Lei Li carried Bai Luoluo, striding quickly along the way home.
His chest rose and fell violently—not from exhaustion, but from anger.
The woman in his arms felt as light as a feather, yet in his heart, she weighed like a mountain, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.
He glanced down.
Her eyes were closed, long eyelashes casting fragile shadows over her delicate, palm-sized face—white as snow.
Anyone would feel pity seeing her like this.
But Lei Li’s heart was as hard as iron at this moment.
He believed it was all an act.
From the fainting to this so-called “Rich Girl Illness,” it was all a carefully staged performance by this woman—to resist him, to escape labor!
Fine.
If she’s so good at acting, he’ll play along to the end!
“Bang!”
Lei Li kicked open the old wooden door and carried Bai Luoluo inside.
He tossed her heavily onto the bed. The old wooden bed, propped up with a brick, let out a loud creak, threatening to collapse at any moment.
Bai Luoluo groaned softly from the impact, her eyelids fluttering slightly, as if waking.
But Lei Li didn’t even glance at her.
He turned and took the steaming bowl of medicinal soup that Xiao Zhang handed him.
The liquid was dark brown, thick like ink, and emitted a pungent, bitter smell that could make someone gag.
“Go back,” Lei Li said coldly to Xiao Zhang.
“Yes.”
Xiao Zhang didn’t dare linger and fled like the wind.
The room was left with only Lei Li and Bai Luoluo on the bed.
The silence was terrifying.
Lei Li walked to the bed with the bowl in hand, looking down at her from above.
“Bai Luoluo.”
His voice was cold, devoid of warmth.
“Stop pretending to sleep. Get up and drink your medicine.”
Bai Luoluo’s eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes.
Her mind was still foggy, her whole body aching, head dizzy.
She looked up to see Lei Li’s face—full of anger and scorn—and the bowl of dark, ominous soup in his hand.
“This… what is this?”
Her voice was hoarse, throat dry as if it were cracking.
“Medicine,” Lei Li said bluntly. “Doctor Sun prescribed it for your ‘Rich Girl Illness.’”
He emphasized the words “Rich Girl Illness.”
Bai Luoluo’s face instantly paled even more.
She heard the mockery in his tone.
But what terrified her even more was the bowl of medicine.
Before it even reached her lips, the pungent, bitter, and indescribably strange smell hit her nose.
Her stomach churned violently.
“Ugh…”
She couldn’t help gagging.
[Warning! Warning! High concentration of toxic substances detected!]
[This medicinal soup contains musk, which poses a fatal threat to the fetus! Host must not ingest!]
The system’s shrill alarm blared in her mind, like an air-raid siren at full alert.
Musk?
Although Bai Luoluo didn’t fully understand medical science, she knew this was extremely dangerous for a pregnant woman.
Lei Li… this bastard wants to kill her babies!
Even though she hadn’t fully accepted the fact that seven little lives were growing inside her, in that instant, a maternal instinct surged—an intense fear and resistance toward that bowl of medicine.
“I won’t drink it!”
She curled into the corner of the bed, shaking her head violently, eyes filled with terror.
“Take it away! I won’t drink it!”
To Lei Li, her behavior looked like the spoiled tantrum of a rich girl, complaining about the bitter medicine.
His patience snapped completely.
“Won’t drink?” Lei Li sneered. “Bai Luoluo, you don’t get a choice. Today, you drink it, or you drink it—you have no say!”
He set the bowl on the nearby table and reached out, grabbing Bai Luoluo’s chin with one large hand.
The grip was strong, causing her real pain.
“What are you doing! Let go of me!”
Bai Luoluo struggled in terror, trying to pry his hand away with both of hers.
But her strength was like a kitten scratching a lion.
Lei Li lifted the medicine bowl with his other hand, bringing it to her lips, voice icy and cruel:
“Drink it!”
The black liquid touched her lips.
The intense, deathly smell made Bai Luoluo’s pupils constrict sharply.
No!
She couldn’t drink it!
Absolutely not!
“Help… help me!”
She cried desperately, tears streaming down her face.
But her cries only provoked Lei Li to act even more forcefully.
He tightened his grip on her chin, trying to pry her mouth open.
At the critical moment!
[Level 1 Defense Mode Activated!]
[Maternal Protection Mechanism Engaged!]
The system’s cold, mechanical voice exploded in Bai Luoluo’s mind.
The next second…
A massive, inexplicable force surged through every limb and joint of Bai Luoluo.
“Get off!”
She screamed, coiling her body in the corner of the bed and exploding with strength.
Using every ounce of power, she pushed with all her might!
“Bang!”
Lei Li was completely unprepared.
He felt a tremendous force, far beyond what a woman could produce, press against his chest.
His tall frame staggered backward two large steps.
The medicine bowl flew out of his hand.
“Clang!”
The medicine bowl shattered on the floor.
The thick, black liquid splattered everywhere, filling the room with its pungent, bitter smell.
Lei Li steadied himself, staring at his own hands in shock, then at Bai Luoluo on the bed.
He was completely stunned.
Where… where had she gotten that kind of strength just now?
And Bai Luoluo, after pushing him away, suddenly seemed completely drained.
She curled up in the corner of the bed, trembling all over, her face pale as paper.
She looked at Lei Li, and in her beautiful eyes, there was no longer the previous pleading or grievance.
Instead, there was pure, primal fear.
The kind of fear someone feels when staring at a killer… at a demon.
It was as if what he had just tried to do wasn’t give her medicine—it was to kill her with his own hands.
Lei Li’s heart was pierced by that gaze.
It hurt.
A sharp, inexplicable pain.
He froze, looking at the broken porcelain shards and the black stains on the floor, then at the woman shivering in the corner of the bed.
His mind was in chaos.
Why?
Why was she so terrified?
Even if the medicine was bitter, it shouldn’t have made her look at him like he was an enemy.
Could it be… there really was something wrong with the medicine?
Or… was she really not pretending?
This thought was like a small pebble thrown into the lake of Lei Li’s once-solid heart, sending ripples across its surface.
For the first time, he felt a flicker of doubt toward a judgment he had always been certain of.