Huacheng, First Affiliated Hospital.
“Miss Jiang, you’re pregnant.”
The doctor pushed the examination report on the desk toward Jiang Wan and said with a smile, “And from the ultrasound, there are two gestational sacs in your uterus. Congratulations, you’re having twins.”
Jiang Wan lowered her gaze to the blurry image on the ultrasound, feeling a pang of bitterness in her heart.
Her thoughts churned as she tightly clenched the hem of her skirt with her fingertips and said, “Doctor, if I want an abortion, how much will it cost?”
Hearing this, the doctor glanced at her basic information: Jiang Wan, unmarried, twenty years old.
Understanding dawned, and the doctor asked, “You don’t want it?”
Jiang Wan nodded.
“Prepare five thousand.” The doctor paused, then added, “You must have someone accompany you for the abortion procedure. Bring your boyfriend with you when you come.”
Jiang Wan’s hands froze as she placed the report into her faded, worn-out bag.
Then, she nodded and left the consultation room.
The bustling noise outside seemed to fade away as she dragged her steps, disheartened, toward the lobby.
Boyfriend.
Where would she have one…
Over a month ago, Jiang Wan had been drugged and dragged onto a hotel bed.
In her dazed state, she heard a commotion outside the door.
Then, a deep male voice, filled with anger, said, “Throw him out.”
Next, the door opened, footsteps approached, and Jiang Wan found herself in a firm embrace.
“Wanwan, just bear with it for a while,” the man whispered softly into Jiang Wan’s ear.
But Jiang Wan’s mind was clouded by the effects of the drug.
The moment she touched the man, all her defenses crumbled, and she could barely make out his words.
She immediately clung to the man’s body, seeking relief from the discomfort deep within her.
“It hurts so much,” she whimpered. “Hold me…”
Gu Shilan’s pupils darkened abruptly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed uncontrollably.
As he stood frozen, Jiang Wan’s soft, delicate hand, unbidden, slid to his waist and then toward his belt…
All restraint and self-control were utterly consumed in that moment.
“It hurts…” Jiang Wan’s eyes welled with tears as she gently pushed against the man’s chest.
“Relax,” the man said, veins bulging on his arms. He was holding back to his limit, his voice hoarse and strained. “Be good, don’t be afraid.”
The night was long…
Early the next morning, Jiang Wan woke up aching all over.
When she saw who was sleeping beside her, her eyes widened in shock, and she snapped fully awake.
The man before her had sharp, defined features, a high nose bridge, and a jawline as exquisite as a finely crafted work of art.
She knew this man.
The head of Huacheng’s most prominent wealthy family, Gu Shilan.
The Jiang and Gu families had been close friends for generations.
By seniority, Jiang Wan should respectfully address him as “Uncle.”
But now, she and Gu Shilan lay together, completely unclothed.
Terrified and at a loss, Jiang Wan ignored the pain in her lower body, hastily threw on her clothes, and silently fled the hotel.
Standing at the entrance of the outpatient lobby, Jiang Wan snapped back to reality as she watched the rain pour down like broken strings of pearls.
When she arrived, the sun had been shining brightly, but after just one examination, a sudden downpour had begun.
She glanced around—there wasn’t a single taxi waiting nearby.
Not far from the outpatient building, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan was parked.
From the moment the car came to a stop, the person inside had been watching the direction of the outpatient lobby.
Gu Shilan sat in the back seat, watching Jiang Wan emerge alone, looking rather desolate. The expression in his eyes shifted slightly.
She held a canvas bag in her hand, as if trying to hail a taxi.
“Go pretend to be a taxi and take Jiang Wan home,” Gu Shilan said to his special assistant in the driver’s seat.
Zhang Qian wore a troubled expression as he turned around and said, “Mr. Gu, are there any taxis driving a Cullinan?”
Gu Shilan withdrew his gaze and looked at him. “Just say you’re a ride-hailing driver experiencing life.”
Without waiting for Zhang Qian to respond, he pushed open the car door, holding a black umbrella, and stepped into the rain.
Zhang Qian, wearing a pained expression, resigned himself to the task. Following the principle of “earning your keep,” he dutifully drove the car to the entrance of the outpatient clinic.
Then, he jogged over to Jiang Wan.
Of course, he didn’t use the excuse Gu Shilan had taught him.
Zhang Qian said, “Miss Jiang, Mr. Gu happened to be at the hospital and noticed you were having trouble finding a taxi, so he asked me to take you home.”
Jiang Wan hesitated for a moment before politely declining, “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”
Jiang Wan didn’t know why Gu Shilan was at the hospital, but it certainly wasn’t to see her specifically.
She wasn’t that presumptuous.
Zhang Qian immediately understood and quickly added, “Mr. Gu isn’t in the car.”
Jiang Wan felt the six yuan and sixty cents left in her pocket. Feeling the pinch of her empty wallet, she finally pursed her lips and said, “Then I’ll trouble you.”
Gu Shilan stood in a corner near the entrance, watching Zhang Qian hold an umbrella and escort Jiang Wan into the car.
Then, the Cullinan disappeared from his sight.
Only then did he stride toward the direction of the outpatient hall.
By the time Jiang Wan returned to the Jiang family villa, it was already past lunchtime.
As soon as she entered, she saw her stepmother, Meng Fenyu, sitting on the sofa, chatting on the phone with wealthy ladies.
When Meng Fenyu noticed Jiang Wan entering, she hung up the phone and said with a displeased expression, “Instead of staying home properly, where have you been wandering off to? Have you finished painting the artwork for your sister’s competition?”
“I won’t help her cheat,” Jiang Wan refused, then turned to head upstairs.
Meng Fenyu had lost at mahjong earlier and was already in a foul mood. Hearing Jiang Wan dare to talk back to her, she sneered, “Just like your dead mother, so stubborn.”
Jiang Wan paused mid-step as she was about to go upstairs. She turned around and said sternly, “Say what you want about me, but don’t speak about my mother.”
Meng Fenyu scoffed, crossing her arms and saying dismissively, “What? Your mother died and abandoned you, yet you still defend her? Just as cheap as she was.”
Hearing Meng Fenyu insult her mother like this, Jiang Wan’s mind went blank with rage, and her fair cheeks flushed red with anger.
She clenched her fingers, walked up to Meng Fenyu, and said with trembling lips, “Apologize.”
In Meng Fenyu’s eyes, Jiang Wan was like an invisible presence in this household—someone who could be easily ignored.
She wanted to see how this pushover could possibly stand up to her. “Make me apologize? Dream on. Your mother was nothing but a cheap woman.”
She had always resented Dong Jingyu for making her a mistress for so many years.
As soon as these words were spoken, Jiang Wan trembled with fury.
Slap!
A sharp sound suddenly echoed through the living room.
Jiang Wan’s eyes were red. She didn’t want Meng Fenyu to see her vulnerability, so she fought back tears, refusing to let them fall. “That’s for what you owe my mother.”
With that, she turned and left without looking back.
The servants busy in the kitchen heard the commotion but didn’t dare come out.
The air in the living room froze for a moment.
Meng Fenyu was stunned by the slap, momentarily unable to react. Clutching her swollen, throbbing left cheek, she stared blankly as Jiang Wan went upstairs.
It wasn’t until the sound of a door closing echoed from the second floor that she snapped back to reality. Jumping to her feet, she cursed, “Jiang Wan, you heartless wretch! After all the years I’ve raised you, how dare you hit me!”