624 The golden clock shows the past (8)
Ai’s death had left a gaping hole in everybody’s lives. The shock had left Yating dead from inside but when reality dawned upon him, the guilt he felt towards himself was unimaginable.
“She was there…She was right there. I could have caught her hand…”
The butler of the Gu family, Uncle Mo, was heartbroken to see Yating in this state. Ever since that night, Yating had never come to regain his composure. He would be in his room the entire day, mumbling to himself and staring at the empty space ahead with a dead gaze.
“I could have caught her hand…I would have reached her if I had just…Ai would have not fallen…I could have caught her hand…”
“Young master…” Uncle Mo vigorously shook his shoulders to make him snap out of it. “Young master, please hold yourself together! Nothing was your fault,” he trembled tearfully. “You know what happened in high school with your friend who fell from the third floor. It’s not like you didn’t help Miss. Zhou purposely, so please stop blaming yourself.”
“It’s my fault…It’s all my fault…Ai died because of me…I killed her…She would be alive if I had held her hand…” his misty eyes shone even though the light in them had died ages ago. “I shouldn’t have…broken Ai’s heart. I shouldn’t have betrayed Ai. I-If we were still together th-then she wouldn’t have had to leave Beijing…She would have been by my side. I would have protected her. Is fate punishing me…? But then it should have killed me instead, right…? Why…Why did Ai have to die…”
“Young master…”
Butler Mo felt helpless. He didn’t know what he should do to help Yating. Nothing seemed to work.
“Gu Yating!”
Suddenly an extremely raging and ferocious voice roared from the living room. As Butler Mo slowly helped Yating out of his room, Yating trembled upon seeing the man.
He had never personally met Ai’s parents, but he knew that the man standing before him right now was Ai’s father, Zhou Yichen.
Yating went ahead with Butler Mo feeling anxious. “Young master, he is furious. He might hurt you-“
“He has lost his daughter, Uncle Mo. He is in pain…more than anybody else here. That’s why, I will be more than happy if he kills me,” he wryly smiled.
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But none of that affected Zhou Yichen. He grabbed his shirt’s collar and looked straight into his eyes with red, teary and tired eyes. “Ai…My Ai loved you a lot, Gu Yating. She wanted nothing more than a happy life with you. The five years away from Beijing and away from you had crippled her.”
His eyelashes trembled.
“She could never forget you. No matter…” his voice broke, “No matter how much I tried to cheer her up, she would only give me a smile filled with pain and sadness. She had lost everything, Gu Yating. Her career, her love, her respect and dignity as a writer…She was just passing her life in Xuanhua. So…wasn’t that enough already that she had to die as well?”
Yating closed his eyes, tears plopping down on his cheeks
“Give me answer, you fucker! Why did my daughter have to die!? What did she do so wrong that she never got anything she wished for?” He gnashed his jaw, his fingers tightening on his shirt. “Why did the two most important people in her life have to betray her trust? Why couldn’t you save her Gu Yating!?”
“Young master didn’t do it on purpose-” Butler Mo interrupted to anxiously explain Zhou Yichen Yating’s side of things.
But Yating made a small gesture to not speak a word. He didn’t want anybody’s defense or give Zhou Yichen any excuses.
“And as if everything has happened is not enough already that your company is accusing my Ai of committing suicide!? My Ai would never kill herself and you know that too! Why…why is the world being unjust to her even though she is already dead! Why can’t you all just leave her alone!? Even in her death, you selfish bastards are only thinking about protecting your company’s image even if it would come at the cost of my daughter’s!”
Yating stiffened. His eyes slowly widened in shock. After Ai’s death, he had locked himself in his room and lost all contact with the world, so he didn’t know what news was being flashed around social media. He and Guiying knew the truth more than anybody else.
Who the hell did this…?
He gritted his teeth, now just as furious as Zhou Yichen.
“Un-Uncle Zh-“
“You have no right to call me, Uncle. The man who was too cowardly to meet his girlfriend’s parents even once has no right to act so familiar to me!”
Butler Mo shed helpless tears.
Young master didn’t meet you because he wanted to build a company for Miss. Zhou and prove himself before facing you. He wanted to step out of his father’s shadow. Young master never…
But at this point, none of that mattered to Yating, neither did he have interest to defend his intentions to Zhou Yichen.
Yating’s lips lifted into a soft but sad smile. “You are right. I lost that right years ago already. Mr. Zhou. I didn’t know that this news was being spread in the media otherwise I would have already stopped it. I don’t know who is gutsy enough to mask this accident as a suicide, but I promise you I will end this farce right now. I killed Ai…I failed in protecting her. I will confess my sin and face my punishment.”
“I don’t need your sorry punishment, Gu Yating,” Zhou Yichen laughed without any hint of warmth in it. “Ai was never a coward to end her life and I want that stain taken off her. I only came here to tell you that Dream High made a big mistake by targeting my daughter. I will prove her innocence and take selfish company down. Neither you nor anybody else will be able to stop me.”