Chu Li didn’t hear Qin Xingwan’s pained murmur. He lowered his head and gently tugged the blanket over his wife. “Get some rest. I’ll come back to see you in a little while.”
He didn’t want to argue with his wife while she was imagining things.
“Qin Xingwan, you’re bullying Qin Yunshu again.” The sharp accusation came with a bang as the hospital-room door slammed against the wall, making the sound especially jarring.
A tall, slender man strode in. His face, so much like Qin Xingwan’s, was filled with anger. When his gaze fell on her pale face, he paused for a moment—but then his accusation only grew harsher.
“You know it’s Yunshu’s birthday today, and you still have to make a scene in the middle of the night. Who are you trying to spite?” Qin Shen glared at Qin Xingwan on the hospital bed, fury burning in his eyes. “Are you happy now that you’ve thrown the whole family into chaos?”
He was convinced Qin Xingwan was faking her illness on purpose to ruin Qin Yunshu’s birthday party.
Qin Xingwan clenched her fingers. She lay in the hospital bed, her whole body aching unbearably, while her dear older brother did nothing but demand to know why she’d gotten sick and why she’d come to the hospital.
A wave of desolation surged through her.
“Can people choose when to get sick?” she shot back coldly, her hoarse voice full of mockery.
Qin Shen’s eyes were full of disgust and impatience. “Fine. I won’t bring up your illness. Let me ask you this: Yunshu came to visit you out of kindness. Why did you make her cry?”
He had clearly seen Qin Yunshu wiping away tears just outside.
There was no need to ask. Qin Xingwan had bullied her.
She was always like this—every word she spoke was barbed, as if everyone had wronged her.
Qin Xingwan looked past Qin Shen. Qin Yunshu stood behind him, her eyes red as tears slipped down her cheeks, timid and soft-spoken.
“Big Brother, it’s not my sister’s fault. I… I got dust in my eye.”
That explanation only added fuel to the fire.
Sure enough, Qin Shen frowned deeply. “Qin Xingwan, stop with your dirty tricks. Let me make this clear: the Qin family owes you nothing, and neither does Yunshu.”
“Big Brother, don’t. My sister’s pregnant.” Qin Yunshu tugged at Qin Shen’s arm. “Besides, it’s my fault. I knew my sister was pregnant, but I still insisted that A-Li celebrate my birthday with me, and that’s why my sister ended up in the hospital.”
As she spoke, more tears the size of beans rolled down her cheeks.
Qin Xingwan dug her nails into her palm, forcing down the anger rising in her chest.
She didn’t want to argue. In the end, she’d only upset herself.
But Qin Shen wouldn’t let it go. “Plenty of women get pregnant. What makes her so special?”
“Enough,” Chu Li said with a frown. Though he, too, thought Qin Xingwan was making a fuss over nothing, Qin Shen had gone too far.
Qin Shen was clearly still seething. He gave a cold snort, then said viciously, “She’s faking an illness now. Who knows what she’ll do with the baby later?”
“With a mother who’s this unreasonable and impossible to deal with, the poor child is the one who’ll suffer.”
If Chu Li’s suspicion had been a knife aimed at Qin Xingwan’s heart, Qin Shen’s words were a thousand arrows piercing it.
Qin Xingwan trembled with rage. She snatched up a pillow and hurled it at Qin Shen, screaming, “Get out!”
Tears streamed down her despairing, anguished face.
She had never expected Qin Shen to be a good older brother, but he still shouldn’t have said something like that.
Qin Shen knocked the pillow aside, his head spinning with anger. He let the next words fly without thinking. “Was I wrong? The baby isn’t even born yet, and you’re already using it to fake an illness. Aren’t you afraid it might actually die in your belly?”
The words that followed were truly vicious.
“Enough.” Chu Li frowned and gave Qin Shen a long, deep look.
He was angry with Qin Xingwan for making a fuss, too, but he wouldn’t let Qin Shen speak that way about his wife and child.
“I said, get out!” Qin Xingwan’s eyes were bloodshot. She got out of bed and grabbed whatever she could reach, hurling it at Qin Shen as if he were her enemy.
Chu Li reacted quickly, catching her by the wrist and pulling her to his side. His tightly furrowed brows betrayed his displeasure. “Qin Xingwan, are you done making a scene?”
Qin Xingwan fell abruptly silent. Tears slid down her pale cheeks, and her reddened eyes held a hatred so intense it was frightening.
“You get out too.”
Her pale lips barely moved as she spoke, her voice dripping with contempt.
“Qin Xingwan.” Chu Li was angry now; his voice was especially stern.
“Sister, don’t get worked up. Think of the baby.” Qin Yunshu came over and tried to support Qin Xingwan, worry filling her beautiful eyes.
“Get out.” Qin Xingwan yanked her wrist from Chu Li’s grasp and swung her hand to stop Qin Yunshu from coming closer. Her movement was too forceful, and her palm landed squarely on the back of Qin Yunshu’s hand.
Qin Yunshu clutched her hand and cried out, “Ah!”
“Qin Xingwan!” Qin Shen barked, looking as if he wanted to devour her. “Yunshu is worried about you, and you still hit her?”
“Apologize to Yunshu.”
A tearing pain rose from deep inside Qin Xingwan’s body. She trembled slightly, sweat beading on her forehead.
She bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out.
“It’s not Sister’s fault. I wasn’t careful.” Tears welled in Qin Yunshu’s eyes as she swayed unsteadily and tried to explain.
“A-Li, are you just going to stand there and watch?” When Qin Xingwan didn’t move, Qin Shen turned directly to Chu Li.
Qin Xingwan looked at Chu Li too. She knew all too well what kind of man her husband was, but in the grip of that intense pain, with her mind reeling, she still found herself clinging to a faint hope.
If Chu Li cared enough to look, he would surely see that something was wrong with her.
“Qin Xingwan, Yunshu meant well. You’ve gone too far.” Chu Li lowered his eyes, his voice cold.
Qin Xingwan forced herself to stand straight. Her long hair hung in disarray over her shoulders, and her already thin face was unnaturally pale.
Her dark, clear eyes fixed on Chu Li. Her voice was icy. “Chu Li, didn’t you hear him? He just cursed your child to die.”
She was lying in the hospital bed, her face deathly pale, and Chu Li thought she was faking her illness. Qin Shen cursed her child to die, and Chu Li did nothing. Yet she had merely refused to let Qin Yunshu come closer and accidentally hit the back of her hand, and he called her unreasonable.
His favoritism was plain for all to see.
At that moment, Qin Xingwan felt utterly wretched.
She had neither her husband’s love nor her family’s affection.
All she had was endless suspicion and hurt.
She couldn’t help wondering what lowly place she occupied in Chu Li’s heart as his wife.
“Big Brother didn’t mean it,” Qin Yunshu said, apologizing on Qin Shen’s behalf. “He was just worried about me, and that’s why he said something like that. Sister, I’m sorry on his behalf.”
Qin Shen gave her a grateful look. His affection for his younger sister deepened, and, by the same measure, his hatred of Qin Xingwan grew.
“Everyone, leave,” Chu Li said slowly, frowning at Qin Xingwan. “If you keep carrying on like this, it won’t be good for the baby.”
Qin Xingwan clenched her teeth, but the pain in her lower abdomen came in waves, each more intense than the last. Her vision went black, and she could no longer hold herself up. With a thud, she collapsed.