Chapter 228: Chapter 168: The Child Needs a Father
The temperature outside was several degrees colder than indoors, and Wei Lan, having reached downstairs, stood in the courtyard and couldn’t help but shiver.
From a nearby black Range Rover, the weary gaze of a man was instantly replaced by surprise upon the sight of Wei Lan. However, seeing her current state, the surprise quickly turned into heartache.
Wei Lan’s vision blurred as she looked up at a house still lit in the dead of night, and then looked down the road, unsure of where she could go at this moment…
The pain in her heart was only let loose when she was alone; she crouched down, covered her face with both hands, and sobbed uncontrollably.
Unable to wait any longer, the man in the car opened the door and strode towards the lone woman crouching by the roadside.
Wei Lan thought that no one would be around in the middle of the night to witness her unrestrained venting of grievances. However, she just felt regret over the unsatisfactory conclusion of this marriage and didn’t feel that losing Jing Zan was too hard to accept.
Instead, she felt a sense of relief, believing that the Jing Zan she liked was not the same as the real one.
The version of him in her memory was sunny, clean, considerate, gentle, and devoted to love. However, reality told her that it wasn’t that Jing Zan had changed; it was just that she didn’t know him well enough and had imagined him as the perfect man in her memories.
After getting married, she didn’t feel the blissful happiness she expected. Life was always cautious, always worried about displeasing him in some way, always trying to make him happy. And the time he spent with her was getting less and less. Sometimes she felt that being married wasn’t much different from being single; marrying the man she loved didn’t bring her the bliss she envisioned…
Amid the cold, a sudden warmth came over her, carrying a faint scent of mint. Feeling the light weight on her body ensured her it wasn’t a hallucination.
Her first reaction was thinking Jing Zan had followed her; panic-stricken, she looked up and through her blurred vision, she saw a short-haired man in a thin shirt, standing in the night wind looking down at her.
Yang Zichen had a calm expression, yet his heart was somewhat chaotic. Having rushed over impulsively, he was now unsure what to say.
Subconsciously, he just wanted to embrace this pitiful woman in his arms, but he wasn’t entitled to do that yet. Being too abrupt might scare her, right?
In their eye contact, she recognized who the man was. Wei Lan quickly reached up to wipe her tears, turned her head to look at the jacket draped over her, and scratched the bare ground with her shoeless feet, feeling utterly disheveled and embarrassed that someone familiar had seen her this way.
“Special Assistant Yang… what are you doing here?”
Her voice was still hoarse and choked from crying, making Yang Zichen feel tense inside. However, his tone came out even as he said, “Just happened to pass by and saw you…”
Even though he liked her, he was deeply afraid that others might know his feelings for her.
Yang Zichen pointed to a building in front and asked rhetorically, “Don’t you live here? Why are you out so late?”
Wei Lan’s feet were entwined, and she hesitated, “I…” It was still hard for her to speak about the heartache.
Yang Zichen had already noticed her shivering, wearing only a thin nightgown and barefoot, seriously wondering what kind of man she had married. However, it was fortunate that they were going to divorce.
“Come inside the car, it’s windy outside.” It was not a question, but a command.
Wei Lan noticed that he had given her his jacket and was just wearing a shirt himself. She followed him into the car, feeling secure enough with this man to trust him, at least believing he was not a bad person who would take advantage of her vulnerability.
Entering the heated car, she felt a lot more comfortable. However, in the tight space, Wei Lan felt extremely awkward, so much so that she momentarily forgot her earlier heartache.
Sitting restrained in the passenger seat, she took off the jacket from her shoulders and handed it back to him: “Thank you…”
Yang Zichen glanced at it, started the car, and then said, “Keep it on.”
Seeing that he didn’t take it back, Wei Lan didn’t insist and draped the warm jacket over herself. Then his question followed, “Would you mind staying at my place for the night?”
Wei Lan looked out the window, only realizing then that the car had started.
Had any other man said that, she would definitely suspect his intentions and fear being tricked after going to his place.
However, hearing this from Yang Zichen, it seemed very normal and plain, genuinely straightforward without any ulterior motives. Perhaps it was related to his meticulous persona, making her subconsciously think he was reliable.