"I've barely seen that man since I was a kid. Maybe, he came to visit us sometimes but I was still too young to remember anything," ? Aaron spoke with a brand of self-pity and sadness that wasn't hard to notice. "By the time I was old enough to have memories, that man had already become the loyal son-in-law of a certain group…"
After a pause, he continued, "The man once told my mother to wait five years for him.
He promised he would officially marry my mother as his legal wife after five years."
Ximena understood that he was telling his own story and even though she already knew how the story would end, she could not help but ask, "Did he keep his promise after five years?"
Aaron looked down at Ximena, whose eyes had swollen up like walnuts under the rain, and said, "No..."
Ximena shook her head in utter disbelief and disappointment.
"Five years later, the Leng's Corporations was officially established on QY Island," Aaron sneered. "I was seven years old that year; Gale, six; James and Ted, four!"
Ximena looked at Aaron, her brows furrowed with sympathy. She opened her mouth to say something comforting, but she couldn't as she was feeling awful now. Besides, what could she tell him that would wash away all the years of sadness?
"The story doesn't end there. The man later told mom that she needed to wait another five years for him. By then Leng's Corporations would be completely independent, free from Helen's control and he promised he would officially marry mom and make her his legal wife..." His tone became colder and harsher. "Just like that, five years passed by, Leng's Corporations became the mighty powerhouse it is now, but he still didn't fulfill his promise. He just kept her by making another promise he had no intention of keeping... He said he would include her in the Leng's family tree once she turned sixty years old!"
"He was talking nonsense!" Ximena broke out into curses. "The woman had lost all those years relying on his promises. Did he really think she would give a damn care if she would be added to his damned family tree?"
Aaron noticed how agitated Ximena was getting and he raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Men don't understand that the women who really love them don't care about the legal recognition. They care more about the men they love and the things like being loved and appreciated!"
Ximena's sudden outburst made Aaron wonder whether she was talking about his parents or her relationship with James. "All women want from men are the three words, those three dam words..."
Aaron's eyes grew softer as he watched Ximena, and a hint of sadness crept up into his face. "Yes... All she ever wanted was to hear him say the three words and his occasional visits. That's all she wanted." Aaron tilted his head towards the sky to feel the rain on his face, and smiled bitterly at himself. "In the end, he wasn't there with her when the baby was born; he was never there in any of the child's birthday celebrations and even when she passed away... he still didn't show up."
For the first time since she had met Aaron, Ximena looked at him in a different perspective. The man in front of her didn't feel like the cold and heartless person he wanted everyone to think he was. Instead, he was just a neglected child who didn't get his father's love.
Stretching out her arm around Aaron, Ximena said slowly in a muffled tone, "You have to think about it another way. At least you had a mother who loved you…
Trust me when I say this, it could be a lot worse than you can imagine. I didn't even know who my parents were before I was thrown into an orphanage. Pretty bad, right?"
As she gnashed her teeth, slowly opened her eyes and wiped her face with her hand, Ximena looked at the car in front of her and noticed that the people in it were completely unresponsive of their rude behavior. She walked up to the car and banged on the window.
"Click!" Ximena heard the sound of the car door opening.
But before she could stand back, the person inside pushed the door open on her abruptly. Caught by surprise, Ximena lost balance and fell to the ground.
At the same time, a red umbrella flapped open and a woman in white heel sandals stepped out of the car.
Ximena managed to get back on her feet, her eyes coldly glaring towards the umbrella trying to see who it was, when she found that it was a woman.
Soon after, Zoey got out of the driver's seat and walked around the car to stand beside Vivi with an umbrella in her hand. Scanning Ximena from head to toe, she said condescendingly, "You are my brother's woman?"
"What's it to you? Who the hell are you?" Ximena asked, raising her eyebrows and looking at the two hostile women in front of her with a baffled expression. "And by the way, who is your brother?"
"Hello," said Vivi in a soft voice. While she sneered at Ximena stealthily, her face looked pure and innocent. "I am Aaron's girlfriend!"
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