Xiang Wan was about to ask him where he had been last night, when he himself revealed it.
Worked overtime all night?
How ridiculous.
What kind of important work required him to work overtime in a hotel room with a woman?
Did he take her for a fool?
"Is that so? If you were working overtime, why didn't you charge your phone? I thought something had happened to you."
Lu Mingzhe sighed, "Don't even mention it."
"Didn't you worry that my studio was all women and things would get out of hand over time? I've reassigned the previous assistant."
"I've replaced her with a stay-at-home mom who's been raising kids for a few years and is re-entering society."
"They say it takes three years to get stupid after giving birth, and it's true. She's forgetful and confused every day. She can't even plug in my phone properly to charge it. I'm really impressed."
What a perfect excuse.
Not only did it reasonably explain why her phone was unreachable for no reason.
It also indirectly confirmed that he loved her deeply and took her words to heart.
As expected of a psychologist.
For the first time, Xiang Wan realized how meticulous his speech could be.
When one completely trusts someone, they would believe them even if they said the sun rose in the west.
But once suspicion arises, every word they say seems like a lie.
Looking at Lu Mingzhe, who was "full of lies," Xiang Wan felt a chill run down her spine.
Such a man, the biological son raised by a woman like Mrs. Lu.
He actually naively believed he was different from his mother.
He naively believed he could marry her and raise children together.
She was really desperate to get married, her wishful thinking reaching its extreme.
Once suspicion arose towards someone, even getting closer to them made one feel psychologically uncomfortable.
What's more, Lu Mingzhe's breath still carried the scent of alcohol.
Faced with his brazen lies, Xiang Wan
felt so repulsed that she just wanted to get away from him.
She subtly shifted to the side and pushed his head.
"If you're tired, go to bed and sleep. I've slept enough."
Lu Mingzhe hadn't expected that his image in Xiang Wan's heart would change so drastically within just a few hours.
He didn't notice anything unusual about Xiang Wan at all. He kicked off his slippers, crossed his legs on the sofa, and rested his head on her lap.
"I haven't seen you all night, I've missed you so much. I don't want to sleep in bed, I just want to be next to you. Wherever you are, I'll be there."
If he had said this to her yesterday, Xiang Wan would have been bubbling with happiness.
But now, she just wanted to award him an Oscar.
"I've discovered that your mouth is unusually sweet. I haven't seen you interact with men, so where did you learn all these sweet nothings?"
"Do I need to learn this? I just say what comes to mind."
Lu Mingzhe grabbed her hands and placed them on his head.
"I'm going to sleep. If your legs go numb, just wake me up. I'm not leaving you anyway."
After tossing and turning all night, he was truly exhausted and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Xiang Wan's slender fingers traced his eyebrows, nose, lips, chin, slowly moving over them.
Again and again.
Looking at the face that she loved to the bone, familiar to the point of being etched into her soul, but which now felt strange.
Tears fell involuntarily.
She didn't want to believe this was real.
She didn't want to separate from Lu Mingzhe.
She still wanted to struggle desperately.
Even though she knew it was inappropriate, abrupt, and like she was crazy.
She still took out her phone and sent a message to Zhou Jinbei.
She asked how Lu Mingzhe had spoken of her behind her back when she wasn't around.
Zhou Jinbei, groggy from sleep, slowly opened her eyes and grabbed her phone.
It was Xiang Wan.
This was the first time Xiang Wan had proactively contacted her since leaving the hospital that day, and she was asking such a profound question.
It was clear she was in a bad mood or had a conflict with Lu Mingzhe.
She quickly spoke highly of Lu Mingzhe.
"He praised you for being beautiful, smart, independent, capable, and said everything good."
"He basically combined all the excellent qualities of the women he knows."
"It's just that your circumstances are limited, and your education isn't very high. Otherwise, you would definitely be like my sister-in-law, becoming one of the top strong women in Nancheng."
"With your excellent genes, combined with him, it would be a powerful union, and the baby you have in the future would surely be extraordinary."
So, he was interested in her genes?
Xiang Wan thanked Zhou Jinbei, put down her phone, moved Lu Mingzhe's head off her lap, and started to go back to her room to put on makeup and change clothes.
She sent a WeChat message to Xiang Yang saying she was going to work, and then drove directly to the hospital.
All children born into this world should be born out of their parents' love.
They are born to enjoy life, not to suffer as she was.
Since she could foresee unhappiness, she would never carelessly bestow a tragic fate upon a child.
She left early, and there were very few cars on the road. She arrived at the hospital at seven in the morning.
The registration area hadn't started working yet, so she sat on a bench and waited.
It was just her luck that within ten minutes of sitting down, she ran into Tang Haichao, who was accompanying a woman to register at the obstetrics and gynecology department.
Seeing each other, both were a little surprised.
"Xiang Wan? What are you doing here so early? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Xiang Wan glanced at the woman sitting next to her.
She was in a similar state to Lu Mingzhe.
Drunk, disheveled, and looking exhausted, but her clothes were very expensive.
"I'm fine, just came for a look. What's wrong with you?"
Tang Haichao asked the woman to lean back and took a step back.
"This is my ex-wife. She broke up with her boyfriend and is having an emotional episode. She drank so much, knowing she's pregnant."
"My daughter called me, and I was afraid something would happen to her, so I brought her to see a doctor."
In this situation, Xiang Wan really wanted to praise him as a good ex-husband in China.
But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
To be honest, she was a little jealous.
How could there be such an ungrateful woman in the world?
She had such a good man like Tang Haichao, yet she still wanted to divorce him and trample on his feelings.
Seeing that Xiang Wan, although her expression was calm, had an undeniable weariness in her eyes.
And appearing here so early in the morning.
Tang Haichao had a bad premonition.
But with his ex-wife present, he couldn't ask directly.
He took out a cigarette and flicked it, nodding towards the stairwell with his chin, signaling Xiang Wan to follow him.
Xiang Wan felt that Tang Haichao was the only person in the world she could speak truthfully to, the only one she could consider a friend.
She followed him.
Tang Haichao wasn't there to smoke, of course.
"Did something happen to you?"
Xiang Wan smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Do you remember what you told me a few days ago? I was still holding onto a glimmer of hope, thinking I was different from you, but I was proven wrong so quickly."
"What do you mean?"
"It means nothing. I don't want the child anymore. I've decided to take your advice and cut my losses."
"You and him..."
Xiang Wan interrupted, "Yes. I will sort out my assets as quickly as possible in the next few days and pay off all my debts..."
"Actually, after I built up the account, several brokerage firms approached me for contracts, but I never had the heart to sell it."
"Now, I've had enough of staying in this city. I plan to sell it and start over somewhere else."