Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

Jean caught Zed's inquisitive eyes. Although she was aware of how much Alina Wu tried to make her look bad, she knew that Zed believed none of it. As Zed kept his gaze on her, she smiled wryly back at him and shook her head to affirm his thoughts and gave him a

quick glance to the bathroom as a non-verbal signal.

Zed cocked an eyebrow at Jean. He followed her eyes out of curiosity. He wondered for a moment why Jean directed his gaze to the bathroom, but as soon as he saw the light was switched on via the reflection on the bathroom door, he immediately looked at Jean with a flash of excitement on his face.

With a huge beam plastered on Jean's face, she nodded at Zed for confirmation.

The same huge smile reflected on Zed's face as the news of Calvin finally waking up delighted him. He turned to Alina, who still kept complaining and whose face was now red with tears. His eyebrows furrowed into a frown and addressed her, "Ms. Wu, I believe you are mistaken. How could Jean ever hide Calvin? Besides, she is my wife. She won't have a reason to keep him away from you, would she? It just doesn't make sense at all."

"Pardon me for asking, Mr. Qi, but then, how could you explain why she held his hand in front of us? And why did she ask you to give them both privacy when they could talk with us in the same room? There's no other explanation, is there? Mr. Qi, you are still young and promising. Don't get easily deceived by others. And I suggest you stop wasting your life with her!" Alina confidently spurted out, thinking that she had said these words out of good will.

At this point, Zed's face darkened. His patience was usually thick, but Alina was wearing them thin. Caring for her son was one thing, but accusing his beloved wife for deceit was another. His body surged of annoyance, and all understanding faded from his face. Alina wasn't sure if she was seeing Zed's reaction right, but before she could ask, Zed opened his mouth and said in a cold tone, "In that case, we should not have come to visit Calvin so as not to be accused of having an ax to grind. Come, Jean. Let's head home and find something worthy of our time. We don't seem to be welcome at all."

As soon as he finished, he gave Alina one last glare before he grabbed Jean's hand and turned to walk out of the room.

Stunned, Alina couldn't say anything but mutter his name as if to call him back, but it was either too soft or ignored for Zed didn't even turn to acknowledge it.

She stayed on her place, not knowing what to do as for her, Zed had misunderstood her concern. She took a step forward and stopped, starting to feel completely anxious.

Meanwhile, Jean became anxious, too. She saw how dark Zed's eyes turned, but she just wasn't going to tolerate this immaturity. She stopped and with her free hand, she grabbed Zed's hand that holding hers, making it let go and turning the tables. Zed turned to look at her with a frown, and Jean just shook her head in return.

'Doesn't he know Calvin is fine now? Didn't he understand my gesture just moments ago? If so, why did he just smile and then take a 360 degree turn? Why did he instantly get worked up and exploded in front of Alina?

There is no reason to be so childish! Where are his manners and respect? How could he easily get angry at an elder?

He should know the reason why Alina acted like that is just because she cares too much about her son, 'Jean thought, frowning at Zed.

The air between them turned awkward and before anyone could say anything or make another move, they all turned to the bathroom as the door opened and closed with a soft slam. Calvin stopped wiping his wet hair with a dry towel and gave the scene in front of him a confused look. He sensed a tension in the room and when his eyes landed at his mother's flushed expression, he asked, "Mom, what happened? What is the fuss here all about?"

Everyone else in the room was stunned. Zed was startled as he stared at Calvin. When he heard from Jean that he was fine a moment ago, he expected him to have the same dull face but not his eyes that now recognized. In front of him, however, he didn't expect Calvin would be in such a great state as if he wasn't lost a few days ago.

It was not just Zed. Even Jean was dumbfounded looking as her stare kept on Calvin.

His sleek hair was perfectly in place, and his face was clean and glowing, without any trace of the stubble.

Calvin stood before them, well-groomed, spirited, and full of life.

Among the three of them, it was no wonder that Alina was the most astonished. Her eyes were glued on Calvin without blinking as if she just saw a ghost. She didn't move and didn't even hear her son's question for her until Calvin walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder before calling her unmistakably, "Mom?"

Finally, Alina blinked. She looked like she just woke up from a long dream, and as her surprised eyes focused on her son in front of her, her trembling hands reached for her son's cheeks and cupped them on her palms before she asked, stifling a sob, "Calvin, is that really you?"

Calvin gave his mother a weak and apologetic smile as he reached for her hand and said, "Mom, it's really me. I am sorry. I kept you worried."

Alina wiped the tears that brimmed on her eyes and replied, "It's okay, as long as you're fine now. There's nothing more important than you coming back. It's okay. It's okay..." Hugging her son tightly, Alina repeated again and again, overwhelmed by excitement and delight. She didn't mind the tears that streamed freely down her cheeks anymore.

Jean felt moved by the scene in front of them. She heaved a deep sigh of relief as if her job was done and leaned on Zed's shoulder, hugging his arm.

As both Calvin and Alina pulled away, Calvin turned towards the rest of the room and noticed Zed. He greeted him despite feeling embarrassed, remembering everything that he had done in the past that seriously wounded him. "Hi, Zed. You are here," he said, hesitating whether he should say more or not.

When Calvin acknowledged him, Zed walked over and playfully punched him on the chest. "You bastard! Finally, you're awake! It took you long enough. Would you believe that if you still didn't wake up from your long slumber, I would already throw you to the madhouse and let you die as you like with no hesitation?" Zed threatened.

Calvin nodded. "Yes, I believe you will. You don't have to ask me, because I already thought about the possibility," he said, giving Zed a playful smirk back. Then again, Zed's punch was quite heavy, so Calvin couldn't help but place his hand on his chest out of pain. His playfulness turned serious, stopping Zed from making a comeback, and with a pale face, Calvin apologized, "I'm sorry for making you all worried. I am very grateful for all of you for going out of your way to take care of me during this difficult period."

Calvin's gratitude to them were indeed whole-hearted, and everyone in the room felt the sincerity and smiled back at him, assuring him that there was nothing to worry about.

With this, Alina embraced Calvin again as if to gauge if she was really not dreaming. Watching the scene, Zed remembered what Alina had done to Jean and what she had said to him, so his smile was replaced by a frown of frustration and annoyance once more. He spoke, breaking the happy atmosphere, "Enough with the fancy and nice words, Calvin. If you hadn't woken up or walked out of the bathroom right on time, your shameless mother would have taken it all out on Jean."

Jean's eyes widened at Zed's sudden backlash and she tried to stop him from making matters worse. "Zed!" Zed turned to her. She pierced him with her glare, obviously displeased by his behavior and attitude. Zed just shrugged at her. 'Calvin has already showed up, and there is no reason for Alina to misunderstand her anymore.

Why should Zed bring this issue back again?' Jean wondered, still glaring at Zed.

On the other hand, after seeing her healthy and lively son once again, Alina had been too immersed in the feeling of relief and happiness that she had completely forgotten about how she humiliated Jean just a moment ago.

Now that Zed had mentioned it back, the events that took place in this very room came rushing in Alina's mind. She immediately became embarrassed and was conveyed by how her face flushed red and even the smile faded away.

Calvin looked at Zed and Jean with a frown of confusion. He knew that before he came out of the bathroom, something full of tension happened among the three of them just by how heavy and awkward the tension was as he got out. To answer the questions on his head, he turned to Zed and asked, "What do you mean by that, Zed?"

Before Zed could explain, Jean interjected right away, "Nothing to worry about, Calvin! Your mother was just joking around with me, and Zed was just teasing you, right, honey?" She nudged Zed to affirm.

Instead of just nodding his head like Jean expected, Zed rolled his eyes at her and gave her an exasperated glance before looking away gloomily.

For him, he didn't feel comfortable and would not definitely let a person off who

dared to misunderstand and humiliate his woman without even giving her a chance to explain herself and the situation. Alina might had just lost her rationality for caring too much about her son, but shutting out Jean with nasty words were too much.

This was what Jean couldn't understand. She just let Alina do that to her because she tried to understand that it was just due to her son's condition that made her act like that. That's why she wouldn't give Zed a chance to avenge.

Because of that, Zed was really pissed off at Jean, but more so because of Alina.

As for Calvin, he knew that there was really something, so when he directed his gaze at his mother, he somewhat understood the gist just by judging Alina's expression.

Then again, since Jean didn't blame his mother, and that she even covered up for her, Calvin wouldn't want his mother to feel bad, especially then that he really didn't know exactly what had happened behind the bathroom door. He decided then to accept Jean's answer and let it go without another word.

Calvin walked over to Alina and held her arm before turning to Jean and Zed. "Mom, I forgot to introduce them officially to you. Zed and Jean are the best friends I have met all my life. I don't know what I'd do without them," he said with such earnest that Jean felt moved by this, while Zed shrugged.

"Well, I am totally aware of that now, and I will make sure to treat your friends nicely and with kind consideration from now on," Alina announced before turning to Jean, giving her an apologetic smile. Zed made Alina realize her mistake, but she still didn't know the right time to apologize, ever since his outburst. When her son then introduced her to both Jean and Zed who were his best friends, she knew that her son was giving her the chance to sincerely apologize without him having to look at her in the eyes and ask her what she had done.

"Jean, I am truly sorry for misunderstanding your intentions and actions, for accusing you of something that you haven't done, and for the nasty words that have spouted from my mouth. I hope you can still forgive me."

"Of course, I will forgive you. It was just a simple misunderstanding, so we can just forgive and forget. Besides, what matters now is that Calvin has finally snapped back to reality. So rest assured. Apology accepted, Ms. Wu," Jean replied with a reassuring smile plastered on her face.

In addition, she cleared the misunderstanding, because she also wanted Zed to snap back into reality and realize what was more important at hand than him being angry and immature by a simple misunderstanding.

After all, they knew each other well enough to just move on and it was unworthy of ruining the friendship just because of a small conflict. It wasn't a good idea to fall out to people you grew up with and risk wasting those precious memories.

As Jean expected, after hearing Alina's sincere apology and Jean's earnest acceptance, Zed's face finally softened. Jean smiled at Zed and squeezed his arm to let him know that everything was okay now.

Zed heaved out a deep sigh and turned to Calvin to vent out his last shred of dismay. "Since you are obviously okay now, go ask the doctor to give you some final examination, so the doctor can clear you and get you discharged out of here as soon as possible!" He exclaimed and then brushed his hand on his hair.

"Yes, sir," Calvin responded with his hand on salute. After that, he turned to Alina and requested, "Mom, can you ask for my attending physician? I want him to confrim right away, because I don't want to stay in this room any longer."

Thinking about her son getting discharged of the hospital today, Alina beamed out of exhilaration, so without further ado, she nodded and ran out of the room in a hurry.

As soon as Alina closed the door behind her, Calvin walked towards Jean and said sincerely, "Jean, whatever my mother had done or said to you, I apologize again on her behalf."

Jean waved her hands in haste at Calvin and replied, "Oh, no, no, no. It is just water under the bridge, and besides, it's already resolved now. Don't mind Zed's nonsense. To be honest, I have already forgotten what she said."

"Nonsense? What nonsense are you talking about? I just told her that you are my wife, and there was no reason for you to do such act, but then, she still kept bullshitting. She kept shutting you off and even said so many horrible words to you. Why do you keep ignoring what I just told you? For all I know if there was someone between her and me speaking nonsense, that would be her!" Zed declared with his arms crossed on his chest. Upon hearing Jean's response to Calvin, anger surged through him once more. He couldn't help but protest and explain his attitude towards Alina.

Jean exhaled in exhaustion. "Zed..." She felt helpless at how Zed was still bringing up a resolved issue and smiled bitterly. "Calvin and his mother have already apologized to me. Is that not enough for you? Why are you still nagging about it?"000