The Mo family had a line of competent royal physicians who had served the royal family since ancient times. Their descendants continued to impress the family name. When the old lady's original doctor passed away from natural causes, his son stepped in as the new doctor, as he was well-versed in the old lady's health.
Dr. Mo injected the old lady with a dose of solution to relax the blood vessels, which knocked her out due to the side effects.
Aunt Li tucked the blanket to her mistress's body while Yanyue and Beichen stood beside the bed. They were relieved that nothing serious happened to the old lady.
The doctor methodically packed the equipment on the table back into his bag. Then, he turned to the two young people and explained the next steps.
"The Queen Dowager needs to rest until her condition stabilizes. It is best not to disturb her peace in the coming days."
Beichen nodded his head in agreement. Then, he sent the doctor out.
Yanyue returned to her room. The spacious room was silent, but inside her mind was a mess. She lie down on the bed and closed her eyes.
Creak.
She was alerted and stood up hastily from the bed. The servants always entered her room after knocking, but she did not hear anyone tapping on the door this time.
She got up and met a pair of icy eyes.
Beichen asked as he approached her, "Do you think you can get away by hiding behind grandma?"
Yanyue was confused, wondering when she ever hid behind Grandma Lu.
"I've never done anything like that. I can face my consequences without fear."
He snickered. "If I was even a minute late, Wanyue could have suffered from miscarriage!"
Yanyue was quiet. Bumping into her sister was an accident that even she was confused about. She recalled that her sister was beside her, but their distance was not close. Even if she had stepped back to avoid the snake, they would not have made contact.
"If I told you that it was an accident, would you believe me?" she asked, her eyes filled with a hint of hope.
"There was a snake, and I was trying to make sure that Grandma was safe. Bumping into her was not my intention."
"This is the Palace; dangerous animals, such as snakes, are not allowed to roam around. Don't make excuses for your evil actions," he retorted.
She knew that he did not see what happened from start to end. He only saw when she was trying to help her sister but missed, so he thought she pushed his lover down.
"I did not mean to hurt her. She is also my sister, so why would I want to harm her?" she said while sincerely staring into his eyes, pleading for him to believe her.
"You don't want to hurt her?" he asked mockingly, lifting her chin. "Dare I remind you who drugged me and used grandma's illness to force a marriage? She and I were going to get married, but you destroyed everything. She is kind and did not say anything, but I'm not a gentleman. I can do much worse to you."
Yanyue shivered, and her heart palpitated rapidly. She had never seen him angry to the point that the veins on his forehead bulged out. It was not that he did not want to listen to her; he tried to blame her for convenience because he hated her guts.
"I... I didn't drug you and this marriage," she paused and turned her eyes away, "I can't do anything about this marriage... It's too important."
It was too important for him. She did not want him to lose his inheritance, but she could not tell him the truth.
"Too important?" He laughed.
"Your greed has no end," he said grimly.
"Since you're greedy for this body, it will satisfy you well!"
He pushed her onto the bed abruptly and tore her clothes off like a madman. Her eyes widened in fear, and tears began dripping down her face.
"No, I don't want this! Stop it, Beichen!" she said as she struggled to escape his hold.
He ignored her pleas and continued to put more pressure on her body. He kissed and sucked her lips until they were pale and numb.
Then, he bit her neck until blood trickled down the slope of her chest while she grimaced in pain. He licked the blood like a destitute vampire who had just woken up from a thousand-year slumber. The more she struggled, the more excited he was to drain out everything in her.
His lips found her well-endowed orbs and could not stop nibbling on them. He drew circles with his tongue, and even though she hated that he was forcing her, the sensation made her nipples perk up like a dandelion.
Then, he picked her waist up and aggressively entered into her slightly wet opening without remorse.
She bit her lips from the sudden penetration.
He channeled his anger into his thrusts. Each one was deep and wild, as if he was a beast whose only existence was to torture her.
He flipped her flaccid body over, hearing a shriek from her as she unexpectedly landed on her front.
His lips curled up evilly. He quickly reinserted himself into her.
He enjoyed this position as she looked like a slave under his palm, and that idea made his member throb with expectation. He touched her round bottom. They were smooth and milky like her skin but too smooth for his liking. He raised his hand, and she felt a burn.
Pak!
"Ahh!" she cried out, protesting his slapping.
"No!"
The slaps scared her, and she tried to slip away from his body. But he would not let her get that chance. He locked her legs with his and continued to smack her while his thrusts became more out of control. He was only satisfied when her bottom became as red as a peach. She squirmed her way through to the end.
He let out a low groan as he came on her back. He had never felt this fulfilled from all the times that he tormented her in bed. Perhaps her defeated expression encouraged the worst side of him, his devils, to come out.
She burrowed her head into the blanket and endured the pain in her heart while her body bathed in the orgasm he gave her. This dilemma made her ashamed of herself.
Indeed, a beast he was, for he inflicted upon her the heaviest pain anyone in her position could bear.
A figure outside the door clutched her hands in a fist. Her face was red, and her eyes were highly disgusted.
"Yanyue, you bitch! I will get you for seducing my man!" she scorned, then walked away angrily.
*
The intense intercourse sucked away all her energy, but she had plans for the day, so she forced herself to get up from the messy bed and took a bath once more.
After donning herself, she called for a taxi. She sighed and thought she needed a car. The problem was that she did not know how to drive. Her father, who doted on her a lot, forbade her from driving, afraid that she would get into accidents. When she was a student, their chauffeur dropped her off at school and picked her up.
She thought she could learn to drive now that she was no longer living at the Shen Mansion, but so much had happened that she often had no time to even take care of herself. Driving was like a dream now.
The taxi dropped her off at the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Jason thirty minutes ago to discuss him becoming Klotho's brand ambassador.
As always, Jason had already arrived and ordered all the dishes he knew she would like. As always, she felt embarrassed for her tardiness.
"Jason, I'm sorry for being late," she said, feeling guilty.
Jason smiled.
"It's okay. The food is still hot, so let's eat before discussing business."
It was lunchtime now, so she was hungry. Her appetite had been increasing these few days, so without noticing, she finished two bowls of rice. A nasty smell hit her nose when she reached for the fish, and her whole body shivered with goosebumps. Her chest was heavy, and she felt like the food that she had eaten so far was going to come back the way it went.
She wanted to go to the bathroom, but the rumbling feeling in her stomach gave out. She tasted vomit in her mouth, and instead of heading out the door, she quickly grabbed the trashcan next to it like a ninja.
She groaned out in pain, and her head was throbbing.
Jason got up from his seat and patted her back. Sweat and tears dripped down her body after five long, sufferable minutes.
She wiped her mouth with tissues Jason handed her and slowly sat back down. Her strength was gone, and her eyelids were heavy.
"Yueyue, what's wrong with you?" Jason asked softly, and one could tell that he was concerned.
She responded weakly, "I'm not sure, but maybe I ate something wrong?"
Jason said, "You're not feeling well, so let's go to the hospital first. We can discuss this matter later."
With that, he cautiously held onto her body, and they drove to the nearest hospital.
The afternoon hours were always the busiest, but Jason had connections, so she could get checked up soon after they arrived at the nearest hospital. Now, they were waiting for the result.
"Miss Shen, please come in to discuss your result!" a nurse yelled, typical of a public hospital serving the poorer population.
Yanyue followed the nurse into the doctor's room. She sat in the chair before the table, and an old male doctor was opposite her. When he smiled to greet her, the wrinkles on the corners of his eyes and lips creased, reminding her of her father. No one else had ever smiled at her so sincerely, and she was thankful for the encounter after everything that had happened.
"Miss Shen, you mentioned before that your appetite had been great recently, and then you threw up after smelling fish, and you've also missed your monthly menstruation," he handed her a piece of paper, "so we did some tests and your hCG came out to be very high."
Yanyue looked down on the sheet of paper the doctor passed her. There was a "Yes" value next to the word "Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)."
"What does this mean?" she asked, suddenly feeling ominous.
"Well, you see, this hormone is produced by the cells surrounding a growing embryo, so what this means is that you are pregnant. And it looks like you have been pregnant for a month now. You smelled the fish and vomit because your hormones are changing due to pregnancy, which is often common in the first trimester of pregnancy."
He scribbled something onto another paper.
"I'm going to prescribe some vitamins for you to try to combat nausea and vomiting. If that is not working, you can come back, and we can try something else."
Yanyue lost focus after hearing the word "pregnancy" from the doctor's mouth, but she nodded quietly in the end.
She touched her stomach, deeply lost in thought.
"There is a baby inside of me?" she asked herself.
She did not know how to react at all. She wanted to be happy, but there was a lingering fear inside her heart because she was afraid that Beichen would force her to take the baby out. And her fear was valid because of the disgust he had towards her. It was even more dangerous for her and this baby because Wanyue was also pregnant.
She tucked the result and the prescription into her bag and took a deep breath before going to Jason.
She was determined to hide her pregnancy for now.