Chapter 1 Congratulations, You're Pregnant

"Congratulations, you're pregnant with twins," the doctor announced, cradling two gestational sacs in his hands.

Yuan Xi, clutching the report in her hands, felt her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, utterly die upon hearing the doctor's words.

Seeing no joy on the face of the young woman in the blue suit dress, the doctor said, "If you don't want them, it's still possible to have a medical abortion now."

Yuan Xi gripped the report tighter, "No, I want to keep them."

Before she could finish, a melodious ringtone filled the air. Yuan Xi answered the call, only to be met with the irate voice of a man.

"Secretary Yuan! What time is it? During this critical time of the company's IPO, how dare you ask for leave? Did I approve your leave?"

"Get back to work immediately!"

"I want to see you within half an hour."

Yuan Xi pulled the phone away slightly, "Alright, Mr. Gu, I'll be right back."

"In a while? I said immediately, right now..."

Yuan Xi didn't wait for the man on the phone to finish; she hung up and turned to the doctor, "Doctor, if I want to keep these twins..."

Before Yuan Xi could finish, her ringtone chimed again. With reluctance, she took the call.

Gu Hanchen's furious voice erupted from the phone, "Yuan Xi! You dare hang up my call? Who gave you the audacity? Do you want your year-end bonus cut in half? Where are you now?"

"I'm at the hospital," Yuan Xi simply stated, "Mr. Gu, I'll call you back later."

"Hospital? What illness do you have? As long as you're breathing, you must return to work. I'll have the best doctors in Jiang City come to the office. Come back right now."

Yuan Xi hung up again and turned back to the doctor, "I drank quite a bit when I became pregnant, and the father of the children... was also drunk. Will it affect the babies?"

The doctor peered at the report on the computer, "Do you usually drink heavily?"

"No, not usually. It's just that night I drank more."

The doctor thought for a moment, "Currently, the babies are still too small for us to determine whether they will have fetal alcohol syndrome. As long as you have regular prenatal check-ups, it shouldn't be a big problem. Later, if..."

Yuan Xi's phone rang once again. Seeing it was Gu Hanchen, she immediately hung up and turned off her phone.

The doctor smiled lightly, "So busy, huh? If later your prenatal check-up has issues, there's still a choice not to keep them but no matter how busy, you must come in for your check-ups. I'll prescribe some folic acid for you."

Yuan Xi thanked him, and upon leaving the doctor's office, a nurse led her to the pharmacy to pick up the folic acid.

When Yuan Xi got back to her car with the folic acid, she saw that she had already missed thirty calls on her phone.

Checking them, they were all either from Gu Hanchen or his right-hand man, Special Assistant Wang.

Leaning against the car, Yuan Xi massaged her temples. Michen Game, the company she worked for, was founded six years ago.

Yuan Xi had been Gu Hanchen's secretary since her senior year internship and continued straight after graduation. For five years, she watched as Michen grew from a startup to a titan in the gaming world.

Gu Hanchen, the young master of one of Jiang City's top four noble families—the Gu Family—founded Michen Game without much intention of managing it seriously. It was more of a response to being seen as an easy mark after spending lavishly in several games, and simply wanting to develop a game that he could thoroughly enjoy.

Over the years, though officially Gu Hanchen's secretary, Yuan Xi's workload was in no way lighter than that of Gu Hanchen, the president.

For five years, she had not taken a single day off.

Today, for the first time since becoming a full-time employee, she took a sick leave which was immediately met with relentless capitalist pressure.

The private hospital Yuan Xi visited was in the city center, a ten-minute drive from Michen's headquarters located at Lintian Building by the river.

As soon as she parked her car in the building's lot,

Yuan Xi saw two young women decked out in luxury attire approaching her car in high heels. One carried the latest Dior Lady Dior bag, the other an Hermès Mini Kelly.

Yuan Xi recognized the two people instantly: one was Yu Xiaoxiao, Gu Hanchen's fiancée designated by his family, and the other was Chu Yan, the daughter of Jiangcheng's richest family, the Chu Family.

Yu Xiaoxiao walked up to Yuan Xi's Ice Raspberry-colored Panamera and patted the hood, saying, "New car? Did Gu Hanchen buy it for you?"

After Yuan Xi got out of the car, Yu Xiaoxiao's words really annoyed her.

There are four major wealthy families in Jiang City: the Chu Family, the Bo Family, the Gu Family, and the Yu Family, each with their own matrimonial alliances. Yu Xiaoxiao was the bride chosen for Gu Hanchen by the Gu Family.

However, Miss Yu had always believed that she had an unspeakable relationship with Gu Hanchen, having worked as his secretary for five years by his side.

Yuan Xi replied with a faint smile, "Miss Yu, I bought this car with my own salary."

"Your salary?"

Chu Yan walked up to Yuan Xi. She was quite shorter than Yuan Xi, but her voice was full of sneers and disdain, "This isn't considered a good car in our eyes, but even so, a normal secretary's salary wouldn't come anywhere close to affording it."

Chu Yan warned, "Yuan Xi, I advise you to be clear about your own status. Gu Hanchen is not someone you can yearn for."

"I have never yearned for Mr. Gu."

Yuan Xi, resigned, "No oppressed corporate slave would fall for their boss."

Yu Xiaoxiao frowned and retorted, "How dare you argue? Gu Hanchen has been calling for 'Secretary Yuan' for the past few days. Won't you admit it?

I've looked into your background. You were trafficked as a child. After your foster parents passed away, you even had to borrow money for school fees. In five years since graduation, at 26, you managed to buy a car and a house in Jiangcheng City Center, isn't it all because you seduced Gu Hanchen?"

"Yuan Xi, I'm about to get engaged to Hanchen, so have some decency and leave Mi Chen Company immediately."

Yuan Xi squeezed out a professional, polite smile, "Miss Yu, I really have no thoughts about Mr. Gu. In my eyes, Gu Hanchen is just my boss, nothing more."

Chu Yan folded her arms and looked at Yuan Xi, "Yuan Xi, there are plenty of little sparrows like you in our circle who wish to turn into a phoenix overnight."

Chu Yan's eyes were filled with mockery, "But an ugly duckling can become a swan because it is a swan to begin with, whereas you, you don't have the qualifications to become the Gu Family's daughter-in-law.

I suggest you resign sooner to save yourself some face, instead of deluding yourself into thinking you can go from secretary to CEO's wife."

Yu Xiaoxiao reached out and pinched Yuan Xi's face, "Yuan Xi, you're delusional if you think you can steal my man. You're not qualified. I advise you to resign and get out."

Yuan Xi shook off Yu Xiaoxiao's hand, "Miss Yu, I have no thoughts about Mr. Gu, please show me some respect."

Chu Yan said, "If you really have no designs on him, then resign to prove your innocence. We've made our point very clear today. You should have some shame. Respect is something you give yourself. Consider the consequences of offending our Chu Family in Jiang City."

Yuan Xi touched her flat belly, and upon seeing the elevator arriving at the garage she entered without further entanglement with Yu Xiaoxiao and the others.

After all, as Chu Yan said, in Jiang City, she couldn't afford to offend either the Chu Family or the Yu Family.

When she reached the fifty-eighth floor, Yuan Xi had just left the elevator when she saw the secretaries in the secretarial office with gloomy faces.

"Sister Xixi, you're finally back. You have no idea how furious Mr. Gu was!"

Yuan Xi entered the CEO's office, where Gu Hanchen sat, ice-cold, on a leather CEO chair, with three-sided floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a panoramic view of the bustling traffic in Jiangcheng City Center.

The young CEO exuded a powerful presence, and he said to Yuan Xi with fury, "During such a critical period for Mi Chen's IPO, you took leave without approval to go to the hospital. Do you know how much this could delay? Plus, you ignored my calls and even turned off your phone. I guess you don't want your year-end bonus, huh?"

Yuan Xi felt a wave of nausea, covered her mouth with her hand, and ran to the trash bin to vomit.

Gu Hanchen looked at Yuan Xi and sneered, "A stomach ailment? Even if it's stomach cancer, you have to keep working until the company goes public!"

Yuan Xi crouched by the trash bin, vomiting for a while, thinking of Yu Xiaoxiao and Chu Yan in the basement...

And listening to Gu Hanchen's imperious words, she suddenly found herself quite ridiculous.

She had been with Mi Chen for a full five years without a break, misunderstood by the boss's fiancée, and even if she had stomach "cancer", she was still being squeezed by her boss...

She didn't want to be this overworked corporate drone for another day.

Yuan Xi stood up slowly, leaning on the office desk, and looked at Gu Hanchen, "Mr. Gu, I'm pregnant, I want to resign."