Chapter 30
I gently patted Qin Jinnan's shoulder, signaling for him to put me down.
But Qin Jinnan didn't obey.
Instead, he carried me effortlessly to the main room and placed me on the sofa.
"He's already ten years old. He understands," Qin Jinnan said casually, shrugging off his jacket and laying it aside. "I've already explained everything to him."
Before I could even respond, Xu Nian had already descended the stairs.
He stood before me, just a step away, silent.
The air between us felt heavy, thick with unspoken words.
I didn't know how to face the reality that this boy, standing before me, was my son.
Finally, Xu Nian spoke.
"Dad said there was a fire at home, and they lied to you, telling you that I was still there. So you came back to look for me."
His voice was steady, the words precise.
But as soon as he finished speaking, his eyes—those dark, soulful eyes—welled up with tears.
The sight of his tears, and the sound of his words, felt like a rush of memories flooding back.
It was as if I had been thrown back into the fire of that night ten years ago.
I could barely hold onto the fragments of those memories.
Xu Nian was just an infant then. I had been the one to care for him while Qin Jinnan was away.
And when the fire broke out, I rushed back into the flames, looking for my child.
The smoke and heat were suffocating, my vision blurred, and the fire seared at my skin.
I fought through the chaos, determined to reach the second floor, to find him.
Then, a beam collapsed, striking me in the back.
Flames licked at my skin, scorching my hair, my face...
And I never came out of that fire.