Yan Heng's Mother

Yan Heng was taken aback when Xu An'an suddenly asked to see Yan Zhenze.

"Why would you want to see him?"

"Let's talk about our situation," Xu An'an said. "He's your father after all, and we—"

"No need." Yan Heng said firmly, "An'an, I don't need anyone's permission to marry you."

"I know you don't need it," Xu An'an turned to look at him, "but I think so."

Yan Heng looked at her without saying a word.

Xu An'an continued, "Yan Heng, my parents are gone. But your father is still here, and I hope that our relationship can be approved and blessed by him."

"It doesn't matter if he doesn't approve."

Yan Heng knew exactly what Xu An'an was thinking.

But he is no longer someone who needs to rely on the Yan family's name to establish himself. He has his own business, and even within the Yan Group, he has a solid sphere of influence. Although Yan Zhenze is still the nominal chairman, in terms of actual control over the group, Yan Heng is no less than him.

He simply had no intention of competing for it.

What he wanted was never money or power. What he wanted was freedom—freedom for himself, and freedom for Xu An'an. Now he is fully capable of doing just that.

So he never even considered Yan Zhenze's thoughts.

Because that's not important at all.

"Let me finish." Xu An'an sat down next to him, looking at him seriously. "I know you're very capable now and don't need anyone's approval. But, Yan Heng, marriage is not a game. Whether he agrees or not is one thing, whether we tell him or not is another. You also know that I'm not his ideal daughter-in-law to begin with. If we don't take the initiative, he'll be even more disgusted with me."

"So what?" Yan Heng frowned. "It's the two of us living our lives together. What he thinks doesn't matter."

"You mean you want to cut ties with him?"

Yan Heng's brows furrowed even more: "I didn't mean to cut ties with him. I just—"

"You're just afraid he'll upset me," Xu An'an finished speaking for him.

Yan Heng fell silent.

His jawline was very taut.

He understood Yan Zhenze. Selfish, hypocritical. He didn't want Xu An'an to meet Yan Zhenze; ​​he was afraid Yan Zhenze would say something hurtful to her. If Yan Zhenze wanted to sever ties with him because of this, he wouldn't necessarily object.

In his mind, Yan Zhenze was never a qualified father.

Xu An'an sighed and cupped Yan Heng's face in her hands.

"Yan Heng, can't you have a little faith in me? I've decided to be with you, so I'm prepared to face all the difficulties and obstacles together. I'm not someone who likes to run away from difficulties. Rather than hiding now and waiting for trouble to come knocking on our door later, let's take the initiative to solve it now."

Yan Heng's eyes flickered.

The living room remained quiet for a long time.

The sky outside the window had already darkened. The lights were off, and only a little warm light emanated from the kitchen, casting long shadows of the two people.

Yan Heng lowered his head and spoke after a long while, his voice much softer than before.

"An'an, have I never told you about my mother?"

Xu An'an was stunned for a moment.

Indeed. She only knew that Yan Heng and his father had a bad relationship, but she had never heard him mention his mother.

Yan Heng was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

Have you heard of the Fang family?

Xu An'an shook her head. She didn't know anything about the feuds between wealthy families, and she had never heard of the Fang family.

Yan Heng wasn't surprised to see her shake her head: "The Fang family no longer exists. All their businesses were absorbed into the Yan family when I was a child. Otherwise, how could Yan Zhenze alone have expanded the Yan family's influence to this extent in just over a decade?"

At this point, Yan Heng's eyes were filled with disdain.

Xu An'an didn't quite understand—what exactly was the relationship between the Fang family and the Yan family? How could they just merge into each other like that?

"The Fang family back then was similar to the Yan family now. My mother was the only daughter in the Fang family. Logically, she should have inherited the family business, but my mother didn't like business at all. She was very artistic and liked playing the piano, growing flowers, and painting. My maternal grandparents doted on her and let her do as she pleased."

"They were planning to find her a son-in-law to marry into the family, but Yan Zhenze beat them to it." Yan Heng snorted coldly, "My dad is a despicable person, but he happens to be good-looking."

Using "not bad" to describe it is actually too modest. Xu An'an had seen the interview photos of Yan Heng's father—although he was nearly sixty years old, he had a full head of black hair, deep features, and was very handsome. Yan Heng's appearance was similar to his father's in many ways.

"My mother was young at the time and couldn't resist Yan Zhenze's persistent pursuit. She fell deeply in love with him. My maternal grandparents knew what this meant, and although they wanted to stop her, they couldn't persuade my mother otherwise, so they could only acquiesce in the end."

"They did have a wonderful time. My mother was truly happy, and my maternal grandparents gradually came to trust Yan Zhenze. Just as I was born, Yan Zhenze suggested merging some of the two families' companies and assets and registering them under my name. This happened more and more often, and my maternal grandparents were getting older. They had my mother when they were already late in life, and they knew their days were numbered. They felt that Yan Zhenze was someone they could entrust their lives to, so they transferred the entire group to my name. Although it was called my name, it was actually the Yan family's name."

"In this way, Yan Zhenze achieved all his goals. Since I was too young, he naturally took over all the properties under my name and used various means to turn them into legitimate assets of the Yan Group."

"In those years, he had hundreds of women outside. He could barely keep it up before, but after my grandfather passed away, he couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore. My mother's mental state was already very bad at that time. Until one day, a pregnant woman knocked on our door."

Yan Heng's tone remained calm, but Xu An'an noticed that he unconsciously clenched his fists.

"My mom was completely devastated by that commotion."

"She's a completely different person."

"She used to be very good to me." Yan Heng's voice suddenly softened a little as he said this. "I remember when I was five or six years old, she would play the piano for me every night to lull me to sleep. She played so beautifully that I never wanted to go to sleep and wanted her to play a little longer."

Xu An'an's heart clenched.

"But then she started to hate me." Yan Heng lowered his eyes. "I'm starting to look more and more like my dad. Every time she sees me, she's reminded of those things. She didn't do it on purpose—I know she didn't. She can't control herself."

"Sometimes she would suddenly be very nice to me, asking me to come and hug her, but halfway through the hug she would suddenly push me away, as if she had seen something scary."

"She was very ill. One moment she was my familiar mother, but the next she would turn into a monster, hitting me, cursing me, even biting me, telling me to die..."

"Yan Heng." Xu An'an stood up, interrupting him.

She pulled Yan Heng into her arms, pressing his face tightly against her soft belly.

She was heartbroken.

How could such a young child cope with his beloved mother turning into a monster and cursing him? Especially since he hadn't done anything wrong...

Yan Heng hugged Xu An'an tightly, and after a long time, as if he had drawn enough energy from her embrace, he continued speaking.

"Later, she moved to England for recuperation. After we finished filming 'Goodnight,' Yan Zhenze originally wanted me to go to the United States. But I still chose the school in England, partly because of her—I thought that if I was closer to her, I could go to her anytime she wanted to see me."

"Did she see you?" Xu An'an asked softly.

Yan Heng shook his head: "I've tried a few times. I've seen her from afar. Once I mustered up the courage to walk up to her, and she glanced at me and started trembling, then turned and walked away. Since then, I haven't dared to get close to her again. I only occasionally ask about her condition from the caregiver, just to know that she's safe and sound."

He looked up at Xu An'an, a faint smile playing on his lips: "So you see, my dad doesn't care about me, and my mom doesn't want to see me. That's how I grew up. I don't care at all whether he agrees to our marriage—because he's never cared about me, and he has no right to now."

Looking at the forced relaxed smile on his face, Xu An'an felt as if something had twisted her heart hard.

She suddenly understood. She understood why Yan Heng had such a strong desire to control her, why he was so insecure in the relationship, and why he loved her in such a clumsy, almost obsessive way—because no one had ever taught him how to love. He had never been properly loved since he was a child.

She reached out and pulled Yan Heng into her arms again.

"Yan Heng".

"Um?"

"Let's go to England."

Yan Heng was taken aback: "What are you going to England for?"

"Go see your mother."

Yan Heng's body visibly stiffened.

"You don't need to get close to her," Xu An'an said. "Just watch from a distance. I want to see her."

"She won't see you."

"How will I know if I don't try?" Xu An'an looked down at him and smiled. "Even an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her in-laws. I'm so pretty, what's there to be afraid of?"

Yan Heng didn't speak. He buried his face in Xu An'an's warm lower abdomen, and after a long time, he finally said in a muffled voice, "...Why did you do these things?"

Xu An'an stroked his hair: "Because I love you."

He didn't look up, but Xu An'an could feel a warm, moist sensation through the thin nightgown.