Sober and beautiful, my husband and son begged for my forgiveness on their knees.

When Lu Mingjin heard Ning Yao's voice, her first reaction was to take off her pajamas.

But after struggling for a long time, I still couldn't get it off.

Worried that she might get impatient and leave, he awkwardly opened the door.

"I'm not afraid, because my mom used to say I would look cute in it."

After he finished speaking, he nervously twisted his fingers.

Ning Yao saw that he had bent his fingers until they were red, so she squatted down and slapped his hand away. "Are you trying to break your fingers?"

Lu Mingjin, who had been hit, pouted.

At that moment, it felt as if all the grievances had been released.

He couldn't hold back any longer, grabbed Ning Yao's neck, and burst into tears.

"Mommy mommy……"

He was in a lot of pain during this time. His mother, who had always been very indulgent towards him, not only rejected him but also treated him very coldly.

He tried various methods, but none of them could attract his mother's attention.

He thought his mother was awful and was determined to ignore her, but when he heard her praising other children and smiling at them, he felt terrible again.

But this time is different.

His mother hit his hand and scolded him.

But he felt her concern.

Ning Yao listened to his aggrieved sobs, and her eyes involuntarily reddened as well.

After all, he was the child she raised herself.

Although she was extremely disappointed in him, seeing him in such distress still made her heart clench.

Hearing his son crying downstairs, Lu Jingmo assumed Ning Yao was disciplining him and rushed upstairs, only to find his son hugging her and sobbing uncontrollably.

A surge of emotion welled up inside him, tugging at his nerves.

This is a feeling I've never had before.

He didn't step in to disturb them, but quietly stepped aside.

"Okay, stop crying."

Ning Yao noticed that Lu Mingjin's sobs had subsided, so she reached out and patted his back.

Lu Mingjin took a deep breath and then slowly released her grip.

Ning Yao saw that there were still tears in the corners of his eyes, so she reached out and wiped them away for him.

His movements were gentle, but his eyes still held a hint of indifference.

"You're not a three-year-old anymore. Talk things out properly from now on and stop crying all the time."

Lu Mingjin nodded emphatically, then asked softly, "Mom, can you come over to stay with me tomorrow?"

Ning Yao shook her head, "Tomorrow won't work, maybe next time."

These words instantly extinguished the expectation in Lu Mingjin's eyes, like a bucket of cold water.

The blush that had just faded instantly intensified.

“But…but…” He tried to persuade her, but Ning Yao said, “Ming Jin, although I am your mother, I also have my own dreams to realize, and I hope you can respect me.”

Lu Mingjin pursed her lips tightly, unsure of how to respond.

"It's getting late, you should go to sleep." Ning Yao led him into the room and made him lie down on the bed, then sat by the bedside to keep him company.

Although Lu Mingjin didn't fully understand what she was saying, he obediently lay down and rested his head on her lap.

He fell asleep very quickly.

Ning Yao waited until he fell asleep before tiptoeing out.

Just as I reached the door, I caught a glimpse of a figure in the corner.

She gasped, her back slamming against the door, and at the same time she recognized the person on the other side as Lu Jingmo.

She let out a heavy sigh, clutching her heart, and glared at him angrily. "Are you crazy? What are you doing standing there all by yourself?!"

Lu Jingmo hadn't expected to frighten her, so he stepped out from the shadows. "Has Mingjin been calmed down?"

Ning Yao rubbed her rapidly beating heart and nodded faintly, "Yes, he's asleep and didn't refuse to go to school next week, so I guess I've completed my mission?"

Lu Jingmo looked at her intently, "Why don't you want to send him to kindergarten?"

Ning Yao released her grip and coldly retorted, "I have to go to work, and besides, you are his guardian now."

“But you are his mother.” Seeing that she was still making excuses, Lu Jingmo raised his voice.

Ning Yao laughed in anger at his words, "We're divorced. Sending him to school is your responsibility and obligation. You can't outsource the responsibility to me and just wash your hands of it."

Lu Jingmo's expression turned cold. "I didn't say I wouldn't go, but if Mingjin wants you to accompany her, then you should..."

"Just because I'm a mother, does that mean I have to stay by my child's side all the time, taking care of him and being with him, and not having my own life?" Ning Yao's tone gradually became sharp.

Lu Jingmo frowned. "That's not what I meant."

Ning Yao sneered, "Whether it's true or not, you know in your heart. Anyway, I can't be as hardworking and obedient as before, always at your beck and call."

Lu Jingmo was taken aback, and subconsciously wanted to say that he hadn't asked her to come whenever he wanted, and that it was no big deal to just drop off the child.

But when he met Ning Yao's gaze, he found it hard to say anything.

"I go first."

Ning Yao didn't want to argue with Lu Mingjin at his door, so she went downstairs.

Lu Jingmo quickly followed her downstairs, but instead of stopping her, he asked the housekeeper to arrange a car for her to go out.

Only after Ning Yao left did he call the butler over for questioning.

"During the years I was abroad, did Ning Yao take care of Ming Jin every day?"

The butler didn't know why the young master would suddenly ask about the past, but he still answered truthfully: "Yes, the young master was born prematurely and his body is weaker than that of other children. So the young mistress takes great care of him. She does everything herself. If the young master has a cold or headache, she is the first to notice and take him to the hospital."

Lu Jingmo frowned. "Didn't I arrange for a nutritionist and a postpartum nanny to take care of her? Why won't she let them do these things?"

"It's not that the young mistress didn't want to, but once when the nanny was bathing the young master, she accidentally made him choke on water. She was afraid of being blamed and didn't dare to say anything. The frightened young master vomited everything he ate that afternoon and soon developed a high fever. The young mistress investigated and found out the reason, so she dared not entrust the young master to anyone else to take care of him."

Lu Jingmo was silent for a moment before asking, "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

Although his tone was calm, it carried a cold and oppressive feel.

The butler glanced at him cautiously, his voice unconsciously lowering, "After Madam found out about this, she said that such trivial matters didn't need to be told to you, so as not to delay your important business."

Lu Jingmo's jawline tightened. "Has this kind of thing ever happened before?"

The butler hesitated for a few seconds before nodding.

Lu Jingmo said in a deep voice, "Tell me everything."

……

Ning Yao checked the neighborhood news and knew that the power hadn't come back on yet, so she asked the driver to take her to a nearby hotel.

After a long day, she was completely exhausted.

After checking into the room, I quickly took a shower and went straight to sleep.

She didn't sleep well, perhaps because she went to the villa tonight.

Past memories replay in dreams.

Fear and lingering dread gripped her deeply.

She died from electrocution in a mental hospital.

She had just woken up from that nightmare.

She clutched her chest and gasped for breath for a long time before she came to her senses.

She hasn't had any dreams related to her past life for a long time.

When she returned from washing her face in the bathroom, she received a call from Jiang Tian.