Flashback
It was a dreary night. The pitter-patter of the rain accentuated the cold night. Mrs Cheng had been rushed to the hospital and she was accompanied by the housekeeper of the Chengs household.
After she had gone into labor, she spent five hours in the labor room only to give birth to a dead child.
As she held the lifeless child in her hand which was covered in blood, she remained still. She was very silent, and one could not understand the devastating pain she felt in her heart.
Suddenly, she held the dead baby to herself, tears slipping out of her eyes silently. The doctors, nurses and the housekeeper all left the room as they gave her time to be able to take in the news.
"My baby, I had so much plans for you, why did you have to go?" She cried out as she held the baby to her chest, despite the searing pain she felt in her lower abdomen.
"Baby, what are we to tell your father when he returns home? He has been patiently awaiting your arrival, baby, I had plans to name you Cheng Jixuan, why did you go baby?" She burst into tears as she watched the baby’s close eyes.
An hour later, as per Mrs Cheng’s request, the baby laid in a cot beside her. She was waiting for her hussnd. She sat on the hospital bed lifelessly when a nurse approached her.
"Mrs Cheng," the nurse called and she turned, her face pale, her eyes without any light. She was like a shadow of her past self.
"There is a lady who just gave birth in the ward right next to yours, it is a girl and the lady seems to be single," the nurse whispered into her ears.
"I believe you know what you have to do," the nurse said with a smile which did not reach her eyes before leaving the ward.
Mrs Cheng sat on the hospital bed with clenched fists. She understood perfectly what the nurse wanted her to do. She wanted her to steal the baby for herself.
But should she do it? She felt rather conflicted.
But on recalling how much her husband wanted that child, she steeled herself as she left her bed, walking towards the ward next to hers.
She noticed that the doctors were not in there and the lady was asleep.
"I see you have made your choice, you do not need to worry about anything, just take her baby," Mrs Cheng suddenly heard the nurse’s voice and she almost shrieked out but seeing the warning look in the eyes of the nurse, she placed her hands on her heart to calm the rapid beating of her heart.
Luckily, there was no one in the corridor and she was able to walk into the ward silently.
She walked to the baby’s cot and she was amazed by the beauty of the baby. She looked towards the mother of the child and she noticed she was familiar, very familiar but she could not point her fingers as to where she had met or seen her.
The baby was asleep which made it easier for Mrs Cheng to carry her in her arms before leaving the ward. She did not care about the mother, neither the feelings of the mother.
"I have informed your housekeeper, she knows about it, you both can leave the hospital now," the nurse said to her and she nodded.
"Thank you so much," Mrs Cheng thanked her genuinely before walking away as she met the housekeeper on the way and they both left the hospital against the doctors warnings.
Flashback Ends
Cheng Nan sat stiffly in her seat as she listened to the story. She looked at her mom who had a regretful smile on her face and for the first time, if felt as though she did not know who her mom was.
"Did you really did all that?" Cheng Nan asked in a low voice and she nodded solemnly.
"Why? Just why? Why did you steal another person’s child?" Cheng Nan whispered the question as she looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar woman who was ironically her mother.
"Because I needed a child!" Mrs Cheng yelled which startled all the maids, Cheng Nan inclusive.
"Get out!" Cheng Nan yelled to the maids who hurriedly scurried out of the private living room.
"I needed a child, I wanted your father to become a father, he had been looking forward to it, should I have shattered his dreams? Tell me," tears slipped from her eyes, she did not want to do it, but what could she have done?
"You treated Sister Luiying really well, what changed?" Cheng Nan asked.
She recalled when she was still a kid, the love her mom had for them was equal, if not a little bit biased towards Cheng Luiying, but after her father’s death, she changed.
"I thought I could love her, I was already loving her but that was until I found out your father was about to sign all his properties to her," Mrs Cheng’s face was twisted as she thought about the foolish decision her husband made.
"How could he sign everything to her? What would happen to you? To Jixuan? It was not possible, she was not even related to us, so why should she get what is actually meant for you?" At this point, Mrs Cheng had actually lost all sense of reasoning.
"What did you do?" For some reason, Cheng Nan had a bad feeling. She felt her mom must have done something very huge.
"I told your father the truth, after I had poisoned him," Mrs Cheng replied with a twisted smile.
She loved her husband, yes and it hurts her to kill him. But she loved her children more, she would never allow anyone to snatch what belongs to them.
Cheng Nan’s heart turned cold as she stared at her mom who looked please with herself for what she had done. She actually had the instinct to run.
"You killed father? What about grandfather?" She whispered-yelled. Right now, she might just have to believe that her mother is a murderer.
"Of course I killed that old man, he found out I killed his precious son, so he had to go," she replied with a matter of fact tone.
Cheng Luiying stared at her mom with wide eyes, not believing what she had just heard.