CH 65

shan yi was feeling a bit guilty about this matter, and she tightened her grip on the phone when she was suddenly questioned.

however, she quickly composed herself, hiding any guilt in her eyes and giving a light chuckle. she tilted her head and looked at her, “what do you think i could do that’s so bad?”

“like this, for instance?” shan yi wrapped her waist, took a step, pressing her against the elevator wall. her large hand slowly moved up her back, and she leaned in as if she was going to kiss her, “or like this?”

“hey!!” the person being pressed down was getting anxious, using her hands to push against shan yi’s shoulders to prevent her from getting too close. they were in an elevator, and someone could walk in at any moment. besides, shan yi tended to lose track of time whenever she initiated a kiss.

originally, shan yi just wanted to playfully tease her, but seeing her blushing, she couldn’t resist giving her a quick kiss. the elevator’s chime sounded, signaling that the doors were about to open. shen tiantian used a bit more force with her hands to push her away.

she always does this, using this method to divert away from questions she doesn’t want to answer. but after what just happened, shen tiantian was certain that shan yi was indeed hiding something, something she didn’t want her to know.

she wasn’t naive. once or twice might be fine, but shan yi had been acting this way for the past few days.

although the elevator during the off-hours wasn’t crowded, there were still quite a few people on the first floor. as expected, a light drizzle had started outside, but it didn’t deter everyone from heading home.

due to the crowd, shen tiantian kept shan yi at a distance, partly because she was angry and partly because she didn’t want anyone to notice anything unusual. of course, the latter reason made her even more cautious.

she walked out of the doorway, using her bag to shield her head from the rain. knowing that shan yi would catch up to her, she didn’t look back.

“adele—”

a voice, both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar, caught her attention. shen tiantian turned around at the sound and saw her own wife being embraced by a woman with chestnut-colored hair who appeared quite petite. before she could react, the woman planted a kiss on her wife’s cheek.

that was the exact spot she had kissed her wife last night!

perhaps a kiss is just a polite way of greeting for westerners, but in this context, it was clearly not just for politeness. despite shan yi’s displeased expression, the interaction seemed familiar and the relationship between them was far from ordinary.

adele was the name shan yi used when studying in france, as shen tiantian had just learned a few days ago. and the woman embracing her wife was probably the person who had called shan yi on the phone?!

she opened her mouth, staring at them in disbelief. slowly, she lowered the hand that was shielding her head, her expression transitioning from shock to indifference.

it wasn’t just her; people who were gradually coming out of the building were also looking at them. after all, two beautiful women were a sight to behold. moreover, shan yi had taken over for almost three months now and was strikingly good-looking. the title of “beautiful ceo” had already spread throughout the entire company.

some even took out their phones to take photos by the roadside.

girlfriend? fiancée? or a pursuer? suddenly, everyone started discussing and speculating.

shan yi couldn’t have anticipated that celia would come to her company so quickly. when celia hugged her, she was a bit stunned. just a moment ago, she had hung up the phone with her, and she never expected that celia would be waiting for her outside the company.

celia didn’t let her ponder for too long. with a somewhat aggrieved tone, she accused: “i came to pick you up after work. why didn’t you answer my call just now?”

“i had a hard time trying to reach you.” as she spoke, celia’s eyes were already welling up with tears, and her eyes were red. due to her western background and fair skin advantage, she looked even more pitiful when teary-eyed, evoking sympathy.

those who understood english seemed to grasp the situation, wearing expressions of understanding.

shan yi’s expression turned sour, emitting an aura of coldness that quickly dispersed those who sensed trouble. she firmly grasped celia’s hand and pushed her away from her embrace. her eyebrows were almost furrowed into the shape of a river character, her voice cold and carrying a hint of warning, “celia, don’t make me dislike you even more.”

celia lowered her head slightly and delicately brushed her smooth hair behind her ear. her voice softened, “adele, you’re still this indifferent.”

if it weren’t for the awareness of the menacing control behind that fragile appearance, shan yi might have softened. upon hearing celia’s words, she only let out a cold laugh, then sidestepped past her, fixing her gaze on the petite woman not far away. in her mind, she couldn’t help but exclaim, ‘uh-oh.’

celia’s sudden appearance caught her off guard, and she least wanted her wife to witness this scene, but unfortunately, there was no avoiding it. she had underestimated celia’s capabilities.

seeing shan yi’s hurried steps, shen tiantian finally snapped out of it. she swallowed hard, her chin held high as she turned and started to walk away. she had heard celia’s words and instantly understood everything. she realized that shan yi had been keeping something from her, but she hadn’t even considered this possibility.

so, this was the truth…

she had given her a chance to be honest, but it seemed shan yi hadn’t taken it seriously. she was furious, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly was making her angry. her mind was a mess, and she couldn’t think clearly.

“tiantian.” shan yi quickened her pace and finally caught up to her wife who was about to leave. “listen to me.”

“i don’t want to listen right now.” shen tiantian forcefully shook off shan yi’s hand, nearly slipping on the wet ground. fortunately, shan yi caught her by the waist in time, stabilizing her.

shen tiantian nervously placed a hand on her belly, and once she regained her footing, she pushed shan yi away again. she felt uncomfortable, her chest heavy, and suddenly nauseous. it was like a breath was caught in her throat, impossible to release. all she wanted was to leave this place as quickly as possible.

however, reality didn’t go as she wished, and the western woman named celia blocked her way.

shen tiantian furrowed her brows and glanced at her, a hint of self-doubt suddenly creeping in. even from a distance, she had thought this woman was beautiful, and up close, it was even more evident. the distinct european features—deep-set eyes, high nose, thin lips, brown irises—along with her petite face and flawless complexion, made her a classic western beauty.

as if avoiding her, shen tiantian quickly averted her gaze.

“adele, who is this? don’t you want to introduce us?” celia smiled innocently.

however, shan yi completely ignored her, once again grabbing her wife’s arm as she attempted to leave. she wiped off the raindrops that had landed on her face as if there was no one else around. “can we talk about this at home? be a good girl, mom wanted us to go back early, right?”

though she had initially intended to swat her hand away, the thought of her amiable mother made shen tiantian pause in her action. she wanted to smile, to appear generous, but she couldn’t manage it. she was infuriated.

she took a deep breath and still managed to say, “i’ll take a cab back by myself. you can catch up with your….friend. it’s been a while since you’ve seen each other, right?”

“yeah, i’ve missed adele a lot.” celia chimed in beside them, speaking in a somewhat off-tone chinese.

shen tiantian grew even more infuriated.

shan yi’s tone turned cold: “shut up.”

with that, she turned back to shen tiantian, changing her expression once again. with determination, she pulled her towards the car, pushed her inside, and swiftly locked it.

she walked to the other side, opened the driver’s seat, without even glancing at celia, reversed the car, and drove away.

left standing alone in the wind, a disheveled celia murmured to herself: …

however, this was the first time she had seen shan yi lose control, and even though they hadn’t been able to catch up, it was worth it.

celia grinned, returning to her own car and savoring the expression on shan yi’s face with relish.

was that petite woman just now shan yi’s girlfriend? she seemed quite cute. celia never expected her to like this type of plump girl. with these thoughts in mind, celia drove away without any lingering emotions.

inside the car, shen tiantian had a tense expression, looking out of the window, refusing to engage in conversation with shan yi. her hands were placed on her abdomen. since a while ago, she had been feeling a bit unwell, struggling to suppress the sensation of nausea.

during this period of recuperation under mother shan’s care, shen tiantian not only gained weight, but her morning sickness also became milder. shan yue mentioned that her constitution seemed good, and since she was approaching three months into the pregnancy, her symptoms would gradually ease.

she felt that her discomfort might have been due to anger, or perhaps because of the scent of perfume on celia, which suddenly intensified her pregnancy symptoms. since she was still upset, she didn’t tell shan yi about her discomfort. she persevered all the way until she got home, but finally couldn’t hold it back anymore. she rushed into the ground floor bathroom and started vomiting uncontrollably without even closing the door in time.

shan yi and mother shan were both taken aback and rushed over at the same time.

shen tiantian’s eyes turned red from vomiting, and she waved away shan yi’s hand that was gently patting her back, not feeling appreciative. whether it was a psychological effect or not, she felt that the scent of celia’s perfume still lingered on shan yi’s body, and the nausea surged up again.

“what’s happening here?” mother shan noticed that something was amiss between them. she furrowed her delicately groomed eyebrows and whispered to shan yi, “why did you make tiantian angry? don’t you know she’s pregnant? is there something you can’t be more considerate about?”

shan yi didn’t respond to her mother’s words; her hand froze in place and after a while, she started patting again.

it had been a long time since shen tiantian had vomited so severely. she felt her legs going weak, and even after she finished vomiting, she hesitated to get up. she didn’t want to show weakness in front of shan yi.

shan yi quickly noticed her unusual condition and, fueled by an unknown burst of strength, forcibly lifted her into her arms.

“ah!” shen tiantian was scared out of her wits and let out a scream. her hands instinctively wrapped around shan yi’s neck. after steadying herself, she summoned the courage and, right in front of her mother-in-law, scolded, “have you gone crazy? let go of me!”

“don’t move around,” shan yi said in a stern tone.

shen tiantian was already hesitant to move, fearing that she might hurt herself if she struggled. now she didn’t even dare to speak, clinging tightly to shan yi. she sent out a silent plea for help to her mother-in-law, “mom!”

“be careful,” mother shan also became alert. she didn’t want to interfere too much in the matters between the couple, but she followed behind and gave a reminder, “xiao yi, hold her securely.”

shan yi remained silent and carried her back to the room in one breath. even though her face had turned red from holding her breath, she set her down gently when they reached the room.

with her body finally finding its balance, shen tiantian let out a heavy sigh of relief. just as she was about to scold someone, shan yi had already leaned in, burying her head intimately in the crook of shen tiantian’s neck, and muttered: “i’m sorry.”

her response was met with a moment of silence.

and the silence continued.

pressing shen tiantian’s hands down on either side of the bed, shan yi slowly straightened up and met her gaze. she softly said: “you can hit me or scold me, but you can’t ignore me.”

“i was wrong.”

in a defiant tone, shen tiantian retorted, “the ceo didn’t do anything wrong.”

even though things hadn’t been smoothed over yet, at least she was speaking. her tightly constricted heart eased slightly. ignoring shen tiantian’s resistance, shan yi kissed her cheek and admitted, “i’m at fault. i shouldn’t have kept this from you.”

the angered person still remained silent.

shan yi playfully nuzzled her head against her wife’s chest and began to explain: “celia was someone who pursued me during my time studying abroad. but i didn’t respond to her advances, and until now, we’ve only had that acquaintance level of relationship. she called me a few days ago, but i rarely answered her calls. you’ve seen my attitude, right? however, i didn’t expect her to come to the company so soon.”

shen tiantian still didn’t respond. after a few seconds, she gruffly said: “i asked you twice, and you didn’t say anything. you were the one who said not to keep things hidden, but when i asked you, you still hid it from me. and it’s about your ex-girlfriend. if she hadn’t come to the company today, were you planning on never telling me at all?!”

“compared to me, i think you’re even better at hiding things,” she added, her voice growing louder. and she hid them quite well.

whether it was about that night at the hotel or about knowing her in the first place, up to now with celia’s situation, she was always like this. she would wait until she couldn’t hide it any longer before reluctantly confessing.

growing angrier the more she thought about it, shen tiantian couldn’t hold back her frustration and loudly questioned, “what do you even consider me as?!”

“i consider you as my wife,” shan yi replied matter-of-factly.

shen tiantian was momentarily pleased by her words, but her minor moodiness wasn’t going to fade that quickly. she remained silent for a while before saying: “i’m still angry. give me some space!”

“don’t be angry, okay? love you, mwah…”

shen tiantian: …

this person in front of her had once again amazed her.

shan yi continued to shower her with kisses, starting from her forehead and going down, all the while murmuring: “don’t be mad, okay?”

perhaps the accumulated secrets and concealment had pushed shen tiantian to the breaking point. she felt like she was being too easily appeased, to the extent that shan yi repeatedly hadn’t taken her feelings seriously.

she needed to make her understand the seriousness of the situation; otherwise, who knows what else might be hidden next time?

with their wedding approaching, if their conflicts were already escalating before marriage, then getting married would lose its meaning.

so, in a cold tone, shen tiantian said: “if you don’t get up now, you’ll be in even more trouble.”