Because I Cannot Hurt You

Chapter 535 Shuang is also my daughter! (1)

An Guoting hugged Shuang as if she had returned from a trip to the moon. He looked at her from top to bottom and was satisfied.

"Shuang is back," he wiped his eyes. "You know, I missed you so much."

He then glanced at Jack and brightened. "Jack, my boy! How are you?"

He smiled. "I am great, Uncle. How are you?"

An Guoting pursed his lips. "I am not so great. I thought I would be great because my wife is back now, and I will live with my family but then Shuang left!"

"..."

"I see, Shuang has always been giving more importance to her job rather than her father…" there was a hint of complaint in his voice.

"..."

Suddenly, he felt a smack on his head. "Why are you complaining when she is back? Don't act like a child."

An Yueqin had her hands on her waist as she glared at him.

An Guoting coughed. "But I…"

"No buts."

She ignored him and beamed at the couple. "Guoting doesn't have manners. Look, you are still standing outside," she cast him an accusing stare.

He mumbled to himself.

They were finally led outside with Shuang throwing complicated gazes at An Yueqin. She silently sighed but felt Jack's hand slowly entwine within hers.

He gave an assuring nod and whispered, "Everything will be fine. It's your family."

Hearing that, she felt a certain uneasiness envelope her heart.

An Yueqin clapped her hands in delight. "I have prepared some snacks for you two! Let me bring them."

She hopped away in excitement. A few minutes later, she brought a few food items and kept them on the table. "It's all yours! Dig in."

An Guoting brightened and stretched his hand to grab one bite when his wife slapped his hand away.

"Ow! Hey…"

"This is not for you. It's for Shuang and Jack. You have already eaten way too much. Your tummy will bloat at this rate."

"..."

She sat beside him and looked between Shuang and Jack. "So…"

Jack cleared his throat and straightened his back. His eyes were serious and his expression was solemn. "Uncle An, Aunt An. We are here to tell you something."

An Guoting trembled with excitement, but he coughed and tried to look calm and composed. "Yes, Jack. I was wondering your presence here."

An Yueqin rolled her eyes.

As if you don't know.

Jack took a deep breath. Even though he was sure that he would be thrilled to hear the news, he still couldn't help but get slightly nervous. He was still his girlfriend's father, after all.

"I confessed to Shuang, and we are dating now. We hope you give us your blessings."

The expression on An Guoting's face turned so bright that it would even defeat the sun's brilliance. It was as if the whole place was filled with flowers suddenly.

"Yueqin! Did you hear that?" He sobbed. "Shuang is finally dating Jack! Finally! My dream has come true!"

An Yueqin chuckled and patted his hand. "Yes, I heard it."

Shuang's countenance twitched. "Did anybody babble it to you?"

"Babble who?" An Guoting frowned but then gasped with realization. "You unfilial daughter! You shared this news with others first rather than your own parents!?" He harrumphed. "I am hurt!"

Shuang's mouth twitched. "Why do I feel that you have turned more into a child than before?"

He glared at her. "I was always like this. It's you who didn't notice it," then he once again complained. "But how will you? You left home and lived away from your father…"

She was dumbfounded. "I have lived away before, not just now."

He felt extremely aggrieved. "Which has always saddened me, okay!"

She stiffened.

"I wanted both of my daughters to stay with me as long as they could. But Caihong left abroad too soon. I only had you but when you started your company, you left the villa and lived in your own apartment mostly. You left your father all alone…" his shoulders drooped. "I respected your decision because I thought that you are grown up now. You need your own space. But that didn't mean I was happy, okay? Both of my daughters left this old man…" he mumbled.

Shuang blinked her eyes.

An Yueqin stared at Shuang and softly said, "When I returned to this villa, I also thought that you would come back, and we will live together. I really wanted to. I had heard a lot about you from Caihong and Guoting."

An Guoting furiously nodded.

"But my presence made you uncomfortable, didn't it?"

She froze.

"Of course not," she instinctively replied.

An Guoting blinked. "Why would Yueqin make you uncomfortable?"

An Yueqin grimaced. "You are so silly, Guoting. But that's also why I love you so much. You are silly but cute."

"..."

"What did I do!?" He was speechless.

Shuang quickly said, "Nothing, Dad. It's nothing-"

"Hey! I want to know, okay? I want to prove that I am not silly!" He harrumphed.

Jack chuckled. "Well…"

Shuang shot him a deadly stare.

Say anything and…

"Don't threaten my son-in-law!" An Guoting glared at her. "He cares about me more than you."

"..."

"He used to regularly tell me what's going on with your life. As a father-in-law, I couldn't have been happier. Otherwise, you were so hopeless!"

She widened her eyes, and her jaw dropped.

Jack shook his head. "Sometimes I told him but most of the time, he asked me about you. He missed his daughter very much. You left saying that you had an important project going on, so he didn't want to disturb you."

She stiffened, and she felt a lump in her chest.

He did that…?

An Guoting went back to the topic. "But tell me what's this about Yueqin and Shuang? Did you two fight that I wasn't aware of?" He gasped in disbelief.

An Yueqin shook her head. "There was no fight, Guoting. But I guess Shuang felt left out when I was back. She must have thought…" she guiltily clutched her dress. "I am your wife. Caihong and Zizi are your daughters, so it would be awkward for her to stay here," her eyes ached. "I felt that I understood her concerns, and I really wanted to talk to her and stop her. But I wasn't confident that she would believe me. She was putting distance, and I didn't want to force her to accept me."

Silence.

Shuang held her breath.

An Guoting tilted his head. "Okay, I am really silly because I still don't understand. Caihong and Zizi are my daughters, so it would be awkward for Shuang? Why? Shuang is also my daughter! What is there to be awkward in staying with her father!?"