Fake Pregnancy? Oops, It’s Real — and So Is the Husband - Chapter 108

Pei Jingyan raised his head, taking in Shen Lai’s earnest expression and the hand she extended toward him. His brow arched slightly.

Then he reached out and grasped her hand.

A scorching warmth transmitted through their palms, making Shen Lai’s ears feel hot. She sat quietly beside Pei Jingyan, watching as the doctor stitched his wound.

Perhaps due to the pain, Pei Jingyan occasionally tightened his grip on Shen Lai’s hand, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

Seeing this, Shen Lai couldn’t help but say, “Doctor, be gentler.”

The doctor glanced at her and teased, “Your husband isn’t even complaining, yet you’re the one who’s heartbroken.”

Noticing Pei Jingyan’s amused gaze, Shen Lai guiltily lowered her eyes and muttered under her breath, “Who said I’m heartbroken? I was just speaking up for him, okay?”

By the time the stitches were finally done, Shen Lai’s palm was damp with sweat, she couldn’t tell whether it was hers or Pei Jingyan’s.

“Her hand is injured too. Please take care of it,” Pei Jingyan suddenly said to the doctor.

Shen Lai froze. Had Pei Jingyan not mentioned it, she would have completely forgotten about her own injuries.

She instinctively touched her palm. “It’s just a minor wound. It’s nothing serious.”

Even so, no doctor would ignore a patient’s injury. The doctor examined Shen Lai’s wound anyway.

“This is embedded in your flesh, and you call it minor?” the doctor quipped. “You’ll regret it if you get tetanus.”

Shen Lai felt a pang of guilt and, for once, didn’t argue back.

Fortunately, her wound wasn’t deep enough to require stitches, but it still needed to be disinfected.

Watching the doctor prepare the tools, Shen Lai’s heart clenched.

She had always been terrified of injections and medical procedures since childhood.

“Do you need to borrow my hand too?” Pei Jingyan suddenly spoke up.

Meeting his teasing gaze, Shen Lai coughed lightly. “No need. I’m not that fragile.”

Yet when the doctor actually began disinfecting her wound, Shen Lai couldn’t help but grab Pei Jingyan’s hand in a death grip.

As Shen Lai’s face scrunched up in discomfort, Pei Jingyan’s lips curled slightly, allowing her to squeeze his hand tighter and tighter.

After what felt like an eternity, Shen Lai finally had her wound treated. She exhaled heavily, only to realize she had crumpled Pei Jingyan’s sleeve at some point. She quickly let go.

After the doctor gave a few instructions and left, only the two of them remained in the ward.

Shen Lai glanced at Pei Jingyan’s injured arm and awkwardly asked, “How did you know I was there?”

Since Bai Hansui had been determined to kidnap her, she wouldn’t have carelessly revealed her whereabouts.

Leaning against the headboard, Pei Jingyan spoke weakly due to his injury. “My assistant tracked the route she took and found her car. I had someone check the license plate and located the warehouse.”

Bai Hansui had indeed been cautious, choosing a back alley with no surveillance. But she had overlooked one crucial detail, the alley wasn’t a typical maze of interconnected paths. It had only six exits.

So Pei Jingyan had his team visit the businesses near those exits and eventually found footage from a car’s dashcam parked nearby, which led them to Bai Hansui’s getaway vehicle and, ultimately, the warehouse.

The only regret was that reviewing the footage had taken too long, delaying their arrival.

Shen Lai pressed her lips together.

No wonder Pei Jingyan had arrived so late.

She had thought Pei Jingyan didn’t care whether she lived or died.

Shen Lai’s gaze inadvertently fell on the wound on Pei Jingyan’s arm. Catching her look, Pei Jingyan curled his lips slightly. “What, feeling sorry for me?”

Under normal circumstances, Shen Lai would have bristled at his teasing. But this time, she remained unusually calm and gave a soft, “Mhm.”

Pei Jingyan stiffened for a moment. Seeing the guilt practically spilling from her eyes, he fell silent briefly before speaking slowly, “This has nothing to do with you.”

Shen Lai lowered her lashes, shadows pooling in her eyes. “But if you hadn’t come to save me, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Bai Hansui had been targeting her in the first place. She never expected Pei Jingyan to get dragged into it.

He could have pretended nothing had happened, yet he still came to save her.

Whether it was for her sake or the child in her belly.

Pei Jingyan replied calmly, “If I hadn’t gone to save you, wouldn’t that have confirmed the rumors that we’re just a fake couple?”

At the mention of this, Shen Lai suddenly remembered something important and tensed up. “Right, about what I said online, did a lot of people see it?”

Pei Jingyan’s tone was playful. “It trended. What do you think?”

Shen Lai’s heart sank.

Sure enough, everyone had seen it.

Watching Shen Lai’s expression as if the sky had fallen, Pei Jingyan’s amusement deepened. He lazily reassured her, “Don’t panic. It’s not as bad as you think.”

Shen Lai looked bewildered. “What do you mean?”

Pei Jingyan replied unhurriedly, “After you ended the livestream, some fans dug up that you’d been kidnapped. Now everyone knows something happened to you, so naturally, no one took your words seriously.”

Shen Lai was surprised. Those netizens were way too sharp.

They could even tell she’d been kidnapped.

But this was good news for her. She had been worrying about how to clean up the mess, only for the problem to resolve itself.

If Bai Hansui found out her plan had backfired, she’d probably be furious.

Just as Shen Lai was quietly relieved, Pei Jingyan suddenly called out, “Miss Shen.”

Hearing him address her, Shen Lai looked up in confusion. “Huh? What is it?”

A faint smile lingered in Pei Jingyan’s eyes as he abruptly leaned in, his deep gaze locking onto hers. “What was it you said outside the ambulance earlier? That you’re my wife?”

Shen Lai’s heart clenched. Meeting his teasing stare, her eyes flickered slightly, and she swallowed. “I wasn’t wrong. I am your wife in name.”

Pei Jingyan continued staring at her without blinking, making Shen Lai increasingly uncomfortable. She quickly stood up. “I’m suddenly thirsty. I’ll go get some water.”

With that, she hurried out of the ward. Once the door slammed shut behind her, she leaned against the corridor wall and quietly pressed a hand to her chest.

She didn’t even know why she was so nervous. She hadn’t said anything wrong.

She was Pei Jingyan’s wife.

Even if only in name.

Shen Lai couldn’t help but recall the words Pei Jingyan had said in the warehouse. Her heart felt as if it had plunged into icy water, a dull, throbbing ache spreading through it.

She pressed a hand over her chest, her faint smile fading completely.

She really did seem to have fallen for Pei Jingyan.

After steadying her emotions, Shen Lai was about to step outside for some air when she turned and spotted Huo Chilin sitting on a bench in the corridor.

Frowning slightly, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

Huo Chilin stood up, his gaze fixed intently on Shen Lai’s face. “I heard something happened to you, so I came to check.”