The Truth

“A man… in his late twenties you say?”

Chen Fei’s mom froze in the spot as she gave a shocked glance at her daughter.

“Yes, he looks exactly like you. It took me a while to figure it out but after I confirmed it, he said I looked like that ‘bastard’.”

Chen Fei twitched as she remembered the words said by her so called ‘brother’, to call her father a bastard is considered blasphemy in Beijing due to his immense influence.

Her mother who heard that he said that, knew it was him already. She loved her son Chen Yun, however after she heard news of him sexually harassing a young girl from the big family in Shanghai, she lost all love in her heart and abandoned him.

“So, he is still al-alive… good good…”

Chen Fei looked at her mother, who was crying silently. She has never seen her mother cry, nor show any other emotion except love and happiness.

She does not know why her mother and her father divorced, she was only 12 years old at the time and could not find out the reason from both her mother and father at all.

“So, he is my brother?”

Chen Fei breathed in heavily, she could not believe that she had a secret brother all along.

“Fei’er, do not tell your father. If he gets word that he is still alive, Yun’e- I mean that brother of yours would be killed on the spot.”

Her mother choked on the intimate name she was about to say, she could not bring herself to say such a thing to her son who she had abandoned.

When Chen Fei heard she could not tell her father, her eyes widened and looked at her mother with a surprised look.

“Is there something going on that I must know?”

Her mother stared at her eyes, maybe it is time Chen Fei knew the truth.

“Do you know why I divorced your father?”

Chen Fei looked at her mother and shook her head, that question has been on her mind for so many years yet she could not muster the courage to speak up. When she was only 12 years old, her parents divorced without telling her the reason at all.

“When you were only 8 years old, you had a big brother named Chen Yun. He was 18 years old and the heir to the Chen Family, perhaps you forgot since we never spoke about him ever since.”

Chen Fei was shocked; she could not remember anything about having a brother. She was 8 years old but she must have some recollection yet there was nothing in her memory.

“I loved him, no I still love him. Yet, your father hated him because he felt that he was incompetent, weak and had no quality whatsoever in order to run the Chen Family.”

Chen Fei took a seat and sat down, listening attentively, without skipping a word, to what her mother has to say.

“One day, your father found out that your brother was being bullied in school, rather than being a parent and protecting his son, he felt disgusted by him. He once told me that no child of his could be bullied and left your brother to his own demise.

I still protected your brother, trying to figure how who it was and talk to their parents like a normal mother should do. But then, a huge problem occurred.”

Chen Fei’s mother took a deep breath, closing her eyes and continuing on.

“A rumour had spread, that your brother had sexually assaulted the eldest daughter to the Lin family. I thought it was a rumour, perhaps it wasn’t true yet every single person including the Lin Family all said it was him.

I did not know what to do, how to protect him. My heart felt betrayed at the time, my son who I have shown so much love and had protected committed a crime that betrayed my trust. So, I also blamed him and agreed to banish him from the Chen Family without any support.”

Chen Fei felt disgusted now, who could do such a thing to the innocent daughter of the Lin Family who she treated like an elder sister.

Yang Su, who saw her daughter making such a face sighed.

“Let me finish the story…”

Chen Fei looked at her mother and waited for her to continue on.

“A few years later, I listened in on a secret phone call from your father, at the time I thought he was committing adultery but what I found was much worse…

Your brother was framed, the whole incident was planned by your father and the Lin Family in order to kick out Chen Yun and also secure a deal in marriage between the eldest daughter of the Lin Family and Chen Beixun!”

Chen Fei then stood up in shock as she heard what her mother had just said. Her brother was framed by her own father? No way! Her father was someone who loved everyone, she has never seen him act in such evil ways but she could not say it was a lie because her mother had told her.

“Mo-mother, this can’t be true? Father would never do such a thing…”

But then again, Lin Yue and her cousin Chen Beixun’s relationship was very complex, they did not show love to each other at all and were married.

“Perhaps you think of your father as someone benevolent, someone kind and forgiving. But that man is evil, despicable and has made me lose my only son, my only so- “

Yang Su suddenly cried, she thought of all the days she had with Chen Yun and the unbreakable relationship between them. But she abandoned him to a fate much worse than death, abandoning him with no family, no home nor a job at the age of 18.

Chen Fei walked towards her mother and bit her lips; she did not know what to say. The man at the coffee shop looked so lonely, cold and apathetic.

“Fei’er, where is he, where is my son, where is your brother?”

Yang Su looked at her daughter in anticipation, her son was alive! He must be working for another company, or could be homeless…

“He owns a coffee shop near my university”

Yang Su looked at her daughter in confusion.

“A co-coffee shop? What?”