I'm Pregnant With My Arch-Nemesis's Child - Chapter 1

The night was deep.

Neon lights flooded the streets, appearing like colorful, swaying wine bottles. The vibrant colors reflecting through the clear liquor blended together in a silent, dazzling display.

Beneath the interplay of light and shadow, a black supercar sped past.

“Manager Chi, are you coming or not?”

Cheng Ye was feeling tipsy. He drunkenly nudged his friend, who was still partying, and pointed to the phone held to his ear. After failing to hear the response on the other end for quite some time, he decided he needed to step out for some peace and quiet.

Once the surroundings finally grew quiet, Cheng Ye covered one ear and listened to the voice on the other end, his tone shifting into a playful, familiar rhythm.

“Father Chi, could you say that again? That group of idiots was making so much noise, I didn’t hear you!”

“I said, you idiot, look up.”

The voice had such a distinct texture that it felt as if the person were standing right in front of him. Cheng Ye’s alcohol-clouded brain struggled to process this, and he did not even notice that his phone screen had already gone dark.

“Oh, right.”

Chi Yuan watched with cold eyes as the other man agreed in a daze, yet made no move to look up. Instead, Cheng Ye was fumbling with his trouser pocket as if preparing to squat down and light a cigarette.

Chi Yuan stood before Cheng Ye with an unreadable expression. His narrow, phoenix-like eyes squinted slightly. Only when he was certain that the man would not be able to react for a while did he aristocratically nudge the other’s foot with his own.

“Are you hammered? Didn’t you say he was here? Where is he?”

Having been kicked for no reason, Cheng Ye finally pulled himself out of his muddled state. He looked up, ready to curse, but stopped as soon as he saw a familiar face.

Chi Yuan had been handsome since childhood, especially his eyes. Those phoenix eyes carried an innate majesty when frosty and were soul-stirring when curved. Such looks were outstanding even among popular celebrities. Combined with Chi Yuan’s family background, it was no wonder he had been so successful in his romantic pursuits during his student days.

Cloaked by Chi Yuan’s tall, slender silhouette, Cheng Ye’s brain momentarily stalled, unable to immediately grasp whom Chi Yuan meant by “he.”

“Where is Lu Huai?”

Chi Yuan frowned. He had been busy all day pushing a new project and only wanted to go to sleep. If Cheng Ye had not called to say that Lu Huai was back, he absolutely would not have come.

Now that he had arrived, he wanted to know where Lu Huai was.

Only when the name was stated clearly did Cheng Ye remember that he had called Chi Yuan with the intention of watching the drama unfold. His mind cleared up considerably. He jumped to his feet and led Chi Yuan inside.

“The room next door. He had just gone in when I arrived, and I specifically assigned someone to keep an eye on him. He should still be there.”

As he spoke, Cheng Ye ushered Chi Yuan into the private room. It was common knowledge that, in contrast to Chi Yuan’s handsome face, his temper was notoriously arrogant and prideful. For all these years, only Lu Huai had dared to stand against him.

At the mention of Lu Huai, Cheng Ye could not help but smile with schadenfreude. A confrontation between Lu Huai and Chi Yuan was a rare spectacle. Perhaps they were destined to be at odds; they had been childhood neighbors, door-to-door, since they were young. The term “mortal enemy” seemed created for them. They competed in family status, education, and looks, and even ended up as romantic rivals over the person Chi Yuan eventually settled down with.

No one knew if the heartbreak of his failed romance was too much for Lu Huai to handle, but he had left to study abroad without a word. He had been gone for two years and had only recently returned.

This long-standing rivalry had been briefly interrupted by one person’s absence, but no one expected them to cross paths today. Cheng Ye lowered his head to take a sip of alcohol and gave a nonchalant instruction to someone to invite Manager Lu from next door.

Chi Yuan was ushered to the center seat. While drinking toasts offered by others, his eyes never strayed from the door.

“Manager Chi has been so busy lately. It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

Chi Yuan looked toward the voice, but did not have a deep impression of the person. He inwardly complained about the type of people Cheng Ye invited, but did not respond. Fortunately, his childhood friend, Wang Tao, tactfully took over the conversation.

“I didn’t even think you would be able to come drink with us. Isn’t that kid, Fang Qiming, keeping a tight leash on you? He actually let you out?” Wang Tao winked.

At the mention of his lover’s name, Chi Yuan’s sharp eyes softened slightly. He did not deny it, instead letting out a soft laugh. “Are you mocking me?”

“It has been so long since we all gathered. You must be punished with more drinks!” The crowd clamored, placing a row of glasses in front of Chi Yuan. “Finish them all. Being a couple is just plain hurtful to the rest of us.”

Fang Qiming was the key figure in the love triangle between Chi Yuan and Lu Huai. No one expected that Chi Yuan, who had walked through a myriad of blossoms without a single leaf clinging to his clothes, and Lu Huai, the high-mountain lotus who did not eat the food of mortals, would both fall for the same man.

However, it was not as if Chi Yuan had truly introduced his lover to his parents, so there were still some aspects worth pondering.

Chi Yuan did not refuse. He picked up a glass, but just as he brought it to his lips, he heard that familiar, slightly provocative voice.

“Cheng Ye? Long time no see.”

The door was only half-open. The man stood at the intersection of light and shadow, which made his deep features appear half-hidden, yet all the more striking. However, his thin lips were pressed tightly together, which weakened the natural smile in his peach-blossom eyes and made him look quite cold.

Chi Yuan’s hand froze mid-air. He did not know what Cheng Ye had said, but he felt Lu Huai’s gaze fall precisely on him for a few seconds before shifting away as if nothing had happened.

Consequently, he turned his glass in a different direction.

Lu Huai had already said his farewells. He declined the suggestion to say hello to everyone, but then saw Chi Yuan walking toward him with a smile.

His movements involuntarily slowed for a moment.

Although he knew before returning to the country that meeting Chi Yuan would be inevitable, he had not expected them to be so consistent in their unwanted fate.

Lowering his long lashes to cover the subtle emotions in his eyes, Lu Huai let out a light laugh and spoke before Chi Yuan could.

“Long time no see.”

It was as if omitting the name made this greeting feel much more ordinary.

Chi Yuan was stunned at this, suddenly feeling a sense of inexplicable loss. But before he could think it through, he saw Lu Huai turn toward Cheng Ye, clearly intending to ignore him.

“I will head to the room next door then. Let us gather again when there is time.”

“Manager Lu, when did you learn to use such perfunctory language?” Chi Yuan raised an eyebrow, his words laced with sarcasm. He shot a glance at Cheng Ye, who consciously lowered his head, and then continued, smiling at Lu Huai. “Since you are already here, why leave without a word? I wonder who Manager Lu is afraid of?”

A single sentence ignited the tension.

Cheng Ye sighed that Chi Yuan was truly himself. He snuck a peek at Lu Huai, and seeing the other man’s smile vanish and his aura turn heavy, he quietly slipped out of the standoff between the two heavyweights, hoping only to find a spot on the edge to watch the drama.

“Manager Chi is joking.”

Lu Huai finally focused on that face he had spent so much time thinking about.

Two years later, some things had not changed. Chi Yuan still spoke with such aggression. And some things had changed; he had not expected the other man to take the initiative to walk up to him.

“There is nothing to be afraid of.”

Perhaps a lie, but Lu Huai met Chi Yuan’s eyes and said calmly, “It has just been too long since we met, so let us stay here.”

The crowd, holding their breath to watch the show, had expected a clash, but they did not expect Lu Huai to back down so easily. Chi Yuan himself felt deflated. He looked at Lu Huai with a complex expression, frowning internally because this was different from what he had imagined.

“Alright, alright! Don’t just stand there! Let us play. Since we have two more people, what is the point of just drinking?” Cheng Ye nudged Wang Tao, giving him a frantic wink, while already having grabbed the spinning wheel. “Let us play something exciting!”

Wang Tao caught on immediately, his small eyes darting around as he joined in the excitement. “Exactly. Let us add some stakes. Truth or Dare? A bit cliché, but easy to start!”

They had not engaged in these games when he first arrived, but now everyone was in agreement. They were clearly waiting for the two of them to take the bait. Chi Yuan pursed his lips, catching a glimpse of the unresponsive Lu Huai, but did not object.

“Hold on a moment.” Seeing everyone seated, Chi Yuan spoke up, nonchalantly raising his glass. “Manager Lu came late, after all, so shouldn’t he be punished with a drink?”

Whether intentional or not, the two were sitting opposite each other at the long axis of the oval coffee table, and with the dim lighting, Chi Yuan could not quite make out Lu Huai’s expression.

Cheng Ye wanted to agree but, recalling something else, he changed his tune to play peacemaker. “Brother Chi, let it be. Won’t there be a chance later?”

“Must I drink it?”

Lu Huai spoke up, causing Cheng Ye’s unfinished sentence to die in his throat. The smile in Lu Huai’s eyes vanished; even if his lips curled slightly, he looked quite cold.

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

Only Chi Yuan did not retreat or avoid the gaze. He met the blade-like sharpness of the phoenix eyes and nodded decisively. “Yes.”

Lu Huai reached out. The drink, held halfway by Chi Yuan, had already had half its ice melted by the warmth of his palm. As he took it, he felt that the glass wall was not as bone-chillingly cold as it should have been. Lu Huai lowered his eyes, complex emotions reflecting in the liquor. He smiled, feeling he was overstepping.

His reason told him he should not have run into Chi Yuan, should not have agreed to stay, and should not have touched the drink.

Yet he had done all of it.

With his fingertips rubbing the droplets on the side of the glass, Lu Huai did not wait for Chi Yuan to urge him and drained the glass in one go. The spiciness he felt upon the first sip was a bit like Chi Yuan.

“Lu Huai is really giving Brother Chi face…” Cheng Ye muttered to himself, his expression suddenly becoming complicated, shifting back and forth between the two men who were still at odds.

Wang Tao did not hear him clearly, but that did not stop his excitement. “What are you mumbling about over there? It is so explosive right at the start! I am looking forward to what comes next.”

Seeing that Lu Huai had drunk the alcohol without any rebuttal, Chi Yuan sat down, astonished. This did not seem like the other man’s style. Knowing Lu Huai’s calculating nature, he had expected him to be planning some way to get back at him.

However, after three rounds of drinks, Lu Huai just quietly lowered his head to look at his glass, not saying an extra word.

It was as if he had never even regarded Chi Yuan as a person.

“Brother Chi!” Cheng Ye jumped up in joy. “Let me see…”

Chi Yuan, caught off guard by his name being called, looked up and just happened to see Lu Huai retract his gaze.

Was he looking at me? Chi Yuan frowned in confusion, only to hear the next sentence.

“Yo, it looks like Brother Lu is the one calling the shots.”

Having just drunk a glass of strong liquor, Lu Huai was feeling dizzy from a stomach ache, his thoughts a bit slow. He stayed still for two seconds before casting his gaze toward Chi Yuan.

He found the other man’s defensive posture somewhat amusing; he had not intended to make things difficult for him at all.

“Then let us have a glass.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Chi Yuan’s phone suddenly rang. The man’s previously gloomy expression cleared slightly when he caught the name of the caller.

Lu Huai took it all in, his eyes darkening. He instinctively swallowed the rest of his words.

“What? Is your partner coming to check up on you?”

“Tsk tsk, but during his time dating Fang Qiming, Brother Chi has really been quite well-behaved!”

“That goes without saying, it is true love!”

The surrounding teasing began to rise. Lu Huai curled his lips in a mocking way and suddenly changed his mind.

Chi Yuan seemed to offer a few words of comfort, but the pleasure in his expression could not be faked. He said proudly to Lu Huai, “What punishment? Once I finish this round, I am heading back!”

Cheng Ye laughed and scolded, “Tsk, a model husband!”

“True love is true love; one phone call and he is being dragged away!”

Chi Yuan ignored them, his gaze locked firmly onto Lu Huai, sincerely waiting for his reply.

Lu Huai leisurely unbuttoned his cuffs. His normally cold voice became deep, tinged with the effects of the alcohol. He gestured with his chin toward the people dancing energetically outside the glass.

“I am in the mood; I want to watch a dance. I wonder if Manager Chi is willing?”

Lu Huai wore a smile, but it did not reach his eyes. He said to the clearly surprised Chi Yuan, word by word, “Manager Chi, you wouldn’t be a sore loser, would you?”