Chapter 35: Mom Doesn’t Want You Anymore

He reached out and picked up a cigarette from the table, lighting it. Amidst the swirling smoke, his thoughts grew increasingly chaotic, as if he were lost in a dense fog with no sense of direction.

He could not focus; his thoughts were like wild horses running untethered, and he did not even know what he was thinking. The inner confusion and helplessness left him feeling exhausted as never before.

On the wall of the study hung a wedding portrait of him and Yao Shan. In the photograph, the two of them were smiling happily and sweetly; back then, they had eyes only for each other, untainted by anything else. Pei Qizhou gazed at the picture, a surge of inexplicable bitterness rising in his chest.

Once Xu Miao was certain that Pei Qizhou had left, she knocked on Pei Yi’s door. After talking with his father, Pei Yi had been unable to sleep. Xu Miao stepped into the room softly and saw Pei Yi lying on the bed, his eyes wide open, clearly showing no sign of drowsiness.

She walked to the bedside and asked gently, "Pei Yi, still awake?"

Pei Yi turned his head and, seeing it was Xu Miao, felt a flicker of relief. He whispered, "Mommy Miao, I can't sleep."

Xu Miao sighed softly, sat on the edge of the bed, and said in a tender voice, "Are you still thinking about your conversation with Daddy just now?" Pei Yi nodded, his eyes filled with confusion and unease.

Xu Miao reached out and gently stroked Pei Yi’s hair. "Pei Yi, Mommy doesn't want you anymore." She used the gentlest tone to deliver the cruelest words, all to make Pei Yi hate Yao Shan even more.

Pei Yi stared at Xu Miao blankly, as if he hadn't understood. "Mommy Miao, what did you say?"

"Mommy is with another man now. She doesn't want you or Daddy anymore." Xu Miao didn't care about the truth; she only wanted Pei Yi to know what she wanted him to believe.

Pei Yi’s face darkened instantly. He bolted out of the room and ran to Pei Qizhou’s study. "I want to go find Yao Shan." He didn't even call her "Mommy," addressing her by her full name instead.

"Pei Yi?" Pei Qizhou looked stunned. "Why are you going to find Mommy so late at night?" he asked, looking at his son.

"I want to ask her why she doesn't want me anymore." His voice was laced with hatred for Yao Shan.

"Who told you that?" Pei Qizhou’s brow furrowed. He had never spoken to Pei Yi like that. His gaze shifted to Xu Miao, as if waiting for an explanation. Xu Miao avoided his eyes; she hadn't expected Pei Yi to confront his father directly.

"Don't look at Mommy Miao like that!" Pei Yi was highly agitated; he even felt that his father was lying to him. "You’ve always been lying to me! Only Mommy Miao tells me the truth!" He began to cry, his voice full of grievance.

"Pei Yi, shut up!" Already in a foul mood, Pei Qizhou could not tolerate such behavior. Pei Yi was startled by his father’s sudden outburst.

"You're all bad people!" he shouted, running out of the room.

Pei Qizhou felt a throbbing headache; he couldn't be bothered to deal with Pei Yi and sat back down. Pei Yi, meanwhile, felt deeply hurt. He ran straight out of the villa, intending to head to the hospital on his own.

"Qizhou, I..." Xu Miao looked at Pei Qizhou, wanting to explain, but he didn't want to hear it.

"Get out," he said coldly. He could guess that Xu Miao must have said something to the boy. Otherwise, Pei Yi would not have gone from being perfectly fine to having such an emotional outburst in such a short time.

Xu Miao frowned slightly and ran out. She chased after Pei Yi, but he was so emotional that she couldn't keep up. Seeing him running further and further away, she knew she couldn't let it continue.

She dialed Pei Qizhou’s number. "Qizhou, Pei Yi has run off," she said, panting heavily from the exertion of the chase.

"What?" Pei Qizhou stood up. "Where did he go?" It was the middle of the night; he dared not imagine the consequences if something were to happen to the boy.

"It looks like he's heading toward the hospital," Xu Miao replied.

Pei Qizhou rushed out and started his car. He pulled up beside Xu Miao. "Get in."

Xu Miao obediently opened the door and sat down. She looked at Pei Qizhou cautiously, not daring to speak.

"Keep an eye out for Pei Yi; don't lose him," Pei Qizhou said with a frown. He was already frustrated, and these troubles only added to his irritation.

"Okay," Xu Miao nodded. She scanned the surroundings, terrified of missing a glimpse of him.

"There!" After about five minutes of driving, Xu Miao pointed to a small figure on the side of the road. Pei Yi had run fast, covering quite a distance, but he now looked physically exhausted.

"Pei Yi!" Pei Qizhou parked the car and stepped out quickly. "What are you doing!" His tone was still harsh, but this time it was out of sheer anxiety. He couldn't bear to think of what might happen if Pei Yi came to harm. Perhaps even Yao Shan would blame him.

"I don't need your help!" Pei Yi’s tone was equally sharp. He looked up at his father, his eyes filled with resentment. Feeling wronged, he wanted to cry even more after being yelled at by his father. He turned to run away again, but this time, Pei Qizhou managed to restrain him.

"Where do you want to go? I'll take you," he said, struggling to control his temper.

"I don't need it! I can do it myself!" Pei Yi was still in a rage and wouldn't listen to anything his father said.

"Pei Yi, stop this," he said, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Daddy will take you to the hospital." He crouched down, looked at his son, and pulled him into an embrace. Little Pei Yi wept in his arms.

"Daddy, why did you lie to me?" he sobbed.

"Daddy didn't lie to you. You can ask Mommy yourself when we get to the hospital." He didn't want Pei Yi to believe Xu Miao's words.

"Okay," Pei Yi nodded, burying his face in his father’s neck.

Pei Qizhou placed Pei Yi in his safety seat and drove toward the hospital. Throughout the journey, none of the three spoke. The air in the car was dreadfully quiet.

"Pei Yi, when we get to the hospital, you must treat Mommy better," Pei Qizhou said, his voice carrying an unmistakable tone of seriousness and concern as he focused on driving and kept glancing at his son in the rearview mirror. Regardless of whether Yao Shan was feigning illness, it was an undeniable fact that she was currently lying weakly in a hospital bed. Pei Qizhou felt a lingering worry; he feared that if Pei Yi arrived at the hospital and lost control of his emotions, he might say something that would aggravate Yao Shan’s condition.

Pei Yi did not respond to his father’s instruction; instead, he silently turned his head and stared at the passing scenery outside the window, as if deliberately avoiding the topic.

"Qizhou, don't be too hard on him; he really is in a bad mood right now," Xu Miao, sitting in the passenger seat, ventured to say, trying to ease the tense atmosphere in the car.

Pei Qizhou turned and shot her a cold, scathing look filled with dissatisfaction and blame. "Xu Miao, I’m warning you: keep your nonsense to yourself in front of Pei Yi from now on." His voice was laced with obvious anger; if not for the inappropriate ideas she had been planting in the boy's mind, how could Pei Yi have become so stubborn and rebellious?