Fake Pregnancy? Oops, It’s Real — and So Is the Husband - Chapter 2

Shen Lai’s heart tightened, but she forced herself to remain composed, lifting her chin. “Those are just baseless rumors spread by gossip accounts. I just had an upset stomach.”

Pei Jingyan’s gaze swept over the hands she hid behind her back, his eyes darkening slightly.

“This place isn’t welcome to you. Please…”

Before Shen Lai could finish her dismissal, Pei Jingyan suddenly leaned in, snatching the pregnancy test from her hand with a mocking tone. “Oh? Then what’s this in your hand?”

By the time Shen Lai tried to grab it back, it was too late… Pei Jingyan raised his arm, effortlessly evading her.

His eyes scanned the test, taking in the unmistakable two lines.

Watching the smirk on Pei Jingyan’s lips, Shen Lai’s heart pounded wildly.

“Miss Shen, care to explain?”

Shen Lai swallowed hard, steeling herself. “Fine, yes, I’m pregnant. So what?”

Pei Jingyan enunciated each word deliberately. “Whose child is it?”

Shen Lai clenched her fists. “What does that have to do with you?”

Unfazed, Pei Jingyan replied calmly, “I recall we slept together two months ago.”

Shen Lai’s heart lurched as he continued, “What a coincidence, you’re pregnant now.”

Her breathing grew slightly uneven as the memories of that frenzied night flooded her mind.

Two months ago, Shen Lai’s former manager had pressured her into attending a dinner with investors. Unbeknownst to her, they had drugged her drink, and by the time she realized, the effects had already taken hold.

When her manager tried to deliver her to the investor’s bed, Shen Lai had fought desperately to escape.

In her disoriented state, she had collided with someone pleading for their help in her moment of desperation. The events that followed were a blur.

All she knew was that when she woke the next morning, Pei Jingyan lay beside her, their clothes strewn across the floor, the marks on her body bearing witness to the night’s recklessness.

She had slept with her sworn rival… and worse, lost her virginity to him!

Noticing Shen Lai’s paling complexion, Pei Jingyan smirked. “Seems Miss Shen remembers now.”

Shen Lai swallowed hard. “Just because we slept together doesn’t prove the child is yours. It could be someone else’s.”

A shadow flickered in Pei Jingyan’s eyes as his lips curled into an ambiguous smile. “Oh? I recall Huo Chilin dumped you when your family fell from grace. Unless you two slept together afterward?”

His words struck like a needle to Shen Lai’s chest, draining the color from her face.

On the day the Shen family went bankrupt, Huo Chilin, the sole heir of the Huo family and Shen Lai’s then-boyfriend had immediately broken up with her.

It wasn’t until Huo Chilin’s relationship with Bai Hansui was exposed that Shen Lai realized he had long been entangled with her so-called “best friend.”

“How do you know about that?” Shen Lai’s nails dug into her palms. “Have you been investigating me?”

Pei Jingyan chuckled lightly. “Miss Shen, your affairs are already the talk of the town. No investigation needed.”

Shen Lai deflated like a punctured balloon, the humiliation burning through her. She could already imagine how the gossip mill had relished her downfall.

Pei Jingyan’s tone shifted abruptly. “Since Miss Shen refuses to admit it, we’ll just have to do an amniocentesis.”

“Once the results are in, we’ll know for sure if the child is mine.”

Shen Lai’s heart clenched in dread.

If she really underwent amniocentesis, the truth about the father of the child in her belly being Pei Jingyan would be impossible to hide.

Seeing that Pei Jingyan had already guessed the truth, Shen Lai simply threw caution to the wind. “Fine, I admit it. This child is yours.”

Pei Jingyan raised an eyebrow.

“Is this why you came to my place?” Shen Lai deliberately feigned nonchalance. “Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of this child.”

She hadn’t wanted this child in the first place. Even if Pei Jingyan hadn’t come looking for her, she had already planned to go to the hospital for an abortion.

Pei Jingyan narrowed his eyes, his tone ambiguous. “You really can’t wait, can you?”

“Likewise,” Shen Lai shot back. “I assume you wouldn’t want me to give birth to your child either?”

Besides, wasn’t that exactly why Pei Jingyan had come here today?

“Who said anything about you getting rid of it?”

Shen Lai froze.

If Pei Jingyan didn’t want her to abort the child, then what was he here for?

Watching Shen Lai’s bewildered expression, Pei Jingyan’s lips curled slightly into a faint smile. “Miss Shen, let’s make a deal.”

Shen Lai frowned. “A deal?”

Pei Jingyan toyed with the pregnancy test between his pale fingers. “Marry me and keep the child in your belly.”

Shen Lai’s mind exploded with a deafening “boom,” wondering if she had misheard.

Pei Jingyan wanted to marry her? And have her give birth to his child?

What kind of joke was this?

The first thought that flashed through Shen Lai’s mind was that Pei Jingyan was deliberately messing with her. She clenched her fists. “Did you come here just to toy with me?”

Pei Jingyan didn’t bother hiding the mockery in his voice. “Do you think I have nothing better to do than play games with a bankrupt heiress?”

Seeing Shen Lai’s half-doubtful expression, Pei Jingyan continued, “In exchange, I’ll help you solve your current predicament, provide you with resources, and cover all your mother’s medical expenses.”

After Shen Lai’s father was imprisoned, her mother suffered a stroke from the shock and was hospitalized, with medical bills running into six figures every month.

Otherwise, Shen Lai would never have entered the entertainment industry.

Hearing this, Shen Lai’s heart skipped a beat. She frowned. “Why do you want to marry me? Just because I’m pregnant?”

With Pei Jingyan’s status, all he had to do was lift a finger, and countless women would line up to bear his child.

Why would he specifically choose to marry his sworn rival?

“My grandfather left a will stipulating that I must either marry or have a child before turning twenty-five to inherit the family fortune. Otherwise, the inheritance rights will pass to other family members.”

And this year, Pei Jingyan happened to be twenty-five.

Hearing this explanation, Shen Lai finally understood why Pei Jingyan had proposed marriage.

It was all about the inheritance.

Shen Lai sneered. “How noble of you, President Pei. Willing to marry your sworn rival just for the inheritance.”

Pei Jingyan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “If it means securing the inheritance, what’s marrying a rival?”

He looked down at Shen Lai with a cold gaze and added lightly, “Besides, do you even qualify as my rival anymore?”

The words felt like a slap across Shen Lai’s face. She was no longer the illustrious Miss Shen of the past, she didn’t even have the right to be Pei Jingyan’s adversary now.

Shen Lai bit her lower lip. “What if I refuse?”

Pei Jingyan’s tone was indifferent. “You’re free to refuse if you’re content with remaining a D-list celebrity in the entertainment industry, or taking out loans every month to cover your mother’s exorbitant medical bills.”

These words struck Shen Lai right in the heart, what she cared about most was her mother, who was currently receiving treatment in the hospital.

Seeing Shen Lai fall silent, Pei Jingyan slipped a business card into her hand. “You have one day to think it over. Give me your answer once you’ve made up your mind.”

Holding an umbrella, he turned and left, but not before casting a deep glance at Shen Lai’s abdomen.

Shen Lai didn’t know how she made it back home. She collapsed onto the sofa, drained, still clutching the pregnancy test in her hand, her mind a chaotic mess.

Just then, her phone rang from her pocket.

She pulled it out and saw a payment notice from the hospital.

This month’s medical bill came to a staggering 200,000 yuan.

Shen Lai’s grip on the phone tightened abruptly, her fingertips turning white from the pressure.

200,000?

She couldn’t even scrape together 20,000 right now, where was she supposed to get 200,000?

As if the heavens weren’t done tormenting her, a flood of debt collection messages poured in shortly after. Over the past six months, she had been robbing Peter to pay Paul and had already racked up nearly a million in debt.

Shen Lai scrolled through her contacts, only to realize there wasn’t a single person she could borrow money from.

Ever since the Shen family’s downfall and her father’s imprisonment, all her so-called close friends had distanced themselves from her. That was when she learned just how worthless relationships could be.

No matter how sweet the words were in good times, when disaster struck, people treated you like a virus, desperate to stay as far away as possible.

Friends, boyfriends? It was all the same.

Shen Lai let out a bitter laugh. Then, Pei Jingyan’s words from earlier resurfaced in her mind, and her heart wavered slightly.

Was marrying Pei Jingyan really her only way out now?

Half an hour later, her agent, Chen Hong, arrived.

Chen Hong’s expression was grave. “Shen Lai, the company sent me to ask what exactly happened on the show today? Are you really pregnant?”

Shen Lai stiffly nodded.

“You!” Chen Hong was furious. “Whose child is it?”

Shen Lai lowered her gaze, her lashes casting shadows over her eyes. “Sister Chen, that’s my personal business.”

Chen Hong frowned. “It’s not really Young Master Huo’s, is it? Like the rumors say?”

Without hesitation, Shen Lai replied, “No.”

Chen Hong exhaled in relief. At least it wasn’t Huo Chilin’s child that made things slightly easier.

Huo Chilin was the only son of the Huo family and the boyfriend of rising star Bai Hansui. If they offended them, Shen Lai could forget about surviving in the entertainment industry.

Seeing that Shen Lai refused to reveal the father of her child, Chen Hong fell silent for a moment. “The company wants you to keep quiet in front of the paparazzi. For now, stay out of the public eye. Once the scandal dies down, I’ll take you for an abortion. After you recover, the company will arrange your schedule again.”

From the sound of it, Shen Lai wouldn’t be back on her feet for at least half a year.

That meant she’d be unemployed for six months.

And by the time the scandal faded, she might not even have the little attention she had left now.

After Chen Hong left, Shen Lai stared at the barrage of debt collection messages on her phone and thought back to Pei Jingyan’s proposal. It felt like she had made up her mind.

If she refused, not only would she be unable to pay her mother’s medical bills, but her career in the entertainment industry would be over.

It was framed as a choice, but in reality, she had none.

From the moment her family went bankrupt and her father was imprisoned, she had already lost any semblance of dignity.

Moreover, having a child would secure her flourishing career and guarantee her mother’s well-being for the rest of her life. By any measure, she was coming out ahead.

It was just marrying Pei Jingyan, after all, nothing too daunting.

Finally steeling herself, Shen Lai dialed the number on the business card.

The call connected after just two rings, as if the person on the other end had anticipated her call.

Pei Jingyan remained silent, waiting for her to speak first.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Lai forced out the words with difficulty: “Pei Jingyan, I accept your proposal.”