Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 269: Family

Chapter 269: Family

Diana cleared her throat, ’’No, I have mailed you something.’’

Old Master Qin looked at her suspiciously as he proceeded to open his laptop, ’’What are you being so mysterious about...’’ his words trailed off when his gaze landed on the document that was mailed to him, ’’You...’’

’’I made this decision a long time ago. I was waiting for you to come back.’’

Old Master Qin massaged his brows, ’’What has happened to everyone today? Why are all of you resigning?" he sighed in disbelief, ’’Have you told that brat about this?"

Diana shook her head.

’’You young people...’’ the old man sighed for the umpteenth time in the day, ’’...too unpredictable.’’

’’Thanks for accepting my resignation letter,’’ Diana bowed.

’’Girl, when did I say I am accepting it?" the old man narrowed his eyes.

’’My grandfather would be disappointed in heaven if he sees you bullying me in his absence,’’ Diana lowered her head.

’’You... girl, don’t cry. Who bullied you? What are you talking about? I accept! I accept!’’ Old Master Qin screamed. Who knew if that old bastard’s ghost would come to haunt him for real?

Diana smiled immediately, ’’I appreciate that.’’

Old Master Qin stiffened, ’Hmm, did this girl just trick me?’ He wondered as he watched Diana turning to leave.

But then she suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him, ’’I wanted to ask you about something,’’ her face turned solemn.

The shift in her expression and the coldness in her tone did not go unnoticed by the old man. One moment ago, she was still acting cute to get him to accept the resignation letter but now, something was different about the way she looked at him.

’’What is it?" he asked.

’’Aren’t you fond of your grandson?" Diana looked straight into his eyes, ’’I mean, Alex. You seem to love him a lot.’’

’’What...’’ Old Master Qin was confused by her question, ’’are you trying to ask?"

’’Nothing much. I just wanted to know why Maxim does not have the same right to your affection as Alex does. You are rather partial,’’ Diana’s words mocked him and she watched in silence as the old man’s face paled.

’’You...’’

’’I know everything,’’ Diana crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Old Master Qin closed his eyes and rubbed a palm over his heart where he felt a painful twinge in his chest, ’’Since you know everything, then you should know that the reason I am here in a foreign country, settled in a branch hospital, is only because of Maxim. Had I been partial to them or had I loved one of my grandsons a little less than the other, then I would never have flipped my life upside down for their well-being,’’ His voice gradually grew softer as he spoke.

His eyes turned red as he opened them to look at Diana but the shock on Diana’s face astonished him.

And a realization dawned on him, ’’You didn’t.’’

’’That’s right,’’ Diana breathed, ’’I did not know anything. I had my doubts. I noticed the way you treated Maxim and Hazel. I did not miss how you mentioned being in Avalon back when my grandfather passed away a few weeks ago during a phone conversation.

Maybe you did not think much of it when you mentioned it but I knew that Avalon is Maxim’s birthplace. Did you perhaps go there for business? For a vacation? Was it too much of a coincidence? I had always wondered but I could not bring myself to believe that there is such a ridiculous coincidence in the world which drags a person from Beijing to Avalon and the said person becomes a family to two of the people living there.’’

Old Master Qin looked at her in disbelief, recalling their conversation that had taken place the night Veronica and Diana fought at the restaurant and Maxim asked him to call her.

’’Daisy is back. During the chaos in the hospital, I asked Daisy to help me look into the patient’s information. And since he had certain connections with your family, I asked her to look into the Qin Family database without alerting anyone. And although I did not find anything but certain things caught my attention.

Mr. Qin had been to that place once. And the time was precisely a year before Maxim was born. After that, you went there during the time when my grandpa passed away. For some reason, you frequented the place repeatedly until some time. When you stopped going there, that seemed to be the time when Maxim and his mother left that place. Years later, you whisked Maxim away from the hospital he was working in. You interacted with Hazel and became her father figure.

To both of them, you became a family. Coincidence? To a certain extent, things could have been a coincidence. But at this point, both of us are smart enough to know that there is no point in denying that all of this was never a coincidence.’’

That day when Maxim had stood in the kitchen the whole night and taken a shower at her place the following morning, Daisy was talking about her investigation result and Louis possibly being the other son of the Qin Family. Daisy had sensed Maxim’s presence which is why she did not say anything about what she found after looking into the Qin Family.

But she had mailed it to her as soon as she left. And Diana saw the mail a few hours later.

A few times, she almost had the urge to go tell Maxim about the possibility. About what his family background could be.

But she held back.

Old Master Qin was set to return in a few days but his return was delayed hence she decided to wait.

Maxim had spent decades without a father, grandfather, brother, and a complete family. She did not want to give him hope only to let him down in the end.