As soon as the words fell, Lin Qing hurriedly pulled her hand back.
Her heart was filled with shock and confusion.
Just now, in that split second, she had instinctively reached out and grabbed his wrist.
What was wrong with her?
Her cheeks burned—embarrassed, regretful, surprised—
All kinds of emotions churned in her chest. Like a child who had done something wrong, she pulled the blanket higher, covering her head.
Fu Sinian chuckled lightly,
“Get some rest.”
After that, he turned and walked out of the bedroom.
________
The Next Morning
Early the next morning, Lin Qing woke up and glanced at the time—it was just past 7 a.m.
She went to the bathroom to take a shower, then drove straight to the law firm.
At 10 a.m., she was working on a report analysis when—
“Ding ding ding”
Suddenly, her phone was bombarded with message notifications.
She opened it and saw that the class group chat had exploded.
Scrolling up the chat thread, she saw the source of the frenzy: a photo.
In it, a man stood in front of a car, holding a woman in his arms. Since the picture was taken secretly, only the man’s back was clearly visible, while the woman’s face was somewhat obscured.
“Young Master Fu has a new girlfriend now? With a fancy car and a beauty in his arms—what a winner in life.”
“Hugging in the street in the middle of the night like no one’s watching, totally blinding us with their PDA.”
“Who is Fu’s girlfriend? Why does she look so familiar?”
The classmates in the group started speculating wildly about the woman’s identity.
Lin Qing frowned.
More messages kept coming in.
Then, someone with sharp eyes chimed in:
“Why does that outfit look exactly like Lin Qing’s?”
“Yeah! That beige trench coat, the clothes and shoes—it really does look like her. Is the woman in Fu’s arms Lin Qing?”
“Oh my god, that is Lin Qing!”
Everyone began tagging her in the group.
“@LinQing Are you dating Young Master Fu?”
“When did this happen?”
“You two actually ended up together? Hahaha, unbelievable!”
The group chat flooded with messages, and Lin Qing couldn’t help but clarify the rumor:
“Please don’t misunderstand. Fu Sinian and I are not in a relationship. Last night was just a coincidence—our cars were parked next to each other, and we happened to run into each other. That’s all.”
But even after that message, some still didn’t believe it.
“But you two were hugging, though.”
“And the paparazzi even caught Fu Sinian sending you home.”
At that moment, someone in the group uploaded a few clearer photos—taken outside the Xinyue Bay complex, showing a man supporting a woman as they entered the elevator.
With this new evidence, everyone in the group now assumed Lin Qing and Fu Sinian were together.
More people began tagging Lin Qing:
“Congrats, Lin Qing! You really kept this hidden well—actually managed to snag Young Master Fu!”
“Haha, I remember back in school you two were total enemies. You didn’t even speak to each other. Who would’ve thought that over a decade later, you’d end up together? Fate really is wild.”
“Fu Sinian always seemed so cold and distant. Who knew he could be so gentle with a girlfriend?”
Her phone was blowing up with messages. Notifications for entertainment news headlines started popping up too:
[Breaking News! Heir of Ruifeng Group, Fu Sinian, Rumored New Romance Revealed!]
[Luxury Car and Beautiful Woman: Second Young Master Fu Exposed in New Relationship After a Month—And the Woman Is… Her?!]
Every entertainment headline featured photos of her and Fu Sinian from the night before.
Lin Qing knew it—she was done for. This was getting out of hand.
At that moment, the office door burst open.
Su Yi rushed in with a briefcase in hand—clearly just back from court.
“Oh my god—seriously? You and Fu Sinian are really a thing?”
Su Yi knew full well that Lin Qing had always hated Fu Sinian.
So how could there be a relationship rumor?
Completely baffled, she put down her briefcase, grabbed a cup of tea, pulled over a chair, and sat across from Lin Qing.
“Be honest—are you two secretly dating behind my back?”
“Date your ass,” Lin Qing snapped, tossing down her pen. “You really believe everything those paparazzi write?”
“So you’re not together?” Su Yi raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s with the hugging? And he sent you home too. What, was it a one-night stand?”
One-night stand?!
The guesses were getting more and more ridiculous!
Lin Qing quickly denied it,
“Don’t make wild guesses. Last night I just drank too much. Our cars happened to be parked next to each other, and I accidentally threw up on his license plate. He helped me up for a second, and that’s when the paparazzi caught us.”
“Are you really saying there’s nothing between you two?”
“Why would I lie to you? We’ve known each other for years—I’d never lie to you about something like this.”
Su Yi sighed,
“There goes my excitement… I thought you finally got yourself a boyfriend.”
Lin Qing shrugged,
“I’m not getting married. Being single and free is way better.”
Having grown up watching her parents constantly argue, Lin Qing had long given up any expectations of marriage.
If she couldn’t find the right person, she’d rather stay single.
Suddenly, her phone rang—
It was her father, Lin Nanshan.
“Hello?” she answered.
On the other end, Lin Nanshan’s voice was stern:
“The paparazzi caught you spending the night with that Fu boy. Is it true?”
“It’s not true. There was a school anniversary event—we bumped into each other by accident. That’s it.”
“You’re really not lying to me?” Lin Nanshan clearly didn’t believe her. “I saw the two of you chatting in the garden last time—smiling and talking like old friends. I’m telling you, don’t lie to your father.”
Clearly, Lin Nanshan trusted his own eyes more than her words.
“Believe it or not. I’m done explaining,” Lin Qing said, losing patience, and hung up.
Barely a few seconds later, her phone rang again.
This time, it wasn’t her father—it was Zhou Yan, her mother.
Annoyed, Lin Qing answered and spoke first:
“We’re not together! We’re NOT! Keep asking and I’ll block you!”
There was a pause on the other end. Then Zhou Yan said:
“Why are you getting so worked up? I’m just trying to check on you.”
Realizing her tone was too harsh, Lin Qing rubbed her temples and softened her voice,
“Sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just sick of answering the same question.”
Zhou Yan warned gently:
“As long as you’re not with him. The Fu family is not easy to deal with. If there’s even a sign of something, it’s best to cut it off early.”
The Lin and Fu families had been on bad terms for years. Zhou Yan knew reconciliation was impossible and wanted Lin Qing to stay far away from Fu Sinian.
As a mother, she didn’t believe he was a good match.
“Got it, Mom,” Lin Qing said, and hung up. Then she shut off her phone and tossed it aside.
Su Yi, who had been watching the whole thing unfold like a soap opera, burst out laughing:
“This scandal of yours caused a city-wide earthquake!”
“Ugh, it’s so annoying,” Lin Qing groaned.
Su Yi leaned in with a grin,
“Hey… are you sure there’s nothing going on? I feel like Fu Sinian might actually like you. Otherwise, with how cold he usually is, why would he go out of his way to take you home?”
“He likes me?”
Lin Qing let out a short laugh.
“You’re seriously overthinking it. Not a chance.”
“Why not? Don’t you remember back in school how many girls tried to go after him? He never gave them the time of day. Every rejection was cold and direct. People even nicknamed him ‘Thousand-Year Iceberg’.”
Lin Qing froze for a moment.
Su Yi’s words brought back memories of their school days—how girls chasing Fu Sinian could’ve filled a train car.
Getting him to care about any girl was nearly impossible.
Her mind involuntarily replayed the moment from last night when they were alone—
She had grabbed his hand.
He looked at her with that soft smile and asked if she didn’t want him to leave.
Her heart suddenly began to race.
“What is it? Did I hit the nail on the head?” Su Yi teased with a knowing smile.
“Told you—there’s no such thing as a baseless rumor.”
“Oh, shut up and get back to work,” Lin Qing muttered.
“Let me say it one more time—if the two of us really tried anything, my parents would skin me alive, and his parents would rip his tendons out. So stop joking already.”
After finishing her sentence, Lin Qing grabbed her water cup and walked out of the office.
From behind, Su Yi called out loudly,
“If there’s really nothing going on, then why are you blushing? So stubborn!”
Lin Qing stepped out and headed to the break area of the law firm, making herself a cup of coffee.
She ran into a few interns and other lawyers, all of whom couldn’t resist asking about her relationship with Fu Sinian.
Lin Qing denied it one by one.
The rumors were flying everywhere, and Lin Qing found it hard to concentrate on work.
At 3 p.m., her phone rang — it was Fu Sinian.
“Hello?” she answered grumpily.
“Are people at the firm talking about it?”
“Aren’t you asking the obvious? I’ve become the prime topic of everyone’s gossip. You better send out a statement to shut this down fast.”
“Don’t want to turn the fake act into something real?”
Fu Sinian suddenly felt like teasing her.
“Fake act your ass!” Lin Qing snapped.
She said it loudly enough that Shen Xiao, Ji He, and Li Yue — who were focused on paperwork nearby — all looked up at her.
Lin Qing gave them an awkward smile, then quickly walked out to the office balcony.
With the door closed, the sound was blocked out.
She said into the phone,
“Fu Sinian, don’t pull that crap with me. To put it bluntly, the relationship between us is just FWB — friends with benefits. We sleep together and part ways, that’s it. Don’t start mixing in nonsense. My parents nearly chewed me out alive. All your fault for meddling last night!”
Fu Sinian listened to Lin Qing’s rapid-fire rant on the phone, rubbing his forehead in frustration.
“Alright, alright — I get it. I’ll handle the media.”
He quickly hung up.
By 5 p.m., the PR department at Ruifeng Group issued an official statement on their verified Weibo account,
Clarifying that Fu Sinian and Lin Qing were just good friends with no other kind of relationship.
Only then did the gossip at Huading and Ruifeng finally start to quiet down.
After working until a bit past 6 p.m., Lin Qing left the office and picked up a takeaway meal on the way home.
When she got home and opened the box, she looked at the food — and suddenly felt nauseous.
Covering her mouth, she ran to the bathroom sink and threw up violently.
“Ugh—”
She dry-heaved several more times.
Yuanbao, her cat, came to squat at her feet, staring up at her with big, round eyes.
After vomiting, Lin Qing rinsed her mouth and splashed some water on her face.
Looking at herself in the mirror, her complexion was noticeably pale.
Her heart started to pound —
She mentally counted the days.
It had been over twenty days since that night with Fu Sinian.
Back then, she had only taken one emergency contraceptive pill.
She had not taken the second pill 12 hours later.
Could she be pregnant?
Just the possibility made her break out in cold sweat.
She lost all appetite.
Grabbing her phone, she hurried out the door — to buy a pregnancy test.
_____________
Ten minutes later, she arrived at the pharmacy and grabbed five pregnancy tests, heading straight to the checkout counter.
As luck would have it, the cashier happened to be the same auntie from that night.
The auntie recognized Lin Qing instantly.
“Oh, it’s you, young lady.”
She took the pregnancy tests from Lin Qing, her expression shifting slightly before giving her a surprised look.
At that moment, Lin Qing only wanted to pay and leave as fast as possible.
“How much?”
“Twenty yuan.”
She opened her mobile payment app and scanned the code.
“Ding, WeChat payment received: 20 yuan.”
Lin Qing grabbed the bag and bolted out the door.
Behind her, the auntie muttered with a face full of disdain,
“Got pregnant that fast? Honestly, no self-respect at all.”
Back at home, Lin Qing didn’t waste a second. She tore open the packaging on the pregnancy tests and went straight into the bathroom.
After testing, she sat on the toilet, hands clasped together, silently praying the heavens would give her a single line.
The five-minute wait felt like an eternity.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, she opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked down.
In that instant, her whole world crumbled.
It felt like she’d been struck on the head — completely stunned.
In her hand were four pregnancy tests, all showing two lines, one dark and one faint.
The air in the bathroom was stifling and hot. Lin Qing sat there, feeling completely drained of strength.
She stayed frozen for a long time.
“How could this happen? I clearly took the pill…”
She couldn’t accept the truth.
She was pregnant —
And the child was Fu Sinian’s.
God had just played the cruelest joke on her.