Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

When Jinhai headed back to Nana's checkup room once again, he saw Alix rushing out of it with a pale and dreadful expression. She didn't look left or right and ran straight towards the exit.

Jinhai slightly furrowed his brows and questioningly looked at his wife.

"What happened to her?"

"She knows that we know."

"Oh."

He sat on the bed beside her and asked, "What did she say?"

She pursed her lips. "She didn't say anything. I tried to talk to her but she panicked and ran away."

"I see…"

Nana studied his expressionless gaze. "You still have reservations about her, don't you?"

"She has made a lot of mistakes that are hard to ignore," his expression tightened. "I admit I wasn't thrilled upon learning it. On the contrary, I was almost about to drag her into the underworld again had you not stopped me."

"Because it's easy to let the past overshadow the efforts she is making towards her redemption. It's easy to lose in that flow of hatred."

"You…died because of her in the past," he mumbled.

"And she saved me this time. Ai too," she smiled.

Jinhai didn't respond. He knew that very well, which was why he felt at crossroads.

"I know you are conflicted because you know she has changed for the good, she is trying everything she can to rectify her mistakes but it's still difficult to bridge the last gap."

"Mom?"

Jin entered the room just then and he blinked, feeling the solemn atmosphere. "Is anything wrong…?"

"I think you should go after Alix and talk to her."

His eyes slightly widened. "But why?"

She released a sigh. "Just go. You will understand it."

—

Alix ran out of the hospital and kept walking straight ahead with no particular destination in her mind. Despite her speedy exit, her heart refused to calm down with small drops of sweat forming on her brows. But she suddenly halted in her steps as she felt pulled back by her arm.

She looked back into Jin's concerned and confused gaze.

"What's wrong, Alix?"

Alix gritted her teeth and shook her arm off his hold. "Don't come after me."

"...I don't understand. What happened-"

"Your family. That's what happened. I think your whole family has gone crazy!"

"Huh?" He threw her a stunned stare.

"First it's you, then Zhou Ai and now…" she clenched her fists hard, "now it's your parents who want to act like Mother Teresa to accept me for who I was in the past?"

Jin's eyes widened. "Mom and Dad…?"

He felt his heart crash against his chest but he maintained his calm. "There's some misunderstanding. They don't know and neither did-"

She chuckled. "Yes, you didn't tell them but they learned it anyway."

He froze.

Mom and Dad know about her…? But how? I know Zhou Ai didn't tell them either, so…

"You know what they did? Mr. Liu shielded me in the elevator from a man hitting on me as if I was his daughter and Mrs. Liu very kindly said that I should live the happiness my mother couldn't get to live."

Alix burst into an angry, yet self-deprecating laughter. "What is wrong with you people!? First, there is you who wants to love me despite knowing who I am, then there is Zhou Ai who wants the woman who killed her in the past to become her son's teacher and then there are your parents who seem to have no problem in accepting me if I ever accepted your love. What the hell do you want to prove by doing all this?"

"Alix-"

"Why the hell are you showing kindness and understanding towards a woman you should hate and loathe? Have you all lost it or have everybody lost their memories at the same time? I don't want anybody's pity because they cannot see you hurt!" She exclaimed breathlessly, her cheeks aching with a dull pain. "So stay away from me!"

"Nobody is pitying you! That's the last thing on anybody's mind," he slightly clenched his jaw.

"They are seeing you in a different light because of the things that you did as Alix, not because they are afraid to hurt me. Why should Zhou Ai hate you when you saved her and baby's life? Why would she despise you when you have tried to bring her parents together? Why will Dad hold a grudge against you when it was your intervention that saved Mom's life?"

She stiffened.

"Yes, I know that you had organized that health fair and I am sure Dad knows it too. If you are doing everything you can to bring good in our lives then why can they not see it and think differently about you? Why do you still want me and everybody else to keep judging you because of the past?"

"Because I did what I did only to satisfy my own sense of self and ego. Neither did I help anyone nor did I save anybody's life to beg for your forgiveness so stop putting me on some pedestal. I don't want forgiveness!"

He froze.

As those words fell on his ears, he felt a sense of familiarity hitting him hard like a waterfall rushing down on a rock with its full force.

I don't want forgiveness.

It was the same thing that Jin told himself - that he didn't want forgiveness from Shui. That no matter if she was ready to forget the past, he couldn't let go of it himself.

That's why he felt Alix's words resonate with him the most. Suddenly, he realized the sides were switched. Where Shui stood at one point in time was where he stood right now, facing a woman juggling with her own demons she couldn't forgive herself for.

Alix stepped closer, a glint of chilliness in her eyes that seemed like it wouldn't ever melt.

"So stay out of my life, Liu Jin. What you expect to happen between us is impossible. There is no future between us no matter how much you or your family tries to be nice to me. There will never be any 'us.' So you walk your way and I will walk mine. Our paths are never meant to intersect in this or any other life."