for both of them, especially Zach. Keira moved to her side to face him and sluggishly suggested, "Let"s just sleep like this… I"m so exhausted."
Then she saw Zach smile while looking at her intently. She asked, "Why are you smiling like that? Aren"t you tired?"
"A few days ago, Mom suddenly asked me a question, out of the blue. She asked If I ever had to choose whom to save first, between you and my siblings, whom would I choose? And now I understand why she asked me that question…" Zach explained.
He continued, "She wanted to know for sure why Jeru"s father had saved her first..."
Keira responded, "Isn"t it better if she asked him directly, then?"
Then she widened her eyes at Zach and asked him with curiosity, "So, what was your answer?"
Zach gave her a roguish smile as he answered in jest, "Of course I chose you. You"re carrying my child, number counts..."
Keira snorted and hit Zach"s shoulders. "What? You really said that to your mom?"
Zach slid his arm under Keira"s neck and pulled her closer to his warmth as he whispered, "Really, I told her I will save you first. Lyra, Rizie, and Josh would understand."
Keira pursed her lips as she countered, "How do you know they would understand? Who doesn"t want to live? They surely want to live too… Besides, if you save them first and end up losing me, you can always remarry and have children with your new wife as time goes by, but you cannot replace your family."
Zach sighed and said, burying his face in her hair, "What are you talking about? You"re my family... And yes, they"re my family too, and I would always feel sorry for my siblings if something like that would ever happen, but I will always choose you first. There"s no other way. I know that"s what my mind and my heart would tell me to do. Even if it comes to a point where I have to choose between myself and you, I will always choose you..."
"Shhh… Let"s just rest, okay? Stop talking about this… I don"t like it, and I will make sure nothing like this would ever happen in the future... "
Old Madam Liu woke up and saw her son sleeping in a chair beside her bed… Her son, Thom… Though not her own descent, she had him with her since he was a baby, like her own blood.
Her marriage had been a tough one. She was in a one-sided love… She loved her husband so much and did all she could to have him and get him to love her back. But it still resulted in her leading a miserable life, in which she had to endure so much pain and sadness, that she ended up harboring a lot of grudge deep inside her heart.
Her husband, Leonard Liu, had been torturing her emotionally and mentally. Forget about all the affairs he had had, all of which was under her nose, since he hadn"t bothered to hide them from her at all. But that had not been the worst. The worst was her husband"s involvement in the underworld, which had almost ruined their family"s name and reputation.
Because of her failed marriage, she had learned that love was nothing but foolish hope. It was useless!
After her husband died in a plane crash, she had suffered a lot. She had to raise her own toddler son and her husband"s baby from another woman, while also having to deal with all the backlash their family had been receiving because her husband had left her nothing but a crumbling company and a lot of debts.
A lot of people who had called themselves friends and even her own family members had abandoned her and let her deal with all the issues by herself. Because they hadn"t wanted to connect themselves with the one and only Leonard Liu, who was involved with the underworld.
It was stressful. Very stressful. But she couldn"t even die had she even wanted to...
Because of this, she had vowed to become more powerful. To rise above and beyond all the people that had hurt her before. She would not let anyone bring her down and her family ever again. She became so obsessed with name and power that she didn"t care about anything else.
She looked at Thom and sighed. Thom was really a good son who was very filial toward her… She had actually never planned to tell Thom the truth about his birth and real ident.i.ty for his own good. But his biological mother ruined it...
His biological mother came to Thom when he was still in his youth, and revealed to him that she was his real mother. Because she wanted money from him...
Then she saw Thom move and open his eyes. He quickly sat up straight upon seeing that she was already awake. "How are you feeling, mother? Wait… I"ll call the doctor…" He said and was about to stand up.
But Old Madam Liu stopped him from standing and said, "I"m alright, Thom… I want my grandson. Please, son, help me… Help me… I want to have Zach with us, Thom… I want my grandson..."
That moment, Thom"s heart lurched… It was the first time his mother had ever asked him... No, it was the first time his mother had ever been reduced to tears while begging him…
Thom hugged his mother. She was the only mother to him. There was no other mother...
"Alright, mother. Please gain your strength first, and I will help you get close to Zach. But please promise me one thing..." He whispered, seeing his mother genuinely wanted affection from Charlie"s own blood.
Old Madam Liu released herself from her son"s embrace and quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes... I will do anything, as long as Zach stays with us."
Senior Liu sighed and said, "You have to promise me that you will not do anything to get back at Sheila and her family. You should not do anything against her… That way, you will earn Zach"s trust and respect. Show respect and kindness to his mother and the family that he grew up with. For he surely loves them, and if you hurt the people that he loves, you will only hurt him too…"
Old Madam Liu let out a deep long sigh and answered Thom with a nod of agreement.