The bitter past (1)

Song Jia was digging in her food and she had a very calm expression on her face. Wu Zhang on the other had lot of things going on in his mind. So he decided to ask it directly. "Is their something you want to talk about?"

"Talk? What?" Song Jia was confused.

"You can tell if you don't want to share." Wu Zhang was a little hesitant, he was not sure, how will she react.

"Mmm.. What is it?"

"Why don't you address Mr. Song as your father?"

Song Jia's gaze turned cold, she swallowed the steak in her mouth and said, "That person reminds me of bitter memories of my childhood."

"You can tell."

"Do you know, why I went to USA?"

Wu Zhang just shook his head in response but didn't say anything. His expression was very calm and he was all ears.

"When I was 2 years old, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia(1). We were not very prosperous by then and the company was running in losses. Lot of money was required for my treatment, and chances were high that I might not make it if we delayed the treatment." Song International Corporations was not a very old company and had flourished in past twenty or so years. Whereas Wu Corporations was like a century old royalty. They could be called the rulers of C City.

"When my birth mother was told about my condition, she left us and ran away with some rich heir to settle in Europe. I don't know if she even loved me or not. I don't even remember her name now." She took a long breath and continued. "My grandfather managed to raise loan for my treatment and I survived somehow. From what I have heard, Mr. Song loved that woman a lot. After she ran away, he lost hopes in life and became aloof from me and the family. All he did was focus on work. Because he thought it was because of money she left him, So all his focus was to earn money. And within just few years, the company grew many folds."

"When Miss Yue Ling got married to Mr. Song, I was 4 years old that time, our company had set its foot in C City by then and had become a reputated name in the industry. Yue Ling and I never got along with each other, but she never did anything to harm me either. We just didn't exist for each other. But when she saw the cold attitude of my father towards me, she also started turning bitter towards me. Then she gave birth to a son after 3 years of their marriage."

"Son? Ain't you the only child of Song family?"

"Yes I am becuase the child passed away when he was 6. After the child was born, their attitude towards me worsened. She wanted the empire for her child so she started bad mouthing about me in front of Mr. Song."

"How did he die?" This was too big of an information for Wu Zhang. He had never thought something like that would have happened.

"Little Apple Pie and I were very close to each other. One day we were playing beside the lake in the Song Mansion. He was around four that time. And he fell into the lake after his foot slipped."

She paused for a brief time and took a long breathe. Her eyes had become watery by this time. Wu Zhang was waiting patiently for her to speak.

"The nanny that was guarding us did not know how to swim, neither did I. We started shouting and called for help. But their was no one nearby so it took some time for everyone to come. By the time he was rescued, he had lost a lot of blood by hitting his head against the rocks underneath. " Her eyes had welled up as she recalled the painful memory.