SWNOVELS Chapter 22
“Mom, I’m sorry, don’t leave me—”
Zong Jinghao was taken aback. He looked downwards at her hands holding onto his sleeve, and his gaze slowly stopped at her face. She looked like she was in pain, as if she was in a nightmare.
“Lin Xinyan?” Zong Jinghao frowned.
Lin Xinyan could not hear him. She looked like she was trapped in some horror. She looked anxious, but quickly, she returned back to a state of calmness. Her hand let go of Zong Jinghao, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Zong Jinghao slowly got up and looked at her for two seconds, before leaving the room.
Bai Zhuwei was sitting on the couch, her hands gripped tightly onto the cup. Even an additional second of Zong Jinghao staying in the room was a torture for her.
Wasn’t this woman supposed to be in the hospital taking care of her mother?
Why did she have time to come back?
Bai Zhuwei had found out that Guan Jing was investigating on Lin Xinyan earlier. So when Guan Jing sent someone to Country A to check on her life, Bai Zhuwei’s men had went even earlier and killed the woman who introduced Lin Xinyan to the job on that night. They made sure to make it look like an accident where the woman fell to her death from an upper floor.
And that was why Guan Jing did not find out the vital part of that night’s happenings.
She spent much effort, fearing that Zong Jinghao would spend too much time with Lin Xinyan. She bribed the neighbors in Zhuang Zijin’s district to force her into the hospital, so that Lin Xinyan would not have time to spend with Zong Jinghao.
What she had not expected was that this woman was not staying at the hospital!
And she was even carried by Zong Jinghao in his arms.
The more Bai Zhuwei thought about it, the more she wanted to break down.
And she did not realize that her thoughts were all showing on her face.
When Zong Jinghao walked out of the room, he saw Bai Zhuwei’s facial expressions before she managed to control them. He walked over silently.
Bai Zhuwei stood up; her questioning tone nearly seeped out before her rationality took over. “Is Ms. Lin sick?”
Zong Jinghao did not answer her immediately. Instead, he sat on the couch, crossed his long legs, then looked up at Bai Zhuwei with an ambiguous look.
Bai Zhuwei’s heart dropped. She was afraid of this Zong Jinghao. Carefully, she said, “Hao—”
“Mmm.” “What’s wrong?” There was a faint smile on his face.
It seemed like there was nothing wrong, and so Bai Zhuwei felt herself relax. She carefully sat near him, and he did not reject her.
Her anxiety lessened.
“This is the contract for the land at Repulse Bay.” Guan Jing handed to folder to Zong Jinghao.
The reason why Bai Zhuwei had followed Guan Jing here was because she had heard him saying that Zong Jinghao wanted the contract for this land.
This land was at Repulse Bay, and there were mountains and water that surrounded it. It was a good place for tourism, and so there were many who wanted it.
Except that two years ago when this land was up for bidding, Wanyue Group had gotten the rights to the land. Although they had the rights to develop the land, they were not interested, so it was auctioned off.
Now that Zong Jinghao had suddenly wanted this land’s contract, she felt a little worried.
After all, when Lin Guoan went to the company to request for the land, Zong Jinghao did not even bother meeting with the man.
Lin Xinyan was the daughter of Lin Guoan. She was afraid that Zong Jinghao would give this land to the Lins because of Lin Xinyan.
Her focus was not on the land, it was on how Zong Jinghao was treating Lin Xinyan!
“Wasn’t this land meant to be auctioned off?” Bai Zhuwei asked, as if she had no idea.
Although she had asked it casually, who was Zong Jinghao to not realize this form of questioning?
Although he said nothing about it, he reached out to hold onto her shoulder. “Zhuwei, when did you change?”
Bai Zhuwei froze. What did he mean?
“When— When did I change?” Bai Zhuwei did not understand.
Zong Jinghao gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. “You never ask this kind of questions back then.”
Looking into his eyes, Bai Zhuwei was startled. She had never seen this coldness in his eyes.
She could not help but feel nervous.
“I—”
Unlike her usual obedient and dignified self, she lost control and said, “I’m afraid! I’m scared!”
She struggled out of Zong Jinghao’s arms and covered her face with her hands. She sobbed, “I’m scared you’ll give this land to Ms. Lin. I’m scared you’ll fall in love with her because she’s your wife. I’m scared. I’m scared you won’t want me anymore—”
Bai Zhuwei started crying as she said. She looked sorrowful.
Zong Jinghao had never seen this look on her.
He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows. His expression was complicated, and no one could decipher what it meant.
After a while, Bai Zhuwei’s crying turned into sobbing.
She knew that she had to be stoic at times, but sometimes the tears and upset had to be shown to capture a man’s heart.
Zong Jinghao opened his eyes, his feelings now calm.
He reached out to pull her back into his arms. “Do you feel that bad?”
Bai Zhuwei leaned into his arms, and sobbed, “I’m just afraid to lose you.”
Zong Jinghao sighed, “You won’t.”
She might have been a little devious and calculating unlike her naïve appearance.
Yet it was a fact that she had followed him for many years.
He did not want to dig deep into this.
In the house.
Lin Xinyan’s phone’s notification sounds woke her up.
It was He Ruize who had sent her messages. It was a photo, and she could see the face of a neighbor from the district. It seemed like the neighbor was talking to a woman.
The back of this figure…
Lin Xinyan felt a sense of familiarity, but she could not think of why she felt it. Just as she was still thinking of who it might be, her stomach cramped. “Ugh—”
She ran out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.
She sprawled at the side of the sink as she retched.
Guan Jing, who was in the living room, was stunned. Lin Xinyan had come out too suddenly.
And her bathroom door was not closed. She seemed to be suffering as she sprawled there retching.
“Ms. Lin is pregnant.” Bai Zhuwei looked at Lin Xinyan who was retching and said.
She thought Zong Jinghao did not know. She wanted him to know.
“It should be that man’s baby, the one that she was hugging the other day.” Bai Zhuwei deliberately “named” a father for the baby in Lin Xinyan.
Like this, Zong Jinghao would only feel hate towards her.
On the other hand, Guan Jing’s jaw dropped in surprise. Zong Jinghao’s wife had another man’s baby in her?
Does that not mean that he became a cuckold by marrying her?
He carefully raised his head to observe Zong Jinghao’s expression.
He thought he would be furious, but he was wrong. Instead, there was only calmness.
Even Bai Zhuwei thought it was unbelievable.
Was he not angry? Did he not hate her?
“Hao…”
Zong Jinghao leaned back on the couch, his face clearly showing her that he did not want to hear from her.
Bai Zhuwei could only shut her mouth.
Although she felt like vomiting, nothing had come out, it was just all retching.
After that moment of discomfort, Lin Xinyan rinsed her mouth before walking out of the bathroom. Now then did she realize that there were people in the living room, and she saw Bai Zhuwei who was in Zong Jinghao’s arms. She did not want to disturb them, so she turned to enter the room.
Suddenly, an image flashed in her mind. Bai Zhuwei.
She turned around and looked at Bai Zhuwei, then back at the picture on her phone. Chestnut-colored wavy hair, and she was about the same height.
Her pupils constricted. The woman who had bribed the neighbors was her?
When she thought about Bai Zhuwei trying to push her then frame her, Lin Xinyan suddenly realized what was going on!
She must have thought that by marrying Zong Jinghao, she was taking her position, and so she hated her.
That’s why she had bribed the neighbors to slander her and caused her mother to suffer from mental illness!
The more she thought about it, the more her heart ached—