When Zhou Du woke up, it was already the next day. The nurse was in the middle of changing his dressing.
Seeing him regain consciousness, she hurriedly offered some instructions, her face filled with genuine concern.
"President Zhou, I just saw Attorney Chu downstairs. She definitely knows you're in the hospital and rushed over specifically to see you. Given your current condition, she must be worried sick."
Because their "fairy-tale" love story had spread so widely online, quite a few people recognized them.
Zhou Du was frozen for a moment. "You notified her?"
The nurse shook her head. "I tried calling Attorney Chu last night, but no one answered. I was just about to call her again when you woke up."
"Don't tell her."
Zhou Du offered a random excuse to gloss over the situation. Then, he sat up and checked his phone. Aside from work notifications, there wasn't a single call or text message from her.
Chu Luyao hadn't looked for him at all. So why would she suddenly appear at the hospital?
Zhou Du frowned. He ruthlessly yanked the IV needle from the back of his hand, changed his clothes, and walked out of the ward.
He didn't have much time left anyway; staying here wouldn't change anything.
However, he hadn't taken more than a few steps when he saw Chu Luyao in the corridor, walking out of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department, supported by Song Yuhuan.
Song Yuhuan was holding a stack of examination forms. Both of them wore looks of unadulterated joy, the upward curve of their lips almost impossible to suppress.
"President Zhou? What a coincidence. Why are you at the hospital too?"
Song Yuhuan spotted Zhou Du and called out in feigned surprise, his voice carrying a deliberate edge.
The smile on Chu Luyao's face vanished instantly. She flusteredly shoved away Song Yuhuan's supporting hand.
"Ah Du, don't misunderstand. Yuhuan is accompanying his girlfriend for a pregnancy checkup. As a man, he felt shy about coming to this department alone, so he asked me to come along for moral support."
"Is that so?"
Zhou Du's gaze shifted from Chu Luyao's tense, stiff face to her stomach, which she was trying to cover with her hand in a gesture that only revealed her guilt. The image of the two embracing and entangled in the clubhouse last night flashed through his mind, and a suffocating weight pressed down on his chest.
"Then why don't I see Yuhuan's girlfriend?"
Chu Luyao's face froze.
Song Yuhuan, however, met Zhou Du's gaze head-on. He leaned his body closer to Chu Luyao, intentionally exposing a fresh, dark hickey on his collarbone, his manner dripping with provocation.
"She's right here. She was just saying that to celebrate the fruit of our love, she wants to use drones to announce this happy news to the whole city. Not only that, the mother of my child just gifted me a supercar worth eighty million, to make it convenient for me to drive her and the baby around. Oh, and she also pre-deposited one hundred million into my card as a child-rearing fund."
Zhou Du listened to Song Yuhuan's ceaseless bragging, noting that Chu Luyao's face was still filled with the soft, happy yearning of a mother-to-be.
How utterly ridiculous. His wife was pregnant with another man's seed.
Yet, Zhou Du's mood was unexpectedly calm.
"Congratulations."
Seeing him react with such detachment, Song Yuhuan looked even more smug.
"Actually, Brother Zhou, if you have nothing else to do, I'll have the mother of my child come over later, and we can all have a meal together."
It was as if Chu Luyao finally snapped out of her daze. Her face turned slightly cold as she glared at Song Yuhuan. "Yuhuan, today is a workday. You've been out long enough. Since the checkup is over, you should go back!"
Then she hurriedly walked over to Zhou Du, intimately hugging his arm and pressing her softness against him.
"Ah Du, why did you come to the hospital too? Are you feeling unwell? I told you before, making enough money is fine, but your health is the most important thing!"
"By the way, that restaurant you always said you wanted to try has released new dishes. I've already booked a table. Let's go together!"
Zhou Du glanced at Song Yuhuan, whose eyes were full of hostility behind her back. "What about him?"
Almost the instant Chu Luyao turned her head, Song Yuhuan's expression morphed into that of an abandoned puppy.
"Yuhuan is just a younger brother I sponsor. You, however, are the person I want to grow old with. With me, you will always be the priority."
When she said this, the love in her eyes looked just like it did in the past—flawless and convincing.
But when Song Yuhuan left looking dejected, Zhou Du clearly saw the struggle and heartache in Chu Luyao's eyes.
Zhou Du turned a blind eye to it all and strode forward, leaving first.
That night, after washing up, Chu Luyao emerged holding a set of flimsy, revealing clothes. With a face full of shy coquettishness, she instructed Zhou Du to wait for her to come back to bed before sleeping.
Zhou Du was a man, and having been married for five years, he certainly knew what she intended to do.
But he felt none of the passion of the past. Only a cold numbness.
Just then, Zhou Du received a text message from Song Yuhuan on his phone.
[ Song Yuhuan: Zhou Du, I know you've already guessed the relationship between me and Sister Yaoyao. That's right, the child in her belly is mine too! ]
[ Song Yuhuan: Do you know why you two haven't had a child after being together for so many years? Because she has been taking birth control pills the whole time. As a man, having a wife who isn't willing to bear your children... how pathetic! ]
[ Song Yuhuan: Perhaps you don't know this, but every Valentine's Day, on your birthday, and even on your wedding anniversary, she was with me. We tried countless positions in your study, your office, your luxury cars, and even on your wedding bed. ]
Birth control.
No wonder. Back then, he thought it was his own problem and had even gone to the hospital specifically for a checkup.
But this was good. Without a child to tie them together, he could cut ties even more cleanly.
He silently saved these text messages. Lifting his head, he saw Chu Luyao walking out of the bathroom wearing a sheer, erotic gauze nightgown, her beautiful curves looming tantalizingly with every movement.
Looking at Zhou Du leaning against the headboard, a seductive smile played on her pretty face. She leaned over, cupping Zhou Du's face to kiss him, while one hand slid all the way down his collarbone.
"Zhou Du, let's have a baby."