Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 314: Good things

Chapter 314: Good things

After Helian Chen and Alice left the place together, the security teams of both the families retreated silently.

It was only Diana, Maxim, Hazel and Qin Zehan left in the dining room.

And suddenly, Diana realized that the earlier breakfast with her parents was not that awkward after all.

The silence stretched between them till Maxim broke the tension in the air, ’’Mom.’’

Hazel who seemed to be thinking about something snapped out of her reverie when she heard Maxim’s voice, ’’I...’’ she looked at Qin Zehan, cuing for him to explain things but the man remained as frigid as stone, his gaze focused on Maxim.

There were a myriad of emotions that played on his face. Astonishment, happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, indignance and he felt a lot more that he could not even bring himself to describe.

He had a son whose existence had remained a mystery to him for decades and he had come to know about his existence all of a sudden, in the most twisted way that he did not see it coming. He was unprepared for it.

He was happy that despite his absence, his son grew up well into a responsible man. He was sad that he was unable to see his child growing up. He felt angry at his father for keeping such a big thing from him and the indignance stemmed from the fact that he was unable to be there for his own child, to witness his childhood, to be a father that he might have needed while growing up.

All the mixed feelings brought forward a sense of nostalgia that he did not know existed and he did not know what to do with the growing ache in his chest as something pricked his eyes.

’’He is your father,’’ Hazel spoke up when she realized the state that Qin Zehan was in.

A moment of silence lingered between them.

Diana tapped twice on Maxim’s palm. As he moved, she leaned closer to whisper in his ear, ’’I am going back to the room...’’

’’Stay,’’ Maxim grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers, ’’Don’t go,’’ his voice was soft, his gaze shifting from Hazel to her face.

Diana had her own considerations initially. She knew Hazel and Maxim but she was not familiar with Qin Zehan and that had her believe that although the man defended her in front of her parents, but he might be needing some privacy at a time like this. And she wanted to give him some space so that they could talk.

But the way Maxim looked at her, the slight vulnerability in his tone that she heard told her that she was not going anywhere. Regardless of anything, she was going to be there for him if he needed her.

Diana tightened her hold on him as she nodded at him in assurance.

Maxim’s gaze softened.

But when he turned back to look at the ’newcomer’ standing in front of him, his face regained it’s calmness, ’’I have known it,’’ he said, turning to look at his mother who was stunned by his words.

Maxim’s words shocked everyone present in the room, including Diana.

’’When?" Hazel gasped, disbelief apparent on her face, ’’How did you...?"

’’Mom, there was no reason for Old Master Qin to treat us well.’’

One single statement from Maxim and silence descended on the place. All of them realozed that Maxim had always known it, maybe since the very beginning he was aware about his parentage, which is why he let Old Master Qin approach them in the very first place.

Even for Hazel, she had no idea that Maxim’s father was in any way related to Old Master Qin. When she got pregnant with Maxim, not only was she young and reckless, she was heartbroken after a break up and she was drunk. She did not have an amnesiac memory after being drunk but she had not taken Qin Zehan seriously enough to even try to look into the man. She remembered him but knowing that he was perhaps a committed man, she had never tried to look for him even after her father passed away and she had to support Maxim all by herself.

It was not until Qin Zehan told her about his relationship with Old Master Qin did she come to now about it and that took her aback.

All these years of accidentally getting to know the old man and getting close to him, everything that caused it became clearer to her. And regardless of whatever reason the old man had approached them with, she did not blame him because eventually they grew close and the shared affection between them had never been anything less than genuine.

"He is your grandfather,’’ Qin Zehan’s voice sounded hoarse to his own ears.

Maxim tilted his head to the side, meeting the man’s gaze, ’’I have never addressed him as such nor can I promise to do so in the future,’’ It never happened in one day. He grew up without a family and it was not going to change in one day for him.

Ever since he was young, Maxim had not believed that people would be kind to someone without any reason. As he grew up, at some point, he met Diana and she made him believe in the kindness the world had never showed them. He realized it might be possible that people can be kind, without any motives of their own.

But the way Old Master Qin approached him and his mother, the way he seemed so familiar with them, it was hard to not be suspicious about it. When he started digging down it, he was eventually led to the truth that he might or might not be related to him in some way. His suspicions were confirmed when he did a DNA test secretly.

Qin Zehan opened his mouth to speak, to refute Maxim’s words but he had nothing to say. Maxim had every right to cut himself off them because they were never there. They were never there for the father and son. And maybe he knew why his father did what he did. Maybe he was aware of those reasons but that did not justify his actions.

’’We had our reasons. I...’’ Qin Zehan started speaking but he did not know how to put his words forward.

’’I don’t blaim you,’’ Maxim replied when the man went quiet, ’’I am not at the stage of my life where I would start looking for things that I looked for in my childhood,’’ It did not even matter to him if he had a father or not.

’’But what matters to me is my mother,’’ Maxim took a step forward towards the man, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Hazel’s heart warmed when she heard Maxim’s words, ’’We are legally married.’’

Maxim looked at her, his eyes holding countless questions.

’’It was my decision.’’

’’Are you happy?" Despite having a lot of things that he had to ask, those were the only three words that slipped from his mouth.

Hazel nodded, eyes welling up with tears as she approached him and raised her hand to stroke his hair, ’’I could not be happier,’’ she looked at Diana who was standing behind Maxim quietly as if she was not the person who defended him in front of her own parents

Hazel then gazed son who finally learnt to own up to his feelings. The feeling of pride made her heart swell, ’’After all these years, you both are standing together, happy and content and I could not have asked for anything more,’’ she whispered as she put her hand down.

"As for me, I am not a child. I don’t need you to be my knight in shining armor,’’ Hazel continued speaking as she raised an eyebrow.

Qin Zehan’s brow twitched. What did she even need a knight for? Why did she make him sound like the bad guy?

’’Are you not going back...?" Maxim questioned.

Hazel glanced at Qin Zehan before shaking her head.

Wordlessly, Maxim pulled her into his arms as he spoke, ’’You don’t have to need a knight, mom but when you need your son, you know I am there. No matter what the circumstances are, I will take you away from anything and anyone that affects you in any way,’’ there was a warning note in his last words that he spoke while looking straight into Qin Zehan’s eyes.

Qin Zehan sighed, realizing that it was not going to be easy for him to warm up to them, ’’I will take care of her. Don’t worry,’’ he said, ’’Are you both leaving together?"

His question had Maxim turning around to look at Diana.

All of sudden, everyone’s attention was Diana who had been standing at the back and enjoying their awkwardly cute family interaction.

She stepped forward before greeting Qin Zehan, ’’Uncle Qin.’’

Qin Zehan smiled, ’’Father has always been very fond of you and your sister. Now I know why. Not only did I get to meet you, but it seems like we are a family already."

Diana blushed. It took her a moment to regain her calm as she spoke up, ’’I will be going back with him,’’ she glanced at Maxim as she said so and the way his eyes lit up did not escape her notice.

Qin Zehan nodded, ’’Good child,’’ he sighed, ’’Don’t worry. If your parents come to trouble you, just give my father a call. They won’t go around pestering you anymore. You both are no longer children. Even if your decisions are wrong, they are still yours to me. You would be learning from it. Nobody else has the right to make a decision for you."

The man turned to look at Maxim, feeling a reluctance in his heart to part from his son as soon as he found him but he knew that this was not the time to let his emotions overpower him. If he pestered Maxim, he would be pushing Maxim further away from him. "I would see you soon again,’’ he said.

After Qin Zehan and Hazel left, Diana leaned onto Maxim’s shoulder as she whispered, ’’How did they suddenly get married?" she could not express all the shocks that she felt in a few moments.

"I don’t know. They are adults. They can marry or do whatever they want as long as mom smiles the same way she does now,’’ Maxim stated, ’’I don’t care about their marriage but I can consider ours.’’

Diana pushed his hand away, blushing furiously. Why was this man suddenly obsessed with getting married to her? ’’There is something I want to tell you,’’ she cleared her throat, ’’I.. actually knew about your relation with Grandpa Qin.’’

"I know,’’ Maxim revealed.

Diana looked at him in surprise.

’’You were sneaking around with my toothbrush, hair and you thought I would not notice?" he laughed.

Diana was speechless. He made it sound like he was watching a spectacle all along. Everyone around him tried to keep things from him but he had always known the truth.

She sighed.

Maxim pulled her into his arms, ’’Stop thinking about it all.’’

She tilted her head to look at him.

’’There is this feeling in my heart.’’

"What feeling?" Diana asked as she pressed her head on his chest, yawning softly.

’’That great things are waiting for us,’’ Maxim whispered kissing the top of her head.

Diana wrapped her arms around him as she hugged him tightly, ’’I... feel sleepy again.’’

Maxim chuckled as he pressed another kiss on top of her head, ’’Then, sleep.’’