Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 290: Cheating

Chapter 290: Cheating

When Diana remained quiet for some time, Helian Chen spoke up, ’’How is your sister?"

Diana snapped out of her daze, ’’Good.’’

’’What about the child?"

At the mention of Angel, Diana’s grip tightened on the fork in her hand, ’’She did not end up in some foster care. Don’t worry.’’

’’You are still upset about it.’’

Diana smiled, ’’I am not upset. I am just shocked that you would talk about Angel after everything you said about her. I can’t seem to forget how persistent you were about not accepting her as a part of this family.’’

’’Angel. Is that what you named her?" The man nodded, sipping his wine, ’’Good.’’

Diana looked at her father blankly.

Noticing the look on her face, Helian Chen could not help but sigh, ’’Do you think your mother would have let it be if I backed you up?"

Diana frowned, ’’What do you mean?"

’’The Si Family’s youngest daughter was your sister’s friend, right? I was aware that she was the one who sent the child to us,’’ the man stated calmly, ’’There was no point arguing with your mother. So, I decided it’s much better to leave the ball in your court.’’

Diana sat frozen in her chair, shocked. The disbelief on her face could not have been more apparent, ’’You... You knew everything?"

Helian Chen sipped his wine before he leaned back on the chair, twirling the glass gently, ’’What do you think?"

Diana fell speechless.

’’You never liked this life anyway but you were so used to it that you had no idea what you needed. You needed a push and I believed Angel was that push.’’

Diana leaned back on her chair and looked at the ceiling, unable to believe her ears, ’’You knew about my whereabouts all along?" She always felt suspicious about it. Moreover, she had not been particularly discreet about herself so she wondered why her father could not track her down for so long.

Helian Chen looked at her quietly. The same ’What do you think’ gaze was fixated on his face.

’’Why?" That was the only thing that slipped past her mouth after a long moment of silence. Why would he do that? Why would he back her up? He had never liked the decisions Daisy and her made. He had never supported them this way before.

Why now, then?

Helian Chen placed the glass of wine on the table as he smiled softly, ’’I am not a bad father, Princess. I have had my reasons for acting the way I acted in the past. But that has never contradicted with the fact that I adore my daughters more than anything.’’

Diana looked at him quietly, feeling turmoil in her heart.

’’I heard about your argument with your mother,’’ Helian Chen spoke up when she did not say anything, ’’She did not lie to you about her accident...’’

The sudden ringing of his phone interrupted his words.

He checked the caller ID and looked at her, ’’I have to take this call. Start eating.’’

As she watched the man walking past her, Diana felt so conflicted.

It had just been a few months since she left this place. But why did it feel like something was different?

Since when did her father start communicating so well? And had he always been this considerate for her and Daisy?

Since when did he start defending her mother?

Diana’s gaze shifted towards the family picture on the bedside table.

She walked towards it and picked it up in her hand.

The picture had stayed in her father’s room for as long as she could remember. And there was one of them in her mother’s room as well.

Both her parents were glancing at the camera coldly. She and Daisy who were probably around four and five as they sat on their parents’ lap, grinning widely with their pinkies hooked.

Diana inhaled a deep breath as she placed the photo frame down and turned to leave.

But the moment she turned around, something touched her foot, making her stop in her tracks.

Diana picked up the photo from the floor. She glanced at the small polaroid picture of a little girl leaning back on the wall, sleeping with her eyes closed. Her messy hair framed her face. The picture was black and white and blurred somehow so Diana could not make out the features of the girl.

But somehow, the first thing that came to her mind when she saw the picture was her mother telling her that her father never loved her. And he cheated on her when she was pregnant. Was there someone else in her father’s life before her mother came?

Months ago, she was so engrossed and lost about her life that she never cared about these things. But suddenly, she was curious. Why was her parents’ relationship the way it was now? Why were they so bitter and full of hatred for each other?

The illusion she had some time ago crashed. Her father would never defend her mother. Things will never change between her parents. They would always be two people at the farthest end of a pole.

Diana placed the picture behind the frame and left the room without waiting for her father who had yet to come back.

On the other side of the mansion, Helian Chen was about to return to his room after finishing the call when his path was blocked by his wife.

"Why are you back?" Alice questioned him, a frown between her brows.

’’Do I need your permission before coming back to my place?"

’’Why are you here the moment Diana came back? What do you want?"

’’She is my daughter.’’

’’Oh? You remember that now?" Alice crossed her arms in front of her chest, ’’Don’t think I am clueless about how you were playing me. For a person as manipulative as you, how hard it can be to track down a young girl. Now that I have brought her back, do you want to brainwash her against me? Do you want her to hate me?" she stepped forward and grabbed the man’s collar, tugging hard at it.

’’Hands off,’’ the man narrowed his eyes.