Chapter 5 Seemed to Have Just Been Hit
Nan Xiao clutched the quilt tightly and whispered,
âI thought you had poured it out.â
She didnât dare turn her head to see Xie Chengyuâs expression, but she could feel his surpriseâbecause the air went completely still.
Then his voice came, ending with a faint upward lilt:
âWhy would I pour it out when it was perfectly fine?â
Nan Xiao pressed her lips together and gave no reply.
Every time she had brought him food, he refused to see her. She had even seen with her own eyes his secretary throwing away the meals she had madeâŠ
âWhy arenât you saying anything?â
Xie Chengyuâs voice sounded again, deep and resonant in the night like a cello.
Nan Xiao murmured softly,
âItâs nothing. Letâs sleep.â
She didnât want to dwell on why Xie Chengyu had drunk the soup she made. After all, they were divorcing. There was no point in clinging to such things.
What mattered now was finding a way to live well in the future.
âBzz~â
Morning light spilled into the room.
Still half-asleep, Nan Xiao stirred when her phone buzzed on the nightstand.
She picked it up instinctively and saw a WeChat from Director Zhou:
âThe actress for the female lead has been chosenâa new debut this year. Take a look and see if she works.â
Nan Xiao was a professional screenwriter. Her newly written drama Qinran Zhuan was about to start filming, and casting had been underway these past few days.
She opened the photo. The actress was a beautiful woman with long black wavesânone other than Xu Ruoxin, the woman she had seen yesterday at the mall, Xie Chengyuâs first love.
Nan Xiaoâs body trembled, and for a moment the phone nearly slipped from her hand.
âBzz~â
On the other side of the bed, Xie Chengyuâs phone also buzzed.
It was his private phone, with lock-screen previews enabled since there were no trade secrets. With one glance, Nan Xiao saw the message from Xu Ruoxin:
âChengyu, Iâm pregnant. Weâre going to have a baby!â
ââŠâŠâ
Nan Xiaoâs eyes slowly widened.
They already had a child?
A sharp, prickling pain spread densely through her chest.
With a bang, the bathroom door opened. Wrapped in a bath towel around his waist, steam still clinging to him, Xie Chengyu walked out.
Nan Xiao quickly turned her back, fingers gripping the quilt so tightly her knuckles went white. She didnât want him to see the redness around her eyes. But those tense, blood-drained fingers betrayed her, and Xie Chengyu noticed something was wrong.
âWhatâs the matter with you?â he asked.
Nan Xiao bit her lip, silently telling herself not to choke up. Slowly she said,
âIâm fine.â
The moment she released her lip, a deep red mark was left behind.
Xie Chengyu had only asked casually. Hearing her say she was fine, he simply picked up his phone and glanced at it.
Nan Xiao knew exactly what he was looking at. She didnât turn to watch him. Instead, she picked up her own phone and pretended to scroll, though her vision was blurred.
Soon, Xie Chengyu left the bedroom. Nan Xiao rushed into the bathroom, splashed water on her face, and forced herself to calm down.
She carefully read through Xu Ruoxinâs rĂ©sumĂ© and replied to Zhou Ruicheng:
âHer acting is acceptable, but her temperament doesnât suit the role of Qinran. I donât think sheâs a fit.â
âAlright, Iâll keep looking.â
Nan Xiao sent back an âOK,â put her phone down, and patted her cheeks twice, hard.
So what if Xu Ruoxin was having a child? She was going to divorce Xie Chengyu anyway. Whoever he had a child with didnât matterâŠ
Nan Xiao repeated these words to herself over and over, forcing every bit of her strength into numbing her own heart.
When she went downstairs, passing by the study, an angry roar burst from the half-open door:
âI told you to break up with that actress back then. You promised you did, but youâve been entangled all along, havenât you? And now sheâs even pregnantâdonât you feel any shame?â
âMaster, please stop hitting him! Youâll seriously hurt the young masterâŠâ
With a bang, the door swung open.
Xie Chengyu stood at the threshold, his face expressionless. His shirt bore damp stains of teaâhe seemed to have just been struck by a teacup.
