Chu Xia slept soundly through the night without any dreams. When she woke up, she stretched lazily—only for her elbow to bump into something hard.
She turned over and saw Sheng Jingshi lying on his side facing her, staring straight at her.
There were faint bloodshot lines in his eyes, and after just one night, a layer of stubble had already grown along his jaw. His whole body seemed to radiate resentment.
Chu Xia found it strange. Didn’t he sleep well?
She asked, “Why haven’t you left yet?”
At this hour, he would normally already be at the company.
But to Sheng Jingshi, her words sounded like a blunt attempt to drive him away.
Last night, he had wanted to be intimate with her, but she fell asleep mid-conversation. He couldn’t bear to wake her, so he endured it the whole night. What annoyed him most was that the first thing she said upon waking was asking why he hadn’t left yet.
“You weren’t like this before.”
Chu Xia was puzzled. Why bring up the past all of a sudden?
“What do you mean, before?”
Sheng Jingshi pinned her hands above her head and flipped over to press her beneath him. Their noses almost touched, and his already deep voice grew even lower.
“Before, the moment you woke up, you would call my name first.”
Chu Xia tried to recall, but that time already felt distant and blurred.
They did have a period of deep intimacy. Back then, she loved clinging to him, and he would even move meetings online for her or hold her on his lap while working in the study.
She had thought that depending on him would satisfy him—maybe even make him grow tired of her and loosen his control.
But things didn’t go as she hoped.
Sheng Jingshi’s need for control seeped into every part of her life—what she wore, what she ate, reporting before going out, reporting after returning, even having bodyguards follow her 24/7.
During that time, she had no freedom at all, like an NPC in a video game—waking up each day only to interact with him and be arranged by him.
“You haven’t called my name in a long time, Xia Xia.”
She watched as Sheng Jingshi closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her. Unlike before, this time it was gentle.
Their noses brushed as they shared each other’s breath. Just as he was getting carried away, Chu Xia suddenly turned her face aside and pushed him away.
“Your stubble… it’s prickly.”
She saw his gaze darken, his expression turning gloomy. So she quickly added, “Are you hungry? I’ll make you breakfast. You can eat before going to the company.”
Without waiting for his reaction, she got up and hurried away.
She simply couldn’t satisfy him in that way right now.
Chu Xia made an omelet that Sheng Jingshi liked and fried two slices of bacon for herself. But the smell of oil made her feel nauseous.
She forced herself to endure it, brought the breakfast to the table, and saw that Sheng Jingshi had already changed into a new suit delivered by his secretary and was seated.
Perhaps because she hadn’t responded the way he wanted earlier, he ate in silence the entire time, his eyes lowered and his expression cold.
Chu Xia looked troubled at the bacon and eggs on her plate—she couldn’t eat a single bite.
After finishing, Sheng Jingshi noticed she hadn’t touched her food at all. He glanced up slightly. “Not eating?”
She made up an excuse. “I forgot to brush my teeth. I’ll eat later.”
He didn’t suspect anything and elegantly wiped his mouth. Meanwhile, his secretary had already been waiting downstairs for quite a while, anxiously checking the time every minute.
In the end, the secretary had no choice but to call him. “President Sheng, should I postpone your 10:30 meeting?”
Holding the phone, Sheng Jingshi subtly glanced at Chu Xia. She was sitting there, looking at him expectantly, her eyes practically saying: Please leave already.
His breathing grew heavier, irritation rising as he replied curtly, “No need,” and hung up.
The secretary looked utterly miserable and turned to the driver. “President Sheng is in a terrible mood today. Let’s be careful.”
Chu Xia obediently picked up his suit jacket and walked him to the door. As he reached for the handle, he paused and turned back to look at her.
“I’m going on a business trip. I’ll be back next week.”
She wished he would stay away even longer.
“Mm-hmm,” she responded lightly, without the slightest hint of reluctance.
Seeing this, Sheng Jingshi’s eyelid twitched slightly, his jaw tightening as he clenched his teeth. Without another word, he turned and left.
Neither of them noticed a figure flashing past near the elevator.
After seeing Sheng Jingshi off, Chu Xia took a full day to rest. Then she synced up with Qiao Nian on their current progress—once the gallery renovation was fully completed, they could begin preparing for the opening.
Taking advantage of the gap, Chu Xia booked a check-up. Since the pregnancy was still early and she didn’t feel much at first, she often forgot about it when she got busy. But recently, she had started feeling nauseous more frequently.
That afternoon, Chu Xia went to the hospital. Along the way, she kept feeling like someone was watching her from behind—but whenever she turned around, there was either no one there or just hurried passersby.
She thought she was being paranoid and proceeded with the check-up as usual. But when she came out of the restroom, she saw a familiar figure in front of the mirror.
Shen Fuyu looked at her reflection and let out a soft laugh. “Jing City really is small. We meet again, Chu Xia.”
Chu Xia ignored her. After washing her hands, she was about to leave—but Shen Fuyu wasn’t about to miss such a good opportunity.
While reapplying her lipstick, she said, “Oh, you probably don’t know—my parents are very satisfied with my brother’s recent blind date. She even came to our house last time. Look, this lipstick was a gift from my future sister-in-law.”
As she spoke, she deliberately waved the lipstick in front of Chu Xia.
Chu Xia’s expression didn’t change. “Then congratulations.”
Perhaps because her reaction was too flawless, a hint of disappointment appeared on Shen Fuyu’s face. She stepped closer and continued, “You’re not upset? Back then, you even tried to kill yourself for him. So now that you hear he’s getting married, you don’t feel anything at all?”
Chu Xia lowered her eyes.
It would be a lie to say she felt nothing.
Shen Siren had been like a severe illness in her love life—once incurable, but she had survived it.
She didn’t want to dwell on the past, so she lifted her gaze slightly and smiled at Shen Fuyu.“Wish your brother happiness.”
Shen Fuyu froze, her smug expression stiffening before turning into confusion.
Her feelings toward Chu Xia had always been complicated—somewhere between dislike and fondness.
Because whenever Chu Xia was around, her brother seemed to see no one else.
As a younger sister who had always been doted on, Shen Fuyu’s sense of crisis would spike, so she often picked on Chu Xia. She knew it wasn’t wise—because whenever she cried, her brother would definitely scold her.
But Chu Xia never said a word, always acting as if nothing had happened.
Until that camping trip.
Shen Siren had specifically told her that Chu Xia was new and unfamiliar with the route, asking her to look after her.
She hadn’t taken it seriously. She figured Chu Xia wasn’t a child. So even when she saw her fall behind, she didn’t wait—and Chu Xia ended up being bitten by a snake.
When Shen Siren came back from gathering firewood, his expression was terrifyingly dark. He didn’t speak to Shen Fuyu for an entire month. In the end, it was Chu Xia who intervened before he spoke to her again.
That incident left her feeling a bit guilty—though not deeply—but enough to stop her from deliberately causing trouble for Chu Xia.
Later, the two broke up, and Chu Xia left. Strangely, Shen Fuyu felt an unexpected emptiness.
Coming back to her senses, she saw that Chu Xia had already walked out of the restroom. She instinctively hurried after her, wanting to say a few more words—but saw a man blocking Chu Xia’s path.
The man wore a baseball cap that shadowed his face, completely mismatched with his casual suit.
He was the mama’s-boy ex whom Chu Xia had recently broken up with and blocked.
Shen Fuyu didn’t recognize him, but she could see the face beneath the brim twisted with anger.
She immediately hid behind a wall and overheard him demanding:
“Who was the man that left your place that morning?”