"Annoying, you are going to be a father, yet you still make moves in public... aren't you afraid the baby will laugh about it later?"
A few meters away, a familiar tender complaint stopped Yan Xiaye, who had come to the hospital alone for a prenatal checkup, in her tracks at the corner of the corridor, her eyes filled with disbelief.
She was just one step away from uncovering the truth, yet she couldn't muster the courage to take that step.
Another even more familiar voice, shadowing hers, penetrated her ears with a doting chuckle, "Our child wouldn't laugh at me. He knows how much I love you, he would be too happy to care."
"Beicheng, if only the baby really was mine, it's my body's fault for not being up to par..."
"Yan Xiaye and you are biological sisters; the child she bears also carries half of your bloodline, and she is merely a tool providing the egg and womb. I have never touched her. We three are the real family of three, don't worry unnecessarily."
Yan Xiaye bit her lower lip tightly, leaning against the cold wall shivering.
If she hadn't heard it with her own ears, she would never have known her usually indifferent and ruthless husband could also have such a gentle and considerate side.
Gentle enough to make her sister happy by planning to give away the child in her womb that hadn't yet been born.
"But Xiaye loves you a lot, I always feel sorry for her..."
The unfinished speech abruptly stopped.
Yan Xiaye cynically curled the corners of her lips, staring fixedly at Yan Shuirou, who suddenly fell silent in front of her, her pupils reflecting the other's delicately pure appearance.
A simple white dress accentuated her slim, graceful figure, and her clear eyes momentarily filled with a layer of mist, making her appear even more pitiable and moving.
Meanwhile, steady footsteps accompanied by the man's chillingly cold words mercilessly crushed the last sliver of hope in Yan Xiaye's heart.
"She loves me, what does that have to do with me?"
As the words fell, Li Beicheng's long legs moved, his tall and slender figure appearing behind the teetering Yan Shuirou.
He caught sight of Yan Xiaye's pale face, his brow furrowing involuntarily.
Then, he tenderly embraced Yan Shuirou's trembling body, first ensuring that the woman in his arms was unharmed before coldly giving Yan Xiaye a straightforward look: "You, heard all of that?"
Yan Xiaye, unfazed, glaring furiously at the affectionate scene before her, clenched her fist tightly by her side.
Before she could say anything, Yan Shuirou was the first to break free from Li Beicheng's embrace, teary-eyed, reaching for her hand, "Xiaye, it's all my fault, please don't be angry, it could harm my... your child!"
Yan Xiaye's heart ached as if being twisted, and without a second thought, she flung Yan Shuirou's hand away.
She placed her hand on her seven-month-pregnant belly, her gaze mournful as she looked towards the indifferent man, questioning him word by word, "Because Yan Shuirou could not conceive, you agreed to marry me at Grandma Li's request, just so I, your closest blood-relative, could bear a child most resembling yours?"
Watching the usually serene and quiet Yan Xiaye with reddened eyes pressing him, the man's disdain deepened: "What place do you think this is, to be causing a scene? Aren't you embarrassed enough?"
"You and she are not embarrassed, what do I have to be embarrassed about?" Yan Xiaye trembled with rage. When Yan Shuirou once again pitifully came up to her, pulling at her clothes and asking her to bear it silently, Yan Xiaye raised her hand expressionlessly and slapped her hard across the face.
"Slap!"
Nobody expected her, usually so composed, to act violently, especially towards her beloved sister of the past.
Li Beicheng was too late to stop it, only able to watch as Yan Shuirou, cupping her swelling cheek with one hand and pressing her undulating chest with the other, weakly knelt down, hoarsely mumbling, "Xiaye, please don't blame Beicheng, and don't tell Grandma Li..."
As she spoke, her breath gradually weakened, and her slender body softly collapsed to the ground.
The warmth in Li Beicheng's eyes instantly dropped to freezing point.
He pushed Yan Xiaye out of the way, scooped up the woman who had fainted, and held her as if cradling some rare treasure, daring not to move an inch, "Doctor! Shuirou has congenital heart disease!"
Yan Xiaye stood dazed, only managing to protect her belly with her hands as she was slammed heavily against the wall.
The pain swept through her body like a tide, cold sweat mixed with tears splattering onto the ground.
Curled up in agony, she thought to call for help but couldn't even muster a moan.
Not far away, a nurse holding a prenatal report chased out, her eyes wide with panic at the blood seeping between Yan Xiaye's legs, "How could you come for a check-up alone at this stage of pregnancy? Quickly call your husband and family, we need someone to sign for immediate surgery!"
"Give it here."
After confirming that Yan Shuirou received prompt care from the medical staff, the man irritably snatched the liability waiver from the nurse and signed his name with a flourish.
His gaze inadvertently caught a glaring stain of blood.
His heart tightened without warning, then hardened into severity upon recalling another silhouette, "Yan Xiaye, you better pray nothing happens to Shuirou, otherwise..."
With the last stroke heavily marked, the man impatiently threw the document back into the nurse's arms and left without looking back, following the greatly esteemed Yan Shuirou.
Behind him, Yan Xiaye took one final, deep look at him, her gaze filled with despair and bleakness.
The pain in her body was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.
They had known each other for three years and been married for one.
She had done nothing wrong by him, yet his heart was brutally cold.
The emergency light outside the operating room lit up urgently, and after several minutes, Doctor Huang Qian, drenched in sweat, gestured to a nurse inside the operating room.
The nurse nodded, understandingly left to ask whether to prioritize the mother or the child.
Yan Xiaye faintly regained consciousness amidst excruciating pain, smiling bitterly at Huang Qian with a light sigh, "We've known each other for so many years, aren't you going to tell me everything?"
Huang Qian's lips were tightly pursed, her face filled with unwillingness and struggle.
She understood immediately, her eyes lifelessly staring at the pristine ceiling.
For a moment, she even wanted to die along with the child in her womb.
She would rather that than let her husband and sister have their way.
However, the thought was fleeting, and maternal instincts ultimately prevailed.
"Huang Qian, save the child."
"No!" Taking advantage of the nurse's absence, Huang Qian rushed to her bedside, frantic, "Are you crazy? You're only twenty years old, you'll have plenty of chances to get pregnant again..."
Seeing Yan Xiaye's resolved expression, Huang Qian closed her eyes, her voice trembling uncontrollably, "The child in your belly isn't your husband's!"