Spoiled by the CEO after amnesia!-Chapter 185 - 183: Flaunting Affection
The habit of sleeping with his mother had left an indelible mark deep in his bones.
He would clutch tightly to anything he cherished, whether it was people or things, never letting go easily.
Yet, even though he held on as tightly as he could, guarded as staunchly as he did, his mother still passed away.
As a child, he thought, perhaps it was because he didn’t grip his mother’s arm firmly enough, or that he didn’t spend enough time with her, that he couldn’t protect her.
When Jiayi disappeared into G City, becoming merely a shadow in his world all of a sudden, that feeling from his mother’s death came rushing back.
However, the little person in his arms would definitely not end up like his mother.
His little wild cat had finally come back.
...
Night, after an indeterminate amount of time, the cries of the night birds outside the window grew weaker and weaker.
Asserting that the little one in his embrace was deep asleep, Huo Zhenyang extracted his arm, laid her flat, and silently turned to get out of bed.
He picked up the phone, pushed open the French windows, and with a look of no expression and a chill of frost clinging to him, walked straight to the balcony.
The night breeze grazed the handsome yet somewhat harsh features of the man’s face.
The phone connected, and Lin Zixun’s voice came through, "Boss."
"Is Mu Derun released from prison?"
"Yes, Boss, he was released two months ago."
"Good, you know what to do," his voice cool, as if a ruthless specter in the darkness.
Lin Zixun certainly knew what to do: "Yes, Boss."
————*————
Daylight broke.
The man beside her had left no trace.
After Jiayi got up, she asked the Huo Family maidservant and learned he had already gone to the office.
The Huo Family’s servants had already prepared breakfast.
Huo Tianpei was up early as usual, doing his routine watering and weeding in the Orchid Glasshouse.
At the dining table, only Yao Zhenru and Mu Qingran were present.
Upon seeing Jiayi come downstairs, the smiles fell from their faces, and with a light snort, they turned their heads away.
Jiayi acted as if she hadn’t seen the two, merely taking a seat herself.
The maid in charge of the kitchen, Axue, seeing Miss Jiayi sit down, brought over a silver tray, uncovered the silver lid, and presented a plate of fried lamb chops in front of her, saying respectfully:
"Miss Jiayi, this is the breakfast that the eldest young master asked me to prepare for you. He said you do not like any hint of raw meat and prefer it fully cooked, so this was pan-fried over low heat just for you, top-grade beef air-flown from Japan. Also, there’s more, ..."
At this point, Alan lowered her head, her voice turning a shade quieter, seemingly embarrassed to speak in front of everyone: "... the eldest young master also said that you had a hard time last night... and you should replenish your strength, that you must finish this portion, and if it’s not enough, there’s more in the kitchen."
The words carried an endless innuendo.
Jiayi’s eyes flickered, playing along very well, she lifted her little face, "I will eat it. Though, the eldest young master wasn’t any more relaxed than I was last night. Alan, later on, go to the supermarket and buy some beef kidneys, horsewhip, and such, to make him some soup for replenishment, you know, like cures like."
Alan blushed at the words, thinking the eldest young master and Miss Jiayi were truly affectionate; after such a long flight back, they didn’t even take a break last night, and even...
She nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I’ll do it right away."
Across from her, the envy on Mu Qingran’s face was about to spill over; even though she knew that Jiayi was showing off deliberately, the fork in her hand was trembling violently.
Yao Zhenru saw Mu Qingran’s complexion turn awkward and let out a soft huff, murmuring, "What’s there to be angry about? Once you marry Zhenyang and have his child, you’ll be the one making her suffer."
Before Jiayi returned to G City, she thought Yao Zhenru was aware of who the father of Mu Qingran’s baby really was. Now she knew that maybe Yao Zhenru didn’t know after all.
She wondered, what would Yao Zhenru’s expression be if she ever learned the truth?
A son and his niece in an incestuous relationship? And ending up with a life taken?
Would her face still carry the pride it did now?
With that thought, Jiayi picked up her knife and fork and began carefully eating the grilled lamb chops on her plate.
As she ate, she glanced at Mu Qingran’s face, which still bore traces of redness, and asked with concern, "Oh, what happened to Miss Mu’s face?"
Mu Qingran’s hand, holding a silver fork, paused. Seeing Jiayi’s deliberately provocative gaze, the humiliation from the previous night resurfaced.
That morning, Yao Zhenru had noticed that half of Mu Qingran’s face and neck were red and was puzzled, but she didn’t say anything or ask further. Now, looking towards Mu Qingran, she said, "What’s the matter with you? If you’re feeling unwell, just say so. I don’t want the old master to blame me for not taking good care of you."
The old master now treated the precious grandchild in Mu Qingran’s belly as his lifeline, taking great care of her. Whenever Mu Qingran so much as coughed or sneezed, he was petrified that something might happen to the baby, and would blame Yao Zhenru for not looking after her properly.
Mu Qingran, recalling how Huo Zhenyang had gripped her throat with such ferocity the previous day, shuddered at the memory and could only bite her tongue and say, "It’s nothing, I was bitten by mosquitoes last night, and I scratched it a bit. I didn’t expect it to turn so red today."
This explanation finally put Yao Zhenru’s mind at ease.
However, following this question, Mu Qingran could not eat anymore. She felt a blockage in her stomach, and with a clatter, she threw down her knife and fork impatiently, "I don’t want to eat anymore. Take it away!"
The servants hurried to her side, not daring to neglect her, "What would Miss Mu like to eat then? We can ask the kitchen to make something else."
The old master had said that Miss Mu’s diet during pregnancy was of utmost importance.
Yao Zhenru didn’t indulge her moodiness, "You can’t do this, you’ve barely eaten anything. You must eat something; what will happen to the child if you go hungry?"
Seeing everyone gathering around her, urging her to eat like she was the center of the universe, Mu Qingran finally felt a bit better and pointed to Jiayi’s plate, "I want that!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
This wretched woman had top-grade steak from Japan for breakfast; why shouldn’t she, Mu Qingran, have it too, especially when she was pregnant?
The servants hurried to prepare it.
Mu Qingran looked at Jiayi with a smug smile on her face.
Jiayi could guess the shift in Mu Qingran’s mood.
It wasn’t Mu Qingran herself that the Huo Family’s servants, including Yao Zhenru, were fawning over; it was the child in her belly. Would a woman really be happy using a child as a pawn for future happiness?
If she ever lost the child—Mu Qingran, now being lifted so high, would fall just as painfully hard later.
Breakfast came to an end, and Jiayi put down her knife and fork, ready to go upstairs, when she heard footsteps at the main entrance, as well as the voices of the servants:
"Second Young Master."
"Second Young Master."
Upon hearing that Huo Zhenxuan had returned, Mu Qingran’s hand shook involuntarily, and her fork clattered to the ground.
"What’s the matter?" Yao Zhenru frowned.
A maid hurriedly replaced the fork with a clean one for Miss Mu.
Mu Qingran tried her best to suppress the panic in her eyes, "Nothing, it just slipped out of my hand."
In the past few months, although Huo Tianpei and Yao Zhenru had taken her to Huo Garden to rest, she hadn’t had many opportunities to see Zhenxuan.
But every time she did see him, Mu Qingran couldn’t help feeling nervous, remembering what had happened that night.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a glorious affair, and Zhenxuan would absolutely not spread it around. With this thought, she felt somewhat relieved.
