An Ruo sat on the living room sofa, mentally rehearsing the words she would use to question the man. After a long wait, she finally heard the car horn sound in the courtyard.
Soon, Han Chong pushed the man into the living room.
He was dressed in a black business suit, exuding a cool and restrained aura. If not for his inability to stand, he would have drawn even more admirers.
Shen Xiaoxing noticed she hadn’t gone upstairs to sleep today but was sitting here as if waiting for him. He maneuvered his wheelchair over slowly. “Why aren’t you sleeping today?”
“Not tired.” An Ruo didn’t dare meet his eyes, lowering her head and muttering softly.
Her complexion was poor. Shen Xiaoxing’s smile faded slightly as he reached out to feel her forehead. “Not feeling well?”
Her temperature was normal.
An Ruo shook her head. “I’m fine.”
She fidgeted with her fingers, hesitating to speak, when Butler Xu suddenly approached. “Young Master, Young Madam, should I prepare dinner now?”
“Go ahead.”
Shen Xiaoxing figured she must be hungry. Besides, An Che was busy preparing for the college entrance exams, often skimping on meals to save time. If dinner was ready now, he could eat as soon as he got home from school.
An Ruo’s lips moved slightly. She decided to wait until after dinner, when they could talk privately behind closed doors.
The man noticed her hesitation and raised an eyebrow, asking softly, “Something to tell me?”
By now, he had a thorough grasp of this girl’s body language and facial expressions, including her current troubled demeanor.
An Ruo nodded. “Mm.”
“What does Mrs. Shen have to say? I’m listening.”
“I’ll tell you after dinner.”
He gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and chuckled. “So mysterious?”
He was starting to look forward to it.
An Ruo said nothing. Shen Xiaoxing didn’t want to pressure her; when the time came, she would speak when she was ready. No rush.
But the entire dinner atmosphere grew strange. An Che, preoccupied with studying, didn’t notice the awkward tension and wolfed down his rice before rushing upstairs.
An Ruo picked at her food absentmindedly when a bowl of soup suddenly appeared before her. She paused.
“Drink more soup.” Shen Xiaoxing looked at her with gentle brows.
This was a nourishing soup the kitchen had specially prepared for her.
Since she became pregnant, though her appetite had increased, she still hadn’t gained weight, remaining slender. How could she endure like this?
An Ruo gave a faint smile and obediently drank the soup as he wished.
Butler Xu, standing nearby, watched as An Ruo drank the soup and Shen Xiaoxing refilled her bowl.
A strange look crossed Butler Xu’s face. He wanted to rush over and stop An Ruo from drinking more, but something in his mind made him forcefully suppress that urge.
...
After dinner, the man had to go to the study for some urgent business. An Ruo sat by the bed for a while, feeling a bit unwell, so she went into the bathroom to shower first.
She didn’t know how long he’d be busy, or how she would even bring it up. Was this matter really related to Shen Xiaoxing?
Countless thoughts swirled in her mind. She couldn’t rest until she got to the bottom of this.
An Ruo stepped out of the bathroom to find the man already back in the bedroom, leaning against his wheelchair and playing on his phone, seemingly chatting with someone.
Hearing her, he looked up with a smile. “Done showering?”
“Mm.” An Ruo’s expression was grim. She clutched her cotton pajamas tightly, enduring the discomfort in her body as she approached.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing her pale, sickly face, Shen Xiaoxing’s heart tightened. “Where do you feel unwell?”
An Ruo felt a dull ache in her lower abdomen, like the onset of her period.
But she was pregnant—why would she feel this?
Her mind was fixated on that mysterious person. She had to ask him today.
Gritting her teeth, she shook her head in pain. “I’m fine.”
The man wheeled over to her, his large hand grasping her small one. Her fingertips were cold, not what you’d expect from someone just out of the shower.
“Can you tell me what’s on your mind now?”
She had said she wanted to talk after dinner.
An Ruo took a deep breath, suppressing the pain in her abdomen, and pressed her lips together. “When I was on a business trip in Xuancheng, one morning Yang Sisi caught a man’s silhouette outside my hotel room door...”
The man looked at her calmly.
He remembered that trip. He had risked exposure by taking a helicopter overnight to reach the hotel after taking care of her when she was drunk.
He hadn’t expected to be photographed as he left.
“I asked the hotel manager. That person got my room key from the front desk. He was holding a black card—the same kind I’ve only ever seen with you.”
“...”
“Afterward, I checked the surveillance. Someone deliberately cut out the footage from the night before to hide that he was there.” An Ruo’s small hand clenched into a fist in his palm. After a pause, she said slowly, “I looked up that black card. The number matches yours exactly.”
“So,” the man gently stroked the back of her fair, smooth hand, his voice slightly hoarse, “you think the person who entered your room that day was me?”
“Otherwise, I can’t think of another explanation.”
Shen Xiaoxing let out a soft laugh. “But I’m disabled. How could I have appeared before you directly?”
“That’s what I want to know too.” An Ruo bit her lip hard. “Shen Xiaoxing, I’ll believe whatever you say.”
As long as he told the truth—even if he lied, she’d accept it, as long as he made sure she never learned the real truth.
Shen Xiaoxing saw the longing in her eyes. His dark pupils dimmed. He didn’t want to keep deceiving her.
If she hadn’t found out, he would have continued hiding it, waiting until he dealt with the Shen family to explain everything. But now, he couldn’t wait any longer. She already suspected his act. He couldn’t keep fooling her.
He had underestimated this girl. She had traced it back to him just from a card.
He had been careless...
An Ruo suddenly understood. She saw hesitation in the man’s eyes. What did that mean? If it wasn’t him, why would he pause?
She wanted to press further, but a warm liquid trickled down her thigh, dripping onto the polished floor—
An Ruo slowly looked down. The glaring red blood spread like blooming lotuses, and a crack split open in her heart.
She felt something inside her slowly slipping away...
Shen Xiaoxing was lost in thought, figuring out how to explain to her.
Her hand slipped from his grasp. He instinctively looked up to see the girl collapsing like a fallen angel. His mind went blank for a moment before he reacted, immediately rising to catch her.
An Ruo froze. She watched as the man stood up and held her in his arms. His legs... they really were faked!
Why? Why had he been lying to her all this time?
Shen Xiaoxing laid her on the bed. When he pulled his hand from beneath her, it was covered in blood. His heart plunged into an icy abyss, turning cold in an instant!
A wave of immense pain hit her. An Ruo belatedly cried out, “My stomach hurts so much...”
The man broke out in a cold sweat. He fumbled with the call button, missing several times. The usually calm and composed Shen Xiaoxing cursed for the first time, jabbing at the button frantically.
An Ruo couldn’t care less about his legs now. The pain in her abdomen came in relentless waves. Every breath she took felt icy cold. Before the doctors could arrive, she passed out from the agony.
In a daze, she heard the man’s furious shouting...