"Alright, what was it that you want to say to me?"

Lu Shaoren said, "I found the child that you asked me to look for, and he agreed to come back to the Lu family.

Sitting on the office desk behind the desk, Old Master Lu looked up in a neither cold nor indifferent gaze. "That illegitimate child of yours? He's called..."

"Li Zhan."

"Right, that Lin Zhan?"

"Exactly, it's him."

Old Master Lu sneered. "Lu Beichuan is already awake now. There's no need for anyone else. The Lu family isn't a department store. Don't just bring anyone to the Lu family."

Lu Shaoren grinded his back teeth, but in front of Old Master Lu, he had to maintain a submissive demeanor. "But, you were the one that wanted me to investigate him." After a pause, Lu Shaoren sighed and continued, "I know this matter is my fault to begin with, but in the past, I genuinely wanted to compensate him and his mother. But, that child has an obstaintant personality and wouldn't accept me as his father no matter what. He suffered a lot. His mom recently died. It was one thing when I didn't know, but now that I know, how could I just look on without lifting a finger? He's my son!"

"Your son?" Old Master Lu rested his hands on his can and scoffed, "You only have one son, and it's Lu Beichuan!"

Old Master Lu valued propriety greatly. He never recognized the illegitimate children that Lu Shaoren had with his numerous lovers.

"I know that you feel I'm ignorant and incompetent. Everything is my fault. That child is innocent. I can't just stand by and do nothing while he suffers outside. Besides, you've seen Lu Beichuan's condition. The doctor said there's serious damage below his waist. It's very possible that he'll never be able to stand again. Do you want a person in a wheelchair the manage the Lu family's business? Furthermore, do you know that people like Lu Beichuan, who woke up after having serious injuries and was in a coma for a while, will have many residual adverse health effects?"

Old Master Lu was resting one hand over the other on his cane. He didn't say anything.

Lu Shaoren knew Old Master Lu's thoughts. Old Master Lu had worked hard his entire life for the family company. Rather than say Old Master Lu valued Lu Beichuan, it was better to say that he valued Lu Beichuan's abilities.

"I checked. Lin Zhan's abilities aren't weak. He's always ranked amongst the best since childhood and graduated from a famous school. There's no aspect that he loses out to Lu Beichuan. You think that I'm doing this for myself, but I'm really doing this for our family's business. I'll speak frankly with you. I have a clear understanding of my abilities, and Lu Beichuan is still recuperating. There has to be someone to take over the duties. What do you think?"

Old Master Lu said in lowered voice, "Why do you know about Lu Beichuan's condition so well?"

"As his father, of course I have to care about his health condition."

Old Master Lu scoffed, "Do you really care?"

A father understood his son the best, so of course, he knew what Lu Shaoren was actually thinking. He was thinking that Lu Beichuan would be difficult to manipulate, so he wanted to bring back someone that would be easy to manipulate.

However, Lu Shaoren's words did make sense.

Lu Beichuan's physical condition wasn't good. Although Lu Beichuan was still able to manage the family's company, Lu Shaoren's words weren't wrong either. The person in charge of the Lu family couldn't be someone that sat in a wheelchair.

If Lu Beichuan didn't have a lasting disability, that would be the best, but if not...

Old Master Lu sighed. "Alright, go take care of this business."

Hearing Old Master Lu's sigh, Lu Shaoren knew that he was close to getting what he wanted. He controlled the emotions showing on his face and quietly said, "Don't worry. I'll handle this matter well."

In the living room downstairs, right after Old Master Lu and Lu Shaoren had headed upstairs,Ye Qing looked around and selected two pieces of clothing and bags that suited Ye Zhen's aesthetics. Shortly after she finished choosing, the sound of a car was heard from outside the villa.

Lu Beichuan had probably come back.

As expected, a few moments later, a servant pushed Lu Beichuan's wheelchair into the living room

Mrs. Lu looked at Lu Beichuan and asked in worry, "How did the rehabilitation go today?"

"It was okay." Lu Beichuan's indifferent voice entered Ye Qing's ears. It felt as if her heart had suddenly leaped up to her throat. Suppressing her excitement, she mustered up the courage to look at Lu Beichuan.

He looked almost the same as he had in her previous lifetime, cold and expressionless. The only difference was that this Lu Beichuan looked much younger.

He looked gentler too.

Even now, Ye Qing remembered that Lu Beichuan would only gently smile at Ye Zhen. He didn't even have a smile for their son.

That smile, she would remember it for a lifetime.

When Lu Beichuan saw Ye Qing, his brow slightly wrinkled. His gaze landed on the two bags that Ye Qing had chosen.

"You like this style of bags?"

It was a very classical style.

Ye Qing nodded.

The furrow between his brows smoothed out. Lu Beichuan asked, "Nothing happened when you went back to your parents' home today?"

Ye Qing was very careful and cautious. She did her best to organize her wording and expression in order to not expose any flaws when she responded, "No..."

After asking this customary question, Lu Beichuan didn't ask her anything else. He had the servant bring him upstairs. Ye Qing followed after him.

She remembered that Ye Zhen had told her that she had to prepare Lu Beichuan's bath each evening at 9PM.

After going upstairs, by relying on the information that Ye Zhen had given her, Ye Qing was able to find the master bedroom quickly. She entered the ensuite bathroom and filled the bathtub with hot water before coming out. She looked at Lu Beichuan with a furrowed brow. It was obvious that she had misgivings.

Lu Beichuan put down a document at the head of the bed. "Why are you acting so strangely today?"

Startled, Ye Qing's heart skipped a beat. She racked her brains recalling everything she said and did after coming here. Ye Zhen had told her that her mannerism was careful and cautious while she had been here, and she kept her talking to a minimum. So, she couldn't have done anything wrong, right?

After thinking about it more, she concluded that Lu Beichuan wasn't the type to take the initiative to get to know someone. Ye Zhen had only been here for a short period of time, so it wouldn't have been long enough for him to gain a thorough understanding of her through observation.

She hastily put on a pretense of being worried. "My mom's health isn't doing well. I'm a bit worried for her."

Lu Beichuan's brow furrowed even more. His eyes, which looked as sharp as knives, carefully examined Ye Qing. His prolonged stare made her uncomfortable. He finally asked, "Is it serious?"

"It's not serious. It's just an old illness flaring up, but I'll go back to see her more often during the next few days."

Lu Beichuan didn't seem to care much about the matter. He casually said, "En," and turned the wheels on his wheelchair to go into the bathroom.

Ye Qing wanted to go into the bathroom to help him, but Lu Beichuan coldly spat out, "Get out!"

There wasn't any warmth in these two words to soften them. Most people would be upset to be met with such unyielding ruthless attitude, but Ye Qing didn't mind. Imitating Ye Zhen's character, she quietly and timidly said, "I'll go out then. Call me if you need anything."

After waiting until Ye Qing left the bathroom and closed the door, Lu Beichuan took out his cellphone with a gloomy face. He dialed William's number and went straight to the point once William answered his phone. "There's two matters. First, come to my home and examine Ye Qing again."

"Second, investigate someone for me."

9PM was the time to cruise around for women. William used his biracial face as a way to pick up women. Just as he was about to succeed, he got Lu Beichuan's call.

"Lu Beichuan, you only helped me out that one time by getting my rival beaten up. I can't possibly owe you that much for it, right?"

"The person I want you to investigate is Ye Zhen. She's Ye Qing's identical twin. Check for me if she's recently returned to the Ye family."

After saying what he wanted, Lu Beichuan hung up the phone.

During the past few days of staying at the Ye family's home, Ye Zhen gained a thorough understanding of the Ye family's assets.

No wonder they had to sell off their daughter. They only had a magnificent outer layer, the inside had been hollowed out. Without the Lu family's support, they wouldn't be able to last much longer.

There were at least several hundred people employed by the Ye family's company, but Father Ye had difficulty even gathering up five million yuan.

Ye Zhen had left the Lu family too suddenly. She had only brought a few expensive pieces of jewelry with her. She needed the five million yuan from Father Ye. She didn't want to have to live with great difficulty while abroad.

At the dining table, Father Ye was trying to renegotiate with her again.

"Zhenzhen ah, dad's company is going through some difficulties lately. How about we do this? Dad will send you abroad first, then send you money each money. You won't have to worry about money."

Ye Zhen didn't want a monthly allowance that would put her under Father Ye's control. If she couldn't have total freedom, then there was no point in going abroad.

Not having much of an appetite, she poked the rice in her bowl without much interest. "Dad, do you not even have five million yuan? When older sister graduated college, you bought her a sports car that was over five million yuan. If you really have no money, sell off older sister's car. Anyways, older sister won't drive that car again."

Before Father Ye could respond, Mother Ye immediately showed her displeasure. "No, you can't do that. That's Qingqing's car. Even if you're going to sell it, you need to get her approval first."

Mother Ye didn't want to give her younger daughter the five million yuan. When she had initially agreed to it, it was just to stabilize Ye Zhen. In her opinion, it was laughably outrageous that Ye Zhen would ask five million yuan from her father.

“Zhenzhen, mom doesn't want to reproach you. But, why do you need five million yuan just for going abroad?"

Was she burning a bridge with them?

Ye Zhen scoffed, "Mom, what you're saying isn't right. It's not fair of you to favor one child and discriminate against the other. If I hadn't taken older sister's place and married into the Lu family, the Ye family would already be bankrupt by now. Now, I'm just asking for five million yuan, and you're making numerous excuses. If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have so easily agreed to switch places with older sister. I had millions of yuan in jewelry back at the Lu family's villa!"

Hearing Ye Zhen saying these words, Mother Ye was tempted, "Million of yuan... in jewelry?"

"Even though the Lu family doesn’t like me, they have to maintain outward appearances and couldn't be too harsh to me. If they didn't give me any decent jewelry to wear, it would be a disgrace to the Lu family."

Mother Ye meaningfully looked at Father Ye. Father Ye immediately understood. Smiling, he added a piece of braised pork to Ye Zhen's bowl. "That's just the way that your mom speaks. Don't take her words seriously. Don't worry, dad will definitely get the five million yuan for you."

Father Ye didn't have the five million yuan to give her, but she had pointed out a path for him.

As for how Father Ye would get the money, this wasn't something she needed to be concerned about.

However, looking at the braised pork in her bowl, she suddenly felt nauseous. The sound of uncontrollable heaving came up from her stomach to her throat.

Ye Zhen covered her mouth and turned around. There was the sound of painful dry retching.

Father Ye and Mother Ye looked at each other in dismay. Before Father Ye was able to react, Mother Ye, who had experienced pregnancy before, incredulously looked at Ye Zhen. "You're not pregnant, right?!"

Ye Zhen instinctively looked at her flat belly. Her mind was flooded with the memory of those numerous embarrassing to mention dreams. The tips of her ears immediately reddened.

"You're really pregnant?" Father Ye misunderstood Ye Zhen's silence.

Ye Zhen returned to her senses and said, "What on earth are you thinking? How can I be pregnant?"

"But just now..."

"I caught a cold in the past few days, so I'm not feeling well. That's all." The more that Ye Zhen thought about it, the more ridiculous she found her idea. She was still a virgin. How could she be pregnant?

"When I married into the Lu family, Lu Beichuan was still in a coma. How could it be possible for me to shows signs of pregnancy a few days after he woke up?"

When they thought about it carefully, it made sense.

Even before Ye Zhen married into the Lu family, she didn't have many friends of the opposite gender, and they hadn't heard that she was close with anyone. It was even less likely for anything to have happened after she married the unconscious Lu Beichuan and barely had any chances to leave the Lu family's villa.

At the thought of this, Mother Ye felt relieved.

"Okay then, take your time recuperating during the next few days. It's cold outside. Don't go outside if you don't have to."

Ye Zhen agreed.

After going upstairs to her room, Ye Zhen kept pondering over this issue. It was true that she had been feeling a bit weird lately: loss of appetite, excessive sleepiness, and prone to weariness, and now she had dry retched for no apparent reason... When put together, it suddenly seemed like pregnancy symptoms.

Ye Zhen absently-minded entered the bathroom. When she saw the toilet, she suddenly remembered that her period hadn’t come this month.

And based on last month, it was already half a month late!

Ye Zhen pressed down on her lower abdomen.

Pregnant?

Taking a test was the only way to confirm the truth.

Ye Zhen went out that night to buy a home pregnancy test at a pharmacy. When she saw the two marks that signified a positive result clearly appearing, Ye Zhen almost fainted.

She's really pregnant?

Could it be that the novel's plot was unchangeable? No matter how she tried to escape, would she still end up giving birth to a little villain for Lu Beichuan, and their family of three was destined to go down the path of a doomed ending?

But, wasn't this too contrary to common sense? Without having sex first, how could she be pregnant?

For a period of time, Ye Zhen's mind blanked out from seeing the two lines on the pregnancy bar. She forced herself to calm down and carefully think about what happened in the past period.

After thinking it over and over again, she had spent most of her time taking care of Lu Beichuan. She frequently stayed by the bed to massage Lu Beichuan. Every time, it would take up most of the day. Other than that...

Other than that, there were those dreams!

Ye Zhen thought of those dreams that had caused her face to flush and made a bold guess.

Could it be... those dreams were real?

Ye Zhen thought of those inexplicable red marks on her collarbone and shoulder. They were clearly...

"That bastard!" Ye Zhen couldn't stop herself from her cursing.

Other than this guess, there was no other possible explanation for why she was pregnant.

She couldn't stay here any longer. If she continued to stay here, she was sure to become Mrs. Lu. And, there was a little villain in her stomach. Some things had happened differently compared to the novel, but the important parts were still the same.

She took Ye Qing's place in marrying into the Lu family, Lu Beichuan woke up, and she got pregnant. Although there were deviations, the end result was the same!

She had done her best to avoid the fate of getting pregnant with the villain's child, but she hadn't succeeded. If she continued staying here, who knows how the plot would develop?

After thinking things through, Ye Zhen immediately made a decision. She knocked on Father Ye's door and said in a heavy voice, "Dad, prepare a ticket for me to go abroad as soon as possible."

***

Once again, William was summoned over by Lu Beichuan to check Miss Ye. After doing the examination, he was utterly baffled. Seeing the deep furrow between Lu Beichuan's eyebrows, he had originally thought it was because Miss Ye's pregnancy condition wasn't stable. But, after checking her over, he almost doubted his medical skills.

His shocked eyes looked at Lu Beichuan. He thought that he must have made an error in his diagnosis. He checked again, but the result was the same.

She wasn't pregnant!

How could that be possible? She had clearly been pregnant when he checked a few days ago!

Ye Qing didn't understand why she was getting examined. Seeing William's grave expression, she nervously asked, "Doctor, is there something wrong with me?"

Lu Beichuan shook his head slightly at William.

William returned to his senses. He sorted out his expression to a standard doctor's smile. He said to Ye Qing, "It's nothing. You're in good health."

Ye Qing glanced at Lu Beichuan, but Lu Beichuan only gestured for a nearby servant to send Ye Qing back to get some rest.

After Ye Qing left, William hastily asked in a quiet voice, "What's going on? She was clearly pregnant when I examined her a few days ago. But today... Impossible... I didn't make a mistake in my examination!"

"You didn't many any mistakes. It's because that person isn't Ye Zhen."

"Isn't Ye Zhen? What do you mean?"

Lu Beichuan's expression was gloomy. "It wasn't Ye Qing that married over here. It was her younger sister, Ye Zhen. It's also Ye Zhen that's pregnant. She went back to her parents' home a few days ago. After she came back, the way she spoke and her esthetics and habits has changed. That's why I had you come over here to examine her. It seems that I haven't guessed wrong."

"Wait... what do you mean by this?" William had grown up abroad. For him to be able to speak Chinese fluently, it wasn't easy. For Lu Beichuan to expose the sister's plot, William couldn't immediately come to terms with things.

Lu Beichuan didn't bother explaining any further. "I told you to investigate Ye Zhen. Have you found out anything?"

William heard his phone chirping to alert a new text message. He took the phone out to read the message. "I found out... She booked a ticket for an international flight tomorrow."

"International flight?" Lu Beichuan's tone was calm, but he was grinding his back molar teeth and his face was stretched taut. "What time?"

"Tomorrow at 5PM."

Lu Beichuan suppressed his anger and stood up from his wheelchair.

"Although your rehabilitation has been going well, I still recommend that you..." William suddenly remembered Lu Beichuan's character, and helplessly asked, "What are you going to do?"

Lu Beichuan smiled. "Isn't she leaving tomorrow? I'm going to send her off."

***