The Day She Never Asked Me to Get Back Together - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
On the way to the nursing home, Ding Qichen filled in the rest of the truth.
Twenty years ago, Qi Zhaoyuan’s father had been preparing to expose his younger brother, Qi Tingshan, for embezzling public funds at a board meeting.
On the day of the accident, he had switched cars at the last minute. The car he ended up driving was the exact one my father was responsible for repairing and returning.
My father discovered there was a problem with the brakes and chased after him to stop him, but he didn’t make it in time.
The car still ended up on that mountain road.
Immediately after the accident, Qi Tingshan suppressed the repair records and used a sum of money to procure false testimony.
Because my father had been taking on private jobs against regulations and had died in the accident himself, he became the perfect scapegoat.
Since then, the matter had been kept under wraps.
The person who knew part of the truth was none other than Qi Zhaoyuan’s grandmother.
She wasn’t sure if her son had died by accident or by design, but she knew that once the old case was reopened, both children would only be dragged deeper into the mire.
So, she found me first.
The money on that card wasn’t just for my mother’s surgery.
It was hush money.
I leaned against the car window, silent for a long time.
It turned out that for these past three years, while I was busy hating myself, I had also been hating the wrong person.
Qi Zhaoyuan drove, his fingers gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white.
“I found out you met Grandma that day, and I found out she transferred money to you.”
“But I thought she was using the money to force you away.”
“I didn’t realize that… that was what you saw.”
I asked softly, “Do you hate my father?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“I did.”
“But the more I investigated later, the more I felt something was wrong, and I didn’t dare to hate him anymore.”
“The one I hate more is you.”
That actually made me laugh.
“Hate me?”
“Yeah.”
He kept his eyes on the road ahead, his voice pitched very low.
“I hate that you didn’t trust me.”
“I hate that you’d rather shoulder it all alone than give me a chance to help you.”
“And I hate even more that you just left without ever looking back.”
Each sentence was quiet.
But they hurt more than if he had screamed at me.
I watched the streetlights receding rapidly outside the window, tears falling uncontrollably.
“I was scared back then.”
“Scared of what?”
“Scared that if you knew, you’d think of how your father died every time you looked at me.”
“And I was scared that I’d lose the gamble.”
“I had no family fortune, no way out, and my mother was lying in a hospital bed. I didn’t dare gamble her life on whether you would love me forever.”
Qi Zhaoyuan remained silent for a long time.
As the car approached the entrance of the nursing home, he suddenly pulled over.
The night outside was as dark as ink.
He turned his head and looked at me.
“Peng Qingchuan.”
“Yes.”
“If it were now…”
“What?”
“If it were now, would you still push me away?”
My nose stung, and I didn’t speak.
Because I knew the answer.
I wouldn’t.
I had already tried it once.
It hurt too much.
But before I could speak, he let out a small, self-deprecating laugh.
“Forget it.”
“A person like you only knows how to retreat when pushed.”
“If I don’t give you a way out, you’ll hide from me for the rest of your life.”
As he spoke, he reached over and unbuckled my seatbelt, his movements very gentle.
“Go see your mother first.”
“We’ll settle the rest of our scores slowly.”
In that moment, I almost wanted to throw my arms around him.
But I held back.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to.
It was because I was afraid that if I hugged him, I would never be able to let go again.
