Chapter 1

01

Before I married He Yanchuan, I knew he couldn’t have children.

When he was eighteen, he had climbed a tree to retrieve a kite for his childhood sweetheart, Yu Tang, and fallen.

He landed on a stone that struck him in the worst possible place.

People said his trousers had been soaked in blood.

The story spread everywhere. For a long time, he was the object of ridicule. Afterward, he became withdrawn and cold.

Yu Tang broke off their engagement because of his physical condition.

My grandfather was an experienced practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. He ran our family clinic.

He Yanchuan’s grandfather had been a VIP patient for years. The two old men were close friends.

When his grandson reached twenty-five and still wouldn’t marry, Old Mr. He coaxed and pressured him into marrying me.

The He family was worth hundreds of billions. He Yanchuan was its only son.

Mine might be an old medical family, but marrying into theirs was still reaching far above our station.

More than the difference in background, though, there was me.

I couldn’t speak.

When news of his marriage to a woman who was unable to speak spread, high society eagerly made a joke of it.

“So what if the He heir has a problem down there? With that fortune, he could marry anyone. Instead, he picked an ordinary little mute.”

“I heard he looked cold throughout the wedding. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with his grandfather’s choice.”

“She may have married rich, but being a wealthy man’s wife won’t be easy.”

02

I knew He Yanchuan didn’t like me.

I knew my place, too.

After the wedding, I volunteered to sleep in a separate room.

We lived in the same villa, yet we were more distant than strangers.

Then, one night exactly a year after our marriage, he came home from a business dinner. He had been drinking and got caught in the rain.

By midnight, he had a high fever.

I went to his room to look after him.

He was deeply asleep. Nothing I did could wake him.

The thermometer read thirty-nine point five.

Unable to give him medicine, I tried to cool him down instead.

I unbuttoned his shirt.

My eyes strayed to his firm stomach, and I swallowed.

He Yanchuan had an almost perfect face and body, along with an extraordinary family background.

Without that problem, and Yu Tang ending their engagement, how would I ever have had the chance to marry him?

I prepared a basin of warm water and carefully wiped him down.

When I had finished his upper body, I undid his belt and, blushing, continued lower.

To my surprise, his body responded.

He seemed… rather well equipped.

Sinful thoughts crowded my head.

I wanted to know what a man with a fever of thirty-nine point five would be like. I also wanted to know whether the tonics I had cooked for him over the past year had worked.

We had been married a year, but our relationship remained politely distant.

We had never shared a bed. We hadn’t even held hands.

Asleep, without his usual cold expression, he looked terribly tempting.

I tossed the cloth aside and quietly settled into his lap.

03

The pain came quickly and passed just as fast.

Three minutes later, before my tears had dried, it was over.

He looked impressive, but apparently he didn’t last long.

I sat there blankly for a moment.

Then panic set in.

If he woke and discovered what I had done while he was unconscious, would he be furious?

One thought flashed through me.

He must never know.

It hadn’t been much of an experience anyway. I would pretend it had never happened.

I dressed him again and quietly left.

His fever was gone the next morning.

At breakfast, I felt like a thief. I didn’t dare look up.

Fortunately, he seemed unaware of the night before.

He was as indifferent as ever, treating me like another ornament in the house.

I pretended to be indifferent, too.

Being unable to speak had made me used to silence and insecurity, to making myself small so no one noticed me.

We finished breakfast without a word.

He left for the He Group offices.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

I buried the previous night deep inside, thinking I would never speak of it for the rest of my life.

Three months later, I discovered I was pregnant.

Everyone said he was infertile.

How had once been enough?

Apparently, my family’s medicine really did work.

04

I didn’t know how to tell He Yanchuan, nor could I find the opportunity.

One day, someone delivered a designer evening gown on his instructions.

I was staring at it when my phone rang.

His voice was low.

“Did the dress arrive?”

“Try it on.”

“You’re coming to a reception with me tonight.”

He knew perfectly well that I couldn’t speak. Calling to tell me meant he wasn’t allowing a refusal.

He had never taken me to a social event since our wedding.

I didn’t fit in at those gatherings, and I didn’t want to go.

Before I could finish typing my refusal, another message arrived.

[Grandpa wants me to take you. Get ready.]

With his grandfather invoked, I had little choice.

[All right.]

At eight that evening, the driver came.

I normally dressed simply. In that expensive gown, I felt awkward and unfamiliar to myself.

When the car door opened, surprise flickered in He Yanchuan’s eyes.

Once I was inside, he noticed my discomfort.

“You look beautiful,” he said gently. “Be more confident.”

I didn’t know whether he meant it, but at least I felt a little less insecure.

It was my first high-society reception.

The moment I entered beside him, every eye turned toward me.

My hearing was keen. I caught the whispers behind us.

“Oh, so that’s his mute wife?”

“She’s pretty enough. But so ordinary.”

“A little country girl who’s never seen the world.”

“Isn’t he embarrassed to bring her?”

My palms grew damp. I wanted to flee.

Then he took my hand firmly and murmured by my ear.

“Don’t be afraid. If anyone laughs at you, I’ll buy their company.”

I smiled.

It was easier to relax after that.

He brought me a glass of apple juice.

The moment I smelled it, nausea rose.

I quickly covered my mouth and tried to hold it down.

05

I hurried toward the restroom.

Behind me, two women whispered.

“Is his wife having morning sickness?”

“But He Yanchuan can’t have children. How could she be pregnant?”

His eyes chilled.

“What nonsense are you talking? My wife has an upset stomach.”

They apologized at once.

“We were only joking, Mr. He. Please don’t take offense.”

When I emerged, he was waiting in the corridor.

“If you’re unwell, let’s go home.”

“And if you don’t want to attend a reception in future, you can refuse.”

I nodded and went home with him.

He called our private doctor to examine me.

I waved my hands to say I was fine now.

In my room, I suddenly realized my pregnancy test was missing.

Panicking, I went downstairs to ask the housekeeper.

At the spiral staircase, I ran into He Yanchuan.

He held the test.

Back in the room, he looked at me, his voice cold.

“Xia Yu. Are you pregnant?”

There was no hiding it now.

I nodded.

His face darkened.

“I’ve never touched you. Whose child is it?”

He had never touched me.

But I had touched him.

I stayed silent.

Where could I begin?

Could I really tell him that three months earlier, while he lay unconscious with a fever, I had forced a kiss on him and climbed into his bed?

It was hardly something to be proud of.

I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.

We might be legally married, but I had still violated his will.

It was my fault.

A moment of weakness and desire had led me to do something wrong.

I was guilty.

“I’m sorry,” I signed.

His expression darkened further.

Perhaps he took my apology as an admission of infidelity.

For a long time, he said nothing.

“Do you intend to keep the baby?”

I had already been examined.

Twins.

The doctor said both were healthy.

I nodded.

Yes. I wanted them.

His eyes reddened as though he were fighting to contain his anger.

After several seconds, he spoke coldly.

“I respect your choice.”

“But I’m not generous enough to raise another man’s child.”

“I’ll send you abroad for the pregnancy.”

“After you give birth, we’ll divorce.”