CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 63; TELL ME THE TRUTH

His tiny bare feet curled against the cold marble floor as he stared up at his father with wide, tear-glazed eyes.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

"Daddy..." Shen Xuan finally whispered, his voice rough with sleep and fear. "Is... is Mommy going to die...?" Then he recalls seeing his mother all wounded in that video call, but it was just a game she was playing his Auntie Bai had told him and it wasn’t real, it was just a make up

Shen Xiao’s brows knitted tightly, his dark gaze fixed on his son’s trembling face.

"She... she was screaming..." Shen Xuan continued, his lower lip quivering violently. "She sounded... she sounded like she wanted to die..."

His voice broke with a small sob as tears slipped down his round cheeks. "Why... why does she hate us so much...?"

Shen Xiao felt something cold and a heavy twist deep in his chest.

"She doesn’t hate you," he said quietly, his voice hoarse.

"But... but she never wants to see me, she is no longer like the previous days from the time she came home from the hospital!" Shen Xuan choked out, rubbing his tears with the back of his small hand. "She... she never hugs me anymore... and she’s always crying... always screaming..."

His tiny shoulders shook as he pressed his face into his stuffed bear, muffling the rest of his words.

"She makes you sad too... doesn’t she, Daddy...?" he whispered brokenly, peeking up at his father with glistening eyes. "If... if it was Mommy Zhi... you wouldn’t be sad... right...? Mommy Zhi always smiles... and she makes you smile too... if... if Mommy wasn’t here... everything would be okay..."

For a brief moment, the world seemed to go silent.

Shen Xiao stared down at his son, his obsidian eyes dark and stormy as the boy’s quiet words cut through the last dregs of warmth in his chest.

He crouched down slowly, until his gaze was level with Shen Xuan’s tear-streaked face.

"Don’t say that," he said softly, his voice cold but trembling at the edges. "Don’t ever say that again."

Shen Xuan blinked up at him with wide, confused eyes. "But... but it’s true... isn’t it...?"

Shen Xiao reached out with a trembling hand, brushing away the damp fringe sticking to his son’s forehead. His jaw clenched tightly, muscles ticking along his chiseled face.

"Come on," he murmured hoarsely, lifting Shen Xuan into his arms effortlessly. "Let’s get you back to bed."

The little boy curled into his father’s chest, clutching his stuffed bear tightly as silent tears soaked into Shen Xiao’s expensive suit as he walked down the long, dim corridor, their fractured shadows stretched across the marble, one small child drowning in confusion and fear, and one broken man drowning in a silent, gnawing guilt that clamped around his chest like iron chains.

The nursery-themed bedroom lay cloaked in pale dawn light seeping through the gauzy curtains. Soft shadows fell across the scattered toys and pastel wallpaper as Shen Xiao stepped inside, his polished shoes silent against the plush carpet.

He lowered Shen Xuan gently onto his small race-car bed. The little boy clutched his stuffed bear to his chest, tears still shimmering in his lashes as he stared up at his father with wide, frightened eyes.

Shen Xiao sat down on the edge of the bed, his broad shoulders hunched forward, casting a long shadow over Shen Xuan’s small form.

"Xuan’er," he said quietly, his deep voice low and rough with exhaustion. "Tell me the truth."