-||chapter seven - pregnant or not?||-

"The noble society loved to gossip and these days the main topic of their gossip was the apparent relationship between the Crown Prince and the First Princess. Some said that it was purely a sexual relationship, while some called it true love. There were people who said that it was probably a political alliance and there were a few who believed that the rumors were not true.

No matter how hard they tried, the Crown Prince and the First Princess couldn't seem to eliminate the rumors.

On the other hand, the Prince who had just found his destined love only to have her run away, was now realizing what the blessing of the God and Goddess of Love truly meant."

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*Please refer to the Important Note at the end of the chapter, in the author's thoughts section in case the titles for the characters are confusing in the excerpts that I post at the beginning of every chapter. I have also posted this as an auxiliary chapter; chapter zero.

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Lu Zhi was beginning to experience the telltale signs of a headache. She was tired of explaining it to her family, then her friends, and acquaintances that she was not engaged to or in a relationship with Zhang Yi Chen. It's not even been two days since the linkup rumors between her and Yi Chen started but people were already so much interested in whatever is going between the two of them.

Perhaps, it was because of their status in the society. People were perhaps interested in the impact that the alliance between two of the most powerful families in the country will have on the society. So no matter if the news was true or not people will be interested. As it was mentioned in the news article, if they were to get married (which they are not, of-course), the wedding would be the most grand event of the century.

Lu Zhi gave a call to her secretary and told her to get the press release ready and also schedule a video conference call with Yi Chen. She wasn't going to take the risk of meeting him out in the open for a second time. She also had her calls forwarded to her secretary's cell phone and the switched off her cell phone.

She packed her stuff before going to the washroom to get ready. She just hoped that things wouldn't get more troublesome. Who knew that at this point there's someone somewhere writing an article that she was probably getting married to Zhang Yi Chen because she had gotten pregnant with his baby that she hadn't miscarried as per the previous article.

****************2 Hours Later****************

Lu Zhi sat on the couch, staring at her laptop with a blank face while Lu Ying, who sat beside her, was rolling on the floor laughing so hard that Lu Zhi was concerned she might suffer a stroke or just hit her head against something as she rolled.

"I don't know why but this is hilarious!" Lu Ying wheezed while pointing at one of the articles that her secretary had e-mailed her. Lu Zhi had asked her secretary to compile the list of articles and the names of the reporters who published these articles for she was planning to take action against them. Amongst those articles, there was this particular article that said the exact same story that Lu Zhi had thought of earlier.

Exclusive: The reason why the Lu's Princess is getting married to the Zhang's Prince

The article claimed that she was still pregnant and hadn't miscarried the baby. The author of the article had also posted some edited pictures of her with a little bloated stomach which raised the suspicions of her being pregnant.

Is this why the elders used to say that one should think before saying anything?

How had things gotten so out of hand and just so very ridiculous?

Lu Zhi almost smacked the still laughing Lu Ying with the laptop but did not because her laptop was more precious. It was a limited edition piece and she was not going to waste it on her stupid sister. Her gaze then settled on the vase at the corner, it was a much better option. Lu Zhi stood and picked up the vase and came to stand over where Lu Ying was lying.

"Stop laughing or else I am going to hit you with this!" exclaimed Lu Zhi while raising the vase over head.

Lu Ying's eyes widened and she hurriedly got up, "No, no, no!" she chanted like a mantra, "I won't laugh, okay!"

Lu Zhi narrowed her eyes and lowered her arms but didn't let go of the vase so Lu Ying continued, "I am so sorry! It's just that the article was ridiculously hilarious that I couldn't control my laughter." she had to bite her lip to keep herself from grinning, "I am your only sister and a younger one at that."

"By just 5 minutes." Lu Zhi responded.

"Still younger." Lu Ying countered.

"Arrggghh!" Lu Zhi placed the vase aside before letting out a groan and sitting back on the couch. "I am going to get all these stupid people punished! The even edited my pictures!" she scrolled and zoomed in on her pictures in the article.

"I am looking fat instead of being pregnant!" she commented and when she could no longer stare at those pictures, she switched off her laptop and leaned back on the couch, closing her eyes. She needed some rest.

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Yi Chen let out a deep breath before knocking at the door of her father's study. He had always been nervous and afraid when in his father's company and would freak out whenever he committed a mistake that he knew his father would not ignore and let go of. But today he was especially anxious because of his doubts regarding his father's interest in the latest rumors.

During those few seconds phone call, Yi Chen had easily noticed the interest in his father's voice, and it was definitely a scary thing.

"Come in." once he got the permission for it, Yi Chen entered his father's study. Zhang Dong was sitting on his throne like chair behind his desk and was reading some papers.

Yi Chen waited for his father to say something and stood like a well programmed doll in front of his father. Silent and straight.

"Is there really nothing between you and the Lu girl?" questioned Zhang Dong.

"No. These are all rumors based upon a misunderstanding." responded Yi Chen.

Zhang Dong placed the papers on his desk and looked at Yi Chen, "People are saying that she is with a child. Is the girl really not pregnant? She looks like one in these pictures." he said while placing a couple of pictures on his desk for Yi Chen to see.

Yi Chen was unaware of the article speculating about Lu Zhi's pregnancy being the reason behind him and her getting engaged. He glanced at the pictures once before answering his father's question, "These are edited. I am not in any kind of relationship with Miss Lu. Neither physical not romantic. The news about her being pregnant and the baby being mine is false."

"Hhhmm. You can leave." said Zhang Dong but as Yi Chen was about to leave, Zhang Dong added, "You may consider having a relationship with this Lu girl. She is not bad."

And this is what Yi Chen was afraid of.

Outsiders were unaware of Zhang Dong's real nature. Especially towards his wife and son. They didn't know how abusive Zhang Dong was towards his family; not only physically but also emotionally and mentally. Only Yi Chen and his mother knew of the horrors that they had gone through all these years, he didn't want to drag anybody into this hell.

Lu Zhi maybe powerful and had all the right resources but she had even fallen into the trap of that pervert. Would she be able to withstand Zhang Dong? Yi Chen didn't believe so. According to him, no one had the capability and ability to do so.

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Ming Ze was currently lying on his bed while sketching the face of his destined love onto a canvas. By this time he would usually be at office but today he just didn't want to go. All he wanted to do was think about his one true love, to go search for her, contact her and have her by his side as soon as possible. But unfortunately, Ming Ze had missed the chance to get to know her. He was upset that she had run away from him. It caused his heart to be in pain and him to cry as he moved the pencil on the canvas drawing a portrait.

Concerned about her son, Mother Lin entered Ming Ze's room to ask him about what happened but was surprised when she saw her son drawing something and was horrified when she saw what her son was actually drawing.

Ming Ze had drawn a weird creature that on close inspection looked like a witch from one of those horror movies Mother Lin had watched. Four legs, triangular body and a head bigger than the whole body. The witch's teeth were bared and eyes widened like that of an owl. "Did you have a nightmare?"

The concerned mother asked as she placed a hand on Ming Ze's shoulder. She was shocked to she her son teary eyed, "What happened?" she asked again.

"I found her, Mom!" Ming Ze revealed.

"Who?" Mother Lin asked.

"The one meant for me, my destined love, my better half. It felt exactly like Dad and Grandpa had said." Mother Lin's mood changed and a huge joyous smile curved upon her lips at her son's declaration.

She hugged Ming Ze but then her eyes fell on the canvas so she pulled back and asked, "The why are you crying? And what is this?" she asked while pointing at the canvas.

"I couldn't even ask her name. She just ran away from me and then I couldn't find her. That's why I decided to make a portrait of hers so that I'll be able to find her. Isn't she beautiful?"

Mother Lin looked at her son and then at the portrait and then back at her son. She wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words to do so.

So she chose silence.