"What are you looking at?" Zhang Yaxuan gestured to leave. "Hurry up and go. If he wakes up, I might not be able to beat him. I only had the upper hand because it was a sneak attack."
"You’re surprisingly honest about it!"
Jian Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she followed him out.
On the way, Jian Xi replayed everything in her mind. The problem must have arisen at the hospital. It was truly impossible to guard against! Si Yuhuan definitely wouldn’t let her off the hook.
Touching her belly, Jian Xi’s brow furrowed with worry.
Zhang Yaxuan glanced at her. "I could claim the child is mine."
"Do you even know what you’re saying?"
Jian Xi was somewhat incredulous.
Zhang Yaxuan was much calmer. He slowly began to analyze, "Without any solid evidence, I’m afraid Si Yuhuan won’t believe it. It would be best to contrive a scenario where we met six months ago. That would be more convincing."
Jian Xi broke out in a cold sweat.
Zhang Yaxuan started plotting, completely leaving her out of his plans. Suddenly, he asked, "Did you attend a charity auction dinner some time ago?"
"Yes!"
A smile touched his lips. "Good, that makes things easier."
Jian Xi knew he was planning to manipulate events from that night.
Daring to challenge Si Yuhuan—he really had guts.
"Aren’t you afraid of retaliation?"
Zhang Yaxuan turned and stared at her. "I’m just an artist, not a celebrity, and I don’t own any companies. What am I afraid of him doing? Murdering me? I don’t think he’d go that far."
Jian Xi quickly said, "Of course, he wouldn’t murder you, but he might try to trip you up. I’m afraid it could hinder your future career."
「Meanwhile」
Si Yuhuan awoke. Yan Qing hurried over to help him up.
"Director Si, who was despicable enough to launch a sneak attack from behind?"
"Zhang Yaxuan!" The name was practically squeezed through Si Yuhuan’s clenched teeth.
No one had ever dared to treat him like this!
Yan Qing was filled with such admiration he felt like prostrating himself. If the actual person were here, he’d want to kowtow. Throughout the world, to launch a sneak attack and then abandon Director Si here without a second thought—only this incredibly direct-minded artist could pull that off.
An astonishing killing intent flashed in Si Yuhuan’s icy eyes. "Blacklist him!" he ordered fiercely.
Yan Qing nodded, looking somewhat troubled. He hesitated, then said, "If it were a celebrity or a business owner, blacklisting them would be easy. But he’s an artist!"
"This guy is a tough nut to crack. It’s said his paintings can be sold at high or low prices, entirely at his whim. He has little desire for money and absolutely no concept of fame or status. Despite being famous for years, very few people have seen his true face, and his paintings are incredibly hard to come by. Trying to blacklist such a person in the art world is almost hopeless." Content originally comes from novel⦿fire.net
Si Yuhuan wasn’t an impulsive, hot-headed boss who would give an order and then ignore its execution.
He was so enraged it muddled his thinking.
"Find out where he is, and bring Jian Xi back to me!"
Yan Qing adopted a much more solemn expression. "Yes, Director Si!"
"Tell our people to be gentle. She’s still carrying my child!"
At the mention of the child, a faint smile finally touched Si Yuhuan’s stern face.
He never imagined that Jian Xi would be pregnant. Thinking back on everything that had happened... He was dying of regret. As soon as he got Jian Xi back, he would remarry her immediately.
「That evening」
Jian Xi was staying at Zhang Yaxuan’s place, preparing for bed.
Wan Yu made a video call.
"Wow! You really moved in? Are you planning to get a marriage certificate?"
Jian Xi’s mouth twitched. "Can you stop making fun of me? Aren’t all the doctors supposed to be tight-lipped? How did Si Yuhuan go to the hospital once and find out everything?"
Knowing she was at fault, Wan Yu raised her hands in surrender. "It’s all my fault. I didn’t send the person away properly and caused you trouble."
"But with Zhang Yaxuan in the picture, everyone now ’knows’ the child is his."
COUGH, COUGH, COUGH—
Jian Xi couldn’t help coughing.
"You don’t know?" Wan Yu’s gossipy soul was burning bright. "It’s all over town! Six months ago, you two supposedly hit it off at an auction, and things naturally progressed. Now you’re having his baby. And word is, he’s completely devoted to you. He sounds reliable, doesn’t he? But I can’t shake this feeling that there’s some deception afoot! Could this guy have really fallen for you? But it does take a lot of courage to claim someone else’s child as his own!"
Jian Xi fell silent.
She couldn’t possibly say that Zhang Yaxuan preferred men and couldn’t father children. By claiming this child as his own, he would have an explanation for his parents—a perfect solution for both of them, really.
"Anyway, he doesn’t have any bad intentions towards me, and he’s a decent person. I’m the one who dragged him into this mess. Later on, if there’s an opportunity and his paintings come up for sale, please help me acquire them under your name."
Wan Yu agreed readily. "No problem, leave it to me."
Wan Yu also gave Jian Xi the flight details for a private plane.
"If you don’t escape now, you might never get the chance. As far as I know, Si Yuhuan is going to the Jian family home tomorrow morning to demand you back. I suspect that if your older brother and your parents find out you’re pregnant, you truly won’t be able to leave then."
"Alright."
Jian Xi didn’t hesitate at all.
Whether she left sooner or later, leaving was inevitable. The sooner she left, the sooner she’d find peace of mind.
That very night, Jian Xi and Zhang Yaxuan fled as if their lives depended on it.
Before leaving, Jian Xi first confessed to Father Jian via text.
"I’m pregnant with the child of the famous artist Zhang Yaxuan. If you don’t want me to be driven to my death, please help me block Si Yuhuan."
The moment Jian’s Mother saw the message, she nearly gasped her last and fainted.
"That blasted girl! Facing such a huge issue all by herself! I knew something was off with her; it was always being covered up. So, it turns out she was pregnant!"
Suddenly, a thought struck Jian’s Mother, and her eyes widened. "Over five months pregnant... Don’t tell me that girl cheated while she was still married?"
Father Jian went from initial shock to silence.
Hearing his wife constantly berating Jian Xi, he couldn’t help but mutter, "He can be all ambiguous with Jiang Qimeng, so why can’t our daughter have a secret tryst with Zhang Yaxuan?"
"He’s an artist, after all. I Googled him; he seems decent, quite kind-looking. Much better than that cold-faced King of Hell."
Jian’s Mother, hands on her hips, pointed at him. "Our daughter ended up like this all because you spoiled her!"
"And you didn’t spoil her too?"
Jian’s Mother was left speechless by the retort.
"Are you daring to talk back to me now?"
Her anger instantly shifted from Jian Xi to Father Jian.
Jian’s Mother chased Father Jian, pinching his ear.
Father Jian ran up and down the stairs. "Things are already like this; we need to figure out how to handle it! Are we supposed to drag her back for an abortion? That’s your grandchild!"
Upon hearing that, Jian’s Mother calmed down. "Exactly! Our Xixi did nothing to wrong him! He’s the one who didn’t know how to cherish her!"
"Hmph! I’d like to see who dares to come looking for trouble today!"
Then a thought struck her, and her expression fell. "No wonder Xixi refused to be with Fu Shengyuan. He was such a top-notch son-in-law prospect! And it was because she was pregnant! SOB, SOB, SOB, will I ever have such a good son-in-law now?"
Such a pity!
Father Jian looked like he was about to roll his eyes up to the heavens.