Lin Zhuyin's mind went blank, and she almost dropped her chopsticks.
She looked anxiously at Jian Mu Bai, asking with lingering disbelief, "Gao Ruo Lan is pregnant with Shen Liu Bai's child? Are they getting married?"
Seeing Lin Zhuyin's face ashen white as paper, Jian Mu Bai said with some concern, "Qin Qin said so."
"Are you sure it was the eighth of last month?"
"Such an important date, Shen Liu Bai and Gao Ruo Lan shouldn't forget it."
Lin Zhuyin felt her breathing become difficult, and her chest ached with suffocation.
The eighth of last month, the date was correct, but the person that night was clearly her. Even if Shen Liu Bai mistook someone, Gao Ruo Lan should have known it wasn't her, unless, she simply didn't care.
"Zhuyin..."
Jian Mu Bai was very worried about Lin Zhuyin. If Gao Ruo Lan wasn't pregnant, it might not have been so difficult for Lin Zhuyin to win back Shen Liu Bai.
Now, everything was uncertain.
Lin Zhuyin suddenly stood up from her chair. "Mu Bai, I have something to do. I'll leave first. Let's meet another day."
Without waiting for Jian Mu Bai's reply, she left the restaurant.
Lin Zhuyin didn't go to the flower shop but returned home. The house was empty. Apart from Shen Liu Bai, no one had ever been here, not even Jian Mu Bai.
The night she got drunk, Shen Liu Bai had dropped a jacket at her place after bringing her back.
That black jacket was still hanging in the living room, visible as soon as she entered the house.
After waking up, she had intended to return the jacket to Shen Liu Bai, but thinking that she didn't have a single thing of his by her side, she couldn't bear to return it.
She touched the jacket, its texture soft and comfortable, and her mind involuntarily drifted to the events of the eighth night.
She hadn't expected to get pregnant after such a wild night.
Even less did she expect things to develop to the point where Gao Ruo Lan claimed to be pregnant and was going to marry Shen Liu Bai.
What should she do?
What on earth should she do?
Her hand gently touched her flat abdomen again. She couldn't believe there was already a baby inside.
If the child in Gao Ruo Lan's belly wasn't Shen Liu Bai's, wouldn't Shen Liu Bai be marrying her like a fool?
And what about the baby in her own womb?
Should she have an abortion? Or keep it?
All these questions swirled in her head, making her feel like she was going to explode.
After sitting in the living room for a long time, Lin Zhuyin thought it over and decided she couldn't let things continue this way.
After divorcing Shen Liu Bai, she had considered that he might be with other women, but she didn't want him to be deceived again.
If Shen Liu Bai married Gao Ruo Lan and had children, only to discover later that the child wasn't his, how devastated would he be?
The thought made Lin Zhuyin restless. She took out her phone and called Gao Ruo Lan.
"Oh, Miss Lin, long time no see. Why would the busy you call me?"
"Miss Gao, can we meet?"
"Hmm? Is something wrong?"
Lin Zhuyin suddenly didn't know what to say. She couldn't possibly tell her that the person that night wasn't her, and why was she lying to Shen Liu Bai?
After all, Gao Ruo Lan was Shen Liu Bai's legitimate girlfriend, and she was his ex-wife.
"I..."
"Miss Lin, if you don't have anything important to say, I'll hang up now. I'm busy trying on wedding dresses. Oh, right... if all goes well, Liu Bai and I will be getting married next month. I'll leave the flower arrangements for the wedding to you then. Money is no issue."
Lin Zhuyin: "..."
Listening to the beeping sound on the other end of the line, Lin Zhuyin felt terrible. Gao Ruo Lan was completely immersed in her joy, and Lin Zhuyin couldn't bring herself to say those words.
Was she going to do nothing and let things spiral in the worst possible direction?
For two full days, Lin Zhuyin didn't sleep well. It wasn't until the third day, when her lower abdomen started to ache and she saw some spotting, that she became truly terrified.
No matter what, she had to talk to Shen Liu Bai.
So, she sent him a WeChat message: "Your clothes are left at my place. Do you want to pick them up, or should I deliver them to you?"
After sending the message, she waited anxiously. The entire morning passed, then the afternoon. It wasn't until six o'clock that Shen Liu Bai replied, "I'm busy. If you're not occupied, please help me deliver them home."
"Are you home then?"
This message was edited and then deleted by Lin Zhuyin. She couldn't be too deliberate, or it would make him uncomfortable.
Lin Zhuyin was immensely grateful that she hadn't returned the jacket directly before. Otherwise, she wouldn't have found a good excuse to see him.
She hoped he was home!
She picked up the jacket and took a taxi to Shen Liu Bai's villa, the home they had shared for several years.
The last time she had been here was on the eighth, when she and Shen Liu Bai had been intimate and conceived a little one.
Today, she was here with a different intention.
The villa's password was the date they first met. Shen Liu Bai had never changed it. Lin Zhuyin entered the password and walked in, her heart filled with complex emotions.
The house was empty. The furnishings inside hadn't changed at all, except for the absence of their wedding photos.
Shen Liu Bai wasn't home, and she didn't know when he would return. She instinctively wanted to hang the jacket in the wardrobe, but then she remembered she wasn't the mistress of the house anymore and it wasn't appropriate to go directly to his bedroom. So, she hung the jacket on the coat rack downstairs.
Not seeing Shen Liu Bai, she was reluctant to leave and sat on the sofa to wait for a while.
Perhaps it was the familiar atmosphere of the place, or perhaps she was too tired, but after sitting on the sofa for a while, she unconsciously fell asleep.
Shen Liu Bai returned home in a rush and saw Lin Zhuyin asleep on the sofa. He let out a slight sigh of relief, fearing that if he had been a moment later, she would have left.
This scene brought back memories of their past to Shen Liu Bai.
Lin Zhuyin was a person with little sense of security. Whenever he worked late, she would sit on the sofa waiting for him. Sometimes, if it got too late, she would rather fall asleep on the sofa than go back to her room.
Having someone waiting at home, a light on for oneself, was a very happy thing.
His eyes softened, and he walked towards Lin Zhuyin step by step.
He reached out and gently touched the sleeping woman's face, then chuckled softly, "Good, you didn't disappoint me."
Lin Zhuyin was awakened by faint sounds. As she opened her eyes, she hadn't yet registered where she was, but she smelled the aroma of cooking.
Her stomach rumbled with hunger at the scent.
At that moment, she saw Shen Liu Bai emerge from the kitchen wearing a black apron. Still drowsy, she got up and walked towards him, hugging his lean waist from behind. "I'm so hungry! Why did you take so long to get home?"
Shen Liu Bai's body stiffened for a moment. In that instant, Lin Zhuyin also jolted awake. She quickly let go of Shen Liu Bai, a blush spreading across her pale face. "I... I'm sorry... I..."
She took a few steps back, putting distance between herself and Shen Liu Bai.
Damn it, she was so groggy. She forgot that things weren't like they used to be; she and Shen Liu Bai were divorced.