Eavesdropping

As Yanyue walked down the corridor she heard a voice that sounded like her stepmother's coming from the fire escape. It seemed like her stepmother was talking to another person that she didn't recognize.

A husky voice was heard saying, "Your stepdaughter is planning to investigate the matters of that year."

Yanyue's eyes widened. They were talking about her. She scooted closer to the fire escape.

"She's just a substitute, but she's getting on my nerves just like that annoying Leela," her stepmother spit, "tell X to keep an eye on her for now"

Then, Yanyue heard the sound of a door closing. She peeked around the corner to the fire escape and the people there were gone.

Her mind was bogged with questions. Leela was her mother's name. Her stepmother's hatred towards her mother was clear, but what confused her was something else. They were talking about her and then her stepmother mentioned that she was none other than a mere substitution. However, what did that mean?

Who was a substitute? Herself? She scratched her head as she couldn't come up with a conclusion.

There was also another interesting thing that she stuck with her. Who was this X that her stepmother hired to spy on her? Was he the same person her stepmother hired to do her dirty work, such as killing her mother?

In the past, she had tried to expose her stepmother, but she had no evidence so no one believed her including her father who had been passive all these years. Not to mention that her stepmother had the powerful Yang family behind her, so she couldn't do a thing to her.

However, Yanyue refused to give up and slowly continued the investigation in secret. All her hard years of education and work were to get to this point. Buying Klotho was the first part of her plan.

However, it was hard to move past this because everything happened so long ago. Luckily she chanced upon the rendezvous between her stepmother and whoever that person was, so now she had a new lead to follow.

She was determined to find out who this X person was!

Since she had accomplished her goal it was time for her to leave the event as there was nothing else that would be useful anymore.

This was her plan, but Yanfeng appeared from the corner and surprised her.

"Mrs. Lu, you are here! I was looking for you everywhere!" the man said cheerfully.

"Young Master Yang," she greeted him respectfully.

The man was not used to this politeness from this face, so he was a little taken aback. He shook his head in disapproval, "Since we are friends now, Mrs. Lu please just call me Yanfeng."

Yanyue paused. She felt that this man wasn't like any other man that she had met before. She was certain that she had never seen him before, but indeed calling him Young Master Yang did not sound natural in her mouth. His bright attitude didn't match such a serious label.

"Of course, if Young Master Yang wished to be addressed by his first name, then as his friend I feel obliged to do so," she replied.

Yanfeng's lips curled up showing his natural white teeth. "Good, then it's only fair that use your first name too? Yanyue was it?"

Yanyue nodded, accepting his weird logic.

"I don't see your husband? How can he leave such a pretty wife alone at this time?" he asked, scanning their surrounding.

Yanyue's smile died as he mentioned Beichen. "I'm a little tired, but he still has business to take care of here, so I asked to leave first. A couple who trusts each other don't need to stay together all the time," she lied.

However, just as she finished her sentence, she smelled the familiar vanilla scent by her side.

She didn't know when he had come.

"I apologize Young Master Yang, but it's late and my wife is pregnant so I must take her home," the man said, emphasizing the word pregnant.

Yanfeng was surprised that the little woman was pregnant. If he remembered correctly, they had just gotten married not long ago. Perhaps, this couple loved each other and people were just gossiping on the outside to entertain themselves as they were jealous.

"Then, I won't keep you both here any longer. I appreciate President Lu for coming to my celebration," he said and turned to the woman in front of him, "Have a good night, Yanyue."

She smiled at him and nodded. Beichen's face turned dark seeing the radiance on the woman's face as she smiled at another man. It seemed that he had never seen such a smile from her to him before. The man also used her first name, showing how close they had become.

He was irritated and pulled her away to the car that was waiting for them in front of the venue.

"Get in," Beichen demanded.

Yanyue didn't know why he suddenly wanted to drive her home. She thought that he hated her and could never breathe the same air with her. However, she felt a little happy to be able to share the same space with him. Perhaps, he was starting to care for her.

But what awaited in the car shattered her hope. Her sister was sitting in the back of the car.

"In the passenger seat, not the back," Beichen said.

Yanyue's heart broke into pieces when she understood what he was trying to do. She supposed this was another way that he tortured her.

She backed away from the door and hesitated to open the front.

Then, the woman inside the car spoke, "Beichen, sister is also pregnant so you should take care of her well."

The man opened the front door and forced her into the passenger's seat.

"I don't want to hear grandma saying that I didn't take care of you," he said coldly, then climbed into the back with Wanyue.

Yanyue didn't want to look behind her, but when she accidentally glanced in the mirror in front of her, she saw that Wanyue's head was on Beichen's shoulder while her arms hooked around his own.

They looked so comfortable in each other's arms. She felt something churning from her stomach and wanted to let it out so badly, but they were still in the car so she forced it to go away. She closed her eyes to make sure that her eyes wouldn't wander around carelessly.

"Beichen, do you want our child to be a boy or a girl?" Wanyue asked the man. Her purpose was clear; she wanted her sister to be jealous and to see that Beichen only had eyes for herself.

The man looked at the woman in the passenger's seat through the side mirror. He knew that she was trying to avoid them by pretending to be sleeping. However, what good would it do if she could still hear them? So, he played along with Wanyue.

"It doesn't matter the gender because as long as the baby belongs to you, then I love them unconditionally," he said softly, but his eyes were staring at the woman in the front.

Wanyue saw his distraction and cursed in her heart. She felt that Beichen had been ignoring her recently and she didn't like that feeling at all. This was all due to her hateful sister!

She tugged on his arms tighter. "Beichen, but I'm afraid that if I have a girl, then she would not be treated fairly by the Lu family. Everyone knows that a traditional family like the Lu cherishes boys more than girls," she said pitifully.

"Nonsense! I will punish anyone who dared to lay a hand on our child, especially if it was a girl," he said harshly.

Wanyue's lips curled up evilly and then she asked, "Then, what about you? Will you kick me out if I don't give you a son?"

"Why do you think so? I made a promise to you," he said as he petted the woman's head.

Yanyue thought that closing her eyes would shut them away from her world, but who knew that their words still haunt her. It was more painful not seeing them because all she could imagine was the loving and intimate way they would hold each other.

She should have refused Beichen and hailed a taxi to come back home instead. Now, she was stuck listening to a conversation that she could only dream to have with him.

She thought that she wouldn't care at all about what they do or say, but it did suck when she had to see them every day. She hated herself for loving the man when she knew that he would never reciprocate no matter how much she tried to appease him. But, she also had no idea how to stop her heart that was beating for him day and night.

She didn't know when her eyes became wet, but she didn't want to shed any tears in front of these two. She took a deep breath and held back the liquid from flowing down because once it did, she wasn't sure if she could stop herself from pouring her sadness out. To stop that embarrassment from happening, she distracted herself with her phone until they reached home.

Grandma Lu had not visited these few days, so the Eastern Palace was quiet.

Yanyue went upstairs without looking at the two people behind her. She needed to rest her brain after experiencing some strange events today, especially from that man Yanfeng and also her stepmother. The final blow was the car ride.

She took a warm shower. When she got out of the steaming bathroom, she was surprised to see Beichen in the room leaning on the dresser. She wondered what he had to say to her in such a rush that he still wore the attire from this evening. Usually, he would change into simple plain clothes after a long day after work. She knew because she would personally prepare those for him.

He strode over to her, who avoided his touch.

Her voice was soft and quiet as she spoke.

"...Your highness."

He never came into her room without a purpose. Whenever he came, it was to vent and release his anger on her body.

Beichen was annoyed that the woman avoided him like he was a plaque.

"Pretending to be innocent?" he sneered, "Who was seducing Young Master Yang earlier?"

Yanyue rose her head to meet his eyes. "What do you mean? I've never seduced him or anyone..."

After sending Wanyue to her room, Beichen rushed to Yanyue's. He came because he wanted to make clear that she understood who she was, especially after seeing the woman seducing another man right in front of him at the event. He didn't want her to stain his reputation by staying too close to the young master of the Yang family.

But, when he entered the newlywed room that he had never slept in unless to satisfy his needs, she was nowhere to be seen. He heard the shower running, so he waited for her.

After a while, she came out of the bathroom. Her skin and face were flushed from the hot shower. Even though she was covered by a towel, he could still see the suppleness of her curvy body.

Her charming figure made his suppressed body burn with desire. It got worse after smelling the fresh lavender scent on her. It was as if the scent was poison to his mind.

His eyebrows raised as if he was mocking her words. "You've never seduced anyone?" he asked, emphasizing the word anyone.

The woman who hadn't looked away from his eyes nodded her head as confirmation to his question.

"What you are doing right now is not seducing?" he asked again.

She was not following him at this point. When did she seduce him just now?

Then, she felt her feet off the ground as he lifted her into the air. It was so sudden that she couldn't push him away.

"Ah," she yelled, "what are you doing?"

"Punishing you for seducing me!" he said as he laid her on the bed.

She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "When did I ever do that?"

He didn't reply, instead, he brought his lips to hers and kissed her until she couldn't breathe.

She saw desire in his eyes and became a little scared. "Beichen...I'm still pregnant," she said weakly. But the man didn't care and continued to ravage her lips, which had become red from the biting.

"Then, don't move," he said, his voice a little hoarse. These were his last words throughout the night.

Her heart was beating nonstop, but she listened to him because she knew he would not stop by the lustful look from those deep gazes. She relaxed and let him touch and kiss everywhere on her body.