Under his intense gaze, she continued, "Another year passed, and I painstakingly sought an opportunity to get close to you. I finally met you in Sydney. I followed you all the way, observing your every word and action, and determined that you are an excellent candidate for sperm donation. I think you can be the father of my child!"
"So, you're just using my body to achieve your goals?" Being chosen by her should be a source of pride, so why didn't he feel happy at all?
"That's right, I was just using you." Shan'er met his eyes and admitted it frankly.
Upon hearing this, he was so angry he was about to explode.
"Is Xuanling also my child?"
She slowly nodded.
"I don't understand. We only spent one night together. How could you possibly be pregnant with my child again years later?"
"You should be familiar with 'sperm banks'! I collected your sperm and stored it in a sperm bank, that's all!" Shan'er explained Xuanling's birth simply.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Boxuan's face turned ashen. He irritably ran his hands through his thick, dark hair, as if his world had instantly changed. He needed some time to think.
Kim Sun-ah and he had a one-night stand, and afterwards she gave birth to two children for him, one six years old and the other two years old. He became a father...
His uncontrollable rage caused him to punch the wall in frustration, blood trickling from between his fists.
"You are truly the most wicked woman I have ever met. You stole my seed, gave birth to my child, and kept it from me for seven whole years. If it weren't for Changyuan Hospital's alliance with the Jin family, I would have reunited with you. If Xuande hadn't revealed the secret of the photos, you would have kept it from me for the rest of your life!" He raised his head, his eyes burning with rage.
"It's nothing, you're making a big fuss over nothing!" She gritted her teeth and said casually, "I never wanted you to take responsibility. Just pretend nothing happened, and you can continue being your eligible bachelor tomorrow. I won't bring the kids to bother you!"
"How dare you say such a damn thing?" he roared deafeningly. "Do you have any conscience?"
"They are my children, not yours!" She was determined to fight to the end.
"Do you want your child to live without a father?" he asked sternly.
"What does it matter if the child doesn't have a father?" she sneered. "So what if I have a father? From childhood until his death, I saw him only a handful of times, and I probably called him 'Dad' no more than ten times!"
Zhang Boxuan stared at her and said calmly, "You're too selfish. Just because you didn't experience enough fatherly love yourself, you won't allow your child to have a father! How could you be so foolish as to allow your child to live in the shadow of being an illegitimate child for the rest of their life!"
She held her head high. "Say what you will. I may be selfish, but there's no possibility of anything going forward between us. I don't need a man, I don't need the ties of marriage, I just want a child!"
"That's the crux of the problem!" He pressed close to her beautiful, pale face, emphasizing each word, "I want a child too. I want to fight for my rights as a father!"
"No!" Her deepest fear was about to happen!
"You just wait and see! The child doesn't just belong to you; I have half the rights too!" he declared harshly. "I've come to collect what you owe me!"
Zhang Boxuan didn't look at her again and left without turning back.
When Siwa brought Xuanling back, she found Shan'er sitting alone on the balcony, covering her face with her hands and trembling uncontrollably.
The study was in complete disarray, as if it had been through a storm.
"He came?" Siwa asked in a low voice, almost a sigh. "He knows everything?"
"He tried to take my children away from me..." The thought of her two beloved children felt like a knife stabbing into her heart. "Nanny, was... I wrong?"
Siwa sighed softly. "Perhaps you're mistaken in overlooking the fact that he's a proud man. How could he bear to see his child wandering outside?"
"I'm wrong! I didn't steal it, he slept with me willingly..." Shan'er made up her mind that no matter what, she would never let her child leave her side!
Having spent a sleepless night, Zhang Boxuan stood outside the Jin family's gate with dark circles under his eyes and reached out to press the doorbell.
The person who opened the door was Siwa, who was holding Xuanling in her arms.
"Xuanling!" He pulled Xuanling into his arms and kissed her cheek tenderly, reluctant to let her go. "Daddy's here to see you."
The word "Dad" made Siwa raise her eyebrows.
Ah! It was bound to happen, it really happened!
"Please come in!"
Sitting in the playroom, Zhang Boxuan was very excited. He seemed to want to make up for the regret of not being able to accompany his children for many years, and he tried his best to amuse Xuanling with various toys.
Siwa, who had been sitting quietly to the side for a long time, finally spoke up.
"Mr. Zhang, what brings you here?" she asked bluntly.
"I have a question I'd like to ask you. You're Shan'er's wet nurse, you must know her best!" He had absolutely no idea what Shan'er was thinking.
"You want to understand her?"
"Yes. I have never seen a woman who hates men so much, who does not follow traditional etiquette and is so unconventional..." He felt that he had met the most difficult woman in the world, and that woman was the mother of his child.
"Shan'er is a genius," Siwa replied briefly.
"Just because she's a genius, does that mean she can do whatever she wants and act recklessly? That doesn't make sense!" Zhang Boxuan didn't accept this argument.
Siwa, standing in Shan'er's shoes, reveals Shan'er's feelings—
"She doesn't trust anything or anyone. She wants a child of her own because a child is the only person she can trust. Don't be fooled by her proud and arrogant appearance; she has always lacked love. Although I love her very much, I am not her parent and can never replace her parents. And she was hurt too deeply by her parents!"
Shan'er's upbringing shaped her personality, but her actions were still too extreme. Zhang Boxuan suddenly understood where her coldness came from.
"She's like a cat that doesn't get close to people, but, Siwa, I believe Shan'er needs love too!" He glanced at the time, another plan forming in his mind. "What time does Xuande finish class?"
"Kindergarten ends at 4:30, but Shan'er will pick him up at 5:30." Siwa knew exactly what he was thinking, but she chose to give him and Shan'er a chance. They needed to clash to spark a connection.
She said: The child is hers.
He also said: The child is his.