CHAPTER 498: 461 HER EFFORT, YOU JUST DIDN’T SEE IT

Time seemed to have stood still.

No one dared to move, Song Xiangqiao held the child, looking down to see that someone had spread out an inflatable mattress and gazing up at the people on the rooftop...

She had been determined to die before she came up here!

Her intension was clear, to make Song Lili and Wen Nian regret, to make Zhuo Ting regret!

But now, she was scared.

"Thirty years of a fixed-term imprisonment, it clearly wasn’t my fault..."

"Xiao Qiao, you come over first, I alone will take responsibility for my actions, I’ll turn myself in, and I won’t let you take the blame. Just take good care of yourself and give birth to the child, I can go to prison."

Zhuo Ting reached out his hand to Song Xiangqiao...

Song Xiangqiao looked at Zhuo Ting with disbelief,

"You are willing to go to prison? Thirty years... you might die in there!"

Zhuo Ting took a deep breath,

"All my life I’ve chased fame and wealth, fought for power, and like you, I’m not reconciled, having worked harder than everyone, yet still can’t achieve what I desire."

"..."

On a certain level, she and Zhuo Ting were quite alike.

"Come down, I won’t let you suffer anymore."

"I really don’t understand you anymore, Zhuo Ting."

Song Xiangqiao pulled a wry smile,

"You used me, trampled over me, and now you act like you really care about me. How changeable you are. Zhuo Ting, I know that all you care about is the child in my womb."

Song Xiangqiao spoke coldly, her expression freezing, but tears streamed down her cheeks,

"For the child, or for yourself, I’ve already said, I will bear the consequences of my actions, I won’t let you suffer anymore. You are pregnant and it’s so cold, you could freeze."

Zhuo Ting had never felt so anxious.

Perhaps Song Xiangqiao would never understand his current feelings.

Having children late in life is not easy, perhaps he really was old and thus pursued more mundane things.

The reason he had made Song Xiangqiao take the blame was because he wanted to continue his political ambitions, but then Song Xiangqiao got pregnant, after such a long time of not being able to conceive, and it happened just at that critical moment.

It was as if fate was mocking him.

He admits he valued the child in Song Xiangqiao’s womb more than her.

But, he also liked Song Xiangqiao, has always liked her, just perhaps not enough to give up or sacrifice anything for her.

Having a child changed everything...

"I will never trust you again, Zhuo Ting. I don’t even want to bear your child! What Vice President’s wife, what one below ten thousand above..."

Song Xiangqiao burst into tears.

She reflected on everything she had endured throughout the years, so much unattained despite her desires, the more she thought about it, the more aggrieved and uncomfortable she felt.

"Just because you strive doesn’t mean you’ll get what you want, the world is not that simple."

Wen Nian spoke out, looking at Song Xiangqiao, stating so.

Tears streaming down her face, Song Xiangqiao looked at Wen Nian, the tears nearly freezing on her face.

"Lili was right, it’s not that you don’t have a way out, but that you don’t allow yourself a way out."

"Brother Nian, why do you only see her? She was so ordinary in the past, why did you treat her like a treasure in your palms... Why can’t you see me?"

"After your sister was born, I was already watching her, the time I spent with Lili, you don’t know about. To you, your sister is ordinary, but to me, she is the light of my life."

Wen Nian squeezed Song Lili’s hand, his large palm rubbing her cold trembling hand, trying to offer her some warmth, but he too was racked with tension and fear.

"You say we don’t see your efforts, but you also never saw Lili’s efforts."

His amber eyes focused on Song Xiangqiao’s face, which had turned slightly purple from the cold. Wen Nian continued slowly,

"She didn’t like studying, but still worked hard to get into high school, then college. She wanted to join the military, to be like her father... these are things you don’t know about."

"..."

"In Lili’s eyes, the military father she always admired, maybe not rich or powerful, but wearing a military uniform, he was her idol."

"..." Song Xiangqiao really didn’t know that Song Lili joined the military because of Song Jiayu.

"When you and your mother married into the Song Family, Song Jiayu had already retired from military service, so you couldn’t appreciate Lili’s adoration."

"So what?"

Song Xiangqiao furrowed her brow, "She still doesn’t deserve you!"

"She entered Louis Military Academy on her own merit, later going through the Xilin cadet selection process. Xiao Qiao, if you knew anything about military life, you would know how terrifying these selection exams are."

"After studying over a year at Xilin Military Academy, she earned a position at German Louis Military Academy, where, among her class, only five could pass every subject—inclusive of your sister, Song Lili."

"The difficulty, far exceeds your entry into a world-class university."

"After graduating from German Louis College, your sister joined the Naval Marine ’Osprey’ Assault Squad, undertaking some of the most severe and dangerous missions."

"You say Lili doesn’t put effort, you say Lili is mediocre? Xiao Qiao, in this world, no one can achieve everything without hard work."

"She is deaf in her right ear, relying on a hearing aid, and the injuries she has received are beyond your imagination... With such credentials, what makes you think she achieved everything effortlessly?"

"I like her, I love her, but she has never used my admiration, my doting, as an excuse to relax her demands on herself."

"Xiao Qiao, I can say without exaggeration here, the woman I love, your sister Song Lili, she deserves everyone’s respect."

"So, according to Brother Nian, it’s perfectly reasonable for sister to be where she is today, and all my failures are self-inflicted?"

"One may not be exceptional, may not be perfect, but should never harm others."

Wen Nian stood straight, he released Song Lili’s hand and walked forward...

Song Xiangqiao just stood there, unmoving...

Song Lili watched as Wen Nian steadily moved closer to Song Xiangqiao, everyone held their breath.

At that moment, Song Xiangqiao suddenly threw her hands forward, tossing the baby towards Wen Nian.

Startled, Wen Nian quickly moved forward two steps and caught the child.

At the same time, Song Xiangqiao’s body leaned backward, and she fell!

"Xiangqiao—!"

Zhuo Ting cried out in anguish!

Song Lili closed her eyes, Wen Nian held Wen Qichen tight, glanced once at where Song Xiangqiao had jumped, and said nothing...