The Assassin's Enemy Lover

356 Yi Chen’s incurable foolishness

The more he thought about it the deeper he fell into this self abhorring state. He was so absorbed in this undeserved feeling that he didn’t realise that he was crying.

The Marshal stood there motionless as he watched Zi Han sitting on the ground seeming very pitiful. All that arrogance and pride had vanished from his face leaving behind a vulnerable immature child.

This look of his reminded him of something he would have much preferred to stay in the past. The image of him begging master Lin to marry his daughter merged with Zi Han and he suddenly felt a pang in his heart but the feeling was fleeting.

He couldn’t be soft hearted when it came to this matter. The future of the entire army was depending on his son. It was all resting on Yi Chen’s shoulders and Zi Han was nothing but a hindrance.

Zi Han supported his hand on his knee and took off the strap of the watch on his wrist before gently placing it on the ground. After that, he silently got up and turned to walk away.

The Marshal who hadn’t paid much attention to what was on Zi Han’s person was a little startled when he saw that watch with its glass surface shining underneath the sunlight. That was no ordinary watch but a gift passed down several generations.

His lips trembled recalling the day his father gave little Chen Chen the watch. It was on his deathbed that he gave it to Yi Chen while telling him the story of how this watch came to be an heirloom. It represented one’s heart.

The story was that of a woman who loved a man so much that she saved her money for five years just so she could give this special person a gift. But even after saving her money for so long she still couldn’t afford it.

She loved him but he didn’t love her. He saw her as a shameful accident. A mistake that unfortunately produced a child and he was forced to take responsibility.

.....

He loved the child deeply but he just didn’t have her in his eyes. But that didn’t deter her. She didn’t want his money but she did want his heart thus she wanted to give him something special, something he always wanted after earning it from her own blood, sweat, and tears.

She toiled night and day trying to get him this special gift and when she finally succeeded, she rushed home her smile as bright as the sun ready to give it to him. Maybe then he could see her. Maybe then he would greet her in the morning when he came down for breakfast. Maybe then he would ask her how her day was and if she had eaten. She wasn’t asking for much, just that.

‘I give you my heart,’ she said.

But when she placed it in front of him and asked for him to take a look all that excitement from before vanished and her heart was crushed.

His eyes turned vicious and he accused her of cheating on him with someone else otherwise why would a gift worth more than his car appear in front of her?

That night in front of their son, she was humiliated and beaten half to death. The beloved son who knew her mother had been working herself to death just to get this for his ungrateful father couldn’t stand it.

He hugged his father’s thigh trying to save his mother. The man turned on his son as well calling him a child of a viper and that they deserved each other.

He only stopped beating her when he accidentally hit his son striking him in the face. After that he left, leaving behind his wife whimpering and sobbing, “Don’t leave, don’t go,” as she crawled towards the window.

Thick blood was seeping down her mouth as she spoke in a low whisper. When she saw him enter his car and leave her heart died at that moment. She suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to jump.

She clutched the window pane with her broken fingers and grimaced as she pulled her body up. But just as she came to terms with it and made up her mind, a soft hand touched hers.

When she turned her gaze back she saw her son standing there holding the box.

“I accept it....,” he said in a soft voice. Her eyes rippled and the steely calmness in her pupils stirred.

“Your heart.... I accept it and I will keep it safe,” said the little boy. He was only five but he kept his promise.

From that day onwards he took great care of her and never allowed his father anywhere near her ever again. That young boy was their ancestor who built the Yi family with his own two hands. It was because of him that they were where they were today.

The story left a bittersweet aftertaste and each time that watch was passed down that story was told. Yi Chen had promised his grandfather that he would give it to the one he loves because that was his heart.

Back then he rolled his eyes at the foolishness of this child but now it seemed Yi Chen’s foolishness hadn’t been cured. It was just well hidden. The idiot had given away their family heirloom to Zi Han.

Marshal Yi picked it up and yelled at the lonely figure meandering like he had lost his soul. “Remember what I said. Choose between your family or my son. I am sure you can make the right choice,” said the Marshal before turning to amble slowly into the ancestral home.”

Zi Han summoned Igneous and mindlessly flew away with no clue of where he was going. Igneous felt like something was very wrong but it didn’t know what to do. Hydra had infiltrated its space and prevented it from hearing what was going on. It also couldn’t communicate with the outside world.

The three calamities were indestructible on the surface but because they knew each other’s weaknesses it was easy to manipulate each other.

Hydra caught Igneous by surprise thus it couldn’t respond in time. It was easily overwhelmed. Now that it was free, Igneous asked, “Sir, are you okay?.... Would you like us to send your mother a distress signal?”

Zi Han was more than distraught but this time things were so complicated that not even his mother could fix it.