“Miss Ye, the baby is gone.”
Ye Shuang woke from the anesthesia and stared at the hospital ceiling for a long time before slowly sitting up.
Half a month earlier, she had found an IVF consent form in the study and discovered that her husband had arranged for an embryo conceived with another woman to be implanted in her womb.
She hadn’t believed it. She couldn’t believe her husband would treat her so cruelly.
But when she was sixteen weeks pregnant, she had secretly gone to the hospital for an amniocentesis. That was when she confirmed the child wasn’t hers.
When she received the results, she lay on the examination table, gazing at her slightly rounded belly and the dense stretch marks across it.
Tears streamed helplessly from the corners of her eyes.
She had been looking forward to having another child. For this baby, she had agreed to several rounds of ovulation-stimulating injections and undergone surgery several times.
She had never imagined that in the end, this child would have nothing to do with her!
They had married young and shared a bed for seven years. Even without love, surely they should have developed some sense of family.
So, in Lu Zhijian’s heart, Ye Shuang was nothing but a tool for bearing children!
When she remained silent, the nurse reminded her softly, “Miss Ye, the baby is gone.”
Coming back to herself, Ye Shuang straightened her clothes and said calmly, “Please compile all the records related to this child as soon as possible.”
“The forensic verification process will take about a week. We’ll mail you the records once it’s complete.”
Ye Shuang nodded.
After marrying Lu Zhijian, she had given up her studies and taken care of him devotedly for seven years.
Now she wanted to end this humiliating marriage. The evidence proving that Lu Zhijian had made her act as a surrogate would be her leverage in negotiating a divorce with him.
A dull, dragging pain still lingered in her lower abdomen. Ye Shuang hired a driver to take the wheel, arranging to meet at a mall near the hospital.
As soon as the car stopped near the mall, she spotted a familiar black sedan parked by the roadside, bearing a familiar license plate:
Jin A66666.
No one in all of Jincheng but Lu Zhijian would use such an ostentatious plate.
Or rather, even if he didn’t use it, no one else would dare to. No one else was worthy of it.
The mall’s security guards were used to seeing the car. They gathered together, whispering.
“What a show of wealth. That must be the car of that big shot from Lu Corporation, right?”
“I heard Lu Corporation has made another breakthrough in AI. Their technology is already leading the world.”
People streamed in and out of the mall. Ye Shuang glanced over from the corner of her eye.
A tall man in a black silk shirt stepped out of the back seat and walked around to open the door on the other side.
His sleeves were rolled high, revealing a muscular forearm. As he moved, the veins stood out faintly beneath his skin.
An elegant woman in a qipao stepped out through the open door.
The woman slipped her slender fingers around Lu Zhijian’s arm with practiced ease.
The two walked side by side into the mall, a handsome man and a beautiful woman. Passersby turned to look.
“Who’s that? There’s never been a woman by that Lu heir’s side before.”
Someone asked curiously.
The designated driver arrived. Ye Shuang paid no further attention to the noisy chatter around her and got into the front passenger seat.
Leaning against the window, she watched the streets of the capital flash past.
She knew exactly who the woman with Lu Zhijian was.
Her younger sister, Ye Qingtang.
A gifted mathematics student who had returned from Massachusetts, she had just won the TAI Award.
Her eyelids felt heavy. Resting against the seat, Ye Shuang’s thoughts drifted aimlessly.
If she hadn’t given up her studies to get married, perhaps she, too, could have achieved what Ye Qingtang had.
Her phone chimed twice. Her lawyer had messaged to confirm once again whether she truly intended to divorce Lu Zhijian.
“Proceed as soon as possible.”
Ye Shuang set down her phone and rubbed her sore eyes.
When she returned to the villa in the city center and stepped into the courtyard, she heard Lu Mubai laughing inside.
She quickened her pace. She hadn’t seen her son for nearly half a month.
After she gave birth, Lu Zhijian had ignored her desperate pleas while she was still in postpartum confinement and sent Lu Mubai to the old residence, claiming he would receive a better education there.
Even her visits with him were subject to strict time limits.
She hadn’t expected Lu Mubai to come over on his own today.
After changing her shoes, she entered the first-floor living room.
The five- or six-year-old boy sat on the sofa with his back to the entrance, holding a phone and making a video call with someone.
“Auntie’s the best. I’ve wanted this Transformers toy for ages, but Dad won’t buy it for me.”
“Okay, I’ll wait at home for Dad to bring it back.”
Ye Shuang went over to the sofa, wanting to pull her son into her arms.
“Xiaobai, did you miss Mom?”
Lu Mubai hurriedly ended the call, shoved her away, and shrieked, “You stink! Stay away from me!”
Ye Shuang stood there awkwardly and sniffed at her clothes.
She had suffered a difficult labor and massive blood loss when she gave birth to Lu Mubai. She had never fully recovered, and even in summer she rarely sweated.
Now, apart from the smell of disinfectant, there was no unpleasant odor on her.
“I want that braised tofu with jade shrimp. Hurry up and make it for me!”
Ye Shuang had just undergone surgery to end the pregnancy; she really shouldn’t be handling cold water.
She opened her mouth to suggest having a servant make it instead.
But the next moment, Lu Mubai secretly rolled his eyes.
He rested his head against her leg and blinked up at her, his voice turning soft. “Mom, your shrimp with jade tofu is the best. No one else can make it taste the same.”
Ye Shuang knew this was Lu Mubai’s usual trick of pretending to be well-behaved, yet her heart still softened.
She told herself he had been spoiled because he hadn’t grown up by her side. If she raised him properly, he would turn out fine.
Ye Shuang went into the kitchen, washed her hands, and shuddered when she touched the fresh shrimp soaking in cold water.
Once she had finished cooking, she brought the dishes to the table. Only then was Lu Mubai satisfied.
As she watched him eat with gusto, Ye Shuang gazed at him in silence.
After dinner, Ye Shuang sat with Lu Mubai and read with him for a while.
“Mom, will Dad come back later?”
Ye Shuang gave a derisive smile.
Lu Zhijian had cared a great deal about the child in her belly. Even when he didn’t accompany her to prenatal checkups, he would come home afterward to ask how things were.
He had asked about the child in her belly—his child with another woman.
She kissed Lu Mubai on the forehead. “He’ll come back. Go to sleep.”
“Mm. Then I’ll see Dad when I wake up tomorrow.”
Later that evening, Ye Shuang left the children’s room and went downstairs. She sat on the living-room sofa with her laptop, looking into developments in the field of AI over the past few years.
Before she knew it, it was late at night. She heard a sound at the front door, looked up, and saw Lu Zhijian walk in.
He had changed into a deep-blue satin shirt that shimmered like the deep sea under the dim lights.
“Why are you still awake?”
Lu Zhijian came over and sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. His right hand settled naturally on her lower abdomen.
But he didn’t know the child was already gone.
“How’s the baby?” Lu Zhijian asked.
He smelled of unfamiliar perfume. Ye Shuang pushed him away. “Weren’t you with Ye Qingtang? Why did you come back?”
“Aren’t you afraid someone will photograph you two-timing me?”
Lu Zhijian leaned back against the sofa and glanced at her sideways. “As long as you don’t go around loudly announcing that you’re Mrs. Lu, who would know?”
Ye Shuang silently closed her laptop.
It was true. Her marriage to Lu Zhijian was secret. As long as she kept quiet, even if the media photographed him with another woman, they wouldn’t dare publish it.
No one in all of Jincheng dared to go up against the Lu family.
“What? Are you upset?”
Lu Zhijian reached out and toyed with a lock of Ye Shuang’s hair. “Isn’t this what you begged for? What right do you have to be angry?”
Ye Shuang closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her expression had changed.
Calm and unruffled, like the still water of an ancient well.
“Lu Zhijian, we need to talk.”