Chapter 271: HE WISH HE COULD BELIEVE HIM

Chapter 271: Chapter 271: HE WISH HE COULD BELIEVE HIM

Silence stretched between them, heavy and unresolved.

"I just wish you’d tell me." Liuxian’s voice came out quiet now, all the earlier fire drained from it, leaving something closer to plain, tired want.

"And I wish you’d wait." Guiying’s own voice softened to match. "Just a little. Until I’m ready."

Neither of them said anything more after that.

The words sat between them, not fixing anything, not undoing anything either.

Guiying turned toward the door. "I’m heading home. I’m tired."

Liuxian didn’t stop him this time.

The walk back through the building passed in a blur. Guiying barely registered the security stationed along the corridors, barely registered Haiyan falling into step beside him the moment he reached the entrance.

"Home, please." His voice came out flat, worn thin.

Haiyan didn’t ask questions, simply opening the car door and pulling away from the property the moment Guiying settled into the back seat.

He wasn’t angry. Not really. Not anymore. The anger had burned through him fast and hot back in that room and left something quieter in its place. Sadness sat closer to the surface now, tangled with everything else the day had piled onto him. Too much had happened in too few hours, and his body felt the weight of all of it settling in at once.

Guilt lingered too, small and persistent. He hadn’t meant to lash out the way he had. Liuxian’s hurt had been real, plain on his face the entire time, and Guiying knew some part of his own anger had come from shame rather than from anything Liuxian actually deserved. He’d needed somewhere to put the humiliation of being overheard, and Liuxian had been standing right there.

His phone rang halfway through the drive, an unfamiliar number lighting up the screen.

He answered cautiously. "Hello?"

"Guiying." The voice on the other end came low, steady, unmistakably familiar despite how few times they’d actually spoken. "It’s ShangYan."

Guiying sat up slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing’s wrong." ShangYan’s tone carried something almost gentle underneath its usual weight. "I wanted to check on you. I know a lot’s been happening lately. More than most people could handle at once. I imagine it’s overwhelming."

"It has been." Guiying exhaled, some tension easing slightly just from being asked so plainly. "Thank you for checking."

"I have news." ShangYan paused briefly. "I’ve found the location of your mother."

Guiying’s breath caught. "You found him?"

"I did." Something in ShangYan’s voice shifted, careful excitement threading through the steadiness. "I’m leaving to go to him. It’ll take time. Three months, possibly longer depending on how things unfold once I arrive. But I promise you, I’ll come back with him. You’ll finally get to meet him properly."

Guiying’s throat tightened, emotion he hadn’t expected rising fast at the news.

"While I’m away, Little Tao and the rest of my organization remain fully under your protection." ShangYan’s voice hardened slightly, the same authority Guiying had seen in him before settling back into place. "They already have instructions. If you need anything at all while I’m gone, you call them directly, and they’ll handle it as though the order came from me."

"You don’t have to do that." Guiying’s voice came out quieter than he intended.

"I want to." No hesitation in the answer. "You’re my son, Guiying. Whether the rest of the world knows it yet or not, I intend to make sure you’re protected the way I should have been protecting you all along."

"I appreciate that." Guiying’s voice softened, something unsteady sitting beneath it.

"Truly. I don’t know how to thank you properly for any of this."

"You don’t need to thank me." ShangYan’s tone gentled further, an unfamiliar warmth in it that Guiying hadn’t heard from him before. "I’ve missed twenty-three years of being your father. Protecting you now is the least I can do to start making up for that."

Guiying pressed a hand briefly against his chest, throat tight. "When do you leave?"

"Tonight." ShangYan’s voice turned brisker, businesslike again, though the warmth from a moment ago hadn’t fully vanished. "I wanted to speak with you before I did. I didn’t want you finding out secondhand, through Tao or through someone else in the organization."

Something about that phrase landed harder than ShangYan could have known, given everything Guiying had just walked out of.

"Thank you for telling me yourself." His voice cracked slightly on the words.

"Of course." A brief pause followed, ShangYan’s tone shifting into something more careful. "Are you alright? You sound tired."

"It’s been a long day." Guiying leaned his head back against the seat, watching the city lights blur past outside the window. "A lot happened. I’m still processing most of it."

"I heard about the arrests." ShangYan’s voice sharpened slightly. "Shen Zihao’s finally facing consequences. Good. I only wish it had happened sooner, before Ren Hao got caught in the middle of it."

"Me too." Guiying’s chest tightened at the reminder. "He’s still in a coma. We don’t know when he’ll wake up."

"He will." ShangYan said it with a certainty Guiying couldn’t quite share yet. "People like that, the ones who fight to survive that long, they don’t give up easily once they’ve made it this far."

Guiying wanted to believe him.

"I should let you go." ShangYan’s voice softened again. "You need rest, and I have preparations to finish before tonight. I’ll call you when I land, and again once we’re on our way back."

"Please be careful." Guiying’s voice wavered slightly. "Whatever’s waiting for you there, whatever state he’s in after all this time, please be careful."

"I will." A brief silence stretched between them. "Take care of yourself while I’m gone, Guiying. I mean that."

Guiying’s throat tightened, something quietly grateful settling in his chest despite the exhaustion. "You too. Safe travels."

The call ended, and Guiying sat quietly for a long moment, phone resting loosely in his lap, staring out at the passing city without really seeing it.

Haiyan glanced at him once in the rearview mirror. "Everything alright?"

"I think so." Guiying managed a small, tired smile. "A lot’s happening all at once."

"You should rest once we’re home." Haiyan’s tone carried quiet concern. "You’ve had a long day."

"I plan to." Guiying closed his eyes briefly, letting the motion of the car lull some of the tension out of his shoulders.