Both women turned towards the front door. The man was standing facing away from the sun, the light creating a halo around his body, casting his face in the dark.
However, based on the majestic presence that the man exuded, both Mrs. Lin and Xiu Ling could recognize him easily as Lin Kang.
Both of them froze because displeasure was radiating off the man in palpable waves. His face that was shrouded in the darkness was as dim as the dark side of the moon.
After the initial surprise, both women took to his presence differently. Mrs. Lin cheered internally because her ally had arrived while Xiu Ling was frozen into stone due to fear. Xiu Ling looked at the unapproachable man fearfully, hugging her son tighter to her chest like she was trying to shield him. On the other hand, Mrs. Lin shuffled sneakily to Lin Kang, looking not unlike an eunuch approaching the emperor to tell on someone behind their back. However, she halted when she was within metres of Lin Kang because she realized Lin Kang's annoyance was directed at her.
This observation was confirmed by Lin Kang's death ray gaze that eventually turned and zeroed in on Mrs. Lin. Regardless, since Mrs. Lin was ultimately his mother, she did not freeze up under Lin Kang's gaze like Xiu Ling did. Instead, she moved her lips to ask, "Lin Kang, what is the matter? Why are you looking at your mother like that?"
"Mother, if I heard you correctly, did you say you are going to report Xiu Ling for kidnapping Lin Xi if she steps out of this house?" The man's voice sounded like it appeared from a hollow cave, full of dangerous warning.
Mrs. Lin thought to herself, 'What is wrong with that? Lin Xi does belong to Lin family more than he belongs to that lowly woman. Perhaps Lin Kang has misunderstand me, thinking I am threatening her for no reason. I should explain the situation to him from the very beginning so he gets the context.'
"Lin Kang, you do not understand. Listen to me, that wife of yours dares to go against my will and insist on bringing Lin Xi to a place that is as dangerous as the hospital..."
Lin Kang cut her off, announcing as if to the world, "Mother, that wife of mine has a name and her name is Xiu Ling. On top of that, Lin Xi belongs as much to Lin family as he does to her if we are splitting hairs and treating the boy as some kind of commodity to fight over and pass around..." Here, Lin Kang paused to let the shame sink in before continuing, "There should not even be a question of Lin family versus Xiu Ling to begin with because Xiu Ling is part of Lin family as she is I, Lin Kang's lawfully wedded wife!"
The proclamation felt like a slap to Mrs. Lin's face. As she stared slack-jawed at the man whom she had increasing trouble to recognize as her son, there was only one thought on her mind, 'Has Lin Kang lost his mind to treat the lowly woman as part of this prestigious family? What has gone into his mind to muddle it so?!'
Xiu Ling's face though was set in a hard to read expression.
Before either of the woman could do or say anything, Lin Kang added, "Mother, you have to understand how important a complete family environment is for a child to grow up healthily so I do not want to hear about any eviction threats or random calls to the police in the future anymore!"
'So it is all about Lin Xi after all,' both Xiu Ling and Mrs. Lin thought in unison although the way they processed that particular information was completely different.
Mrs. Lin sighed surreptitiously in relief, at least his son had not lost his mind. She reflected on what Lin Kang had said and she realized she had misspoken earlier. She smiled at Lin Kang in an attempt to placate and added, "Lin Kang, you are right. I have misspoken earlier being too influenced by anger. Of course, we have to build a fulfilling family environment for Lin Xi. In the weakness of that moment, I have forgotten to place Lin Xi first and that is my mistake but you have to understand that I am doing this simply because I care about Lin Xi. I do not want to let him to contract some dangerous disease while he is at the hospital. Furthermore, you understand how dangerous those side effects could be, have you forgotten how I treated your fever when you were young? You turned out perfectly fine, haven't you..."
While Mrs. Lin continued to plead her case, Xiu Ling was silent with her thought. If this was any other normal romance webnovel, she would be feeling over the moon realizing her seemingly aloof husband actually valued her thusly but this wasn't.
While Xiu Ling was thankful that Lin Kang came to her defense, knowing it was only for the sake of their son did change her perspective slightly. It felt like she was being delivered a 25 to life sentence because if Lin Kang only kept her around to ensure a good growing environment for Lin Xi, then it could be understood that she will be imprisoned inside the Lin household at least until the boy was old enough to break away from the family and be his own man.
On the one hand, Xiu Ling was glad she would be a constant fixture in her boy's life if Lin Kang had anything to do with it, but she did not know how to feel about being forced into this position by her husband. She wanted to be Lin Xi's mother but she preferred to have other options open. Knowing one's life was locked into a role, albeit a role that one would take up willingly was a curiously abominable feeling.