I wake up on the sitting room floor with sothing warm against my back.
For a mont, I don’t rember, then it rushes back... Bael’s voice claiming the pregnancy, Feifei’s sobs, the vomit on the floor, the room spinning into black.
Soone caught .
Bael’s arm is around , keeping upright. I can feel his chest against my shoulder blades, steady and solid while everything else spins.
The first thing I see when I blink my eyes open is Feifei.
She’s still on the sofa, face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking, she won’t look at .
*She’ll never look at the sa way again.*
The thought arrives cold and certain, settling sowhere behind my ribs.
"He’s awake." Bael’s voice rumbles through his chest into my back.
His arm loosens, the warmth disappears.
I’m on my own again, sitting on hardwood that’s gone cold and unforgiving. My mouth tastes like bile and blood, everything hurts... ribs, face, my whole body.
Grandmother Wuchen stands near the doorway, phone in hand. "Dr. Xi will be here in ten minutes."
She called their family doctor, of course she did.
Can’t have anything happening to the Wuchen heir growing in the disappointing oga’s body.
Mother hovers by the entrance to the hallway, arms crossed tight, she looks pale, shaken, but she doesn’t co closer.
Father hasn’t moved from his position by the window, still won’t turn around, won’t acknowledge I exist.
And Feifei...
I can hear her crying, quiet, broken sounds that she’s trying to muffle against her palms.
*There’s no fixing this.*
The realization sits heavy in my throat. This isn’t sothing I can apologize away, isn’t sothing that will heal with ti or explanations. I destroyed sothing fundantal between us...trust, love, the belief that her little brother would never hurt her.
All of it is gone.
Because I got drunk and fucked her fiance.
My stomach turns over but there’s nothing left to throw up.
"Don’t move yet," Grandmother Wuchen says, sharp and commanding. "Wait for Dr. Xi."
I stay where I am because moving seems impossible anyway.
The silence stretches, no one speaks. Feifei’s crying is the only sound, and each broken breath feels like a knife between my ribs.
I did this to her.
My sister, who brought soup when I was sick, who defended to our parents, who actually loved despite everything...
I shattered her.
*I broke sothing I can’t undo.*
Footsteps outside, quick and professional.
The door opens and an older man enters, sixties maybe, with silver hair and sharp eyes. dical bag in one hand, expression composed.
"Mrs. Wuchen." He nods to Grandmother, then his gaze sweeps the room.
on the floor, Feifei crying, the tension thick enough to choke on.
His face remains carefully neutral.
"Young Master Li." He kneels beside , setting his bag down. "I understand you fainted."
"Yeah."
"Let’s see." He pulls out a stethoscope.
The examination happens in heavy silence, he checks my pulse, listens to my heart, looks at my pupils with a small light. His hands are steady and impersonal.
He doesn’t ask about the blood on my face or the bruises forming, he doesn’t need to.
"I need to check the pregnancy," he says quietly. "Make sure there are no complications."
The word *pregnancy* makes Feifei flinch. I see it from the corner of my eye, the way her whole body goes rigid, the way her hands press harder against her face.
Like hearing it out loud makes it more real.
Dr. Xi helps onto the sofa, not where Feifei sits, the other one.
She still won’t look up at .
I lie back while he presses careful hands against my abdon. The examination is clinical and thorough, he asks about cramping, bleeding, sharp pains.
"No," I answer to each question.
My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears.
Finally he sits back, pulling his stethoscope from his ears.
"The pregnancy appears stable," he says. "No signs of distress or complications at this ti."
Grandmother Wuchen’s expression doesn’t change, but sothing in her posture relaxes infinitesimally.
The heir is fine.
That’s all that matters to her.
"However," Dr. Xi continues, "Young Master Li needs complete rest for the next forty-eight hours minimum. No physical exertion, no additional stress, the first trister is critical, and given what’s happened tonight..." He pauses delicately. "Any further trauma could be dangerous."
He’s not looking at anyone specific when he says it, just stating dical facts.
But Mother shifts uncomfortably anyway.
"Light als," Dr. Xi continues. "Plenty of water, soone should monitor him and make sure he’s eating and resting properly."
"That will be handled," Grandmother Wuchen says with absolute authority.
Dr. Xi nods, he packs his instrunts away with efficient movents.
"Call imdiately if there’s bleeding, severe cramping, or another fainting episode." He looks at directly. "Take care, Young Master Li."
Then he’s gone, ushered out by Grandmother Wuchen.
The silence that crashes back is worse than before.
I stare at the ceiling and try to breathe around the weight in my chest.
Father finally moves.
He turns from the window, his face is empty, carved from ice.
"Pack your things." Each word falls like a stone. "You leave tonight."
The finality in his voice makes sothing crack inside .
Tonight.
Not until the wedding in two months, not even next week or tomorrow.
Right now.
"Li Chen.." Mother starts, but her voice is uncertain.
"Tonight," Father repeats. "I will not have him under this roof another hour."
Mother’s mouth closes, she doesn’t argue.
She wants gone too.
I look at Feifei one more ti. Hoping for... I don’t know, so sign that she’ll say sothing, object, anything.
She doesn’t move.
Doesn’t speak.
She just sits there with her face hidden, shutting out completely.
The sister who loved is gone.
"Go pack." Father’s voice is flat and final. "Now."
I stand on legs that barely hold , the room tilts but I grip the sofa arm until it steadies.
No one helps .
No one follows as I walk to the stairs.
Each step up feels like climbing a mountain, my body is screaming at to lie down, to rest like Dr. Xi ordered.
But I can’t stay here.
Father made that clear.
My room looks exactly the sa. Unmade bed, books scattered across the desk, rolled-up sketches in the corner.
Like nothing has changed.
Everything has changed.
I pull two suitcases from the closet and start packing in numb silence.
Clothes first. Enough for... how long? A week? Forever? I don’t know.
Toiletries from the bathroom, the sketchbook from my desk even though I don’t know why I’m bothering.
My hands move automatically while my brain stays disconnected.
Downstairs, voices filter up through the floorboards. Grandmother Wuchen speaking in asured tones, Father’s cold responses, Mother’s strained murmurs.
I don’t hear Feifei.
The suitcases fill quickly, I don’t have much worth taking.
When I’m done, I stand in the center of the room and look around.
Twenty-two years of Original Runze’s life happened here. Childhood, adolescence, dreams and failures, all of it contained in this small space.
And now I’m leaving it forever.
I should feel sothing more than hollow numbness.
I don’t.
I grab both suitcases and head downstairs.
They’re all waiting in the entryway.
Bael by the door, car keys already in hand. Grandmother Wuchen beside him, composed and regal, Mother near the stairs, eyes fixed on the wall, Father by the window, back turned.
And Feifei.
She stands at the base of the staircase, arms wrapped tight around herself. Eyes red and swollen from crying.
Our gazes et for one brief second.
I want to say sothing. *I’m sorry. I didn’t an for this, please don’t hate forever.*
But her expression shutters like a door slamming closed.
She turns and walks away down the hallway, her bedroom door closes with a soft click.
That sound...quiet, final...hurts worse than any of Mother’s blows.
She’s done with .
"The wedding will proceed in two months as planned," Grandmother Wuchen says to Bael. "Bring him to the estate."
Two months.
Two months until I marry my sister’s forr fiance and beco a Wuchen.
Two months to prepare for a wedding that was supposed to be Feifei’s celebration.
"Let’s go." Bael picks up one suitcase without waiting for response.
I grab the other and follow him out.
Mother doesn’t say goodbye.
Father doesn’t turn around.
Feifei’s door stays closed.
I don’t look back as I get into Bael’s car.
The engine starts, and we pull away from the house.
I watch the Li family residence shrink in the side mirror until it disappears completely.
The drive to the Wuchen estate is silent.
Bael doesn’t speak, doesn’t look at , just drives with both hands on the wheel, jaw tight.
I stare out the window at the city passing by in sared lights.
My hand drifts to my stomach without thought, there’s barely anything to feel, just slight firmness that might be nothing.
Five weeks.
A cluster of cells the size of a sesa seed.
This tiny thing that just destroyed everything.
My family.
My sister’s happiness.
Any hope of a normal life.
All of it gone because I got drunk and stupid and didn’t know who I was fucking.
The Wuchen estate appears ahead, massive gates and sprawling grounds lit by security lights.
The gates swing open automatically.
We drive through.
I press my palm flat against my stomach.
"This is my life now," I whisper to the window, to the reflection staring back at , to the barely-there bump that changed everything.
Bael’s hands tighten on the steering wheel but he doesn’t respond.
The car pulls up to the main house and stops.
This is my life now.
And there’s no going back.
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