373 Not The One (2/2)

”It's... It's really not yours?” she stuttered.

He simply shook his head, ”I already had three kids and a very beautiful wife. Why on earth would we look for a surrogate mother? Or why would I have an affair when I had way too many important things to sort out?”

Ying thought about it carefully. ”But I thought kidnapping was possible...”

”How old is her daughter?” he questioned cutting her off.

”23,” she answered.

”Don't you think there is an age difference between her and my daughter?” He took a brief pause before lamenting, ”Besides, don't forget my daughter is... dead. I can't bring her back even if I want to.” His expressions hardened thinking of this deep-buried memory. He could talk about his dead wife often but he never brought up even the name of his daughter whom he lost when she was too young.

That reminder was the most painful one in his life and if he could, he wouldn't want to think about it ever again.

Seeing how the atmosphere became intense, he sighed out, ”Let me clear this up with you again, I had no relationship with Carina Novell. And from the very beginning, I never said there was a relationship. I only told you that it's important to find her. I never said she's important to me.”

”But Uncle Kuan said that you'd be devastatingly heartbroken if you knew that Carina Novell is also no more now,” said Ying with a sense of guilt building up in her heart.

Xin Zimen tilted his head to look at Xin Kuan who was busy reading a newspaper carelessly. ”Brother Kuan, why did you mislead her?”

”Xiao Zi, her mind was on the wrong track from the beginning. You can't blame me since I merely spoke the truth.” Xin Kaun looked at him challengingly. ”Don't say you're not disappointed to know that she died before you could reach to her.”

Xin Zimen's hands clenched tightly while his eyes also closed.

Ying recalled something when she noticed his reaction. ”Zizi, aunt Feifei said that you hated Carina Novell. She wasn't lying, right?”

”Feifei? That blabbermouth really has a loose mouth,” he spoke with disdain.

Then he stood up, opened the drawer of his desk, and pulled out a photo. Staring at that smiling face of the little girl in the photo, his eyes moistened up. ”How can I not hate Carina? She was the reason my daughter lost her life. Do I not even have the right to hate her? She's the reason I lost my wife as well because if our babygirl hadn't died, Wen Ai wouldn't have gotten sick. I lost the two most important parts of myself.”

Ying's eyes widened. She finally understood why her aunt reacted so weirdly to Carina's name and her stupid assumptions. The helplessness, longing, and vulnerability she had seen in Xin Zimen's eyes while he had talked about Carina Novell to her back then was because of this reason. He was really helpless because he couldn't bring neither his daughter back nor his wife.

”Wait! Wait a minute!” Ying voiced out. ”Then why was I asked to find Carina Novell? Why were you looking for her?”

”I never said, I'm the one looking for her,” retorted Xin Zimen in a level tone.