She looked down and rested her head on his chest. He did not rush her. Instead, he merely held her as she gathered her courage to tell him one of her secrets.
Occasionally, DX would glanced down at her to check whether the silence was due to her thinking hard on the matter or whether it was because she fell asleep.
It was a long while before she started talking.
"I have always known that my father was cheating on my mum and I knew the reason why he was never there during my birthdays was because of her."
DX knew that "her" was a reference to her half sister who was born on the same day. He linked his fingers with hers as he tried to make her feel better. After a while, she continued,
"I accidentally found out that he was absent during my birth because he was at her birth. Mum did not realized that I knew about it."
DX thought about An Qi Yan and she did not strike him as someone who would just sit about doing nothing. So, he interrupted Kai Xin to ask, "Your mum knew about the affair then?"
She nodded and added on, "I used to wonder why she didn't leave him immediately. Then as I got older, I realized why she did what she did. Without any qualification, she would be unable to survive if she took us with her, yet she cannot bear the thoughts of leaving us."
"That's why she stayed for so long. For 10 years, she kept it bottled down and pretended to know nothing about her husband's affairs. Everyone knew and they laughed at her 'ignorance' but she just smiled at them as she went about with her life."
She looked at his broad hand as she continued, "When she married my father, my maternal grandfather took her out of college. He said that girls don't need so much education after marriage. She begged my paternal grandfather to allow her to continue but he was worse than her father. To him, girls should be seen not heard."
"He thought that it was a waste of money and time to invest in a girl's education. My grandmother went against my grandfather and took out all her savings to send my mother back to school to finish her degree. I think part of her felt guilty for what my father did to my mother. Anyway, my mum built up her working experience and when I was 10, she divorced him."
Kai Xin smiled as she thought about her mother's nervous look when she stood in front of her father with a copy of all the evidences.
"She took out everything she had on my father's cheating behavior and threatened to take half of his money if he tried to fight for custody. My father's business was just taking off and he cannot afford any scandals so allowed her to take me. Since Kai An is the only son, he had tried to fight for him but by then, my brother had completely rejected my father."
DX was angry on her behalf. From her story, he can tell that the bastard did not even try to fight for her. How could a father be so cruel to his own daughter?
He closed his eyes so that she would not see his murderous gaze. After a while, he said, "It must be hard for her, but not everyone is like your father. I am not like him."
She looked up at him, and asked, "How would you know? They thought they were in love, then they were not. How can I be sure that it wouldn't happen to us?"
"Because I have never said things I don't mean."
"I'm afraid..." She turned away from him.
Not wanting to let her escape, he pulled her back into him and forced her to turn her face towards him. With a tender look in his eyes, he comforted her as he said, "I would never leave you like your father. I'd always be there to protect you."
She closed her eyes.
Eager to change the conversation, she asked about his birthday party that is two weeks away.
"Would you like to go?"
"Do you want me to?" She asked, staring up at him to see his response.
He smiled and answered her, "Of course. I will tell Han Ye to send you the invitation. Warning. You might be bored. My mother was the one who handled everything."
He leaned down and kissed one of her breast before saying, "But I think, with you there, this year would be fun."
"No sweet talking me. I'm too tired for another round." She turned around to show him that she was serious. However, she kept purposely brushing her butt against him. When he had enough of her mischief, he pinned her on the bed and had his way with her until the morning.