Come Daybreak

Xue Yang (xxvi)

"Where did they take mother?" Xue Bai stood in front of his father's desk in the study with swollen, red eyes as he asked in a desolated voice that cracked ever so slightly.

As he was only twelve and his appearance was delicate to begin with, what with his pure snow-white skin, the added depressed and desperate air only further elicited pity and sympathy from anyone who saw him.

The Xue head put the pen in his hands down as he sighed tiredly and rubbed his temples in an attempt to soothe the oncoming headache,

"That woman is no longer your mother. Ah Bai, she is not a good woman and did something evil, so she was taken away to atone for her sins."

But Xue Bai did not relent, "I want to see mother! Take me to see mother! I know you can do it, father!"

His crystalline tears slowly dripped down his cheeks as he bit his lips until they bled. It seemed as if he would not leave until his father agreed to let him meet with his birth mother for the last time.

After this last meeting, he would be officially and legally adopted by the current lady Xue, the Xue head's lawful wife. With this reasoning, coupled with the fact that the he had always spoiled this son of his due to the despair he'd felt after Xue Yang's "death," the Xue head relented.

He would at least ask that special forces soldier who was responsible for his eldest son's safety if the boy could meet his mother for the last time.

Xinya had immediately replied to the Xue head that any meetings would be under strict surveillance, even if it was between a child and his mother.

The Xue head could tell from his unsympathetic response that Xinya was even suspicious of such a young child and felt some dissatisfaction deep inside.

But obviously Xinya wouldn't care about the thoughts of insignificant others. He only knew that allowing the two to meet could possibly even rope the boy directly into the mess depending on the words they passed to each other.

While it was impossible for any of these ants to endanger his kitten in any way with him around, Xinya preferred not to wade into such muddy waters such as interfering with the Xue family's internal affairs—especially after Yang had already resolutely handed over his right to inheritance, thus cutting off all relations with them.

On the day of the meetup, the Xue head accompanied his youngest son along with Feng Xinya and Xue Yang to the special ops intelligence headquarters, which was a famous large bar in the capital of A country—Pandora's Box. There were many private rooms for different levels of the elite, with the highest level reserved for only a select few privileged individuals; Xinya and the Xue head being two of them.

The intelligence headquarters was where the various members of the corps had set up a spot to gain all sorts of information. It was also where the mistress was held as a person who definitely held important information regarding the Qiu family and Qiu Se, Xue Yang's aunt.

Unbeknownst to the public, there was a basement floor that was used as an interrogation prison that was not much different from Xinya's personal one back at his manor aside from the fact that is was much larger, drearier, and contained numerous barred prison cells.

The mistress was held in a random cell near the end of a dark and dank corridor. She was already covered in blistering cuts and bruises after having only been taken in for less than a day. The soldiers worked really fast, hoping to complete their mission of subduing the Qiu family and the aunt as quick and efficiently as possible.

"Mother!"

"My son!"

Seeing his mother who'd loved and taken care of him all these years in such a state the young, black-haired boy's eyes reddened as he ran up to the bars separating the two from hugging each other in longing and grievance.

Xue Yang remained impassive as if the scene ahead of him had nothing to do with him, and Xinya even more so. The Xue head felt complex emotions as his line of sight shifted from his youngest son to Xue Yang.

In the end he had spent more time with his younger son, so he couldn't help but feel a sense of heaviness on his chest seeing the boy crying as he wrongfully reached for his mother, whom the Xue head personally held no special regards towards, against the bars.

But when he felt the cold eyes of the tall soldier beside Xue Yang fixed upon his figure, the Xue head knew that this mistress had acted against the son he felt immense guilt for, so he knew not to overstep the boundaries by asking to treat her better.

In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she ended up dying in these soldiers' hands. After all, he was the president of A country. He may have lived in the light, but he was far from unaware of what went on in the shadows of his own country. But this was also a form of justice as these people were acting for the good of his own son.

Although almost imperceptible, when Xue Yang saw the Xue head staring back and forth between him and the sobbing mess of a child, he felt apprehensive. What if the man suddenly asked to free the child's mother just to make him happy? Even though Xue Yang had resolved to disregard the family, it was only recently and he wasn't as unfeeling as his partner beside him.

Thankfully, he was overthinking things and the Xue head remained silent.

In truth, if the Xue head had not been doused in figuratively cold water by Xinya's threatening gloominess, then he probably would have uttered something that he would have instantly regretted.

When the child noticed that his father, the most powerful man in the world, hadn't even uttered a single word even when faced with his tears Xue Bai couldn't help but feel indignant. When had this father of his ever rejected him especially when using such an appeal in the past?

He associated this failure to the white-haired boy standing beside the powerful soldier he had seen the other day and already felt that he was unpleasant to his eyes. How could he not notice the way his father looked at the boy. His eyes were full of love, guilt, and restraint all at once. The love in his eyes was enough to rival the love that he, as the only son of the Xue family, should receive!

He was told previously by his mother that he was the only son of the Xue family. He never knew about the existence of this half-brother of his as the mistress was confident that Xue Yang had no hope of ever getting out of that hellhole in this lifetime.

Unfortunately, she and the aunt had miscalculated. At least, they thought they did but their plan was spotless and there truly were no miscalculations.

They had simply never associated this outcome with Feng Xinya's presence and interference in this world because no one knew he was an anomaly to begin with. If he had not been sent into this world, then Xue Yang would have died back then in place of the protagonist, and there would have been no reason to investigate his "death" at all.

But it was because of the fact that the Xue head had made concessions for Xue Yang that Xue Bai did not act hastily. Xue Bai may have had more emotional attachments with his mother but he was raised by the Xue head, so he was not dumb.

Xue Yang was obviously held with great importance in his father's heart and his mother wasn't exactly the most innocent woman either. However, it pained him to see her being treated so cruelly because he knew she'd only done those bad things for him.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do for her now, aside from making sure her efforts were not in vain. Xue Bai silently resolved himself to take over the Xue family as she had wished, sucking up the losses he'd received that day. His father was right.

Even if he felt the world was unfair, Xue Bai knew that his mother would have to atone for her sins.

But if his older brother still wished to fight him for the head position then he would make sure to return this grievance tenfold in the future. If not, then at least in that way both parties could live in peace. Hopefully they would never have to see much of each other, either.

A/N: hehehe this arc will end on smut, and on that note it should be over by part xxix!