Pregnant

"Mr. Zhou is here this time because of your father's influence. If you continue to be so naive, even your father's reputation won't save you in the future."

Yao Chengren was actually not a bad person, just a bit foolish.

He inherited Yao An Group by chance, and despite having no real talent, found himself with a fortune worth billions, surrounded by greedy opportunists.

Octavian knew that his boss, Mr. Zhou, actually found Yao Chengren's foolishness somewhat endearing, so he offered him some advice.

"Mr. Yao, you should be careful about who gave you this idea. They might be trying to make you offend Mr. Zhou. Luckily, Mr. Zhou is magnanimous."

… Lily remembered after hanging up the phone that she forgot to tell Edmond who hit her. She didn't call back, thinking it wouldn't be too late to mention it in person.

Royce took Nadia to the hospital since it was close to Jingxiu. Before leaving, he called his secretary to handle the situation.

Lily had heard from Franklin that Nadia had resigned and Royce had hired a new secretary.

Royce's new secretary was a slender beauty with a tight skirt accentuating her curves and a noticeable cleavage.

Tsk, with Nadia being such a jealous woman, how could she tolerate such a stunning woman around Royce?

Lily didn't speak to Royce's beautiful secretary, as Edmond's car arrived before the secretary could approach.

"You said you weren't hurt?"

Edmond, seeing Lily's swollen forehead, scolded her with a stern face.

He had discovered that no method worked on Lily—he had to be tender when needed, stern when necessary, and even spank her occasionally.

Of course, only on her buttocks, as it made her feel shy and compliant.

This was his own realization. After the recent incident, she had learned to call him first, thanks to his persistent 'reminders' during foreplay.

Otherwise, she would always hide bad news.

Lily, trying to soften him up, held his hand and explained.

"There's no bleeding, it's not serious."

Edmond, still mostly worried, left Octavian to handle the rear-end collision and took her to the hospital.

On the way, after hearing that Nadia was driving, Edmond's face darkened.

"Did she do it on purpose?"

It was hard not to be suspicious, given that it happened at a red light and Nadia was the driver.

Lily shook her head. "I don't think so."

Nadia was wearing light-colored pants, and when she turned around holding her stomach, there seemed to be blood.

… Nadia's emotions were like a roller coaster.

The doctor told her four things.

First, she was pregnant.

Second, she had just been pregnant for a month, and the embryo had detached from the uterine wall due to the collision, causing a threatened miscarriage.

Third, fortunately, there was still hope, but given her condition, she needed to rest in bed to preserve the pregnancy.

Fourth, her previous abortions had damaged her uterine lining. This pregnancy was very precious, and if anything went wrong, her chances of conceiving again would be minimal.

Nadia's heart was racing up and down.

She blamed today's accident on Lily. If Lily hadn't been there, she would have just run a red light and avoided the collision, thus not needing to stay in bed to preserve the pregnancy.

But most of all, she was happy.

Despite everything, she was finally pregnant. As for bed rest, she wasn't worried at all. Her mother-in-law wanted this child so badly that she would go to great lengths to ensure its safety.

In a family like the Zhou's, preserving a pregnancy was easy.

She only needed to be wary of Lily.

If anyone might harm her child, it would definitely be Lily.

… Lily found out about Nadia's pregnancy when she ran into Royce and Nadia in the hospital lobby.

She was waiting for Edmond on the first floor.

Edmond insisted on a CT scan of her head, saying that even minor car accidents shouldn't be taken lightly, and a check-up would give peace of mind.

He was displeased with her for not being upfront, so she obediently followed his instructions.

While Edmond was discussing the results with the doctor, Lily, feeling suffocated by the hospital, decided to wait outside. Just as she was about to leave the lobby, she met Royce and Nadia head-on.

Nadia, sitting in a wheelchair pushed by Royce, looked pale but had a slight smile on her lips, showing her joy.

Lily, wondering if she had been hit too hard, heard Nadia say, "Auntie, I'm pregnant. I'm having Royce's child."

It was almost an eager boast.

Royce said nothing, his eyes fixed on Lily.

Lily, after a moment of surprise, raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"You don't need to emphasize that. If you weren't carrying Royce's child, that would be a big problem."

Nadia's face stiffened, and she forced a smile. "Auntie, you have such a sense of humor."

She glanced at Lily's flat stomach, seemingly reminding her kindly.

"Auntie, you should hurry too. After all, Uncle Edmond isn't getting any younger. He must want a child soon."

Lily retorted, "Men are like flowers at thirty. My husband isn't old at all. We do it seven times a night. How about you?"

Nadia: "..."

How could she say that out loud? Shameless!

Passersby turned to look, intrigued by the exchange.

Royce's mouth twitched as he recalled the time he barged into Uncle Edmond's office to find Lily seductively straddling him.

So, she had seduced Edmond with her body? No wonder Edmond spoiled her so much.

Not wanting to continue this topic, Royce pointed to Lily's swollen forehead. "You're injured?"

He had only just noticed.

Lily, reminded of the collision, said, "Yes, so you'll have to pay for the car repairs and my medical expenses."

Royce, having been removed from her WeChat, took out his phone.

"Add me back on WeChat. I'll transfer the money to you."

Lily hadn't wanted to, but seeing Nadia gripping the wheelchair handle so tightly it might break, she suddenly changed her mind.

"Okay."

She quickly scanned his QR code, muttering, "We'll keep in touch, nephew."

Nadia's hand slipped, and her newly done nails broke.

Edmond, coming out of the doctor's office with Lily's medication, saw her adding Royce on WeChat and heard her words, pausing in his steps.

She re-added Royce on WeChat?

...When Aria returned, Lily went to pick her up at the airport.

Aria had originally planned to treat her sister-in-law to dinner, but after landing, she hurriedly said hello and left.

Aria explained, "My sister-in-law got a call before the flight. Something happened at the magazine, and she had to rush to a meeting."

Lily didn't ask much, more curious about the surprise Aria had mentioned.

"So, what's the surprise that had you frowning so much you could kill a mosquito?"

Lily drove her back to her apartment, and Aria didn't reveal it until they parked.

"Good news and bad news."

She unbuckled her seatbelt and rolled down the window to breathe in the cool air of the underground garage.

"The good news is that I got us an opportunity from my sister-in-law, a chance for our studio to become famous."

"The bad news is that Misan came out of retirement last month and is shooting a cover for Win Magazine. You'll be the photographer."

Lily: "???"

Misan? Wasn't that Alistair's ex-girlfriend? Had Aria's brain been waterlogged during her visit to Yangcheng, where it rained for half a month?

… At night, Jiangyu was also hit by rain.

The night was as dark as ink, thunder roared, wind howled, and rain poured—a fierce stormy night.

Edmond's car pulled into the yard at eleven o'clock.

He had a social engagement tonight and didn't come home for dinner. He had messaged Lily earlier, telling her not to wait up and to go to bed early.

She agreed but obviously didn't follow through.

When he came in, she was still watching TV in the living room.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Edmond handed his rain-soaked coat to Aunt Fang and changed into slippers as he approached her.