Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

After seeing this scene, Moore nodded with approval and said, "That is good too. Zed is not an unreasonable person. He knows you didn't tell him for his good. Of course, he will understand when he gets to know later."

"Whether he understands or not, it was time that I did things on my own. I can't have him worry about me all the time." Jean said this as she gazed outside the window looking at the periwinkle flowers in her garden. Lost in thought, she sighed and continued, "Ever since I married Zed, I have given him some reason or the other to worry about me. I can't always ask him to clean up my mess. I have to learn to grow up, be mature and deal with my own challenges on my own."

"Jean, you are doing great already." Moore tried to make her look at it positively. "Look at everything that has happened in your life. I don't think anybody could have handled it any better than what you have."

"Moore, don't do this to make me feel better." Jean shook her head at Moore's words, "I know I am not capable enough. Look at this, I even interrupted your treatment at the hospital and now disturb your rest here. Sometimes I wonder am I a drama queen since I am always getting my friends into trouble."

"Don't say that, Jean." Moore shrugged his shoulders wearily. "Don't be paranoid about such kind of things. As your friend, I am only glad to help you and share both your pain and joy."

"Okay, let's drop the topic about me. What about you?" Jean was pleased to see Moore never shying away from showing his support. She gave him a cheerful smile and asked, "After you recover, do you plan to continue staying here?"

Moore knew what Jean really meant. Fraught with tension, Moore kenw there was only one way to solve this. "I will have a serious talk with him before I decide to stay or leave."

"Him" of course referred to Gary.

Jean nodded showing that she got the subtext of his words. "I too feel that it does you no good to keep on avoiding him. You two need to sit down and get this out of the way. That is a positive way to solve problems."

Moore wrenched in pain,"I had never thought of meeting him, let alone sitting down to talk. But when I saw you miss your mother this intensely, I began thinking of my own. If you think about it, we have a lot in common, be it our dysfunctional families or our complicated pasts. We both lost our mother and have a stepmother. We were both hurt from our family members.

Every time, you bravely face your problems. Why can't I? Even if I don't want to have anything to do with him in the future, at least I will get to say it out loud that I hate him and don't want to see him ever again. I think maybe after I clearly express my mind and attitude to him, he won't bother me anymore. And the trouble would be dealt with for good."

Jean looked at Moore and smiled, "Yeah. I completely second you on this. But I want to remind you that Gary already knows that you hate him and don't want to see him. So even if you repeat this, it won't change his intentions behind seeing you. I support you irrepsective of the outcome. I admire your courage to go confront him and tell him what you think.

But Moore, something has been nagging me. He is revered by so many people. Has this thought ever come to you that maybe there is some secret hiding in his past? At the end of the day, he is still your father, the person who gave you your life. Can't you just give him a chance to clarify his actions back then?

I believe there isn't a father who would abandon his son out of his own will. Look at my father. The misunderstanding he had about my mother was created by Joy on purpose. Plus, after Joy had said non-stop negative comments about me, he felt it right to neglect me all through my childhood. Don't you have a stepmother too?"

Jean was trying to assuage Moore's feelings.

"Jean, are you talking me into forgiving him?" Moore smiled wryly hearing Jean speak like this.

"No, I just hope you can give him a chance to explain himself. There are a lot of things that unless you really see and experience yourself, you are unable to understand them correctly. Looking at how Gary lives his present, he doesn't seem to be a heartless person. For instance, he never forgets his birth place and has devoted so much of his efforts to developing H City. It is not difficult to see that he is a grateful person.

And for a person with such warmth inside, how could it be possible that he abandoned his own flesh and blood? Moore, now you know what happened to my mother. Don't you understand that a lot of things are not simply what they appear to be? Giving him a chance is also giving yourself a chance. I don't want you to live in hatred for the rest of your life."

"Jean, I know what you mean. But..." Moore wanted to say something, but he suddenly felt that even if he could express it correctly, Jean might not be able to understand. So he finally gave up and just mumbled, "Don't worry too much about me. I know what to do now." "Moore, don't you evade me." She flashed him an angry look. "I take you for my best friend, which is why I tell you what I think. If you think I am interfering in your life, you can tell me to stop in clear, direct words."

"Jean, you know I don't mean that." Moore was pained to see her misunderstand him. He hastened to offer her an explanation. "Just put yourself in my shoes. If you just left for a few days and then you found that your name was on the list of a home for orphans, how would you feel? I was only eight years old then, but I couldn't make a mistake in recognizing my name on that list.

Without that paper, my adoptive parents wouldn't have brought me away with them. Without legal procedures, they couldn't have adopted me lawfully. It is only after growing up that I thought through of all this and came to this conclusion. "What have you thought through?" Jean asked puzzled.

"Do you still remember the room with all the photos in the Harkin Garden apartment? My lawyer told me explicitly that the apartment was left to me by my adoptive parents. If that is the case, why are there photos of me when I was very small in that room? I had doubted that Gary bought the apartment privately in the name of my adoptive parents.

I called the sales manager of that estate to confirm my guess, but was told that my parents did go to see the apartment and personally purchase it for me years ago. So I started to speculate whether my parents adopted me on Gary's instructions. Otherwise it couldn't be such a coincidence that they showed up at the same time..."

"Oh my God!" Jean was shocked beyond belief. Her eyes widened as she clasped her hand to her mouth.

"Of course this is only my conjecture. My adoptive parents aren't alive anymore and I can't ask them the truth. If my guess is right, do you still think of him as conscientious and honest who deserves to be the idol of the public? He is a person who plotted to abandon his own son in order to climb up the career ladder. Do you still think I should forgive such a person?"

Moore watched Jean closely and asked with a bitter smile.

"If what you said is true, then life has been greatly unjust to you! Moore, so far this is only your conjecture. There is no evidence to support it. So I still hope that you give him a chance and let him tell you his side of the story, okay? I really can't see you getting tortured by not knowing the actual truth. D☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐