C2 Chapter 2

“Really. I’ve made up my mind this time. Even though we don’t have any family left back home, I still want to take you there so you’ll know where your roots are—and so you can see the place where I used to live.”

“Yay!” The excitement in Xia Yanyou’s eyes only grew brighter. “I’ve always wanted to see the place where you grew up, Mom.”

But after a moment of excitement, a trace of sadness crept into his eyes. “Does that mean I won’t get to see Evan and Charles anymore?” His eyelids drooped, and he let out a dejected sigh. “Evan invited me to his house for a Christmas Eve party not long ago, and I guess I can’t go now.”

Xia Bing smiled and comforted him. “It’s not like we’re leaving and never coming back to London. This is our second home. If you miss your friends, we can always come back and visit once in a while.”

Xia Yanyou nodded in agreement. After a pause, he looked up at Xia Bing with curiosity written all over his face. “Oh, right—what about Uncle Xu? Is he coming back with us?”

Xia Bing paused in the middle of taking a bite of her sandwich, then gave a faint smile. “Uncle Xu has his own career in London. He won’t be going back with us.”

“Oh... okay.” Xia Yanyou pressed his lips together and frowned slightly. After a soft sigh, he reluctantly said, “Alright.”

Because he had grown up without a father, Xia Yanyou had always been especially close to Xu Ang and depended on him a great deal.

Although Xia Bing felt for her son and never deliberately kept him from getting close to Xu Ang, Xu Ang was not Xia Yanyou’s father. He had neither the obligation nor the responsibility to take on that role, and that would be too unfair to him.

Xia Bing had already received far too much kindness from him.

Five years earlier, she had arrived in London in a miserable state. Her family had fallen apart, her father had jumped to his death, her mother had followed soon after, and even her fiancé had died of illness not long later... During those dark days, it was Xia Yanyou’s existence that gave her something to hold on to—a reason to keep living when she was drowning in despair.

Back when she first arrived in London, she had no money, so the only place she could afford to rent was in a rough neighborhood.

The area was dangerous. Muggings, theft, even shootings—something happened every few days.

Xia Bing lived cautiously, putting up with the ugly insults from her white neighbors while also taking full responsibility for caring for Xia Yanyou.

Before she had even fully recovered from childbirth, she entrusted Xia Yanyou to an old family friend she could rely on. During the day, she carried the clothes she had designed, rode the London Underground, and went from stop to stop, trying to sell her work to boutiques.

But the racism there was brutal. The moment people saw she was Chinese, they refused to work with her.

She had finally escaped to London, only to fall straight into another kind of endless darkness. Xia Bing came close to breaking down.

Thankfully, during the hardest and most helpless days of her life, she met Xu Ang.

He was also Chinese and the owner of a well-known fashion boutique in London. He loved Xia Bing’s designs and, without hesitation, bought every one of them. He also hired her as the boutique’s chief designer.

Most of Xu Ang’s clients were wealthy society women in the local Chinese community, and Xia Bing’s designs quickly became their favorites. Every time she launched a new collection, several pieces would become instant bestsellers in their circle.

Xia Bing did not let Xu Ang down. With her top-tier talent, she helped multiply his profits year after year, and the number of his stores grew rapidly as well.

Xu Ang was the benefactor who changed her life. Over the past five years, his support had allowed her to build the successful career she had today and raise Xia Yanyou smoothly into childhood. It was no exaggeration to say that without Xu Ang, she would not be where she was now.

But while Xia Bing saw him as her boss and her benefactor, Xu Ang did not see things the same way.

More than once, he had made it clear that he wanted her to marry him, and lately his advances had become more and more frequent, leaving Xia Bing feeling suffocated.

She felt the time was finally right. It was time for her to go back and look for her other child.