1122 - Chapter 23

The hospital room was quiet, with only the faint sound of the air purifier spraying mist.

Yan Nanchen sat by the hospital bed, watching Jiang Yi, who was asleep due to fever. He had already changed into a hospital gown, and the blood on his cheeks had been wiped clean. Only a piece of gauze was stuck to his forehead, a result of hitting the cabinet when he fainted earlier, leaving a large bruise.

His glasses had been removed, and without them, the usual coldness in his appearance was gone. He looked much younger than his actual age, just like five years ago.

But he was also much thinner than five years ago.

Perhaps because of the fever, his face was flushed, the redness stark against his pale skin. His breathing was slightly labored.

Yan Nanchen slowly reached out toward Jiang Yi’s face, carefully touching his cheek. The moment his fingers made contact, he gently stroked the skin, his fingertips trembling slightly. His eyes gradually grew moist.

“Yi Yi, I’m sorry!”

He couldn’t imagine how Jiang Yi had lived these years, raising a child alone.

It must have been so, so hard.

The more he thought about it, the more guilt consumed him. He wasn’t a qualified Alpha partner, and now he wasn’t even a good father. His child had grown up without an Alpha father’s presence. His child was already five years old would they even recognize their First Dad?

Or perhaps Jiang Yi had never told the child about him at all, instead calling another Alpha “First Dad.”

At the thought of this possibility, his eyes darkened with jealousy and rage. Even if Jiang Yi wasn’t married, even if there was no so-called partner, he was still jealous of anyone who got close to Jiang Yi. As long as it wasn’t him, he was jealous.

“Mmm.”

Just then, Jiang Yi, who had been unconscious on the hospital bed, slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry, his mind still foggy, and he couldn’t quite figure out where he was. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the figure sitting beside him. The familiar silhouette made him instinctively murmur, “Chu—”

“You’re awake?”

Hearing that voice, Jiang Yi snapped awake instantly, swallowing the next two syllables. His lips twisted into a different shape: “Get out.”

Though Jiang Yi’s voice was soft, Yan Nanchen still caught that unusual word.

Chu? Or was it something else?

Calling out that man’s name the moment he woke up, before even opening his eyes? And in such a soft, coquettish tone were they really together?

Who was that man? Would his father know about this person who had been by Jiang Yi’s side all this time?

Suppressing the jealousy surging in his chest, Yan Nanchen didn’t let any of it show. He reached out to brush Jiang Yi’s hair away from his forehead. “How can I leave? You have a fever. I need to take care of you.”

It didn’t matter. He was still Jiang Yi’s Alpha. As long as he tried hard enough, he could make things right.

Jiang Yi instinctively avoided Yan Nanchen’s touch, turning his face away. “I don’t need you to take care of me.” How was Yan Nanchen here?! And how had he ended up in the hospital.

His mind raced, trying to recall what had happened.

He remembered returning to the hotel, then his pheromone concentration imbalance, followed by the fever and then,

“Yi Yi, am I still your emergency contact?”

Jiang Yi froze.

Had he really called Yan Nanchen himself by dialing his emergency contact?

Yan Nanchen sat by the bed, his hands clasped together on his lap, his gaze resting on Jiang Yi’s averted profile. His eyes were filled with tenderness. “Back when you were hospitalized after your accidental secondary differentiation, I asked you to set me as your emergency contact because I was afraid something might happen to you again. You haven’t deleted it yet, is it because—”

“No,” Jiang Yi cut him off coldly. “I just forgot to remove it.”

Yan Nanchen thought to himself, You’ve even changed phones, how could you have ‘forgotten’ to delete it?

But he didn’t call him out. Instead, he continued gently, “You’re sick now and need someone to take care of you. Should I call your husband over?”

Jiang Yi: “…”

Yan Nanchen softened his voice. “If it were me, I’d come the moment you called, no matter what I was handling.”

Jiang Yi: “…” Honestly, if Chu Beiheng heard this kind of shade, he’d definitely punch him.

“Do you want me to call him for you? If he truly loves and cares about you, he should come take care of you right away.”

Jiang Yi’s temple twitched at Yan Nanchen’s passive-aggressive words. “He’s taking care of our daughter. I don’t want her to know I’m sick, otherwise,”

“So it’s a daughter,” Yan Nanchen suddenly smiled. “That’s wonderful.”

Jiang Yi: “…” This is getting out of hand. Why does it feel like Yan Nanchen is considering being the other man now? Maybe I should call Chu Beiheng for backup.

He glanced at the bedside table, searching for his phone nothing. Then he turned to look at Yan Nanchen’s side and, sure enough, his phone was right next to him.

He reached out with the hand attached to the IV, trying to grab it.

But Yan Nanchen was faster, handing the phone to him while pressing down on his arm with his other hand. “Don’t move around you’re still on an IV.” Then he tucked the phone into Jiang Yi’s free hand, the picture of thoughtfulness.

Jiang Yi couldn’t help muttering under his breath, “Suspiciously nice for no reason.”

“Mm. Because I want to pursue you.”

Jiang Yi: “I have a husband.”

“You have your husband. I’ll pursue my own way.”

Jiang Yi: “Shameless.”

“What use is dignity when I’ve already lost my wife?”

Jiang Yi had had enough. This absolute bastard. He unlocked his phone to call Chu Beiheng. He trusted that Chu Beiheng could play along perfectly, he’d spent years acting out cartoon roles with Qiao Qiao, even dubbing Barbie princesses.

The moment the call connected, he hit speakerphone and spoke before Chu Beiheng could. “Honey!”

On the other end, Chu Beiheng, rudely awakened in the middle of the night: “…” Am I having a nightmare?

Bleary-eyed, he checked the caller ID, it was definitely Jiang Yi. Realization dawned. He took a deep breath, resigned, as if ready to renounce the world after this.

Then he quickly got into character, deepening his sleep-roughened voice into a lazy drawl. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Miss me?”

Jiang Yi: “…” Ugh, goosebumps. Fighting back the nausea from the saccharine tone, he whispered, “My pheromone concentration imbalance is acting up.”

“What?!” Chu Beiheng immediately bolted upright in bed, genuine concern slipping through. “How high is your fever? Any nosebleeds? Did you call the doctor for a neutralizer? Did you sneak coffee again?! Who’s with you right now?!”

This barrage of words made Jiang Yi silently hold his phone a little further away. “Calm down, I’m fine. I’m at the hospital now.”

“At the hospital and still fine?!!! Did you faint again? I told you to let Jamie accompany you, but you wouldn’t listen. She would’ve made sure you took your medicine.” Chu Beiheng immediately walked to the coat rack to grab his jacket. “Which hospital? I’ll have someone prep the plane and head back right away.”

Jiang Yi: “…” Sooner or later, Chu Beiheng’s explosive energy would give him tinnitus. It was a miracle the man could still remember to modulate his voice. “Don’t rush. If you come, Qiao Qiao will throw a fit.”

“Of course I’m bringing Qiao Qiao back. You stay put at the hospital. I’ll set off soon, gotta go.” Chu Beiheng grabbed his coat, hung up, and opened the door. He went downstairs and knocked on the housekeeper’s door. When it opened, he covered the phone’s receiver and quickly instructed Jamie to call for his private jet to be readied, then headed to the adjacent nursery.

Pushing open the nursery door, Qiao Qiao was still asleep.

Chu Beiheng simply scooped up the sleeping child, wrapped his coat around her, and strode out.

Beep, beep, beep!

Jiang Yi stared at the ended call screen. Sooner or later, Chu Beiheng’s impulsive nature would be the death of him. He shouldn’t have called him in the first place. Sighing helplessly, he accidentally caught Yan Nanchen staring at him and calmly set his phone down.

“Well, my husband’s coming. You should leave. It wouldn’t be good if he saw you here.” After all this acting, surely he wouldn’t stoop so low as to cling shamelessly? The president of Galaxy Group couldn’t possibly be this lovesick, could he?

Yan Nanchen showed no intention of leaving. He remained seated by the bed, expression unchanging as he watched Jiang Yi. “I’ll wait until he arrives. I won’t feel at ease leaving you alone in the hospital.”

Jiang Yi was momentarily speechless. If these two brothers ended up fighting, it would be entirely his fault. He’d already dragged Chu Beiheng into this mess, he couldn’t let Yan Nanchen keep believing he was just a substitute.

So he turned onto his side, facing away. “I don’t need you. I’ve been perfectly fine without you these past five years. Just go. It’d be bad if my husband misunderstood.”

Yan Nanchen gazed at Jiang Yi’s turned back, acutely sensing his rejection. He stayed seated, his eyes gradually reddening. “Yi Yi, you called me ‘puppy’ earlier. It’s been so long since I last heard you say that.”

Jiang Yi froze.

What?

Had he really called him that?

“Your fever was already sky-high. You must’ve been completely out of it, collapsed behind the door, barely able to speak. I stood outside, knocking and calling for you. I could faintly hear you talking on the phone, but I couldn’t make out the words. I was so, so worried. And then, I heard you crying.”

Jiang Yi’s back stiffened. Holding his breath, he listened was Yan Nanchen crying?

His fingers unconsciously clenched the sheets.

“You were calling for me. You were saying ‘puppy.’ You told me it hurt so much. Hearing that shattered my heart. Thankfully, you slid the key card out.” Yan Nanchen paused here for a few seconds, as if about to say something more, but his throat tightened as he stared at Jiang Yi’s back, eyes red.

Jiang Yi couldn’t see Yan Nanchen’s expression, but one thing was clear, he had been the one to push the key card out?

He didn’t even remember doing that.

“Yi Yi, back then when you were in pain from secondary differentiation, you needed me to hold and comfort you to feel better. Giving birth. must have been so painful.” Yan Nanchen thought of what the doctor had just said about postpartum hemorrhage, the words were like thorns piercing his heart, making it hard to breathe.

When Jiang Yi heard the mention of childbirth, it instantly dragged his memories back to that agonizing early morning. This was even more painful than when he brought it up himself. His face turned deathly pale, his grip on the sheets tightening so hard that he didn’t even notice the blood from his IV flowing backward along his hand.

“Yi Yi, it’s my fault for not being by your side. Everything is my fault. Can you give me another chance to make it up to you? I promise, I’ll never”

“Get out.”

A cold, merciless command cut through the air.

Yan Nanchen looked stunned.

Then he watched as Jiang Yi turned away.

Jiang Yi met Yan Nanchen’s reddened eyes, his expression blank. “Yan Nanchen, get out right now. I don’t want to see you.”

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