For a moment, her thoughts completely spiralled out of control.

Did Michael somehow know she was faking the pregnancy? Did he know the belly below her clothes was silicone? Or worse... did he know whatever Cassian had arranged behind the scenes?

Now that she replayed the conversation properly in her head, Michael had openly implied he believed Cassian was alive. He had even asked whether Cassian was the one who had sent her into the Palace.

Had Cassian already been exposed? The thought made her stomach tighten uneasily. Will he send her to the police? Is this where he is taking her instead of the hospital?

Cixi looked out of the window to see where they were heading. Damn it, she didn’t even know which hospital. Wish she would be asked which hospital they were going to.

She forced herself to breathe normally before panic could show too obviously on her face.

"What do you mean when you say you already know the DNA results will be positive?" she asked carefully. "And if you are so certain about the results, then why even take me to the hospital?"

It was the safest question she could ask without revealing too much. Right now, everything depended on how Michael answered next.

Michael’s eyes, which were filled with a maturity, hinted at a life well-lived—a life that seemed to have experienced many lives all in one. He quietly observed her as if he understood the nuances of her journey without her needing to say a word. "You look pale," he remarked calmly.

"Your words are making me nervous," Cixi admitted honestly, because pretending otherwise would only make her look more suspicious.

"And why is that?" Michael asked. "People usually grow nervous when they are hiding something."

Cixi’s fingers slowly tightened together in her lap. "I am afraid," she said carefully while choosing every word, "that you are looking for answers I cannot give you. Or might misunderstand her." Even she barely understood what she meant by that sentence, but if it confused him enough to stop pressing further, then she would gladly keep speaking in riddles all day long.

Michael said nothing afterward. And somehow, it made her more nervous. He turned his attention back toward the road ahead while the city moved outside the car windows.

"If Cassian transferred his shares to your name," Michael finally revealed, "then you matter to him. It means he trusts you."

Trusts me?

Cixi almost frowned at the thought. Nothing about her relationship with Cassian felt stable enough to be called trust. What she knew instead was his irritating ability to invade her thoughts, provoke her endlessly, and somehow still leave her confused afterward.

But none of that was suitable to say aloud. "Of course he does," she replied instead, while forcing another smile onto her face. "Why else would he want to marry me?"

Michael’s expression remained unreadable.

"Or perhaps the two of you are trying to deceive me together," he said calmly. Then his eyes shifted toward her again. "Mark my words, Cixi McLore. I will uncover the truth eventually, and if you are playing games with me, you will not enjoy what follows."

The quietness of his voice made the threat worse. Cixi wanted to ask about the CCTV cameras, to find out if his men had found anything against her. She wondered why Michael was threatening her and if he had something that could be used against her. But she didn’t want to venture into dangerous territory. Cixi cleared her throat softly before answering. "As I already said... I am only staying in the Palace until the child is born. After that, I leave with my child."

Michael studied her for another long moment before finally looking away again.

Cixi remained seated quietly afterward, though inwardly she prayed the lie would survive long enough for her to fulfil her side of the contract.

The rest of the drive passed in silence.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, an assistant was already waiting near the entrance for them.

The woman respectfully guided them toward the second floor, where the DNA test would take place.

Michael stayed outside the testing room while Cixi was asked to enter alone.

The moment she stepped inside, her footsteps slowed. Three people stood inside the room.

A doctor.

A nurse.

And Cassian.

Cassian sat lazily in the chair near the examination table with one ankle resting over his knee, dressed entirely in black while a pair of dark gloves covered his hands. Even inside a hospital room, he somehow looked as though he belonged in some expensive underground lounge instead.

The grin on his face widened the second he saw her expression.

"You look distressed, Lousy Kisser."

Cixi marched toward him immediately.

"Your father is sitting right outside," she whispered sharply. "If you are so eager to reveal yourself, then why bother hiding at all? Just walk outside and announce you are alive. My life inside that Palace would become much easier."

Cassian leaned his head slightly back against the chair and looked entirely unbothered by her irritation.

"You say difficult," he murmured in amusement, "yet you are currently living inside the Palace and carrying my fake child and I am homeless."

"Homeless?!" Cixi narrowed her eyes. "Right.. if you are homeless then people living on footpath must be called someting else. I need to revisit my Englsih disctionary."

"Of course I am homeless. My home is my finacee adn my unborn child. Which man wants to stay away from their fiancee who about to give birth to my child."

The doctor awkwardly cleared his throat from across the room while pretending to focus entirely on the computer screen. Beside him, the nurse quietly organised blood collection equipment while very obviously trying not to stare at the supposedly dead heir of the Crown family casually sitting in front of her.

Cixi lowered her voice further. "Since when did you start talking cheesy lines?"

"Since I met you."

"So it’s My fault?"

"Absolutly. Take responsibility now."

There was no talking to this man, Cixi reminded herself. "How long are you planning to keep hiding?"

Cassian’s fingers tapped lazily once against the armrest before he answered. "When rats stop abandoning ships."

Cixi frowned immediately. "What?"

"The ocean becomes interesting only when storms arrive," he continued calmly, as though his answer made perfect sense. "Right now, too many people are showing me where they stand."

Cixi stared at him blankly for several seconds. "You speak like a villain from a drama series."

"I am the Devil, not Vilian Cixi."

Cixi ignored him completely and folded her arms tightly. "You still didn’t answer properly."

Cassian’s eyes slowly lifted toward her. "There are people moving pieces behind curtains right now," he said more quietly this time. "The moment I show myself too early, they disappear again."