Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I only found out later.

That day, when Xue Ke called me Mom, it was purely because he was so hungry he was seeing his life flash before his eyes.

When he was little, his birth mother abandoned him in a park. The last time he saw her, she had been wearing a red dress just like mine.

That day, when he collapsed from hunger outside my door, he saw me crouch down and lean closer through his haze and thought his real mother had come to take him to heaven.

When he confessed that part to me, I couldn’t help throwing my head back and laughing.

It wasn’t until no one joined in halfway through that I suddenly realized it wasn’t funny at all.

Xue Ke was crouched in front of me, his damp, round eyes fixed on my neurotic face. There was no anger in them, no embarrassment, nothing at all-only deep concern.

He was very tall. Standing up, his six-foot-three frame could feel oppressive.

But everything he did was so harmless.

When he noticed me looking at him, he grew nervous on instinct. He rested his head on the armrest of the sofa and gazed at me with those watery eyes. He clearly hadn’t said a word, yet it felt as if he had said everything.

Realizing the malicious thing I had just done to such a pure, almost transparent soul, I felt troubled. But I didn’t know how to lower my head.

Three years in an unhealthy marriage had taught me only how to use aggression and noise to cover up my own vulnerability.

I had spent all three years tangled up with Zhou Xu, almost forgetting that before I married him, I had once been the proudest heiress in Haicheng.

That poised, confident, generous woman seemed to have been left behind in the deepest part of my memories.

The person I was now was full of resentment toward the world. I had once thought I would remain trapped in hatred forever.

But Xue Ke reached out and pawed at my hand like a puppy.

Until my palm opened, and a pendant was placed inside it.

It was the one Xue Ke had worn for years.

It was a gift from his parents when he had just been born.

Back then, he had still been dearly loved.

Only later, his father died in an accident, and after his mother remarried, she abandoned him.

The only thing he had been able to keep was this pendant. It was the one tiny beautiful memory the world had given him.

But now, he took the pendant off and placed it in my palm.

He said, “This used to be the most important thing to me. But now you’re the most important thing to me, so I’m giving it to you. I hope it makes you happy.”

After saying that, he pushed my fingers closed around it, then gently kissed my clenched fist.

By then, it was the third month Xue Ke had been living in my home.

I had taken him in with a mocking, toying mindset, wanting to see what exactly he hoped to get from me.

But he did nothing.

He merely stood up, put on an apron, and went into the kitchen to make me the nutritious meal he had just learned.

The spatula among the kitchen utensils was something I had originally bought to use as a weapon to smash Zhou Xu over the head with during our fights.

In Xue Ke’s hand, it looked a little small and unwieldy, yet his movements were quick and nimble, without the slightest clumsiness.

A smile curved the young man’s lips.

Sunlight streamed in, making those light-brown puppy eyes shine.

As if possessed, I walked over and couldn’t help asking why he was so happy.

“Because I get to cook for you.”

Such a simple reason.

Yet it could be interpreted in so many ways.

Because someone was eating the food he made. Because he had gained a stable place where he could take his time cooking. Or simply because he liked cooking for me.

Facing those eyes that could so easily see through my thoughts, I suddenly found I no longer wanted to dig any deeper.