-||chapter two - two sides of the story||-

"The young prince only had one person in his life who cared about him and knew of his hardships. That person was the youngest son of the Grand Duke of the kingdom and the young prince's best friend. The two friends had contrasting personalities. If the young prince was calm as a desert oasis, his best friend was chaotic as a fast flowing river. Maybe it were their contrasting traits that the two became best friends. While the prince wanted to be as free as his friend, his friend, the little duke wished to be his friend's strength. Both of them grew up together and the little duke was the only source of happiness in the prince's life.

Years later, when the young prince grew up, he was granted the title of the Crown Prince. It was on one of these days when the crown prince had a meeting with the foreign traders that he met her.

She was the the first princess from a neighboring kingdom that was as wealthy and prosperous as his. The princess had come for a vacation and unfortunately she fell in the trap of an old and pervert Count but was saved by the crown prince. Both of them unaware of what this moment will lead them to."

****************

It was about 20 minutes later that the doctor finally arrived along with the hotel helper. He had called up Ming Ze in the meantime and told him to send a fresh set of clothes for him after explaining the whole situation. Ming Ze had sounded dejected that Yi Chen wasn't going to lose his virginity that day.

"What a waste of a good box of condoms? Tch." Ming Ze had said when he told him about throwing the said box in the dustbin.

Yi Chen's response to this was an eye-roll and a reminder to Ming Ze that he needed clothes, and a doctor. Ming Ze had assured him that both of them were on the way.

The helper handed Yi Chen the set of clothes that Ming Ze had prepared for him but he didn't go change. Instead, Yi Chen stood at a corner, his arms crossed on his chest, while the doctor checked upon the unconscious woman. He waited with bated breath, concerned about this woman who he didn't even know. He wanted to make sure that the woman was alright.

"You said that she was drugged." said the doctor and he couldn't figure out if that was a question or a statement.

"I don't know what exactly happened, but she did say that someone had mixed something in her drink before she fell unconscious. So I am not absolutely sure." replied Yi Chen.

The doctor let out a sigh before he said, "Well, I can't say anything without proper examination. But we can't take any risks in case she was drugged and that drug was potent. So I suggest we take her to a hospital, get the tests done, and only then will I able to tell you more."

Yi Chen nodded his head in positive and picked up his clothes from the bed where he had placed them earlier, "Let me change, and I'll take you both to the hospital." he announced and rushed inside the bathroom to change.

About 15 minutes later, Yi Chen came out of the bathroom. He then picked up the woman in his arms again and proceeded to move out of the room followed by the doctor while the helper began to clean the room. As he carried her all the way out of the hotel, avoiding getting noticed by the people, she had snuggled deeper into him as a child snuggles into its parent.

Her face was buried into the crook of his neck, her hands clutching onto the fabric of his shirt and resting against his chest as she curled closer to him. His car was waiting at the backdoor of the hotel, just as he had instructed his driver to do so as to avoid being noticed. Yi Chen laid down the woman on the backseat, while the doctor sat on the passenger's seat.

As there was no other seat available so Yi Chen had to sit on the back. He placed her head on his thigh and placed his arm around her shoulders to keep her from falling down as the driver began driving them to the hospital. Things got a little awkward when she had shifted slightly, burrowed her face in his stomach, and threw an arm across his waist.

Yi Chen tried to move her back to their original position but failed as even when she was unconscious, the woman held onto very strongly. He tried a few times but he failed every time, so he just stopped and let her hold him the way she was.

It had taken them about 25 minutes to reach the nearest hospital, and Yi Chen had stayed the whole time to make sure that she was okay. The doctor did take her blood sample, did a few tests and it was found that she had indeed been drugged. But fortunately, the drug that she had consumed was little in amount and mild in nature so she won't have any serious side effects because of the consumption.

They only needed to inject the counter medicine into her system and 30 minutes later, she was finally awake and conscious.

"Thank you so much!" these were her first words to him, "Thank you for saving me tonight. I don't even want to think about what must have happened if you hadn't saved me." she gave him a teary smile to which Yi Chen responded with an assuring one.

"It's okay. I just did what I should have, what anybody else would have. Relax, hhmm." he smiled and squeezed her hand lightly, assuring her that she was safe.

"I am Lu Zhi, by the way. And you are?" asked Lu Zhi as she looked up at him with her light brown eyes, that twinkled.

"Yi Chen" he replied softly, his tone held a warmth that was very comforting to Lu Zhi, "Do you need me to call you family? Or a friend, maybe." he asked.

"No, thanks." she took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't want to make them worried. My family is very protective of me and if they got to know what happened tonight, they won't lemme go out of the house for a month!" she chuckled making him smile as well.

"It's okay, you can leave now. I am fine and the doctor said that I can go back in an hour, so yeah." told Lu Zhi.

"Are you sure? I mean, I can stay for another hour, and then my driver can take you back home." Yi Chen suggested.

Lu Zhi just shook her head in negative and said, "You don't have to. I'll call my driver to pick me up. He must be still at the hotel."

"Are you sure?" he asked again, not liking the idea of leaving alone a woman who just had almost been attacked tonight.

"I'm sure." Lu Zhi assured him with a gentle smile, "Thank you for everything, Mr. Yi Chen." she muttered politely.

"Okay." he smiled and waved his hand in goodbye totally unaware of what was about to happen. Oblivious to the fact that his good intentions will be misinterpreted and communicated wrongly.

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The Present Time

"The Lu & Zhang scandal!"

That was the headline of the ridiculous article about him and Lu Zhi that stated that he was having an affair with Lu Zhi, a casual, no-strings-attached relationship that led to an unplanned pregnancy. Whoever wrote this article, was sure after confirming this from his "anonymous" & "secret" sources, that last night, in that hotel room, he and Lu Zhi had a massive fight because of the unplanned pregnancy.

The stress from the fight had caused Lu Zhi to faint and apparently, she miscarried as well. For the evidence, they had added pictures to the article. Pictures of him carrying Lu Zhi, of them entering the hotel room, of the doctor arriving for the check-up, and then of the three of them leaving the hotel.

Goddamnit! He didn't even know who Lu Zhi was until yesterday! It was only after reading this article that he found out that Lu Zhi was actually the elder daughter of the Lu family. Her family is just as rich and powerful as his. And Lu Zhi, she's a brand herself. She's a world-renowned fashion and jewelry designer who is famous for creating masterpieces, especially in the bridal category. Her name is the brand, and it's the most sought-after brand in today's time.

He wasn't aware of this because Lu Zhi is a very private person who rarely makes any appearance. She is the brains in the business while her sister, Lu Ying is the face of it. Yi Chen has met Lu Ying a few times at business parties, but he has never seen Lu Zhi at those parties even once. Seemingly, Lu Zhi avoided being in the limelight, she was content in leading all the operations while her sister managed everything at the frontlines.

Yesterday, he was just doing what a responsible gentleman should do. He had saved Lu Zhi from some sleazy guy, helping her out of goodwill. But he didn't know that his virtuous actions will be twisted into something so heinous and communicated in such a disgraceful manner.

Yi Chen clenched his fists tight, his knuckles turning white as Zhang Dong continued to yell at him, call him names for tarnishing the Zhang family's reputation with his unspeakable, inexcusable, and shameful actions. They can't even use their sources to try and cover up this matter because it will only make people more suspicious. And this might affect their business too. They need to settle things as soon as they can, and for this Yi Chen needed to talk to Lu Zhi so that they could release a press statement together denying these rubbish rumors.