When I Woke Up, I Had Three Romantic Partners - Chapter 27.1

Si Mother countered, “If it weren’t for this, would you agree to give up that person?”

Si Jiamo: “…”

Si Mother: “Mom also doesn’t want to see you spending your life guarding someone impossible. She can’t give you a commitment, so why do you cling to her so stubbornly?”

“You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Si Jiamo was silent for a moment, then whispered, “Mom, do you think that in this world, there is no love, only control?”

“Of course there’s love in this world. Your sister is proof of that, isn’t she?”

Si Mother was dismissive. “But can your love bring you happiness?”

“Not everyone is as lucky as your sister, whose beloved meets the family’s choice, and who loves her back and is willing to change for her.”

Si Mother’s expression was calm. “You are the one who resembles me the most in the whole family. I understand what you’re thinking and what you want, but sometimes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

” Jiamo, don’t try to desperately win the heart of someone who fundamentally doesn’t love you, because no matter what you do, you will be the only one who gets hurt in the end.”

Si Jiamo couldn’t help but retort, “Is it because Father doesn’t love you?”

Hearing her husband mentioned, Si Mother paused, her expression momentarily twisted, but she ultimately chose to conceal the truth: “Your father, he does love me.”

Her voice was firm, as if she were constantly brainwashing herself.

Si Jiamo hadn’t intended to bring it up, but her mother was still deceiving herself, thinking she could hide the truth. Si Jiamo couldn’t stand it anymore: “I saw it all. He doesn’t love you. He only stays home out of a sense of duty. If it weren’t for us, he would have left long ago.”

“I saw it when I was in university. He was with that woman, and they looked very happy.”

Si Mother’s voice was sharp, her eyes cold: “So what?”

“Even if they are happy together, so what? As long as he doesn’t divorce me, that woman will always be a mistress, and she will never enter our family home!”

She stared warningly at Si Zhon Jiamo gmo, and said severely, “Do you also want to follow your father’s example?”

Si Jiamo turned her eyes away. “Mom…”

Seeing Si Jiamo avoid her gaze, Si Mother’s voice became hoarse and frantic: “I’m telling you, Si Jiamo, you are my daughter! If you dare to follow him, never mind that you are an award-winning actress now—even if you were an Empress, I would break your legs, lock you at home, and you would never get out for the rest of your life!”

“I am your daughter, but I am not your puppet.”

For the first time, Si Jiamo confronted her mother so directly, her jaw clenched. “I have my own choices in life. I will not be with anyone you introduce. If you insist on doing this, be prepared to lose a daughter.”

Si Mother felt Si Jiamo had gone crazy; she had never spoken to her this way before.

“Si Jiamo, I am your mother, your biological mother!”

“It’s that woman who corrupted you, making you so insensitive, disrespectful, and uncaring of your family!”

Si Jiamo shouted, “Mom, stop!”

“I love and respect you, which is why I chose the path you laid out for me, again and again. But what about you? Have you genuinely considered my well-being for even a moment?”

She grew more agitated as she spoke: “I don’t like business; I don’t want to compete with my sister; I don’t want to stay in this suffocating home; and I certainly don’t like the banquets and blind dates you arrange!”

“I don’t want to be used by you as a tool to mend your relationship with Father anymore!”

“Since childhood, you have controlled me and this family so forcefully. I understood you—you worked hard, and you wanted to give us a complete family and love. But as your control became more intense, we couldn’t handle it!”

Si Jiamo, her eyes red, spoke the truth: “That’s why my sister and I left this house. My depression wasn’t just because Chi Jinqing broke up with me; it was also because of Father’s infidelity and your persistent, misguided control!”

Si Mother was shaken by Si Jiamo’s accusations and stumbled backward a few steps, clutching her chest, almost unable to breathe. She looked at this strange, youngest daughter in disbelief, never realizing she harbored so much resentment.

Her voice trembled: “So…”

“You are blaming me?”

Seeing her mother like this, Si Jiamo instinctively wanted to step forward to help her: “I…”

The explanation that reached her lips was difficult to utter.

“Ha… ha ha…”

“Hahaha…”

Si Mother’s eyes were red. For the first time, she bowed her head to Si Jiamo. For decades, due to her heart condition, she had been accustomed to being forceful, and no one dared to openly contradict her because of her illness.

She had also grown accustomed to arranging everything for everyone, never considering whether others wanted what she offered.

“…Fine.”

“You don’t want it, so I won’t interfere with you anymore.”

Si Mother waved her hand at Si Jiamo, speaking wearily yet firmly, “Leave. From now on, I won’t say another word about your affairs.”

Si Jiamo sensed her mother’s distress, knowing she had been too harsh just now: “Mom…”

“Go.”

Si Mother clutched her chest and walked toward the living room. Si Zhongkui, who was in the living room, saw this and immediately stepped forward to support her, but Si Mother tightly gripped her arm.

She looked sharply at her eldest daughter. Her eldest daughter’s rebellion came earlier and lasted longer than her youngest’s. If she hadn’t later married Su Lin, whom she was satisfied with, their relationship would also have become estranged.

It was thanks to Su Lin’s mediation over the years that the mother-daughter relationship had eased considerably.

“Tell me honestly, do you also think I controlled too much of your lives?”

“When you ran away from home after high school graduation, didn’t return until you started university, and even chose to go to university abroad—was it because you also wanted to escape this home, to escape from me?”

Her fingers gripped tightly, her eyes fixed on Si Zhongkui. She wanted to find even a shred of denial in her eldest daughter’s eyes, but Si Zhongkui merely looked away and said in a deep voice, “Mom, those are old things. Let’s not bring them up.”

“Right now, your treatment is the most important thing.”

“So you think so, too.”

Si Mother understood; both her daughters thought this way.

She hadn’t realized it all these years, being immersed in her own world, blind to the dissatisfaction surrounding her control.

Her eldest daughter’s rebellion back then had caused her displeasure over losing control, leading her to focus more attention on her youngest daughter, becoming even stricter, almost to the point of nitpicking.

Fortunately, Si Jiamo was well-behaved from a young age; she would comply with anything she asked, even the most excessive demands. Yet, Si Mother was still not satisfied, still controlling her.

She didn’t realize her own problem until her daughter fell ill.

She gave a bitter laugh and waved her hand at Si Zhongkui and Si Jiamo, who had followed her in: “I need some peace. You two go and do what you need to do. These old bones won’t die yet.”

Si Zhongkui: “Mom…”

Su Lin held her back, shaking her head. “Let Mom have some peace.”

“And regarding Jiamo, you also need to give her time to calm down. How can you expect her to do something you couldn’t do yourself back then?”

When Su Lin saw Si Jiamo, she felt like she was looking at the rebellious Si Zhongkui from years ago. Although their looks were different, their rebellious temperaments were similar—a reckless courage, caring about nothing else.

It was just that Si Jiamo’s rebellious period came later and she endured more than Si Zhongkui.

Si Zhongkui sighed deeply and turned to look at her sister by the door: “Do you have anything else to say?”

“If not, then go back for now. Mom is with me and your sister-in-law. I originally didn’t want to say much about your love life, just don’t let yourself become like that again.”

Si Zhongkui ran her fingers through her hair, clearly annoyed: “I’m not even qualified to lecture you, as I was the first one to be rebellious and disobedient.”

Si Jiamo pursed her lips: “Sister…”

She hadn’t wanted things to be this way, either.

Si Zhongkui raised her hand to stop her from speaking: “No matter what, she is our mother. We haven’t experienced what she has, so we can’t fully understand her. But she is sick now, and I hope we can all keep our emotions stable and stop arguing with her for now, okay?”

“I know you still like that actress, but can you stay apart for a while? I’m not forcing you. I just hope that we all temporarily prioritize family. Mother doesn’t have many years left for us to argue and reconcile with her.”

Si Jiamo lowered her eyes, nodded, and sniffled: “I understand what you mean. I’ll leave Mom to you both for now.”

“Mhm.”

Si Zhongkui patted away some unseen dust from Si Jiamo’s shoulder and forced a smile: “Work hard. Your sister loves you.”

Si Jiamo felt a lump in her throat: “I know.”

In this family, only her sister, who shared the same experience, would clearly lead her in rebellion, tell her not to be bound, and, when she fell ill, would unhesitatingly abandon her freedom to return and take her place, enduring the pressure and control from their mother.

Si Jiamo left the house without Si Mother coming down to see her off. In the evening, the whole family sat down, sharing a silent understanding, waiting for Si Mother to come down for dinner.

Su Lin held Si Zhongkui’s hand and smiled slightly at her. No matter what happened, she would face it with her.

When Si Mother came down, she looked calmly at her husband, who sat formally upright, and said, “After a day of reflection, I realized how much I have shortchanged you all these years. I’ve dragged you along for so long; you must be tired.”

“The children have grown up, and I am old. I can’t bother to calculate anymore. Our marriage back then was a family necessity, but it is not now, so… let’s get a divorce.”

She said with a sense of release, “You go find your love, and I’ll stay in my world.”

.

The next morning, the news of the divorce and asset division of the Si family elders spread across the internet. When her assistant woke her to watch it, Si Jiamo’s mind was blank.

A divorce?

Si Jiamo’s parents got divorced?

Due to Si Jiamo’s status and the position of Si yi Media in the entertainment industry, the matter quickly became a trending topic.

It was then that people learned that Si Jiamo’s father, Wen Jiashi, had married into the Si family as a son-in-law, and that the earlier rumors about a long-standing discord between Si Jiamo’s father, Wen Jiashi, and her mother, Si Chang, were actually true.

The discussion about the matter immediately spiked, and some began to dig into why the two low-profile spouses had divorced. It was quickly found that rumors of their divorce had surfaced years ago, but no one took them seriously!

The later gossip involved Wen Jiashi being photographed meeting his first love. The sight of the two merely standing together was enough for people to concoct an entire drama and start claiming Wen Jiashi had cheated.

Melon Eater Arriving: OMG, OMG, this is too dramatic.

So Wen Jiashi proposed divorce after they got married and had Si Zhongkui. What a scumbag!

Unripe Melon Seed: Tsk tsk, there’s more. Keep digging.

For a time, the sympathy for Si Jiamo reached its peak; no one expected her to have such a father.

But the tide quickly turned because the Si Group surprisingly issued a statement claiming the two had a peaceful divorce.

Shocked for a Whole Year: What does this mean? He cheated and they still had a peaceful divorce?

My Brother is Invincible: Huh? Ha?? Ha??? I don’t get it, can someone explain?

Watch Me Throw an Egg at You: Nope, nope, this melon stinks. What is this, a peaceful divorce even after that?

Even Chi Jinqing was surprised that it was a peaceful divorce. What was going on?

Si Jiamo quickly called her sister to ask about the situation. Why did this happen?

Si Zhongkui was silent for a moment, then whispered, “Actually, we weren’t born from their natural union. We were conceived via IVF.”

“Back then, Father’s company was in trouble, and because our family had no children and Mother’s health wasn’t good, they decided to form an alliance through marriage.”

Si Zhongkui also felt speechless thinking about it: “So Mother approached Father and signed an agreement with him. She needed children. As long as he married her, had children with her, and acted as the Si family’s representative to outsiders so others wouldn’t think the Si family was without a man and prey on them, the Si family would step in to help the Wen family recover.”

“But because Mother’s body could not conceive without irreversible damage—she was born prematurely and her constitution was weak, making it impossible for her to bear children—they opted for IVF.”

IVF was quite advanced in this era, allowing the entire process of having children to be done in vitro.

And Mother had a slight affection for Father, which was why she proposed this condition.

When she made the proposal, their father, Wen Jiashi, still had a girlfriend. Their mother essentially ‘acquired’ him, and since the Wen family also favored the alliance, she schemed to make their father break up with his girlfriend.

“After they got married, Father focused on the family, but he never loved Mother. He only stayed married out of a sense of duty and for the sake of the family.”

After that, things unfolded. After Si Zhongkui was born, Wen Jiashi felt his duty was fulfilled and wanted a divorce, but the family and Si Chang wouldn’t allow it.

She couldn’t support herself while raising children and managing the company, and her health was failing. It was precisely then that the Si family suffered malicious suppression and false rumors from a rival company, which many people believed.

For the sake of the children, Wen Jiashi did not divorce, gritting his teeth and staying with Si Chang to get through that period.

But at the same time, he made it very clear to Si Chang that he would never love her. Being good to her and the children was only because it was his responsibility.

Once the Si Group overcame its difficulties, they would divorce.

“As for Father cheating, I asked him. He didn’t. He only ran into her by chance at the hospital. The love is still there, because she has remained single all these years and never married.”

“The deeply suppressed feelings and family responsibilities meant he could only secretly be kind to that woman, but emotional infidelity was unavoidable, especially since he never touched Mother.”

Si Zhongkui pinched her brow. “Mother was the one who proposed the divorce this time.”

“Don’t worry about it. Too much is involved. You just live your own life.”

Si Jiamo was speechless, unsure how to describe her current feelings. So, after all these years, Father still hadn’t let go of his sweetheart from the past?

“Then Mom…”

“She had been mentally prepared for a long time. A heart that hasn’t warmed up after all these years won’t soften no matter how much you try to warm it.”

Si Zhongkui sighed, leaning back in her chair, feeling complex emotions: “Although this is the situation, from a daughter’s perspective, we can’t say anything. Let it be, let them separate. Everyone will be better off.”

Si Jiamo: “…Mhm.”

She couldn’t blame her father. For all these years, he had been self-disciplined and cautious, never crossing the line or wronging them. Even the misunderstanding she had was because she saw him smile at that woman with a doting look that she had never seen him give her mother at home.

This family was always outwardly peaceful, never having arguments. He never countered Mother’s strong desire for control or complained. She honestly questioned whether she could have done the same.

Si Jiamo suddenly thought of Chi Jinqing. Was she also silently enduring her?

Suddenly, she really wanted to call Chi Jinqing.

Meanwhile, Chi Jinqing, seeing the news, was also hesitating. Should she call Si Jiamo?

Si Jiamo might be very sad right now.

Her assistant noticed Chi Jinqing’s struggle and quietly asked, “Sister Chi, are you thinking about Actress Si?”

Previously, the CP fandom for Chi Jinqing and Si Jiamo was rampant. The atmosphere between them, full of untold stories, and the subtle, synchronized gestures that only come from profound familiarity, all suggested an extraordinary relationship between the two.

Chi Jinqing held her phone in silence. Was she being so obvious?

But if she called now, wouldn’t it seem too desperate?

And perhaps Si Jiamo’s last person she wanted to see right now was herself?

After much hesitation, she decided to make the call.

The phone rang five or six times before it was answered. Si Jiamo’s tired voice came through: “Hello, what is it?”

Chi Jinqing gripped her hand: “Are you… okay?”

Si Jiamo: “…”

“A-Jin.”

“Mhm.”