Xenia sobbed, âTell me, did you deliberately make me pregnant? So that you can tie me to you and give you a baby.â
Dave did do that, but he wouldnât be so stupid to admit. âHow can I? Itâs mentioned in the manual that it wonât be 100% accurate.â
Xenie turned into a lion again, âYou lied to me. I took out the rest and filled it with water. They all leaked and there is more than one hole. Dave Chou, you big liar, big liar. I donât want to live with you anymore.â
Dave covered his mouth, thinking about how she was holding those things one by one under the faucet, and couldnât help but grinned. But he couldnât laugh, or the exploded gunpowder would explode higher.
Okay. He treated it as a pregnant woman with emotional fluctuation.
Xenia continued to accuse him angrily, âYou big liar. You think Iâm young and know nothing, so you lie to me⦠I hate you, I hate you so much.â
He was already exposed, so Dave had to admit his little action, âBaby, Iâm wrong. But I truly like you, my love for you is real. I swear and Iâm not lying to you about this. Or, when I go back, you can dig out my heart to see whether itâs yours. Letâs not throw away the child first, okay?â
âNot okay! I donât want to turn into faded old woman so early, to wipe the childâs pee and shits every day and then, my body will change.â
âHow about this? You just need to take care of giving birth and Iâll raise the child. Iâll clean up the diapers and attend the confinement. Donât we have a postpartum body sculpting coach in our health club? I promise that within three months after you giving birth, youâll transform into a pretty lady. When you go down the street, everyone will 200% stare at you. Everyone will see you as a beautiful young girl. You can directly drown me with the hardships.â
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Dave felt that she was loosening, so he hurriedly struck while the iron was still hot and continued, âIâll be responsible for picking up and dropping our child to school. Iâll tutor our child. And I like both boy and girl.â
Of course, the best if she could give birth to boy/girl twins. But he could only secretly think about it.
Xenia still said nothing.
âAnd baby, abortion is actually very harmful to women. If you donât believe me, go to the hospital and ask the doctor in the obstetrics and gynecology department. Whichever one says it doesnât, we donât keep it, okay?â
Xenia finally snorted, âYou know these and still set me up.â
Dave brazenly said, âWhy would I do that? In fact, there are many benefits in having a baby early.
Because youâre young, your body can recover easily. Iâll raise the baby and you can continue doing the job you love and develop your career. You donât need to be like those elderly mothers who have unspeakable danger of having a baby and donât have the body to recover easily and have a big belly.
Your job isnât easy to do it splendidly, right? After your maternity leave, some people take a rest. They take care of their children for two years, then they go out to the society. After they get old, they canât keep up with the era anymore. Now theyâre called faded old woman. Even if their work is still reserved, the space for climbing up is small. So, Iâm doing it for your good. Hey, where can you find such a good husband like me? I think of everything for you. I do everything for you.â
âYouâre not my husband yet,â Xenia snorted.
Dave laughed, âThatâs easy. Iâll go back and propose you immediately.â
Xenia pouted, âI may not say âI doâ to your proposal.â
âBaby, do you have the heart to watch our child having an unmarried mother? You may have the heart to do so, but I donât. Baby, letâs keep the child and live well, okay?â
âHow do I know if what you just said wasnât a lie? You may trick me to give birth, and then push me away and not care for me after that.â
âIf you donât believe me, we can make a written statement and ask our friends to come as a testimony.
I, Dave Chou, am willing to be Xenia Boswellâs stay-at-home dad.â
âSure, you can breast-feed the baby later.â
Thisâ¦
Dave felt a little embarrassed, âI want to, but I donât have milk.â
âMilk.â
âDoctors recommend breastfeeding now. Itâs good for children. You like Annie, donât you? She was breastfeeding since she was little and turns smart now. Besides, thereâs too much melamine in milk nowadays. You donât want our child drinking poison and becoming fools right after heâs born, right?â
Xenia was silent for a while and finally said, âSure. Come back and write down everything you said today to be a proof. You canât miss one word.â
Dave then realized that he had fallen into this girlâs hole.
She was digging a trap for him to jump, trying every means to get him to sign so many unequal treaties.
She was taking revenge on him who had ever forcibly bullied her. She wanted to turn the table and became the master, fighting for her status and establishing her authority.
This girl was plotting against him.
Fine. Because she was pregnant, he would turn a blind eye.
A child. Dave Chou also had a child already. He was so happy that he couldnât close his mouth.
He wanted to fly back to Luo City immediately, but the latest flight had to be after 12.
When Ivy came to pick him up, he just got the first-hand information from Simon, âFinn Meyer is a freaking murderer. If Alan hasnât sent him to the jail, I really want to stab him straight.â
âThatâs enough. He wonât be able to escape the trial anyway. Youâre almost becoming a father now, so stop saying these bloody things. You have to be a role model for your child.â Ivy looked him in the eyes, hiding something complex in his eyes which flashed by.
Speaking of his child, Daveâs sullen face immediately softened down, âWhat time is it? Have you booked a ticket for me?â
âLetâs go or you have to catch on another flight,â Ivy urged and exchanged a look with Simon, âOfficer Ace, thanks for your hard work. Weâll be going.â
Simon smiled and said to Dave, âCongratulations for becoming a father. When you get married, donât forget to treat me a drink.â
âOf course.â
Dave happily left the police station, singing all the way.
Ivy frowned, âStop singing. You even sing out of tune. If youâre like this to Xeniaâs stomach. Your son must be thinking who is this? So noisy.â
âYouâre so jealous, jealous of my success,â Dave laughed loudly against the wind coming in from the window.
âYeah, yeah. I envy you, Iâm jealous, and I hate you.â He hated why he was like a brother when he was the son of an enemy.
Dave didnât even know that his heart was churning with contradictions at the moment, burning him like lava from a volcano. He still laughed, âDonât be jealous of this brother. Iâm not just saying this, but your spring is coming.â
âSummer has only begun, spring wonât come soon. But, I still have to say congratulations to you. The hatred over the years is gone and youâll be a man who has wife and a child. Donât bring the previous stuffs into the present anymore.â Ivyâs words were actually meant to tell himself.
When Olive asked him, he didnât tell the truth, but answered her vaguely. Everyone would only think that Finn Meyer was the culprit, but his fatherâs death had another secret. But Finn Meyer was indeed the cause.
Sending Dave to the airport and watching him get on the plane, Ivy took out his phone and called Simon.
âOffice Ace, thank you!â
Simon laughed and said, âYou donât have to thank me. You figured it out yourself and let go of the hatred. In fact, I like an open-minded person like you. Itâs Dave Chouâs blessing to have a friend like you.â
Ivy said, âHe helped me a lot when I was in the most difficult time. I think people canât be ungrateful.
Perhaps Alan Hoyle is right. Hatred can only change our life worse. Let the hatreds from the previous generation end there.â
âItâs good that you can think it through. If thereâs anything I can help in the future, just tell me.â
âThen Iâll thank you first. If there is, I definitely will take that offer.â
At dusk, Ivy drove to the cemetery, where his fatherâs portrait smiled at him on the tombstone.
He brought white chrysanthemum, poured alcohol, and leaned against the tombstone to toast with his father and drank a glass by himself.
âFather, will you blame me? You donât want me to continue to hate, right? Dave is really a good man. It was his father who did the bad things, not him. So, I canât seek revenge from him, right? Zhou Wannian is already dead and itâs also a bad ending, not a good oneâ¦â
Ivy said a lot of things to his father until the dusk turned dark. Then he fell asleep when he was drunk.
The mountains and forests were very quiet and few people came in the cemetery. Even the sound of the wind could be heard. When looking up at the sky, you would find many stars spreading in front of you.
Ivy smiled, âFather, do you remember when I were a kid, you took me to see the stars in the country?
You said the stars in the city were polluted, and only the stars in the country are the clearestâ¦â
The night of his chattering was the most he had talked with his father over the years, as if he wanted to tell him everything in his heart.
He talked about his experience over the past few years, about the woman he liked was someone elseâs wife, about the child who called him godfather, about his improving sophisticated bartending skills, about what happened in the bar, about some people he had hacked into and tricked themâ¦
He talked all he could think of and there was no order. He said what he thought. It was unorganized and incoherent. In the end, he fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already morning with birds were singing and the sky was bright.
And Mrs. Hoyle, after spending a day with Annie, she realized that she really liked the child. It was lively at the residence to have a child. The servants who usually only immersed themselves in work also teased the child from time to time. The residence became livelier.
In the afternoon, Mrs. Hoyle tentatively asked Annie, âDo you want to stay at grandmaâs house tonight?â
Annie said in a troubled manner, âI need to take a bath, but I donât bring any clothes.â
Mrs. Hoyle smiled and said, âThatâs easy. Grandma will take you to buy beautiful new clothes later.â
Annie shook her head, âDaddy has bought me a lot of new clothes. Mommy said, Iâm growing up now and itâll be a waste to buy too much.â