At this moment, I was extremely glad that I had used BWK immunity on my dad. Otherwise, with Ai ShuQiao's personality, she would do anything to get what she wanted. If that happened, then my dad wouldn't even have a choice.
I thought back to when Wang Xiuwu broke away from Ai ShuQiao's control after Zheng Weizun's death. He once told me that the reason Ai ShuQiao returned to Dong Shan city was related to my dad — — he really wasn't lying.
"My love belongs to someone else now."
I was very happy that my cowardly dad was able to keep his principles in front of Ai ShuQiao.
Ai ShuQiao's footsteps stopped, disappointment flashed between her brows: "Didn't you say that your love for me will never change?"
"How can it never change!" My dad's roar was louder than I've ever heard in the past 16 years, "You trampled on my love for you, you threw me and Xiao Lin away like rags! How can I love you again? You should know that you still have a husband in America when you said such ridiculous things, you're still someone else's legal wife! "
"My marriage with John is already dead." Ai ShuQiao tightened the collar of her windbreaker with one hand, as if hinting that she needed warmth, "John was only a step on my way to success, he's useless now, I can dump him at any time …"
"Just like how you dumped me?" Years of accumulated anger made my dad's words sharp, he mercilessly interrupted Ai ShuQiao's words.
After a period of silence, Ai ShuQiao spoke again: "The FBI is investigating me."
Her tone was filled with loneliness, bitterness, and … an extreme desire for comfort.
My dad didn't respond, so Ai ShuQiao continued to speak in the wind.
"I thought that if I shared the drug research report with the US military, they would turn a blind eye to me. I didn't expect that someone would make an issue out of my identity as a Chinese, accusing me of being a spy from China and harming the core interests of the US! My opponent is a member of the Yale Skull and Bones Society who is related to the Bush family. I once supported a politician who didn't agree with them, so they're taking revenge on me … "
"Not only that, there are people in the company who are working undercover for the FBI, and even sold information to several countries! My business empire looks huge, but it's on the verge of collapse … I don't want my years of hard work to go to waste. I must think of a way to turn the tide … "
"You're too greedy."
Dad shook his head and looked at the woman he once loved.
"You want too many things. Previously, you abandoned everything to stand under the spotlight of the world and enjoy the worship of tens of thousands of people. But when you are about to fail, do you plan to find someone to walk into the darkness with you?"
Dad used his gaze to tell Ai ShuQiao that he would not be the man who walked into the darkness with her.
"I didn't say that I would fail," Ai ShuQiao bit her lips stubbornly, "I just hope that when I make my last stand, you can be by my side! Didn't you say that you would sacrifice everything for me? "
Dad sighed, "That 'everything' doesn't include our child. When you laid your hands on Xiao Lin, you already lost the right to be loved by me. It's just that it took me a longer time to walk out of that wrong relationship."
Well said! That's more like it! Dad, you've finally understood!
But as a gust of wind swept across the rooftop, Ai ShuQiao stumbled and lost her footing in her high heels. She fell towards Dad.
Even though he knew that she might be faking, Dad still softened and reached out his arms to support Ai ShuQiao's falling body. Ai ShuQiao used the momentum to push her face closer to Dad's chest.
"Yuanfeng, give me another chance. Don't you see that I'm trying my best to make it up to Xiao Lin?" Ai ShuQiao hugged Dad and refused to let go. Dad hesitated and didn't know if he should push her away or not.
"I've heard about your criminal acts … You should turn yourself in!"
"Do you plan to let me spend the rest of my life in prison?" Ai ShuQiao raised her head and glared at her father with a fierce look. Seeing that her father still had a stern look on his face, her tone became sorrowful again.
"Then, if I'm sentenced to life in prison, will you write me a letter?"
Dad thought deeply for a moment, "Maybe."
Ai ShuQiao had a bitter smile on her lips, "What will you write in the letter?"
"I don't know yet."
"… Will you use the kind of letter paper that you used to write love letters to me when you were a student?"
Dad fell into a short silence and then said in a daze, "That kind of letter paper can't be bought anymore."
"Then don't write me a letter." Ai ShuQiao turned her head away and said in a hoarse voice, "Let me remember the touch and smell of those letters when I was young …"
Her words were emotional, and Dad's frozen face showed signs of melting. Ai ShuQiao continued, "I thought you were just someone I met by chance in my life.
"I thought that you were just someone I met by chance in my life. I thought that you could be easily replaced, but I was wrong. In the end, I still hope that you will be by my side. But you don't love me anymore. I deserve it. I don't want you to accompany me into the darkness, but can you hug me one last time? "
Dad didn't say anything. Ai ShuQiao had already wrapped her arms around him. To people who didn't know what was going on, they were clearly hugging.
"Hug me one last time, and I won't bother you anymore. Then you can go back to the wife you truly love."
Ai ShuQiao, who had always been arrogant, pleaded in a tone that my dad couldn't refuse.
Dad raised his hands in the air and hesitated on whether or not to agree to Ai ShuQiao's request. I hid behind the water tower and didn't know if I should rush over and stop them.
004 and 005 did say that the FBI was going to close the net on Ai ShuQiao, but was she already in such a desperate situation? Even though she wasn't worthy of a hug from my dad, if he could make her completely give up …
Just as I thought, my dad's cold hands slowly fell on Ai ShuQiao's back.
"Wait." Ai ShuQiao suddenly stopped him when my dad was about to hug her, "I hope this hug isn't a perfunctory one. At least, during the few seconds you're hugging me, can you temporarily return to the you of the past, the you who loved me?"
Dad's arms froze, "What's done can't be undone. I can't go back to the past."
"You can." Ai ShuQiao gently pressed her forehead against my dad's chest and said softly, "Think back to the first time we took a walk along DaNing River. Think back to the time you accidentally ate a flying insect and I laughed at you. Think back to the time we went boating at DongShan Lake and it started raining. Think back to the time we went to the Terracotta Army Exhibition and you excitedly told me about the history of the Terracotta Army and I yawned in boredom …"
"Stop!" Dad's distant memories were triggered and he could no longer remain calm, "We did have a good time, but it was all ruined by you! The me who loved you only exists in my memories! "
"Then remember a bit more!" Ai ShuQiao urged, "Do you remember when I was harassed by hoodlums at a music store and you stood up for me when I didn't know how to fight? After that, when I was bandaging your wound, you kept complaining about the pain. Didn't I kiss your lips to calm you down? "
"I remember! But time didn't stop at that moment! " Dad's expression started to crumble, "If you didn't do those things later, I would still love you like I did back then! But … "
"Don't let the memories go back and stop there." Ai ShuQiao snuggled against my dad's chest and closed her eyes, "Can you hug me like you did back then? I only want one last hug. I want to feel what true love is like … "
Her tone was sorrowful and pitiful. Even I, who hated her to the core, was slightly touched, let alone my dad, who loved her so much that he could never forget it.
"If time could go back …"
Dad used his tall but not strong body to hug Ai ShuQiao tightly and satisfied her request for one last hug.
At that moment, Dad felt like he had returned to Dong Shan City 20 years ago. At that time, there weren't so many skyscrapers, the roads were old and narrow, and the memories of his youth were like faded photos. The two hands that used to hold each other trusted each other, adored each other, and naively thought that these two hands would continue to hold each other's hands for the rest of their lives …
My dad's heart must be hurting, right? The pain that went deep into his bones was only sealed, but once it was touched, it would still pour out like a flash flood.
I could hear my dad crying through the strong wind.
"ShuQiao, it's over. We really can't go back … You've done a lot of wrong things, don't make more mistakes …"
Ai ShuQiao showed a very relieved expression in my dad's arms. She used a very clear and even ethereal voice to ask:
"Yuanfeng, I don't care what I look like now, and I don't care what you look like now either. I just want the big boy from 20 years ago to hug me. You just need to treat me like the me from that time, okay?"
My dad's body trembled, "Do you think I would hug you if I didn't do that?"
"So …" Ai ShuQiao's voice was very soft, but it wouldn't be blown away by the wind, "The heart in your chest right now, is it still filled with love for me like it was 20 years ago? Even if the object of your love is only an illusion of my past? "
My dad didn't reply. He was immersed in his memories of the past. Tears and snot flowed down his face, just like how I saw him crying in front of old photos every time he got drunk.
However, Ai ShuQiao didn't try to respond to my dad's hug. Instead, she let go of her arms and took out a shiny metal object from her windbreaker pocket …
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