Chapter 4 I Was Sold by My Husband

If Sang Qi were to lodge a complaint directly with the leadership of the head office, the editor-in-chief indeed wouldn't be able to cover for him.

He has always treated me well, and I couldn't harm him.

I turned around to comfort him, "I know, it was my fault for giving others a handle to grab, and it also caused you to get reprimanded by the leadership. I'm going to go through the resignation procedures right now."

I turned and pulled open the door of the office when the editor-in-chief's voice arose behind me, "You can take three months' salary; that's the only right I have."

The editor-in-chief had done all he could, and I gave him a deep bow before walking out of the office.

Reaching my desk, I picked up the glass of water and drained it in one gulp.

The weather is chilly in autumn; the water I poured in the morning is now ice-cold.

Why do I feel like the cold water is stuck between my teeth?

A mouthful, a heart full of chilliness.

Yesterday, I was driven out by my mother-in-law, and today, I've become unemployed.

I had nowhere to go but to return to the luxurious villa from last night.

Lunch was already prepared; the aroma was enticing.

I silently ate, not sure if it was because I was pregnant.

Although I was very depressed, my appetite was good.

Nearing the end of my meal, Little Jin placed a stack of books on the table.

I glanced at it and then continued eating without stopping.

"Miss Xia, these are books Secretary Dong sent over. Please take a look when you have time."

I picked up one and flipped through it—it was about pregnant women, and the whole stack seemed to be the same.

"I won't read them." I hadn't decided whether to have the child; what was the use of reading those books?

"Secretary Dong said now that you're out of a job you have more free time, so you can take a good look at them."

I immediately lifted my head to look at Little Jin, "How does he know I'm unemployed?"

Little Jin shook her head, "I only heard it from Secretary Dong."

That Secretary Dong seemed to know everything.

I put down the chopsticks and paced around the dining room.

I ran through countless possibilities, but then dismissed them all on my own.

"Do you have Secretary Dong's number?" I asked Little Jin.

She shook her head, then suddenly remembered something, "It should be in the home phone; I'll look for it."

She flipped through the incoming call log on the phone and found Secretary Dong's number, about to jot it down for me, but I remembered it at a glance.

That was a skill I developed as a journalist—no matter how long the number was, one look was all it took to remember.

I called Secretary Dong, and he picked up quickly, his tone polite, "Miss Xia, do you need something?"

"I want to see your boss."

He seemed to have anticipated my request, answering in a formulaic manner, "When it's necessary for you to meet, you naturally will."

I guessed he would say that.

I calmly informed him of my decision, "I want to see him, otherwise I'll terminate the pregnancy."

I was certain that person wanted the child; otherwise, he wouldn't have kept me cooped up here, well-fed and well-cared for.

I even suspected that my job loss today might have something to do with the person behind the scenes.

As a journalist, jumping around everywhere, what if I hurt the child?

Secretary Dong paused for a moment, then replied, "If you terminate the pregnancy, then you'll be completely clueless about who the father of the child is. Miss Xia, as a journalist, you love digging to the root of things; would you give up this opportunity for nothing?"

Secretary Dong is very good at negotiating, but he forgot what I do for a living.

I answered with a smile, "Do you think I'd spend a long ten months being pregnant just for a chance to see someone? I've already anticipated my fate after giving birth, kicked out either sooner or later, so why waste ten months of my life?"

Secretary Dong was silent on the other end of the phone for a while before he said, "Miss Xia, I need to report to my boss before I can do that."

"I'm not very patient. If I don't see someone by tomorrow night, I'll have the surgery the day after tomorrow in the morning."

I hung up the phone, too angry to move from the couch for a long time.

Even if it's possible that tomorrow night I'd meet some bald, beer-bellied old man, I'm ready to accept it.

At the very least, slapping his face a few times would help quell some of the fury in my heart.

But there's no way He Cong is unconnected to all this.

Ask yourself, wouldn't any man, upon discovering his woman had cheated on him, be furious? Only He Cong acted all evasive and shifty.

After a nap to refresh myself, I went to ambush He Cong at his new place.

I was sure he hadn't gone on a business trip, because his car wasn't in the garage; there's no way he'd take his own car on a business trip!

I sat on a flowerbed opposite the building where He Cong's apartment was located, chilling in the cold wind all afternoon.

Finally, in the early evening, he came back in his car.

He got out and wiped the car door with his sleeve.

I rushed over and grabbed his clothes. He jumped in fright, and upon seeing it was me, he had a very strange expression.

"Xiao Zhi..."

"Weren't you on a business trip?"

"Didn't I just get back?" His lips quivered as he pulled my hands off.

"You drive your own car on a business trip?"

"It was just to the neighboring city, so I took my own car."

I didn't want to argue about whether or not he was on a business trip; I wanted to clear things up today.

I showed him the test results from my hospital visit yesterday: "See it clearly? I'm pregnant."

He looked at it for a long time, then raised his head to meet my gaze, his eyes flickering, "Xiao Zhi, Xiao Zhi..."

He stammered and couldn't articulate a response, which made me even more certain that he was involved in what happened that night.

"That night, you sold me out, didn't you?" I didn't need his answer; I could guess the truth.

He Cong held a decent position as a middle manager in their group company, and he had been sullen for a while after being passed over for a promotion, dreaming of moving up the ranks.

Because I am beautiful, he often took me to social events. Although I disliked those environments, he always begged me to go, and I accompanied him sometimes out of pity for him.

That night, it was a banquet with leaders from his company and executives from partner enterprises.

I was undoubtedly the center of attention at the banquet, with many complimenting my beauty.

They kept pouring me drinks, and He Cong did nothing to stop them, so I quickly got drunk.

Obviously, there's not much analysis needed for what followed; He Cong sold me out, delivering me to the bed of an executive, plain and simple.

"Xiao Zhi, don't put it so crudely," he said after I confronted him. "That night, the boss asked me to escort someone."

"Which boss, and escort whom? Tell me, and I'll go find them one by one!"

"Xiao Zhi, don't be so aggressive," he looked at me, troubled. "You're too sensitive; none of what you're imagining happened!"

"If nothing happened, then why did you get a promotion a week later?" I didn't think much of it at the time, but putting it all together now, his promotion must have been a reward for selling me out.

"Xiao Zhi, what kind of person do you think I am!" He acted quite wronged. "You shouldn't get too worked up, especially since you're pregnant!"

"Ha, what does my pregnancy have to do with you?" I laughed sarcastically. "Are you planning to be a cheap dad?"

"Slap!" A loud slap landed on my cheek, which stung hotly with pain.