Then the faint sound of a woman's voice spoke up. "Sorry, I was held up."
Xu Jiamu was all too familiar with that voice. He wanted to go hold Little Red Bean's hand, but he stopped mid-air. He could clearly feel his heart skip a beat.
He held his breath and summoned all his strength to slowly turn around. There, at the door, the classroom door was pushed open. With a bright smile, the principal smiled and said, "Little Red Bean, your mommy is here to pick you up."
When the principal said this, the first person to enter was a man.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe looked like he was around thirty-eight years old, and he had a safe, stable, and reserved feeling about him.
Little Red Bean glanced at the man, and her eyes immediately brightened. She rushed over to his open arms and cried, "Daddy!"
The second she spoke, a woman in a red dress walked into the classroom. She had a pair of sunglasses and a hat in her hands while wearing a warm smile on her face. "Little Red Bean..."
Right then, she saw Xu Jiamu hugging the little girl. Her face instantly tensed up and her words were immediately cut short. She stopped walking and stood there on the spot without so much as a twitch.
Xu Jiamu could clearly feel the blood in his body starting to flow in the opposite direction. His eyes fell on Song Xiangsi. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't draw them away from her. He didn't even know when the man walked in front of him and carried Little Red Bean away.
All he knew was that when he snapped back to reality, the girl was happily kissing he man on the face twice, then saying cheerfully, "I missed daddy so so soooo much."
The man's eyes smiled at Little Red Bean's words. He couldn't resist but kiss her on her soft cheeks. "Daddy missed Little Red Bean too, so so sooo much."
Having been playfully teased, the girl smiled and rested on the man's shoulder. She cried "Mommy" at Song Xiangsi, who still stood at the door.
Daddy... Mommy...
Those two words turned Xu Jiamu instantly pale white.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe thought back to the rumor he heard that Song Xiangsi got married in America to a divorced man who was eight years older. That man had two kids from his previous wife; the older one was an eight year old boy and the little one a three year old girl.
The person who had told him this rumor had sighed and added that it was such a shame. Song Xiangsi was like China's dream woman, yet she married a normal man, who wasn't exactly well-off, and became a stepmother to two kids.
The only reason Xu Jiamu always called these talks rumors was because that way he could tell himself that they weren't true.
This afternoon, he heard about the rumors again whilst playing cards with people at the Royal Palace.
He even thought how he was afraid to confirm them, but in less than five hours, they were confirmed anyway.
Xu Jiamu felt his whole body tremble. He stared straight at Song Xiangsi, as she stood frozen on the spot.
He figured that he must look awful at that very instant.
He snapped back to reality the moment Little Red Bean called Song Xiangsi "Mommy". She lowered her head first, then raised it again to reveal her usual nonchalant expression. As she walked elegantly and leisurely in her high heels, she reached her hand out to stroke Little Red Bean's head and shot her an affectionate smile.