319— Han Leifeng's Explanation

He kept quiet, knowing that no matter what he said, she would not change her mind.

"Are you sulking?" She asked when he didn't say anything.

"Would sulking change anything?" He muttered, helping her zip up her gown.

She sighed and wanted to speak, but Li Chuanmo hugged her from behind and whispered into her ears, "I'm just jealous, I admit it. But it doesn't mean anything. I'll fight tooth and nail to keep you and make sure that he cannot worm his way back into your life."

Pei Yueran allowed herself be hugged as she patted his hands. "You will accompany me to the cafe, won't you?"

"Sure I will." Li Chuanmo jumped at the chance to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"But you won't say anything. Infact, you won't even sit at our table." Pei Yueran warned.

Li Chuanmo deflated. "Fine. But on one condition."

"What?" She asked with a knowing look.

"Don't call his name, and don't use "our" in your conversation with him."

Pei Yueran went back to ignoring him.

"Ran?" That puppy voice was back again.

Pei Yueran could swear that this voice of his was her nemesis.

Sighing, she said, "I'll do my best."

Li Chuanmo happily settled for that and kissed her on her lips, making her smile.

Half an hour later, she was sitting across from Han Leifeng in the cafe. It was midmorning and the cafe didn't have many customers yet.

"Ranran, you're here. What would you like to eat? I already ordered milk tea for you." Han Leifeng said with a bright smile, reminding Pei Yueran of the past.

Unfortunately, she wasn't here to reminisce on old times.

"Mr Han, please address me properly. And I'm not hungry, I only want a cup of black coffee, no sugar." She usually loved her coffee with lots of milk and sugar, but not today.

Han Leifeng's face fell, "Your favorite beverage is milk tea, isn't it?"

"You remember that, but instead forgot the way to City A?" Pei Yueran didn't plan on being sarcastic, but the words came out before she could stop them.

Han Leifeng looked sad, his handsome face looking like Han Yichen, "Ranran, It's a long story."

"Unfortunately, I don't have all day, so make it short."

Then she added, "I no longer drink milk tea. It didn't help me sleep, and at a time when my life was so bitter, its sweetness rubbed me the wrong way."

"I'm sorry Ranran. I'm really sorry."

Pei Yueran took a deep breath and suppressed her anger and sorrow. "I really didn't come here to hear your apology. I just want to hear your side of the story."

To understand and get some closure.

Li Chuanmo was seated a few tables from them, observing their gestures. Pei Yueran was adamant that he sit a considerable distance away, so he couldn't hear what they were saying, but he had some experience with lip-reading.

He was happy to see her say she didn't want to hear his apology. As he prepared to listen more, his phone rang.

It was Gong Anwei, and he was calling to report his findings.

After a short hesitation, Li Chuanmo chose to pick the call and hear from him. He signaled to the men that Qiao Mingran sent along to watch Pei Yueran's table before he went to a quieter side of the cafe.

Tables away, Han Leifeng sighed and launched into his story.

"Do you remember the day I woke up for the first time after the accident?"

Pei Yueran frowned slightly, trying to recall, "You mean when you stayed awake for some minutes before slipping back into coma?"

Han Leifeng nodded, "I indeed slipped back into coma, but I woke up again shortly after you left to get me some things from home.

"The doctor came in with a strange man, and after examining me, told me that the man was there to talk to me. He sat down and told me he was my father.

"I had met my father before, but I was very young and I didn't remember him well. My mother said she had taken me to see him, but he rejected me at that time."

Pei Yueran interrupted him, "But you never told me that. All you said when we first met was that you lost your father many years ago and just recently lost your mother."

"I thought of him as dead. He caused my mother so much pain and told her to pretend he didn't exist. What did I need such a father for?" Han Leifeng said earnestly.

Pei Yueran declined to comment. She ironically could see the same thing playing out. When Han Yichen finally got to know about his existence, would he also reject such a father?

Han Leifeng was still talking, "He apologized for denying me back then, saying that he was under a lot of pressure from his wife and was sorry for all he did to hurt me and my mother.

"He said he had been looking for me for many years, but didn't know where I was. He only found me by chance because he overheard his wife talking about killing me off and disguising it to look like an accident."

He paused, and the waiter brought their orders at that moment. Han Leifeng told her to return the milk tea and ordered for a fresh cup of Americano.

Pei Yueran waited for the waiter to leave before resuming the conversation.

"And you believed him and agreed to lie, just like that? Even if you wanted to lie to everyone, did it have to include me? I was your wife Han Lei. Did you not trust me?" Pei Yueran asked with resignation. Was there really something about her that provoked distrust?

She felt that if she had even a glimmer of hope that he would return, she would not have wasted so many years in grief and pain. She would have waited with a smile, full of hope.

"I was scared Ranran, very scared. He said even if she failed the first time, she would continue to try again until she succeeded. He even said if she couldn't get me, she would go after my family.

"I didn't think things through. I just wanted to keep her away from the both of you. The man told me that if I wanted to keep my family safe, the best thing to do was to feign death so that she would believe that her plan had worked and would back off.

"He said he would fly me abroad, and that when I had reclaimed my inheritance as his son, I could come back and reunite with my family."

"So from that day, you knew the plan and didn't breathe a word of it? No wonder you kept slipping into coma frequently. Obviously it was just a ruse, right? Was it just to hide the truth from me? Or because you were too ashamed to face me?"

The waiter returned with her coffee, and Pei Yueran took a small sip to calm her emotions.

She must have been blind all these years.