Early in the morning when Jie woke up and left his kids’ room, the only thing that awaited him outside was silence. He looked for Xu Mey all around the house but not finding her anywhere, his expressions hardened.

  He had thought about clearing up everything with her. He was willing to sit down and talk to her. He was even willing to apologize for the way he spoke last night but guess what she did? She ran! She ran away again!

  Jie took a deep calming breath as he got ready and came downstairs to prepare breakfast. "Morning, dad!" He instantly smiled at his twins when they came down to have breakfast already clad in their uniforms. He didn’t even have to wake them up.

  "Morning!" he replied and kissed them both before getting back to his scrambled eggs.

  "Where is mom? Why are you cooking today?" Juan was the first one to bring this up. "Dad……" Seeing how he was silent for a long while, she called him again.

  "I’ve made pancakes for my Juan and scrambled eggs for my son. Eat up, I’ll drop you both to school."

  Since he avoided the question, Bao and Juan shared a look and decided not to question him again. Whatever it was, they just knew he wasn’t gonna share with them.

  The three of them ate breakfast in silence. Since Jie didn’t like too many people in the house, even now all the maids were not allowed to enter the main house without permission. That’s why he had prepared the breakfast himself because he didn’t feel like having any intrusion.

  "Jie! Zhu Jie!" While Jie was collecting the utensils, he heard a loud voice calling him. He didn’t have to guess who this voice belonged to though.

  "Dad, why is grandma so angry so early in the morning?" questioned Juan.

  "Maybe she woke up on the wrong side of the bed," shrugged Jie nonchalantly. "You both wait in the car for me, I’ll be right there." Both of them nodded and took their backpacks silently.

  As the twins left, his mother finally appeared before him. He Susu was fuming in rage as she glared at him, "Jie, what did you do to Xiao Mey?"

  "What did I do? And who said something happened? Did she say something to you?" His voice came out stern even more than he intended it to. He already knew his mother was here as an advocate for her daughter-in-law.

  "Xiao Mey went with Xiamu last night. Azalea told me this morning that she wasn’t in a good mood when she left with them. But if I remember correctly, she was very happy at the party. That means something must have happened between you two."

  Jie frowned at his mother. "And why don’t you think that perhaps she wanted to visit her father and that’s why she left?"

  "I know her. She takes her responsibilities very seriously. She would never leave like that," answered He Susu. Clearly, she wasn’t in a mood to hear his explanations at all. But it’s not like he wanted to explain anything to her. He didn’t have to explain himself to anyone.

  "Mom, even if something happened between us, I believe it’s between me and my wife. And it’s not a good idea for you to get involved in this," he cleared his point straightforwardly.

  "So, something really happened. What did you do?" While he was scowling, she kept going on, "Even if she had done something, you could have looked over it for a while. After all, it was a very happy day for her but you just had to spoil it for her."

  "Mom, I really think you shouldn’t get involved in this matter," he was trying hard to stay calm. He had always been calm, to begin with. But why was everyone trying to challenge his bottom-line these days?

  "Jie," her voice softened a bit. "It’s not just between you and your wife. Xiao Mey is a part of our family and this is a family matter." She sighed heavily. "You both love each other so much. Why do you have to behave like this?"

  That was it. She finally managed to tumble down his wall of patience.

  "Family matter?" he scoffed. "Mom, it’s a family matter indeed. But the intruder in this is you right now."

  "Jie, don’t be rude. I’m trying to fix everything between you both."

  "You don’t even know what happened and here you are giving me a lecture. Why don’t you go and ask her first what happened? You’re not fixing anything. You’re only making it worse!"

  "I don’t want to hurt her even more than she already is by asking her about it."

  "Oh, so you came to hurt your son?" He was feeling suffocated now. "You just said that we both love each other and we should solve it. I agree. But where is she? Why isn’t she here to solve it? Because I’m certainly not the one running from this problem! She is!" He Susu was left speechless as he continued, "Staying in a relationship JUST because you LOVE someone isn’t worth it anymore."

  Her eyes widened at his words. What did he mean by that?

  "Love IS NOT all you NEED! Respect is what you need! Time is what you need! Reassurance is what you need! Happiness is what you need! A best friend is what you need!" His heart was aching badly now as he finally said those words out. "All I have is the love of hers. And I don’t even get a reassurance now whether she loves me or not. Because she certainly doesn’t act like it."

  "Jie……"

  Jie held out his hand to stop her. "Don’t! I have had enough now! If she wants to act like a child then so be it! Why do I always have to try to keep the balance in this relationship? We are husband and wife, it’s not just my job to make this all work out between us. She also has to put some effort into this. Which she clearly doesn’t want to!"

  Saying that he shoved past his mother and left the house. He knew this was gonna happen. That’s why he always avoided arguments with Xu Mey since he knew every single person was gonna take her side. And also, nothing could stay a secret in this big family so how could he escape from the wrath of everyone.

  He could tell his mother was only the first person who came to him, others were also gonna follow. But to be honest, after saying all that to his mother, he had come to clear up a lot of complicated feelings in his heart. He finally saw his and Xu Mey’s relationship in a new light.

  He was always willing to fight for their love, now it was her turn. It was time to see whether Xu Mey also thought like that or not.