A Heated Dinner

The doctor said that the bleeding was a sign of miscarriage. The woman had been working late almost every night that it took a toll on her body. When he heard the result, his heart thudded.

He was genuinely worried about the baby because that was his child, but the woman...she was a piece of a puzzle that he couldn't put together.

When his hands were covered in her blood, his mind blanked out for a second. As someone who never let anything affect him easily, he found it bothersome that he always had incomprehensible feelings for this woman. She had messed up his plans more than enough times.

The intimacy he had with her affected him a little as there seemed to be a part of him that cared about her. Was what he felt for her merely a physiological attraction? He perceived that the emotional aspect was nonexistent. Perhaps that was all there was to the compression in his chest.

He was better after affirming that he felt nothing special towards this woman.

Grandma Lu had found out about Yanyue's visit to the hospital and rushed over in the morning. Beichen received a heavy lecture from his grandma. Of course, he remained quiet and let his grandma drained her energy from venting. The woman on the bed and the baby was doing alright now, so he didn't feel as guilty anymore despite what his grandma said.

He was going to leave after his grandma, but the old lady forced him to stay until the woman's discharge time. He was reluctant because the company had a lot of work to finish, but he anyhow couldn't refuse his grandma's obstinate request. Maybe, his body was too tired after a restless night.

So, as the woman's breath steadied and slowed, his eyes also became hard. However,

"Jun..."

He thought he misheard, but the woman muttered again.

Jun was a man's name for sure. She also said it so softly while in her sleep.

His appearance became gloomy and he was irritated.

He wanted to spank her for daring to call out another man's name in her sleep, but she was a patient so he held back. However, he would teach her a lesson sooner or later.

He lost the mood to fall asleep, so he resumed the work that Assistant Wen brought him based on his order.

As he typed on the laptop, he noticed that the blankets covering the woman had dropped down on the floor. Beichen looked up and saw Yanyue, who was just resting on the bed, already standing up with her eyelids half-opened.

Then the woman started to walk towards the bathroom. He thought that she was just getting up to use the bathroom, but she was nowhere close to the door. It was as if she was still sleeping because if she advanced further straight ahead, then she would come face to face with the wall.

Before he told himself to get up, his body had already sprung over to pull her back before she saluted the wall.

"Woman, have the medication gotten into your brain?!" he barked as he looked down at the woman in his arms.

The woman stared at the man with longing eyes. Then, a faint smile emerged on her face and she stretched out her delicate hand to caress the man's cheeks, "It's you, Jun."

After that, her eyes shut again as if she was still sleeping all along.

The man's face turned black. This woman not only called out another man's name in her sleep, but she took him as that person as well. She must think that he was a joke! He wanted to drop her on the floor in a fit of anger.

"Woman, only call my name in your sleep," he declared bitterly, and then he leaned down to kiss her tender lips greedily.

*

Yanyue was stirred up by her grumbling stomach. Her lips were slightly parched and felt a little sore. She wondered how long she had slept for her lips to become so numb.

She glanced around the room and saw Beichen typing away on his laptop by the window. Her heart pounded by his beauty. She always thought that his seriousness was one of his attractive points.

"Seen enough?"

His deep voice startled Yanyue. She lowered her beet-red face in embarrassment. How could he have known that she was peeking at him?

She replied quietly, "I wasn't-"

The door opened and a young female nurse came in.

"I'm here to check your vitals, Miss Shen."

Beichen left as the nurse began checking Yanyue.

"Your husband really loves you," the nurse stated and then explained, "he stayed up the whole night to watch over you."

Yanyue looked at the nurse. She asked with some skepticism, "He watched over me the whole night?"

The young nurse nodded her head, "Right, not only is your husband kind, but he's also handsome. You're lucky to marry such a man, so don't let other women rob him!"

Rob? How would the nurse react if she knew that she was the one who stole him from her sister? This wasn't something that she was proud of, but she was too deep in this drama, so she had no choice but to linger around and played her role. It was also for the best of his future as the Lu Group's President and the second prince of Country Y.

"Alright, the fetus is doing good now, so you can be discharged today," the nurse said as she wrapped away her equipment.

Yanyue smiled, "Thank you."

The nurse left and entered was Assistant Wen.

"I'm here to pick you up, Miss...princess consort," Assistant Wen said, "I've already filled out the discharge forms."

After witnessing his boss staying up all night to watch Miss Shen, he learned that the woman was slowly creeping into his boss's heart. Elites like his boss could have as many women as they would like, so he wasn't surprised if his boss's feelings for Miss Wanyue had shifted to Miss Shen. So, it was best to recognize the princess consort early. Plus, this title was much more suitable for her as she was his boss's legal wife.

Yanyue saw no one behind Assistant Wen. Her face died down in disappointment.

"Where is his highness?" she asked.

Assistant Wen replied awkwardly, "Uh...his highness has a meeting to attend at the company, so he left first."

"Oh," Yanyue said quietly, "alright, let's go."

*

Since the old lady had forbidden Yanyue to go to the company, she found herself extremely bored with nothing to do.

Her current daily routine included waking up, eating a nutritious breakfast, having tea in the greenhouse while chatting with her baby, eating a big and meaty lunch, taking an afternoon nap, eating dinner, and then getting ready for bed to repeat the same thing the next day.

She gained a few pounds because all she did was eat and rest. Her stomach was also getting bigger as it had been three months now, so this also increased her weight.

Alongside this, there was another thing that she had learned and that was: cooking.

She heard from the maids that Beichen fired two of the chefs because he wasn't satisfied with the food. He had been feeling nauseous and throwing up when he smelled and consumed the food. He attributed that to bad cooking skills as he had never been sick before, so he fired the chefs.

Yanyue also didn't understand why Beichen was feeling that way, but she had heard that some fathers can experience symptoms of pregnancy. Perhaps, that was what Beichen was undergoing.

This made her a little guilty, so she wanted to cook for him. Fortunately, he ate the food that she cooked (of course without his knowledge), so she felt motivated to learn and cook more. This was also a good use of time since she wasn't working at the moment.

As she was dabbling on a new steamed fish recipe, someone tapped on her shoulder, giving her a jump.

"Yueyue, what are you doing?"

Yanyue turned around, feigning an upset pout, "Jason, you scared me!"

The young man giggled gently exposing his white teeth. He inquired, "Why are you suddenly cooking now? I've never seen you cook before."

Yanyue proceeded to debone the fish that she was working on. She replied honestly, "It's for your brother. He hasn't been eating well lately."

Jason's smile drooped. What was he expecting?

"Should I try this for my brother?" he grinned with a tease as he peered beside her, "Who knew what would happen when people found out that you poisoned the second prince?!"

Yanyue rolled her eyes and pushed him away for fear that he might be too close to the knife that she was using. She answered, "Just go sit at the table and wait for me. I'll serve extra since you're here."

An outsider would think that they were flirting with each other.

A female's voice echoed from the side, "Sister, you're already married, so please be aware of your status and don't embarrass Ah Chen."

Yanyue and Jason noticed the two figures by the door. Yanyue's smile disappeared and she removed her hands that were on Jason's back when she pushed him.

"His highness..." she greeted.

Beichen ignored her address and marched straight to the dining room with Wanyue in his arms.

Jason glared at the pretentious couple. How dared they slander Yueyue when they had no self-awareness of their statuses?

His relationship with Yanyue was clean and innocent.

But theirs? Sister-in-law coquettishly in the arms of her brother-in-law?

They were much more blasphemous!

He ached to say something, but Yanyue tugged on his shirt to stop him. So, he could only snort in anger at the new arrivals.

"Alright, let's go sit first. The servant has already set up the table," said Yanyue as she pulled Jason to the table.

They entered the dining room to the sight of Wanyue sulking at how hungry she was because the baby in her growing stomach demanded to eat.

Beichen could only try to coax her by having the servant fixing more food on her plate.

The servant placed a spoonful of fish into Wanyue's plate, "This is a nutritious fish soup that princess consort co-"

Yanyue quickly interrupted the servant, "Grandma Lu hired a new chef from the Southern border because she heard that the chef was especially good with pregnant's women's diets. Please try the fish soup, sister. It is good for your baby."

Wanyue turned to Beichen. In her baby tone, she said, "Ah Chen, feed me the soup."

The man smiled affectionately, "Of course, I'll do anything for you and our son."

Then, he picked up her spoon and scooped some of the fish soup to her red-tinted lips.

Yanyue tried to ignore these two people from the get-go, but it was impossible to do so as they were practically showing off their love in front of everyone.

Jason noticed the hurt appearance on Yanyue's face. He knew how deeply this woman loved his brother, so she was willing to let him hurt and used her. However, he wasn't his brother who was blind to the person that cherished him most.

He scooped a spoonful of the fish soup and tasted it. "It's delicious!" he exclaimed.

Then, he selected a piece of fish from the fish soup and put it on Yanyue's plate.

"Here, try a little bit. You're pregnant, so it's not good to eat too much fish."

Yanyue smiled, "Thank you."

She glanced towards the dishes on the table and then picked a piece of braised pork and put it on Jason's plate.

"You're still growing, so eat a lot too!"

Jason's face beamed, "Yueyue, do you remember that I like braised pork?"

"You always eat it, so of course I'd remember," she replied like a responsible older sister.

Wanyue noticed that the man feeding her had slowed down. She frowned when she saw his unpleasant expression as he glanced towards her sister and his brother. She wanted his full attention!

"Sister has a good memory. Is it because you guys often eat together? It's been years and I've never seen you guys apart. It's like you both are meant to be together," Wanyue prompted.

Jason sneered, "Watch your words, Wanyue!"

The woman smiled arrogantly, "But isn't it true? If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed that you two were a married couple."

He countered, "Wouldn't that have been better? At least then, I wouldn't get to see adulterers acting shamelessly in front of me!"

Wanyue's arrogant expression turned sour. "Jason, who did you call adulterers?!" she asked defensively.

He raised his eyes as if things were obvious. "Yanyue and I are not adulterers, so it's not us, but you and brother..." he trailed off.

"You!" she stated angrily, "Your brother and I love each other!"

Jason disregarded her as if she was a crazy woman.

After a long day of work, Beichen just wanted to have a peaceful dinner. But who knew that he would see the woman across from him acting so bold. She even flirted with his brother. So, he was already feeling annoyed, but then the argument between Wanyue and Jason made him more irritated. In the end, he got up from his seat and left the dining room gloomily.

Wanyue thought that Beichen would scold her sister if she said some suspicious things about Yanyue and Jason, but who knew that that damn Jason would call her an adulterer instead?! She and Beichen met first and fell in love with each other, so how did she become an adulterer?

Not only did she ended up humiliating herself, but now Beichen was angrier than before. When he became mad, he would not tolerate her going near him and all she wanted was to be close to him so her sister would be jealous!

"Ah Chen, wait for me!" she got up from her seat and called after Beichen.

The room eased down with only Yanyue and Jason left.