Chapter 3

After I hung up, another hundred thousand yuan arrived as an "understanding fee."

I began examining myself.

Where exactly were my principles?

After thinking it over for half a day, I locked them in the safe.

I'd take them out after the baby was born.

Because Bai Qingqian's next gift had already arrived.

A nursery design.

She wanted me to transfer the city-center apartment I'd just received to her unborn child.

She spread the drawings on my dining table, her voice sugary.

"This apartment's only five hundred meters from the best international school."

"Two hundred square meters for one person is such a waste. The baby will need a school. As the godmother, surely you should show a little sincerity?"

An ex-wife becoming godmother to her ex-husband's child by his mistress.

So far ahead of its time that I didn't know how to answer.

Taking my silence as encouragement, she reached for my hand.

"I know you can't let Wanjun go."

"Give the baby the apartment, and we'll be one family."

"I'll let the child call you Godmother. That should make up for your regret over having no children."

I withdrew my hand and asked seriously, "Could you say that again?"

Triumph flashed in her eyes.

She repeated it.

Excellent.

The entryway and living-room cameras had recorded everything.

I folded the plans.

"The apartment's worth too much. I'll have to ask Wanjun."

She stopped me immediately.

"Don't bother him over something so small!"

"He's already exhausted doing things for the baby. Just transfer it. Make it a surprise."

I nodded and went into the kitchen.

When I came out, I carried chicken soup that had simmered for four hours.

"Have some soup first. We can discuss the apartment."

After two sips, she covered her mouth and retched.

Then she lifted the bowl, her gaze turning cold.

"Shu Wan, what did you put in this?"

"Chicken. Ginger. Red dates."

"My doctor said I mustn't have ginger! You knew that and put it in anyway. Are you trying to hurt my baby?"

Her voice grew louder.

Her wrist tilted.

The entire bowl spilled across the rug.

Then she crouched, clutched her belly, and cried as she called Lei Wanjun.

"Wanjun, my stomach hurts… There's something wrong with her soup. I'm scared."

Twenty minutes later, he burst in with his driver and family doctor.

Bai Qingqian curled in the corner of the sofa.

At the sight of him, she cried so hard she could barely breathe.

"I know she hates me. But the baby's innocent."

"I won't pursue it. I'll just leave, all right?"

His face darkened.

"Shu Wan, what happened?"

I didn't argue.

I let the doctor examine her first.

Then cast the kitchen and dining-room security footage onto the television.

Onscreen, the housekeeper prepared the soup according to a maternity menu.

The ginger slices were in a separate filter bag, removed whole before serving.

Her own nutritionist had checked the menu before she arrived.

What followed was clearer still.

Bai Qingqian sniffed the soup.

Willingly drank two sips.

Then threw it onto the floor.

Before crouching, she even adjusted the angle of her phone's camera.

The living room became delightfully quiet.

Lei Wanjun turned to her.

"Why did you lie?"

Tears still clung to her face.

After a long struggle, she forced out, "I just felt insecure… I was afraid she'd take you back. I wanted to see whether you'd defend me first."

He glanced at me, looking embarrassed.

"Shu Wan, you've been wronged today."

I shook my head.

"She's pregnant. It's normal to be sensitive."

"Take her to hospital for a check. We don't want anything really happening to the baby."

She stared.

Clearly, she hadn't expected me to defend her too.

He was even more moved.

That evening, he transferred a million yuan.

Memo: Voluntary gift. Rug cleaning and emotional compensation.

I studied the memo for a long time.

Finally, I decided to buy a new rug.

The old one would still be usable after cleaning.

But I couldn't let the compensation down.

I'd seen his fixation on bloodlines before.

In our second year of marriage, we'd watched a news story.

A man had raised three children for eight years and discovered none was his.

Lei Wanjun ate one less bowl of rice at dinner.

Then he told me solemnly, "When we have a child, we're doing a DNA test as soon as it's born."

"Don't overthink it. Just procedure."

I was looking at handbags.

I didn't lift my head.

"Fine."

He had money.

He spent it on me.

I wasn't planning to find someone else.

My conscience was clear.

Why worry?