Learning to Love Again

The two senior staff members were already on their way to the company. Waiting outside for Su Lian was the lone figure of Ryan.

In her flurry, Su Lian runs past him and heads straight for her car. Sitting inside, she can no longer hold back the tears she had been suppressing. Curling up into a ball, she sobs silently like an abandoned baby.

Forget him?

How could she forget him? In this life of hers, she is certain that will never happen.

She loved him so much and never stopped. All of that in there with her pretending not to know him and acting as if she had moved on was all an act. A big fat lie.

She knows that she isn't supposed to love him, but she can't help it. They had met each other when she had felt so lonely and vulnerable. At her weakest, she relied on him for comfort. In her heart, he filled in the empty void her mother's passing had brought. Their relationship had probably been just sex to him. But for her, it was more than that. Much more.

But even though she felt that way, she wouldn't let him think that way. She deserved better, her son deserved better. He absolutely couldn't be a part of their lives.

Remembering how warm and safe it felt being in his embrace, Su Lian cursed inwardly. She knew that if she had let him hold her any longer, her defenses would have collapsed. Inadvertently remembering the slap she gave him, she can't help but feel slightly guilty and a bit regretful.

Was he hurt?

Shaking her head, Su Lian admonishes herself.

'Who cares if he's hurt? I'm hurt too. And my hurt is a heartbreak. It lasts longer than his physical pain.'

After comforting herself for a while, Su Lian tries to wipe her tears away. No matter what she felt, they couldn't be together again. Especially with his current identity.

Yes, she loved him, but that didn't mean that he deserved any of her affection.

Su Lian immediately regretted her return to China. She would rather deal with those old men sitting on the board of directors, doubting her ability than this.

A slight tap on the window of her car pulls her out of her thoughts.

The driver unlocks the door and Ryan slides himself in beside her.

He looks at her puffy eyes and says nothing.

"You knew didn't you?" she asks the moment she sees his dodgy gaze.

"I wasn't sure. But from his pictures, he looked almost identical to your son... So I made a guess."

"Why-why didn't you tell me?"