Shen Zhaoning practically ran into the underground parking garage. Just as her fingertips touched the driver’s side door handle, someone gently grasped her wrist.
Fu Huaixu’s voice was low, carrying a hint of barely noticeable panic: “Zhaozhao, you’re not in the right state right now. Driving like this is dangerous. Where do you need to go? Let me take you, okay?”
Reason told her Fu Huaixu was right.
She didn’t speak, just bit her lower lip, which had now lost its rosy color. Silently, she handed the car keys in her hand over to him.
“Okay.” Her voice was hoarse and dry, tinged with a barely perceptible tremor.
Fu Huaixu took the keys, his eyes darkening slightly. He didn’t ask anything, just took her hand and led her to the passenger seat, saying softly, “Get in.”
Shen Zhaoning fastened her seatbelt, opened the navigation app, and entered the destination.
Fu Huaixu wanted to ask her what had happened, but the question died on his lips. He only said, “Zhaozhao, no matter what happens, I’m here for you.”
Shen Zhaoning looked up at him, her eyes still rimmed with a faint redness. She didn’t speak.
It really did seem that with him here, she felt inexplicably reassured. Much of the panic and worry from moments ago instantly dissipated.
Shen Zhaoning almost ran into the hospital room. Duole was sitting on the bed with gauze wrapped around his head, while Teacher Li sat by the bedside comforting him.
Hearing the commotion, Duole immediately looked up. His big eyes instantly lit up. “Mommy!”
Shen Zhaoning’s heart clenched tightly again. She hurried over and carefully cupped her son’s face, examining him from head to toe.
“Sweetie, does it still hurt?” Her voice trembled, her heart aching so much it felt like it might bleed.
Seeing his mother’s anxious expression, Duole reached out a small hand and gently patted the back of Shen Zhaoning’s hand. “Mommy, it doesn’t hurt anymore, really. I didn’t even cry earlier. I’m a brave little man.”
“Mhm, my sweetie is so brave, the best little man.”
Seeing this, Teacher Li, standing to the side, felt even more guilt in her eyes. She stood up, her tone sincere and self-reproachful: “I’m so sorry, Zhixuan’s mom. It was our negligence. We didn’t take good care of Zhixuan.”
“Teacher Li, please don’t say that!” Shen Zhaoning forced out a grateful smile.
“I should be thanking you. If you hadn’t noticed in time and brought him to the hospital, who knows what serious trouble could have happened. Duole has always been a bit mischievous since he was little. I’m sorry for troubling you.”
Teacher Li breathed a sigh of relief. “Zhixuan’s injury is on the left side of his forehead, along the hairline. It required three stitches. The doctor will come by later to check on him again. If everything’s okay, he can go home.”
“Alright, thank you, Teacher Li.”
“Well then… Zhixuan’s mom, you stay here and look after Zhixuan. I’ll head back to the kindergarten first.”
“Teacher Li, could you also please tell Zhixuan that his little brother is okay and not to worry? Tell him to focus on his lessons at school.”
“Of course, I’ll tell him.” Teacher Li bent down and gently patted Duole’s head. “Zhixuan, rest well. Teacher is leaving now.”
Duole waved his little hand. “Bye-bye, Teacher.”
Duole’s big, dark eyes were fixed intently on the doorway. His childish voice sounded especially clear in the quiet hospital room: “Mommy, who is that uncle at the door?”
Those words made Shen Zhaoning’s heart skip a beat. She looked up, her gaze meeting Fu Huaixu’s deep, dark eyes directly.
How should she explain?
Should she tell him the truth directly?
Fu Huaixu’s gaze was fixed intently on the little boy wrapped in bandages on the hospital bed. The eyebrows, the nose, the shape of the face—they were seventy to eighty percent similar to Shen Zhaoning!
A sharp, piercing pain instantly shot through his heart, nearly making him unsteady on his feet.
She has a child?
She got married?
She doesn’t want him anymore?
This thought crashed against his reason like a tidal wave.
His slender fingers curled abruptly, his fingertips digging fiercely into his palms. The pain spread through his nerve endings, barely suppressing the surging turmoil in his heart and allowing him to maintain a semblance of calm on the surface.
He took long strides, walking step by step to the bedside.
“Is this your child?” His voice was low and hoarse, carrying a barely noticeable tremor.
Shen Zhaoning took a deep breath, a flash of resolve flickering in her eyes. She nodded, her voice soft yet unusually firm. “Yes.”
“And his father?” Fu Huaixu pressed, his gaze burning as he stared at her, as if searching for any trace of a lie on her face.
“He is my child alone,” Shen Zhaoning avoided his gaze, her voice dropping.
Beside them, Duole blinked his big eyes, looking at his mother’s furrowed brow. “Uncle, my mom said my dad has attained immortality through cultivation. He’s watching over me and Mom from the sky now.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell into a deathly silence.
Fu Huaixu’s body jolted violently. He looked at the two before him, his heart a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?” Fu Huaixu’s voice was pressed extremely low, as if tempered with ice, the tail end laced with pain that threatened to overflow.
Beside them, Duole shrank back into Shen Zhaoning’s arms in fear, his small arms tightly wrapping around her neck as he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder and whispered:
“Mom, this uncle’s eyes are so scary. My little heart is pounding.”
Shen Zhaoning raised her hand to pat the child’s back in comfort before lifting her head to meet Fu Huaixu’s gaze, which swirled with complex emotions. Her voice was soft but unwavering. “Fu Huaixu, I don’t want to talk about this in front of the child.”
Fu Huaixu stared at her intently, his chest heaving violently several times, his knuckles turning white from clenching.
After a few seconds, he abruptly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The storm brewing in his eyes slowly subsided, and the cold aura around him gradually dissipated.
“Fine, I’ll step out for a moment.”
He turned and almost fled, pulling open the hospital room door and striding out with large steps.
Fu Huaixu walked into the hallway, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, his fingers trembling so much they seemed clumsy as he tried several times to light one.
Leaning against the cold wall, he took a deep drag of the cigarette. The acrid smoke slid down his throat into his lungs, bringing a brief numbness and clarity.
Whether she has a child or not, she can only be his.
As for her child—as long as it’s hers, he will treat it as his own.