Prince Yibo didn't get the chance to finish his words, because he saw, with surprising speed, Zhan scramble to sit back down in the chair he'd just vacated. It was as if the light in Zhan's eyes went out for a long, heavy moment. A wave of panic crashed over Zhan. If his ears weren't deceiving him, was this business tycoon standing before him trying to say he was the very man responsible for bringing Jianghu and Jiangji into this world?
The man who had shattered his life? The one who had rewritten his fate and that of his family? What did he want now? What was he here for? Had he come to finally destroy what little peace he'd rebuilt? Zhan hadn't imagined Prince Yibo came for the children.....after all, from the moment those children were nothing but tiny seeds growing inside him, it had been clear they weren't wanted. No, if he was here to tear apart Zhan's new life, then he'd better think twice. Zhan wouldn't let anyone....no matter how powerful....win over him. Not anymore.
In mere moments, Zhan forced himself to pull it together. He straightened, slow but steady, his resolve returning. He threw Yibo a hard, unflinching look and said coldly:
"And so what? So you're the Crown Prince of whatever kingdom you just named. And what's that supposed to mean to me, huh?"
He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Yibo with a look that could cut steel.
Then, as if realizing something, Zhan's eyes widened. He covered his mouth with one hand, a thin, bitter smile escaping his lips....a smile filled with mockery.
"Oh! My... I'm so sorry, sir. Now I see, now I remember. Please, excuse my manners. You know how work can pile up and make a person forget everything."
Zhan picked up Su Han's death certificate and stepped forward, his face still holding that forced, strained smile. His heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his throat, his body trembled slightly, but he hid every sign of it well.
"You must be Su Han's father. I'm Dr. Xiao Zhan....Su Han's doctor. I'm truly sorry for your loss. She was such a sweet girl…" he said, handing Yibo the certificate. When Yibo didn't move, Zhan took his hand and drop the paper silently, his hand trembling slightly as he slipped them into his trouser pocket. Yibo didn't say a word, nor did he look at the paper, Zhan turned away, returning to his seat.
The words hit Yibo like a blow. He had never once planned out what would come next if he ever found Zhan. He'd imagined seeing him again would be the hardest part.....that once he'd found him, everything else would somehow fall into place, would somehow be easy.
Yibo took a step forward, then another, his eyes on Zhan. He tucked the certificate into his pocket. His voice, when it came, was low and rough, its emotion hard to place.
"Please... don't be angry. Just give me a chance. Let's just... sit and...."
"With who?" Zhan cut in sharply. Then, seeing Yibo's expression change, Zhan added, his tone even colder:
"Look, sir, I didn't even recognize you as Su Han father at first. I've given you what you came for. What more do you want? Or do you have some kind of condition that makes you act like this? Either leave on your own, or I'll call security to remove you."
Even though Yibo was shaken, part of him almost found Zhan's words childish....as if he didn't understand the weight of what was happening. Yibo knew that even if Zhan called every security officer in the building, no one would dare lay a hand on him. They all knew who he was. And beyond that, there was no one in this city who could remove him from this office.....not at this moment, not after all the sleepless nights he'd spent, longing, begging fate for just this chance: to see Zhan again.
"I don't believe even if the entire world combined could drag me out of this office, Zhan," Yibo said.
The shock of hearing his own name from Yibo's lips hit Zhan like a stone to the chest, but that wasn't what mattered most to him in that moment. It was the way Yibo said it...the weight behind it....that told Zhan these words were coming straight from his heart. There was no pretense. And with the sharp instinct for reading people that life had honed in him, Zhan saw it clearly: this Prince was brimming with confidence.
But Zhan had no desire to waste another second. There was nothing to gain from standing there. The mere thought of who was in front of him set his heart burning with anger. Without a word, he began gathering the papers scattered across his desk with swift, determined movements.
Yibo stepped closer, too close, forcing Zhan to look up sharply. His voice was steely as he snapped,
"Stop right there. Don't make the mistake of touching me again like you did before. I don't know you. I don't know what world you crawled out of. What business do you have barging into my life?"
"Zhan…"
"Don't you dare say my name again. There's nothing between us. Nothing."
"Our bond... Zhan, I'm still your husband....we're still legally married couple."
The words hit Zhan harder than any before. His mind reeled; he nearly lost his balance and would have fallen had Yibo not instinctively reached out. But Zhan jerked away and steadied himself, gripping the edge of the chair beside him. A voice inside him warned: He's lying. Don't forget what they are....deceivers who care for no one's pain but their own. Why believe him just because he says so?
That thought fueled him. He drew strength from it, lifted his chin, and glared at Yibo.
"That's your problem, not mine. I don't know you, and there's no such word as marriage between us."
Without another glance, Zhan swung his bag over his shoulder. He hadn't even finished gathering everything, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting as far from Yibo as possible. He turned and strode towards the door, moving faster than he thought himself capable of.
Yibo wasn't about to let him go. He followed close behind, calling out,
"Please… just stop for five minutes. Just hear me out. Even if you don't believe a word I say, stop pretending you don't know me. We both know that's not true."
Furious now, Zhan flung the door open.
"I'll keep saying it because it's true....I don't know you! And why do you keep following me?!"
Seeing Zhan about to walk out, Yibo called after him desperately:
"You may not know me, but I know you! I know you better than anyone in this entire world ever could… If you truly don't know me, then where's the child inside you? Where's the son or daughter I left with you?!"
The words nearly made Zhan collapse. His vision swam. Dr. Adrian, standing in the doorway, caught the final words and froze, stunned. Before Zhan even realized what he was doing, he thrust the keycard for the office door into Dr. Adrian's hand, their fingers brushing, his whole body trembling.
"Please, Doctor… lock the door for me. I'm not well," Zhan managed to say, before bolting, running as fast as he could....anything to get away from Yibo.
Yibo didn't stop for Dr. Adrian's startled questions, didn't even seem to hear him. He only saw Zhan, and he followed, leaving the doctor behind, staring after them, mouth open, mind spinning with questions he couldn't even begin to form.
But soon enough, Yibo lost sight of Zhan within the hospital grounds. Still, he was certain.....Zhan hadn't left the hospital yet. Hiding among the plants outside, Zhan watched Yibo's figure, heart pounding with fear and dread. What does he want from us now? Why has he come back into our lives? What do the royals want this time?
These were the questions that tore through Zhan's mind.
Zhan deeply regretted not coming with his car today. And now, Aunt Anu, who was supposed to pick him up, was nowhere to be seen. Minutes dragged on, and soon tears mixed with sweat streamed down his face.
Yibo could feel it in his body....Zhan was still inside the hospital. The certainty gripped him so tightly he couldn't bring himself to leave. Instead, he wandered restlessly, searching every corridor and corner of the building, convinced that at any moment he'd see him again. Over and over, he paced from the inner wards out into the hospital courtyard.
For what felt like the hundredth time, Yibo returned to the courtyard, dizzy with frustration at losing sight of Zhan after those few brief minutes when their paths first crossed.
As if drawn by fate, he turned....and there was Zhan, hurrying toward a parked car that looked like it was waiting for him.
Two things struck Yibo at once: the fact that Zhan was about to vanish again, and the sight of a boy, around seven or eight years old, peeking out from the car window, smiling brightly at Zhan. The boy waved at Zhan, his lips moving as if speaking softly.
And if Yibo's eyes weren't deceiving him, he could swear he was looking at his own face on that child....the only difference being the years between them. Stunned, Yibo slowly raised a trembling hand to his face, as if to feel whether he was imagining it, as if to confirm that what his eyes were showing him was real.
Before he could gather his wits, Zhan had slipped into the car. The engine roared to life, and they began to pull away from the hospital gates. That was when Yibo snapped out of it. Fueled by sheer desperation, he lunged toward the car, but it was too late....they had already merged onto the road, speeding away.
He raced back to his own vehicle, threw open the door, and started the engine. Without hesitation, he tore after them, pushing the car faster and faster.
At first, Aunt Anu hadn't noticed the state Zhan was in when he got into the car. It wasn't until she heard the children chatting with him and realized he wasn't responding that she glanced back.
"Oh my goodness, my dear, what's wrong? What's happened?" she asked, alarmed, pulling slightly toward the side of the road.
But Zhan, his voice tight with emotion, choked out, "Please don't stop, Momma, just drive. Let's just go."
The urgency in his voice made her think twice about stopping. Instead, she kept driving, though more than half her focus was on Zhan, reading the sheer distress written across his face.
The car fell into a tense silence. Even the children, sensing the change, grew quiet. Jianghu and Jiangji sat still, the worry plain on their faces as they watched Zhan. And Zhan, unable to hold back the storm inside him, buried his face in his neels, tears he could no longer stop slipping down as the weight of it all crashed over him.
Prince Yibo was speeding so recklessly that he had long since exceeded every traffic rule. But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't even catch sight of the type of car he was looking for. He roamed the streets near the hospital, combing every nearby road and alley, going in and out of side streets, completely unaware of time passing or of his own exhaustion. He moved like a man possessed, oblivious even to his phone buzzing desperately where it lay beside the gear stick, begging for his attention. His only goal was to find Zhan. That was all that mattered....to reach him, to see him again. For hours he circled the streets, but Zhan was nowhere to be found. Yet, Yibo didn't give up. His heart clung to the hope that maybe, just maybe, fate would let him cross paths with Zhan again.
He had driven so far and for so long that he lost track of how much ground he'd covered. He'd scoured the entire area surrounding the hospital and the neighboring districts, but there was no sign of Zhan anywhere.
His body was beginning to give out, weak from hunger and exhaustion, but he paid no attention. A fierce ache filled his chest, burning with desperation. He prayed silently, begging for strength, for just one chance not to lose Zhan again....not to face the torment of a long wait before he saw him once more. At last, drained, Yibo pulled over at the side of the road. He leaned back against the seat, eyes closed, his breath harsh and ragged as it escaped from deep within him. His mind drifted, lost in a whirl of thoughts and fears about what might happen next.
The shrill ringing of his phone, now for what felt like the hundredth time, snapped him out of it. He stared at it as if it were some strange object, the sound splitting through his head. Finally, he reached for it, meaning to cancel and end the noise....but before he could, the call cut off on its own. As he was about to switch it off altogether, a new call came in. It was Queen. He couldn't bring himself to ignore her, so he picked up the call and put it on speaker.
"Aren't you joining us for dinner tonight?" Queen asked.
"There's something I had to take care of... I didn't want to delay you all." His voice had changed so much....so heavy, so distant. But Queen was used to his shifting moods. Over the years he had become someone she could barely predict, so she simply said, "Drive safe."
"Thanks," he replied, ending the call on both their sides.
A new idea sparked in his mind, filling him with sudden purpose. He started the car again with urgency. Maybe, just maybe, he could still get Zhan's full address from the hospital....something that could finally put an end to all of this and bring him the peace he'd been chasing for years. Determined, he pressed his foot to the accelerator, racing toward the hospital with all the speed he could muster.
Zhanxianyibo💚❤️💛