Fake Pregnancy? Oops, It’s Real — and So Is the Husband - Chapter 98

The café was bathed in dim yellow light, with soft music flowing through the tranquil space.

Shen Lai looked at Yi Xingyu sitting across from her and spoke calmly, “What brings you here, Miss Yi?”

Yi Xingyu stirred her coffee unhurriedly. “I heard you and Jingyan used to be sworn enemies.”

Shen Lai raised an eyebrow but said nothing, waiting for Yi Xingyu to continue.

The fact that she and Pei Jingyan were once bitter rivals was common knowledge, anyone in their circle could confirm it. There was nothing surprising about that.

Yi Xingyu smiled faintly. “I’m quite curious. Since you two were so at odds, how did you end up together?”

Shen Lai took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t think I owe you an explanation, Miss Yi.”

After a brief silence, Yi Xingyu said, “From what I know, you and Jingyan got married because you were pregnant, right?”

Noticing the almost imperceptible pause in Shen Lai’s movements, Yi Xingyu chuckled. “So, back then, Jingyan married you because you were pregnant, correct?”

Shen Lai lifted her gaze to meet Yi Xingyu’s. “And? What’s your point?”

Yi Xingyu stared straight into her eyes. “So, Jingyan’s feelings for you can’t be that deep, can they?”

Shen Lai’s expression remained unchanged.

Yi Xingyu wasn’t wrong. Their marriage had indeed started because she was pregnant.

To be precise, it was more of a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Pei Jingyan needed her to secure his position as the heir, while she relied on him to climb the ranks in the entertainment industry and ensure her mother received better medical treatment.

Shen Lai slowly set down her coffee cup, her face calm. “Miss Yi, if you have something to say, why not be direct? There’s no need to beat around the bush.”

She didn’t believe Yi Xingyu had sought her out just to gossip about her and Pei Jingyan.

Yi Xingyu met her gaze head-on and said bluntly, “You must have noticed that I have feelings for Jingyan, right?”

Shen Lai nodded. “I have.”

She wasn’t stupid. During breakfast that day, she had already sensed Yi Xingyu’s unusual attitude toward Pei Jingyan.

Most people would naturally keep their distance from a married man, but Yi Xingyu seemed completely oblivious to that.

At the time, she hadn’t been entirely sure, but now it was crystal clear.

“Since you’ve noticed, I won’t hide it anymore,” Yi Xingyu said, enunciating each word deliberately. “To be honest, the reason I came back this time was for him.”

This was the first time Shen Lai had encountered someone so brazen, openly declaring their affection for another woman’s husband to his wife.

Yi Xingyu continued, “I fell for him while we were abroad. Back in college, we spent a lot of time together, eating meals, working on group projects, hosting seminars. We were practically inseparable.”

“I never saw him involved with any other woman, so it’s clear he doesn’t have much affection for you, does he?”

“If it weren’t for your unexpected pregnancy, he would never have married you.”

Shen Lai almost laughed. “So, are you suggesting I divorce him?”

Yi Xingyu sidestepped the question. “A marriage built on a child won’t last long. Given that, why cling to him?”

Shen Lai cut her off. “How do you know I’m the one clinging to him?”

Yi Xingyu stiffened slightly.

Shen Lai arched an eyebrow. “It was Pei Jingyan who proposed to me, not me desperately trying to marry him.”

She wasn’t entirely wrong, back then, it was Pei Jingyan who had taken the initiative to propose marriage to her.

Otherwise, she would have long since gotten rid of the child in her womb.

Hearing the latter half of Shen Lai’s words, Yi Xingyu’s grip on the coffee cup handle tightened abruptly.

Pei Jingyan had actively sought to marry Shen Lai?

How was that possible?

Shen Lai continued, “And do you really think he’s the kind of person who can be easily threatened? If he doesn’t want to do something, who could possibly force him?”

Yi Xingyu said nothing, her fingertips whitening from the force of her grip on the cup.

Shen Lai glanced at her subtly and smiled faintly. “Still, there’s one thing I’m quite curious about.”

When Yi Xingyu looked up at her, Shen Lai raised an eyebrow. “Since you’re so confident in yourself, believing that spending every day with Pei Jingyan makes your relationship with him special, why didn’t you confess to him directly instead of coming to me?”

Yi Xingyu’s breathing faltered slightly. Shen Lai delivered another light, cutting remark: “That just proves you don’t actually have the confidence that he’d accept you, does it? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here to intimidate me.”

It was as if a festering wound deep in Yi Xingyu’s heart had been prodded, her expression darkened instantly.

Suddenly, Shen Lai leaned forward, her strikingly beautiful features now inches from Yi Xingyu’s face. She blinked at her suggestively. “And like you said, I’ve worked so hard to be with Pei Jingyan, why would I ever let him go?”

“With him, I have money to spend, I can buy whatever I want, and when I go out, people call me Mrs. Pei. Only a fool would give up such a good life. Don’t you agree?”

Shen Lai had always operated on the principle of if you make me suffer, I’ll make you suffer too. Yi Xingyu wanted her to divorce? Well, she simply wouldn’t.

Why should she pave the way for the two of them?

Yi Xingyu’s chest rose and fell slightly. She had always assumed Shen Lai was nothing more than a brainless bankrupt socialite with a pretty face. It seemed she had underestimated her.

Shen Lai stood up. “Thank you for the coffee, Miss Yi. It was quite good. I’ll be going now.”

She gave Yi Xingyu a polite nod, picked up her bag, and left the café.

Yi Xingyu watched her retreating figure, her breathing growing heavier by the second. The next moment, as if losing control, she violently swept the coffee cup onto the floor. Scalding liquid splashed onto her skin, but she seemed to feel nothing at all.

By the time Shen Lai returned to the villa, it was nearly midnight.

As soon as she stepped into the living room, she saw Pei Jingyan sitting on the sofa, a laptop resting on his lap, apparently still working.

“You’re back?”

Hearing familiar footsteps, Pei Jingyan looked up at Shen Lai.

The moment she saw him, Shen Lai couldn’t help but think of the mess of admirers he’d attracted. Her tone cooled. “Yeah.”

Pei Jingyan glanced at his watch. “Why so late today? Didn’t your manager say your shoot wrapped up early?”

Shen Lai avoided his gaze, bending down to take off her shoes. “Had some things to take care of.”

Perhaps her demeanor was too icy, even Pei Jingyan noticed something was off. He studied her. “What’s wrong? Did someone upset you?”

Who else but you? Shen Lai thought.

Aloud, she replied coldly, “No one. I’m going upstairs to shower.”

But the moment she passed by him, Pei Jingyan caught her wrist. His deep gaze fixed on her. “What’s really going on? Did someone at the shoot give you trouble?”

Shen Lai took a quiet breath and finally looked at him, irritation flashing in her eyes. “It’s just the unwanted admirers you attracted.”

Pei Jingyan frowned, not quite grasping the meaning of those words before Shen Lai pulled her hand free from his and went upstairs.

Just then, his phone rang in his pocket, a message from Yi Xingyu.

“Jingyan, I’m at Sunrise Bar right now. Can you come over?”