Transmigration; A Mother's Redemption and a perfect Wife.-Chapter 432; Honeymoon phase 4 (c)

The thought had haunted her since the moment she’d woken in this body, in this life. Did he love the woman she was now, or the ghost of who Tang Fei had been before?

"Which one do you love the most?" The question escaped before she could stop it, impulsive and revealing. "The rebellious me or the submissive me?"

She almost slapped her hand over her mouth the moment the words left her lips. Because the rebellious one, the woman who had fought him, hated him, resisted everything about their marriage, that had been the original Tang Fei. And she, the one who had taken over this body, was the submissive one. The one who wished to fall in love and be loved. The one who craved family and connection and all the things her previous life as an assassin had denied her. The one who, from the moment she had been reborn in this body, had vowed to abandon everything from her past and live a peaceful life with him.

But asking the question so directly revealed too much, exposed the fundamental difference between who Tang Fei had been and who she was now.

Huo Ting Cheng’s eyes sharpened immediately, studying her face with that penetrating intelligence that had built his empire. For a long moment, he was silent, and Tang Fei’s heart hammered against her ribs, certain she’d made a catastrophic mistake.

Then he spoke, his voice thoughtful and careful. "The rebellious you," he said slowly, "kept me on my toes. Made me work for every smile, every moment of softness. There was a fire in you that was... exhilarating. Frustrating, but exhilarating."

Tang Fei’s heart sank. So he did prefer the original.....

"But the you that you are now," he continued, his thumb stroking over her knuckles, "the woman who looks at me with warmth instead of suspicion, who welcomes my touch instead of flinching away, who laughs at my stories and holds our children with such fierce love..." He paused, his dark eyes intense on hers. "This you, Fei’er, this is the woman I’ve been waiting for. The woman I hoped existed beneath all that anger and rebellion."

"Really?" The word came out smaller than she intended, vulnerable in a way that frightened her.

"Really." He lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss to her knuckles. "I won’t lie and say I didn’t find the challenge exciting. The rebellious Tang Fei pushed me, tested me, and made me prove myself worthy. But this Tang Fei, the one who chooses to be with me, who wants this marriage, who’s building a life with me instead of fighting against it..." His voice dropped lower, more intimate. "This is what I’ve wanted all along. Not submission, Fei’er. Partnership. Love. You, choosing me as freely as I choose you."

Tang Fei felt tears prick her eyes. He didn’t know the truth, that they weren’t the same woman, that the original Tang Fei was gone, but somehow, his answer felt like acceptance anyway. Like maybe it didn’t matter who she had been, only who she chose to be now.

"I choose you," she whispered, the words a confession and a promise. "I choose this life, this family, this future with you."

"Then that’s all that matters." He stood, moving around the table to pull her to her feet and into his arms. "Whatever happened in your past, whatever made you who you are today, the languages you learned, the skills you have, the reasons you changed, none of it changes how I feel about you now."

"Really?" She was skeptical, his answer was so vague, like he enjoyed both of her versions. But why was she even asking? What was she hoping to hear?

"Yeah... I don’t lie..." He gently caressed her face, his touch feather-light and reverent. "And I hope you don’t hate the kids or me anymore. I know the circumstances of their birth aren’t worth recalling, but they are still our children... The ones you gave birth to... Please, be lenient and gentle with them."

Tang Fei froze.

The words hit her like ice water. The original Tang Fei had mistreated the children, her fragmented memories supplied that much. The rebellious Tang Fei had blamed them for her trapped existence, had seen them as living reminders of a marriage she hadn’t wanted, a night she couldn’t take back.

But she wasn’t that woman anymore.

"Do you..." Her voice came out smaller than intended. "Do you resent me for how I treated them before?" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The guilt she carried, not truly hers, but inherited with this body, burned hot in her chest. Those four beautiful, brilliant children who’d called her "Mom" with such careful hope in their voices. Had they been afraid she’d reject them? Had they grown up walking on eggshells around their own mother?

Huo Ting Cheng shook his head immediately, his expression sorrowful but understanding. "No. Never."

His voice was calm, achingly gentle.

"You were hurting. You were trapped in a situation you didn’t choose. I understand that. I always understood that."

Her chest tightened painfully.

He wasn’t defending the original Tang Fei’s cruelty, he was defending her pain. Acknowledging the circumstances that had created that bitterness.

"And I should have protected you better," he continued, his thumb brushing tenderly across her cheekbone. "I should have made sure you never suffered alone. I should have fought harder to win your heart instead of letting bitterness grow between us. Instead of letting you face everything alone while I built my empire and told myself I was doing it for our family’s future."

His words hit her like a physical force, each one landing with devastating precision.

He wasn’t angry.

He wasn’t suspicious.

He wasn’t second-guessing her transformation.

He was... regretting his own failures.

"I don’t expect you to love them instantly," he said softly, carefully, as if afraid of pushing too hard. "Or even to forgive them for existing, if that’s how you still feel. Just... don’t push them away anymore. They’re innocent, Fei’er. They never asked to be born into conflict. They never asked to be the reason for your pain."