My Alleged Husband

Chapter 536: Chapter 515: How to Forgive?_1

Zhang Yichen didn’t know how to forgive himself anymore. The past seemed less significant in his eyes, for he once could do anything for his wife; yet in the end, he realized it was all self-deception. In his wife’s eyes, perhaps he was just a man to be used at her convenience—someone she could take when she wanted and discard when she was done, beckon and dismiss at will. So in his eyes, he wasn’t important anymore. If that was the case, why should he continue to treat her so well?

His heart was torn and anguished. On one hand was his wife, on the other was his most important dignity. Which should he choose?

”I really don’t understand,” he said, ”how you managed to say you want me to forgive you today. How do you expect me to forgive you? You hurt me, my family, and my feelings for you. How can I be lenient with you? Do you think I’m like my dad? No matter how grave the mistake my mom makes, he simply forgives her with a few pleading words, does that mean I’ll do the same? Do you think I can be as forgiving as my father? You’re wrong. Perhaps I can endure anything in this life, I can tolerate your impoliteness, lower education level, and having nothing, but I cannot tolerate your betrayal. Do you understand? Once one partner betrays the other in a marriage, what right do they have to go on living? Doesn’t it just trap both people in a difficult middle ground?”

”You see things more clearly, think more clearly, and understand more than I do. I am no match for you in many respects because I don’t have your business acumen. But what I cared about was a simple, kind, and upright you, not one who is unscrupulous in achieving their goals. The you I once knew has disappeared, and the feeling of love you gave me is gone. I don’t know what made you change into what you are today, but sadly, I must say, you’ve ruined everything between us. It’s you who made me who I am now.”

”I had looked forward to spending a lifetime with you, loving each other until the end of our days, but you didn’t cherish our relationship. You took it as a joke. Do you think just because I am your husband, I should forgive you unconditionally? Do you think I would do that? You know full well that’s not my personality. On the contrary, I am quite extreme. I am not a person who says ’yes’ when it’s ’no.’ In my life, I hold one truth: once someone betrays me, whether they’re family, friends, business enemies, or partners, I will show no mercy. And now, the first person to betray me is not just anyone, but the woman I have yearned for. I never thought you could be so cruel, to commit such a grave betrayal against your own husband...”

Ran Zhihan couldn’t bear Zhang Yichen repeatedly accusing her of betrayal. He couldn’t understand why meeting her biological father would be wrong. Was it forbidden for a daughter-in-law to see her own father? How could she make him trust her when, in his eyes, she wasn’t worthy of it? He had only now realized that getting married was a mistake, stepping early into the grave of marriage—a trap that suffocated him without any chance to struggle, yet he had chosen it.

”I ask you to speak with some respect,” she said. ”I have done nothing to wrong you; I’ve always had your best interests at heart. But you—do you describe the person beside you in bed as a betrayer? Legally and in marriage, I am still your wife; in this house, I am your spouse. You have no right to command me. We should be living peacefully and treating each other fairly. Is this your idea of living in peace and fairness? You are clearly targeting me. Maybe you think I did something to wrong you, but haven’t you made mistakes too? You turned what could have been a happy family inside out just because of your pride. Is your pride really that important? Because of it, you would disown your own relatives. Looking at what you’ve become, I can’t help but see you in a new light. Why even bring this up? In the end, aren’t we both similarly flawed?”

”You desperately want me to forgive you, so tell me, how should I forgive you? With what attitude, on what grounds? Can you explain to me what exactly you want from me? I have sacrificed too much for you, and in return, I face gut-wrenching betrayal. Do you expect me to blindly give up a great future for a woman like my father did? To be honest, I can’t do what my father did, to love a woman blindly. I can never accept loving someone as he loved my mother, blindly, ultimately abandoning his own son and father in pursuit of her. These are things I’ll never forget. So why do you insist on hurting me? You know these issues are a sore point for me, yet time and again, you tear open those healing wounds, rubbing salt into them. Do you think I deserve to be in agony? Do you find joy in your life while watching me suffer? You’re my woman. How can you so heartlessly hurt me? Have you truly forgotten all the hardships I went through to be with you?”

Zhang Yichen, he truly didn’t know how to forgive his wife. All these issues piled together were tearing him apart. He did not know on what grounds to forgive her, in a way that wouldn’t harm them both.