CHAPTER 40:Shattered Trust,Silent Years

Here's the Revised Chapter 40 of Tangled Fates by Favour Emmanuel Bon

The room was quiet except for the faint hum of machines and the soft rise and fall of Jin Hao's breathing. Mei Xing remained by his side, her hand gently brushing over his forehead as he slept peacefully. Her heart throbbed with both joy and sorrow—joy that her son was within reach, sorrow for the years they had lost.The years she should have been with him.

Across the room, Zhao Chen sat in one of the stiff chairs, the contents of the envelope Mei Xing had given him now spread across his lap. His eyes scanned the documents—the DNA results, the forged adoption papers, the timestamps from the hospital, all meticulously gathered.

His breath caught.

It was undeniable.

Jin Hao was his son.

Mei Xing had been telling the truth all along.

And he… had failed her.

A hand ran through his hair, his fingers tugging at his scalp as guilt washed over him. He had trusted Mei Li, blind to the signs, deaf to Mei Xing's cries. Every denial. Every accusation. Every night Mei Xing begged him to believe her—it all came back with sharp clarity.

"Why didn't I see it…" he whispered to himself.

"Because you didn't want to," Mei Xing said quietly, not looking at him. Her voice was calm, but it carried the weight of years of betrayal.

He looked up at her. Her face, once so full of warmth, now held a guarded strength. She had changed. She was no longer the woman he had left behind in his confusion and misplaced loyalty.

"Mei Xing," Zhao Chen began, his voice hoarse, "I don't know how to say sorry in a way that would ever be enough."

She finally turned to face him, her eyes glistening but not breaking. "Sorry doesn't bring back the years I spent crying into a pillow. It doesn't take away the birthdays I missed. Or the nights I thought I was going crazy because everyone believed Mei Li over me."

"I failed you," he said, rising to his feet. "I failed our children."

"Yes," she said plainly. "But this isn't about me anymore. It's about Jin Hao. About Xue Xin. They need the truth. They deserve a father who isn't confused by lies."

He stepped closer to her, hesitation in his eyes. "What about us?"

"There is no us—not now," she said, holding his gaze. "I'm still standing, Zhao Chen. Not because of you,,but in spite of you."

Zhao Chen's face crumbled with remorse, but Mei Xing didn't look away.

"I'm going to fight for my children," she said. "And if you truly want to make things right—then be the man they really need. Not the man who believed a thief over their own mother."

Zhao Chen nodded slowly, his chest aching with the weight of realization.

He had shattered her trust.,Completely

Now, he had to earn it back—piece by painful piece.He has to .