CHAPTER 245: A COMPLEX AFFECTION

At first, he had indeed approached it with a playful attitude, but later, he genuinely developed feelings.

Undeniably, she was very beautiful.

But having seen so many beautiful women, he couldn’t understand why he had remained so fixated on her all these years.

Perhaps it was her delicate demeanor that made people reluctant to hurt her.

So when she returned and showed a hint of warmth, they reconciled.

"Shuwen, I had my prenatal check-up today, and the doctor said the baby is very healthy. We already know it’s a boy," Zhao Yuning said sweetly, a blush rising on her cheeks.

Tang Shuwen hummed in acknowledgment, remaining silent. A boy.

His son, Xiao Nian... Xiao Nian’s blank face flashed through his mind. Tang Shuwen’s gaze softened slightly. He didn’t know when the child would recover. The doctor said it might happen suddenly, or perhaps never.

Xueru was very sad, shedding many silent tears.

"Shuwen, what’s wrong? It’s a boy; aren’t you happy?" Zhao Yuning felt a slight panic and nervously grabbed his arm. Tang Shuwen looked down and shook his head. She suddenly smiled and murmured to herself, "I know you’ll be very happy."

Happy?

He felt a little indescribable about his mood; he wasn’t exactly happy.

It was as if he had heard something that didn’t concern him, so how could he be happy?

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" Tang Shuwen asked. Zhao Yuning looked up at him, surprise fleetingly crossing her face, followed by profound sorrow. Tang Shuwen sighed. "Yuning, this trick doesn’t work every time. I am no longer the eighteen-year-old Tang Shuwen."

Over the years, his heart had become sufficiently cold and ruthless. Having witnessed life and death, a woman’s pitiful face, unless she was the woman he loved, would not move him.

His feelings for Zhao Yuning were very complex.

Both love and resentment. This reconciliation contained an element of revenge, after all, it was the first time in Tang Shuwen’s life he had been abandoned.

But after reconciling, he sensed her sincerity. So he thought that past events were trivial and not worth mentioning. They were both young and immature back then.

It was normal for couples to break up.

If it weren’t for Chen Xueru, perhaps he and she would have married.

After all, they had loved each other for so many years.

But now...

"What do you mean by that?" Zhao Yuning asked tremblingly, her heart uneasy and filled with dread. An unspeakable pain was spreading.

Was he not going to care for her and the child anymore?

"Don’t be like this. It’s late and cold. Your health isn’t good. Go inside and rest first. We can talk tomorrow, okay?" Tang Shuwen said. Upon hearing Tang Shuwen still cared for her, Zhao Yuning felt a surge of hope.

He still loved her.

"Shuwen, are you not planning to take responsibility for our mother and child?" Zhao Yuning asked tearfully. Tang Shuwen didn’t know how to answer her and remained silent. The more he was silent, the more sorrowful Zhao Yuning became.

She suddenly gripped his hand tightly. "You wouldn’t be so cruel. You wouldn’t be so cruel, would you? Shuwen, we clearly love each other. You were meant to marry me. If you like children, I can also bear them for you. Now we have a child too, so why aren’t you taking responsibility for us anymore?"

Tang Shuwen’s brows furrowed. Seeing Zhao Yuning like this, he also felt uneasy.

After all, he cared for her, and she was someone he had deeply loved. He couldn’t be indifferent to her tears and grief. But no matter how much his heart ached, he couldn’t give her any promises.

"Shuwen, say something!" Zhao Yuning pounded on him, crying as she spoke. "You can’t abandon me and the child. This is your child."

Tang Shuwen held her hand and asked, "What do you want?"

"I want to marry you," Zhao Yuning said. Tang Shuwen’s eyes flickered with a dark, fierce glint. Marry... Zhao Yuning said mournfully, "I’ve had strict family upbringing since I was young. Pregnant before marriage, my father almost beat me to death. Our Zhao family is also well-respected in A City. If I’m visibly pregnant, how will others see me? What will they think? Will I still be able to live a normal life? Shuwen, you can’t be so cruel. You prioritize responsibility the most. Are Chen Xueru and her child a responsibility, but we are not?"

"Yuning!" Tang Shuwen sharply called out, his gaze cold and stern as he looked at her. "I cannot marry you."

Zhao Yuning trembled all over, as if something had struck her heart. Her face instantly turned pale. She stared at Tang Shuwen with wide eyes, as if trying to discern something from his gaze.

But there was nothing.

Only coldness and firmness.

He said he wouldn’t marry her.

Yet, not long ago, he clearly said he would marry her, that they would live together forever.

How much time had passed for him to change his mind?

They said a woman’s heart was like a needle at the bottom of the sea, exceptionally difficult to fathom.

But why was a man’s heart also so hard to guess?

Where was the Tang Shuwen who held her and made vows of eternal love?

Her body swayed precariously. Tang Shuwen supported her shoulders, saying with deep pain, "Yuning, I made it clear to you before the marriage that you and I are truly over. There will be no more contact. I honestly didn’t expect you to get pregnant this time. But Yuning, even so, there’s no longer any possibility for us. This child came at the wrong time. You... you should get rid of it."

"What did you say?" Zhao Yuning’s eyes widened, looking at him in disbelief, as if she had heard a joke. She clutched her chest, looking at him sorrowfully. That cruel sentence came from the mouth of the usually gentle Tang Shuwen.

Get rid of it!

He didn’t want this child.

He didn’t want her either.

He was actually cruelly asking to kill his own child. No, no, she must have misheard, she must have misheard. Zhao Yuning shook her head, tears streaming down. Seeing this, Tang Shuwen didn’t know what to say.

He was indeed being cruel.

To Zhao Yuning, he was being cruel, telling her to abort the child and abandon him.

But if he didn’t do this, Xueru and Xiao Nian would be hurt.

Chen Xueru and Zhao Yuning, the positions of these two in his heart were like the two ends of a scale; one would always be heavier, one lighter. The scale in his heart had long shifted from being tilted to being equally weighted, and now it tilted again. If he couldn’t protect everyone, he could only choose to protect his wife and son.

Xueru...

Even if he didn’t love Xueru so much that he could sacrifice everything for her, he preferred to sacrifice Zhao Yuning to protect her when something like this happened. He didn’t know why.

Xueru was a woman who was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside. She could quickly recover from setbacks, but he didn’t want her to get hurt, especially when the wound was inflicted by him.

Now, with Xiao Nian also in such a state, her heart was already frosted over. He couldn’t sprinkle more salt on her wounds.