After dinner, Frederick Fairfax still hadn't come home.

Olivia Young finished her prenatal bonding session and returned to the master bedroom.

All the red bedsheets, duvet covers, toothbrushes, towels, and even the curtains had been replaced with a fresh, soothing green.

She leaned against the headboard and sent Frederick Fairfax a message.

Olivia Young: Are you coming home?

Frederick Fairfax: I can't make it back.

Olivia Young: Busy with something? Am I interrupting? Or is it your little girlfriend?

Frederick Fairfax: Grandfather said if I don't dye my hair back, I shouldn't bother coming home!

Olivia Young: What a good, obedient boy you are!

Frederick Fairfax: Save your sarcasm. What do you need?

Olivia Young: Just wanted to talk…

Frederick Fairfax: You want to mess with my hair again, don't you? What do you think my hair is—your personal stress-relief toy?

Frederick Fairfax: Forget it! No touching! Absolutely not!

(ˉ▽￣～) Cheh~~

That night, his warm lips had traced her collarbone, his hoarse whisper in her ear: “Baby, touch me~”

Was that even him?

She really just wanted to talk to Frederick Fairfax about Liam Rivers, and casually remind him to consider the risks if the new movie involved Liam Rivers.

Since he wasn't coming home, she dropped it.

The next morning, Olivia Young woke to the sound of rain. Lazily, she pressed the switch and the electric curtains slowly slid open.

Raindrops streaked densely down the window, leaving glistening trails.

Scarlet maple leaves carpeted the ground below.

She stroked her pregnant belly. “Baby, we're going for your checkup today. You have to behave, okay?”

May the baby stay healthy.

As for Frederick Fairfax—whatever.

Olivia Young got dressed and headed downstairs, surprised to see Frederick Fairfax already there.

Huh? Wasn't he supposed to be not coming home last night? But he's here? And that pink hair is blinding—hard to miss.

“Sis!”

Quentin Young suddenly bounded up to her. “I'll go with you to the hospital! I'm all ready!”

He spun around, showing off the backpack slung over his shoulder.

“What’s with the bag?” she asked.

“I packed bread, milk, fruit, snacks—so after your bloodwork, you can eat right away!”

If her husband wasn't reliable, her little brother sure was!

“Having a brother is the best!” Olivia Young tipped her head. “Morning, honey!”

“Thought you didn’t notice me,” Frederick Fairfax said coldly.

“With hair like that, it’s impossible to miss you. Don’t worry, you’re the brightest star in our family.” Olivia Young was in a hurry to leave. “Bye~”

The siblings walked ahead while Frederick Fairfax quietly followed behind.

Olivia Young got into the car, and Frederick Fairfax’s long legs stepped in too.

“You’re coming?”

“Sure, you go for your prenatal check. If I skip, Grandfather will break my legs,” Frederick Fairfax said, shutting the door and leaning back lazily. “It would be a shame to wreck legs as nice as mine.”

Olivia Young glanced at his legs. “Grandfather’s just all bark. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.”

“Heh.”

Back when Frederick Fairfax got out of line as a kid, Grandfather would threaten to withhold dinner—sometimes even water—for a whole day and night. That worked.

Grandfather: the hardest man in the Fairfax family.

“Yesterday you said you wanted to talk. Don't tell me it's about those fines? I'm not agreeing to it.”

“Too bad! I could’ve charged a fee for touching your cotton candy hair. Now I get to do it for free!” Olivia Young pretended to reach for his head, her villainous laugh echoing.

In the darkness of Frederick Fairfax’s eyes, Olivia Young’s reflection danced—such a contrast, so unexpectedly cute?

That’s right. She’d always been this lively.

At the school sports meet, when she wore the cheerleader outfit, every boy in the school stared at her.

Damn. Who was the father of the baby in her belly anyway?

But instead of actually going after his hair, Olivia Young just touched her stomach and spoke gently, “Baby, Dad looked so funny when he got scared just now.”

Frederick Fairfax found himself a bit impressed with her.

She really could go with the flow. In her eyes, her stepfather was no different from a real dad.

She was already prepping the baby in utero. Probably expecting he’d die young so she and the kid could inherit his fortune. Keep dreaming!

At the hospital, Frederick Fairfax sat coolly in the car. “I’ll wait for you.”

He could command paparazzi not to take pics, but there were so many people in the hospital. What if he got photographed? His reputation as a legendary idol would be ruined!

He could get married and have kids—but being a stepdad? That was a bridge too far.

Sigh—he was risking it all for his own neck.

At least she wasn’t throwing up as much lately. Did Olivia Young’s random superstitious rituals actually work and ward off the bad luck?

He waited and waited, but the siblings still hadn’t come back.

He sneakily slipped into their group chat.

To his shock, they were still gossiping about who Olivia Young had married.

[Brothers, rumor has it Yuyue’s marriage is already on the rocks. She’s getting divorced!]

Frederick Fairfax was baffled. Divorced? Since when?

[For real? Just got married and breaking up already? If neither of you wants to play stepdad, I’m in! The kid’s not mine, but the wife could be! The first one’s not mine but the second could be!]

The speaker was Zachary Shaw.

[Don’t even think about it. I heard Grace Gordon is fighting his family to marry Olivia Young—he even fired his little ‘stand-in’ girlfriend!]

[What’s going on? Details, man!]

[Miss Young told Grace Gordon if he was willing to marry her after her divorce, she’d go through with it!]

[Is true love no match for childhood friends???]

[Childhood friends are great, but Grace Gordon had a fake stand-in, while I never did.]

[Same here! No one holds a candle to Yuyue. When I got hurt, she gave me a band-aid—so cute!]

[She used to help me with math, and I still remember how her long lashes fell, hair grazing her cheeks, smelling faintly of jasmine. Why does Grace Gordon get her???]

Heh. Seriously.

This pack of brats—lusting after his wife straight out in the open.

They might as well rename this group 'Yi Xiyue’s Simp Squad'!

Frederick Fairfax put his phone down, somehow feeling inexplicably annoyed.

It was just a agreementual marriage—what was there to be upset about?

Willing to play stepdad? Are they out of their minds?

Crazy! The lot of them.

He remembered once asking Grandfather the same question.

Grandfather had cast him a withering look from his aging face and snapped, 'What era do you think this is? Stop being so old-fashioned!'

Right. Grandfather was right. What era was this, anyway? If it’s the woman you love, what does it matter?

Is this how everyone in the group gaslighted themselves?

Damn!

Was Olivia Young really planning a divorce so she could be with Grace Gordon? So she’s playing him out in the open while sneaking off behind his back?

Olivia Young finished her morning checkups and, clutching her ultrasound report, returned to the car.

Huh? Where was he?

Olivia Young stared at the empty car. “Song Song, didn’t we come here this morning with someone else with us?”

Quentin Young didn’t even pretend to look around. He just buckled up, started the engine, and, only once the car was moving, said lazily, “Sis, he must have left for work. He’s the president of Fairfax Corp. and a big star, after all.”

Fair point.

As soon as they pulled away from the hospital, Olivia Young’s phone rang.