CHAPTER 283: CHAPTER 283; I CAN’T KEEP HOLDING ON TO THE PAST

The clatter of children’s laughter and the soft bustle of servants faded into the background as Mr. Xu closed the carved sliding doors of the study room. The air inside was hushed, scented faintly of sandalwood and old books.

He turned around and faced Huo Ting Cheng squarely, his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze steady, his tone firm.

"Huo Ting Cheng... I don’t care how powerful you are, but why did you lock her away all those years? If she didn’t want to marry you, you should have set her free. You had no right to bind her to you with chains of duty and isolation like that."

His voice was rough and intimidating but when it came to Huo Ting Cheng, he was just a buzzing fly.

He didn’t respond but rather just stood there silently, he was giving him respect because he treated Tang Fei as his daughter and nothing more.

"Huo Ting Cheng, I’m talking to you!" He was suddenly infuriated; this man was trying to ignore him while they stood so close to each other. Who did he think he was talking to?

Huo Ting Cheng’s expression didn’t falter, but a cold shadow flickered across his sharp features. He stood tall, shoulders broad, his presence filling the room like a storm waiting to break.

"Who do you think you are to question me? Who gave you the guts to?" His voice was low, clipped, each word weighed like iron. "I choose what to do. What does it matter that I locked her away? I had my reasons to. No one else could protect her as I could. No one else would."

Mr. Xu’s eyes narrowed dangerously, "Protect? By clipping her wings? By cutting her off from everyone who loved her? Do you call that protection? That’s total selfishness! Things shouldn’t have happened like that!"

"Yes, I’m selfish! I have always been and let me tell you, if I tell her we aren’t coming over here again, she would listen to me, what?" Mr Xu was surprised by his narcissistic behaviour, was this normal? "And actually, I came over due to respect and nothing else, I respect the fact that she is your adopted daughter."

"You dimwit selfish bastard! I will tell her to divorce you immediately!" Mr Xu was at the end. How can someone treat him like this?

For the first time, Huo Ting Cheng’s composure cracked, just slightly. His jaw tightened, his hand curling into a fist at his side.

"You don’t understand anything, you can try and see.." he said, his voice rougher now, almost dangerous. "She is mine. I will not let anyone, or anything take her away from me again. Not the world, not fate, not even her own choices. She is mine and she stays with me.."

The words hung in the air like a blade, and Mr. Xu inhaled slowly, as though he was measuring him.

"Then you are not protecting her, Huo Ting Cheng," he said at last, his voice heavy with quiet authority. "You are protecting yourself. Protecting your fear of losing her. But love, real love...." his gaze sharpened, "is not about possession and your narcissistic behaviour."

For a heartbeat, silence stretched between them. He didn’t lie, he actually didn’t like Tang Fei meeting people to see how beautiful and good she was.

Huo Ting Cheng’s eyes darkened, unreadable, though deep inside, a flicker of pain rippled through his mask. His lips curved into a tight, cold smile.

"You can say whatever you want, but she is here now, isn’t she? She came with me and I will go back with her. You should come to terms with the fact that we are husband and wife legally, and we have so many kids together too, and probably we will have more kids." In annoyance, he blurted out, How dare he?

Mr. Xu did not flinch but his hands tightened into fists. "She may have come with you. But the question is, when the time comes, will she stay? When she knows the truth, will she stay with you?"

Those words deeply echoed in her mind as his heart heavily clenched. Whatever had happened back then was long buried in the depths of his heart; her memories were gone, but what happens when she recalls?

The study room door slid open just then, and Mrs. Xu’s soft voice carried into the study. "Dinner is ready, come over and let’s have it all together."

The tension broke, though neither man looked away from the other.

Huo Ting Cheng inclined his head ever so slightly, his expression still carved in stone. Mr. Xu turned and walked out first, his back straight, and his silence louder than words.

Left alone for a breath, Huo Ting Cheng’s fist tightened once more before he followed.

Huo Ting Cheng walked out of the study room, his steps long and deliberate, the faintest trace of annoyance darkening his face while forming wrinkles all over. His usually unreadable expression was marred with tension, the kind that only Tang Fei’s sharp eyes could catch.

As Mr. Xu and Mrs. Xu returned to the dining room, Tang Fei’s gaze lingered on Huo Ting Cheng’s retreating figure. A faint crease formed between her brows. Had he quarreled with Uncle Xu? The thought stirred unease in her chest.

Before she could rise, Mr. Xu reached out and gently caught her wrist. His voice was low, steady, carrying the heaviness of things left unsaid, "Fei’er... let him be. Some battles can only be fought alone, and he needs to come to terms with it!"

Tang Fei shook her head gently, her voice calm but firm. "Uncle Xu, no matter what happened between us in the past, he is still my lawfully wedded husband. Legally. And..." she paused, her throat tightening before she pushed the words out, "we have children together, for their sake, we have to live harmoniously, and above all, everything is fine now. I cannot keep holding onto the past forever."