After the divorce, my ex-husband and son lined up to pursue me.

Chapter 16 What do I owe her?

Jiang Xia stood frozen in place, letting Chaochao kick and hit her.

Her body was shaking and trembling as she was being pushed.

How much strength could a child of that age have? The blows didn't hurt physically, but they felt like knives were stabbing into her heart, slowly tearing away at her soul with each of Ruan Yuanchao's venting words.

"Aunt Xinrou! I want Aunt Xinrou!"

"I don't want you! Get out of here!"

"Don't you have anywhere to go? Don't you have a home? What are you doing staying at my house? Get out! Get out right now!"

……

Jiang Xia listened silently, her trembling fingers already clenched involuntarily. When she slapped him, all was quiet for a moment.

The noise stopped, and the crying also ceased.

Jiang Xia finally found a sliver of air in this almost suffocating space. She clutched her chest and gasped for breath, but she couldn't stop the deafening ringing in her ears!

Her brain also acted up at this time, and the throbbing pain made her feel nauseous and want to vomit.

She barely managed to hold back, looking at Ruan Yuanchao who was covering his face in shock, and her voice was hoarse and trembling as she spoke: "Ruan Yuanchao, this is the first time I've hit you, and it should be the last time..."

She disliked corporal punishment, especially against her own son, whom she couldn't bear to do.

but……

There's no such thing as innocent childish talk. You can tell what a person will be like at three!
With a son like that, let alone if she were to die, even if she were in good health, what could she rely on him when she got old?
Ha! That's absolutely ridiculous!

Jiang Xia never dreamed that he would fail so badly in educating his son!

"Reincarnation is a very skillful thing. Children can't choose their parents, and likewise, parents can't choose their children. Ruan Yuanchao, if you don't want me as your mother, fine, you can change mothers anytime, and I can help you find a new one. But, how are you going to repay what you owe me? Huh?"

Ruan Yuanchao remained stunned and did not react at all.

His little brain couldn't understand what Jiang Xia was saying at all. He just felt that his fever had finally subsided after waking up, he felt better, and he had more energy. He wanted to find Aunt Xin Rou, but when he saw Jiang Xia... he got annoyed.

I've long forgotten what I said last night.

Forget about having a mother or not. If he could get rid of Jiang Xia, that annoying brat, and have Aunt Xin Rou as his mother, all the other kids would be so envious of him.

What does he owe you?

Ruan Muhuai's voice suddenly broke in.

He strode in, picked up his son who was still covering his face in a daze, coaxed him gently, then removed Chaochao's hand and looked at his slapped face, which was red and obviously swollen.

“Jiang Xia, you…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He first put Chaochao back on the bed, then took Jiang Xia’s hand and led her straight outside. “Come out with me.”

Once on the terrace, completely avoiding his son, Ruan Muhuai also closed the terrace door behind him.

Then, his gloomy face revealed boundless rage, and his words, like a blizzard, rained down on Jiang Xia as he turned and lashed out: "What's wrong with you now?! Chaochao is only six years old! What does he know? Even if he's throwing a tantrum, he's still sick!"

"What were you thinking? How could you hit him so hard?!"

When it comes to educating his son, Ruan Muhuai has always been stern and aloof. He also established rules for Ruan Yuanchao from the time he could remember. After all, nothing can be accomplished without rules, and educating children must start from a young age.

So, as Ruan Yuanchao grew up, he was occasionally naughty and got beaten quite a bit, but it was always his father who did it, and there were always reasons. He certainly couldn't just hit the child when he was sick. Jiang Xia didn't have the energy to deal with his anger, nor did she want to explain anything. She was still reeling from the disappointment and heartbreak she felt towards Ruan Yuanchao.

She shifted her gaze to the distance and said coldly, "I'm his mother. I gave him his life. What's wrong with me hitting him a couple of times?"

"You!" Ruan Muhuai was inexplicably rebuked, and Jiang Xia's cold and heartbroken expression made him feel very uncomfortable.

He took two steps forward, about to reach out, but Jiang Xia saw through his move and dodged him.

"You just asked him what he owes me?" Jiang Xia brought it up again, pacing to the railing as well. A cold smile played on her lips, a deep sense of absurdity in her voice. Her tone was even more sarcastic: "Ruan Muhuai, are you brainless? I carried him for ten months and gave birth to him, I gave him my life! You tell me what he owes me?!"

Ruan Muhuai was stunned, speechless for a moment, and his silence was deafening.

“It’s not just him. From the moment I got pregnant, you were destined to owe me for the rest of your life!” Jiang Xia said, but it felt too absurd.

These two people, whom she once thought were her whole world, the most important people in her life, the core of everything she did, the goal and motivation for all her struggles, are now being stabbed again and again by this father and son, each wielding a sharp blade, without shedding a drop of blood.

And she also had to cruelly reopen the wounds in her heart, to make things clear, to let the father and son see her bleeding heart...

Ah ha ha……

How could this be...?

"Is getting pregnant easy? You still don't know how I got through those months, do you? Even if you did know, you wouldn't care! Because you have no heart at all!"

Jiang Xia had long seen through Ruan Muhuai. He was like a snow mountain with snow that had been piled up for thousands of years and could not be melted. Countless people looked up to him with envy, but could only look up to him from afar, unable to touch him or climb him.

Even if someone manages to climb up the ladder like her, the result is the same year after year. No matter how much effort they put in, they can't warm or melt his heart.

Except for one person.

That's the one he loves most in his heart.

Jiang Xia could no longer deceive herself. This illness, this brush with death, made her see through everything in an instant, and she became clear-headed. She no longer wanted to waste her time.

“I risked my life to give birth to Ruan Yuanchao, but does he love me? Does he care about me? I failed to raise my son well, and I have only myself to blame!”

Jiang Xia's heart was already shattered with bitterness, and tears silently blurred her vision. She turned her head away and quickly wiped her face. "This divorce is final. I still don't want anything. If you have any objections, have your lawyer contact me."

If an amicable divorce doesn't work, then file a lawsuit.

That way, we can avoid that damn cooling-off period.

Jiang Xia wasn't just hardened up; he was utterly desperate and his heart was ashen.

She tried to leave again, but Ruan Muhuai grabbed her arm and blocked her way.

He had never seen Jiang Xia like this before. Looking at the tears that had just welled up in her eyes, he felt as if the air in the whole world had been sucked out, leaving him breathless.

Ruan Muhuai still couldn't figure out where the problem lay.

But at this moment, he seemed to understand.

It turns out that the reason she insisted on getting a divorce was because of Chaochao.

(End of this chapter)