After eating a little, Chi Chi started to feel sleepy again. She was still weak and needed time to recuperate, no matter what.

Her eyes gently closed as her small hand rested on her belly.

How wonderful—it felt good that the baby was still there. A gentle hand landed lightly on her head, and she opened her eyes.

"Don’t sleep yet. Take your medicine first, then you can rest."

The doctor had still prescribed these pills—she had to take them on time.

Cecilia Ye looked at Fu Zhiyan’s face; it was the same as ever, sharp and cold, always looking stone-faced no matter the occasion.

But somehow, she sensed something in his eyes she couldn’t quite understand.

"Okay."

She didn’t know what attitude to take with Fu Zhiyan. If it hadn’t been for him, the baby would have been in even more danger yesterday.

And those words Fu Zhiyan said...

Cecilia Ye sighed and shoved everything—rumors, Fu Zhiyan’s words—deep into her heart. None of that was more important than the baby. All she wanted now was to take care of her child. She might as well hide like an ostrich for a while.

Rain pattered outside, while inside, warm lights glowed. Fu Zhiyan carefully opened the compartment in the pill organizer and set the colorful tablets out on the table, frowning at the sight.

Isn’t this too many pills? Are there side effects? Is it safe for her to take these when she’s pregnant?

It was his first time being a dad—he had no idea what he was doing. His mind spun with messy, anxious thoughts.

He sat in the chair, looking at Cecilia Ye, still not quite at ease. "Should we move to our hospital?"

Chi Chi shook her head, glancing up at him. "I like Dr. Zhao. This is the Jiang family’s hospital. Julian Jarvis says it’s really good."

Her voice trailed off as if she remembered something.

Whenever Fu Zhiyan and Julian Jarvis met, there was always tension in the air. Chi Chi wondered if Fu Zhiyan would get angry again.

But the man at her bedside only watched her for a while before saying, "Alright. We’ll stay here. I’ll arrange for two more doctors to come oversee things."

For an instant, Fu Zhiyan felt a pang of jealousy. He finally understood why he’d always felt hostility towards Julian Jarvis—his earlier outbursts had all been a silly fit of jealousy because Julian Jarvis cared about Chi Chi.

Hearing the unexpected answer, Chi Chi breathed a sigh of relief. Fu Zhiyan turned and picked up her medicine from the bedside table.

He held the pills in his big palm and offered them to her.

The little lady was a slow and picky pill-taker, choosing one at a time.

She picked the sugar-coated one first. As soon as she put it in her mouth, Fu Zhiyan handed her a glass of warm water. She took a gulp, frowning as she swallowed.

Fu Zhiyan was puzzled—weren’t sugar-coated pills supposed to taste sweet?

She picked a second pill, her soft little hand brushing his palm, tickling slightly.

Five or six pills in, the water in the glass was already gone, but Chi Chi hadn’t finished. She looked up at Fu Zhiyan, embarrassed.

Her lips moved uncertainly. "It’s too bitter..."

"I’ll get you more water."

As he turned away, the corners of his cool lips curved upward just slightly.

There were two black pills left in his palm. Cecilia Ye closed her eyes, took half a glass of water, and finished them all in one go.

After swallowing the medicine, she rubbed her little belly and curled up under the covers. Her eyes closed, and she drifted straight off to sleep.

Fu Zhiyan moved to the sofa, crossed his legs, and braced his hand against his forehead. His sharp features looked cold as he stared out the window. When his eyes shifted back, they lingered on Chi Chi’s belly.

Nothing could be seen through the blanket, but he looked again anyway.

He had spent all of yesterday worrying about Chi Chi. He hadn’t once thought to reach out and touch the baby—his and Chi Chi’s baby. It must be adorable.

He drummed his fingers lightly on the edge of the sofa, feeling a kind of itch.

……

In Qingshui Bay’s security office, a dozen reporters were crammed in, jostling shoulder to shoulder. Henry Hart stood off to one side, face icy.

He waved his hand. "All of you, get out."

The reporters swarmed out in a hurry.

The manager of Qingshui Bay approached him, meek and deferential. "Thank you, Mr. He. Thank you for being so forgiving."

Henry Hart brushed a bit of rainwater from his jacket, cold eyes unreadable behind his glasses. "This place is too small. Too much trouble to deal with them all here."

The portly manager stumbled, unsure how to respond.

"And you—don’t think you can keep going on here after making such a mess of things."

The office phone rang. All the security and property management for Qingshui Bay were being dismissed on the spot.

Henry Hart couldn’t be bothered with them any longer. He stepped out, got into his car, and drove away. As he left Qingshui Bay, he could already see several of the reporters outside being pinned down and roughed up.

He shot them a glance and then called Fu Zhiyan.

"Yes, President."

"Alright."

The trending topic wasn’t removed from the search rankings—it was merely updated with the explosive news that Bai Yu was the mastermind behind everything.

Fu Zhiyan instructed him to arrange a press conference. He didn’t care what outsiders thought of him. Even if they called him a fool for being duped by Bai Yu—let them try gossiping about Fu Zhiyan now.

He wanted the whole world to know—the person he loved was Chi Chi. Now, and always, there would only ever be one mistress of the Fu family: Chi Chi.

He was the one who’d made mistakes, and he was the one trying to win Chi Chi back now.

……

The press conference was held the next day, at a hotel near Qingshui Bay.

Chi Chi had slept heavily the last couple of days, like a sleepy little pig, only waking up past ten in the morning.

It was the baby in her belly, and her own exhaustion too. When she finally woke, Fu Zhiyan stayed with her through breakfast.

"Chi Chi, I need to go into the office," he said, dressed in a custom black suit, restored to his usual distant and dignified aura.

"Is something happening at work?" Chi Chi asked warily. He’d told her only a couple days ago that things were calm at the company.

Fu Zhiyan’s heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, I need to meet someone unexpectedly."

The press conference—he saw that as his business. Chi Chi didn’t need to know and make herself anxious over it.

Cecilia Ye hesitated. After all their years together, she knew that, for all of Fu Zhiyan’s stern demeanor, he had a lot of little habits she could spot in a moment.

She saw through him—he was hiding something.

But she let it go. It wasn’t like she needed to know everything in his life.

"Alright, go ahead."

Fu Zhiyan picked up her pills. "Take these first."

After making sure she took her medicine, Fu Zhiyan headed out.

Four burly bodyguards stood at the door. Other than Dr. Zhao, no one else was allowed in.

By the time he reached the press conference, the lobby was already packed. Clusters of reporters stood together, cameras and audio equipment set up all around.

These were all the top reporters from major news outlets—they already guessed what the purpose of the Fu Group’s president’s press conference was, just from online rumors.

Besides, they’d already been warned by Henry Hart before arriving.

Spotlights lit up Fu Zhiyan’s face as he calmly took his seat on stage, the lines of his custom suit sharp and imposing. His gaze swept icily across the crowd as though nothing there could faze him.

Henry Hart sat at his side. At Fu Zhiyan’s nod, the proceedings began.

"You all have fifteen minutes for questions today. This is being broadcast live, so let’s keep the questions substantive."

His usual, unyielding tone—this was the authority of the Fu Group in the capital.

"Mr. Fu, can you tell us what happened yesterday at the villa in Qingshui Bay, and why you were there with your ex-wife?"