"How many times have I told you? We're just friends."
"Do you have to make a scene in public?"
An irritated shove struck Qiao Hua hard, jolting her completely out of her daze.
Her eyes flew open, and she found herself staring at a handsome face that looked like Nuwa's graduation masterpiece.
The man's jawline was sharp and cold, his features touched with arrogance, giving him an air of aloofness that set him apart from the rest of the world.
Even Qiao Hua, who had seen plenty of handsome men, couldn't help catching her breath.
Unfortunately, that gorgeous face was full of undisguised disgust, as though she were a pile of fly-covered garbage by the roadside.
A woman stood beside him, dressed in white. Her face was sickly pale, her features pure and delicate, her bearing graceful. Like a fragile white lotus, she carried an air of innocence that made people want to protect her.
Qiao Hua glanced around at the white walls, the pungent smell of disinfectant, and the patients in hospital gowns watching the spectacle.
Weren't this familiar dialogue and setting from that melodramatic novel she'd read, "The Wealthy Family's Wife: Doting on Her Endlessly"?
In the original novel, Qiao Hua had fallen for the male lead at first sight and secretly loved him for years.
But the male lead, Gu Wenze, had his own unattainable love, Jiang Nan. After graduating from college, Jiang Nan had chosen to study abroad, and the two had gone their separate ways.
The night Jiang Nan left the country, Gu Wenze had gone to a bar to drown his sorrows. Qiao Hua had seized the opportunity to drug him, and they had slept together.
When Gu Wenze woke the next morning, photos of them in bed were already everywhere.
To keep the scandal from escalating and affecting his company's stock price, and with the woman he loved out of reach, Gu Wenze had been forced to marry Qiao Hua. After their marriage, however, he never touched her except to satisfy his physical needs.
As in every melodramatic novel, three years into their marriage, Gu Wenze's unattainable love, Jiang Nan, had returned to the country.
When he learned that Jiang Nan's family had gone bankrupt, Gu Wenze had not only paid off her debts without being asked, but also transferred a property worth tens of millions into her name.
After finding out, Qiao Hua had gotten into a huge fight with Gu Wenze and threatened him, demanding that he never see Jiang Nan again.
But Gu Wenze had been forced to marry Qiao Hua in the first place. Rather than distancing himself from Jiang Nan, he had grown even closer to her.
Qiao Hua had completely lost her mind, convinced that Jiang Nan was responsible for destroying their relationship. One day, while Jiang Nan was out, Qiao Hua had pushed her into the road, nearly getting her killed by a car.
That had finally enraged Gu Wenze. He had forced Qiao Hua to divorce him and thrown her out of the Gu Family.
As though the author hadn't thought Qiao Hua miserable enough, she had soon been diagnosed with middle-to-late-stage cancer. Meanwhile, Gu Wenze and Jiang Nan had finally confessed their feelings and gotten together, leaving Qiao Hua to die alone in the hospital.
In the end, Qiao Hua, a mere supporting character, had become just another part of their romantic games.
After hearing that plot, Qiao Hua couldn't help wanting to complain: did a supporting woman's life not count as a life?
Still, it helped Qiao Hua figure out where she was in the story. Gu Wenze must have accompanied the ill Jiang Nan to the hospital for a checkup and happened to run into Qiao Hua. Assuming she had followed him again, he had started arguing with her in the corridor.
At that thought, Qiao Hua couldn't help taking another few looks at Gu Wenze.
So this is my husband, blind in both eyes and heart?
He's handsome enough, but his taste is awful. He found himself a two-faced bitch and doesn't even know it.
He really ought to get his eyes checked.
Gu Wenze's gaze grew colder. "What did you say?"
Qiao Hua blinked innocently. "Huh? Did I say anything?"
The man studied Qiao Hua closely. She really didn't seem to have spoken just now, so where had that voice come from?
Was he hearing things?
Gu Wenze dismissed that irrelevant thought and enunciated each word firmly. "Jiang Nan isn't feeling well. I'm only here to accompany her to the hospital. You'd better not make trouble."
Qiao Hua sneered inwardly, but bit her lip on the outside. "I know. Don't worry. I won't make a scene."
The same excuse every time. Can't you come up with anything new?
You're not her boyfriend or her husband. What business do you have bringing her to the hospital?
Is her whole family dead, or does she not have a single friend?
A vein throbbed at Gu Wenze's temple. "Qiao Hua, say that again!"
Qiao Hua raised her head and repeated her earlier words. "I said I won't make a scene again. Don't worry."
"Don't play dumb with me. I clearly heard..."
Gu Wenze stopped abruptly halfway through.
This time, he had clearly seen that Qiao Hua hadn't opened her mouth, yet he had heard her voice coming from right in front of him.
Besides, Jiang Nan isn't simply feeling unwell. She found out you'd come back to my place, so she doused herself with cold water all night just to call you away.
She even used another number to text me and tell me you two were at the hospital, deliberately provoking me into coming here to make a scene.
The last few times I went looking for trouble, it was because Jiang Nan had texted me.
Gu Wenze turned to look at Jiang Nan. Her expression was unchanged, as though she hadn't heard a thing.
An absurd thought occurred to Gu Wenze.
What he was hearing seemed to be Qiao Hua's thoughts.
The next moment, his suspicion was confirmed.
How am I this unlucky, running into these two?
I bet Jiang Nan's about to say, "I wasn't feeling well, so I asked Wenze to accompany me to the hospital. Please don't blame him."
"If you're angry, take it out on me. But this is a hospital. Can we talk about this when we get back?"
Then Gu Wenze will feel even sorrier for Jiang Nan and absolutely loathe me.
Jiang Nan gently caught the hem of Gu Wenze's shirt, looking pale and frail enough to stir any man's protective instincts. A trace of unease appeared on her pretty, innocent face as she said softly, "Qiao Hua, I wasn't feeling well, so Wenze accompanied me to the hospital. Please don't blame him."
"If you're angry, take it out on me. But this is a hospital. Can we talk about this when we get back?"
Gu Wenze's expression turned a little strange.
Jiang Nan waited a long time, but Gu Wenze never lost his temper. Unable to help herself, she glanced at him.
Gu Wenze stared intently at Qiao Hua, his thoughts unreadable.
Qiao Hua, on the other hand, merely smiled. "It's fine. I didn't come to the hospital because of you two today."
A flicker of stiffness crossed Jiang Nan's face. For a moment, she couldn't process it. "Not because of us?"
"That's right. I'm here for a checkup."
In her agitation, Jiang Nan blurted out, "That's impossible..."
Realizing she had lost her composure, Jiang Nan quickly changed her tone and lowered her voice again. "I mean, what a coincidence that you came to this hospital too."
Every word hinted that Qiao Hua's reason for coming to this hospital wasn't so innocent.
Qiao Hua nearly rolled her eyes, but kindly reminded her, "Miss Jiang, this is the only hospital close to our home. If I didn't come here, where else would I go?"
That explanation seemed reasonable enough, but coming from Qiao Hua, it lost half its credibility.
Sure enough, suspicion flashed in Gu Wenze's eyes. "You're really only here for a checkup?"
Qiao Hua arched her slender brows, her lively eyes sweeping over their faces. "What else? Did I come here to catch you cheating?"
Gu Wenze's temple throbbed hard. "I told you, Jiang Nan and I are only..."
Qiao Hua waved a hand, cutting him off. "I know. I didn't say anything, did I? Hurry up and take Jiang Nan for her checkup. Don't worry about me."
Jiang Nan seemed unable to believe Qiao Hua would simply let it go. She stared at Qiao Hua's radiant face and couldn't resist asking again, "Qiao Hua, you really don't mind?"
Qiao Hua waved her hand. "I really don't. You're just friends. What do I have to be angry about?"
At the words "just friends," Jiang Nan's hand clenched beneath her sleeve, and she almost failed to maintain her expression.
Qiao Hua calmly waved goodbye to them. "All right, take your time seeing the doctor. I'm leaving."
Without lingering any longer, Qiao Hua walked out of the hospital in her high heels.
Gu Wenze watched her retreating figure, an almost imperceptible, unfamiliar emotion flickering in his eyes.
In the past, whenever Qiao Hua saw him with Jiang Nan, she would scream and make a scene like a shrew.
This time, she had actually said nothing and left without a fuss.
But Gu Wenze soon figured it out. Qiao Hua must have been playing hard to get.
That woman had always had plenty of tricks.
"Wenze?"
Jiang Nan's voice sounded beside him. Gu Wenze snapped out of his thoughts and met her puzzled gaze. "What's wrong?"
Recalling Qiao Hua's thoughts, Gu Wenze fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Did you text Qiao Hua and tell her we were here?"
Jiang Nan's back stiffened. "What?"
"Forget it. It's nothing."
Gu Wenze felt he must have gone mad to believe that woman's nonsense.
Ever since Jiang Nan had returned, Qiao Hua had been targeting her. She must have misunderstood Jiang Nan.
Gu Wenze quickly composed himself and told Jiang Nan, "Let's go for your checkup."
Jiang Nan answered softly, her voice sweet and delicate. "Okay."
Before leaving, she glanced back at Qiao Hua's retreating figure, a trace of resentment flashing in her eyes.
Apparently, Qiao Hua had realized that crying, making scenes, and threatening suicide wouldn't work, so she had changed tactics.
That woman really was scheming.
Qiao Hua knew nothing of the petty thoughts of the two upstairs. After leaving the hospital, she took her test report out of her pocket.
The test results field clearly read: positive (pregnant).
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