Chapter Thirteen: Might as Well Be a Concubine…
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The Fei Family Estate.
That very night, Lu Tian developed a dangerously high fever.
Her temperature climbed above forty degrees Celsius. Even after taking fever-reducing medicine, there was still no sign of improvement.
She was delirious, sobbing uncontrollably and repeating, “My baby, Mommy used you. Mommy is sorry. Please don’t hate me, all right? Don’t hate me…”
Her frail, slender body curled up beneath the heavy quilt, trembling like a hermit crab hiding in its shell.
After Chen Yi gave her special medication and set up an IV drip, he demanded furiously of Aunt Zhao, “She’s this sick, so where the hell is Fei Jing? Isn’t he supposed to be the devoted husband? What, is he planning to become a widower and marry again?”
Aunt Zhao looked helpless. “Mr. Chen, I’ve called him more than a dozen times. At first, he didn’t answer. Now his phone is switched off altogether. We can’t reach him.”
“Damn it!”
Looking at the goddess who had once seemed to outshine all living things, Chen Yi could not help but feel bitter. It had only been a few years, yet marriage had tormented her into this state.
In his frustration, he kicked over the chair beside the bed and roared, “Fei Jing, you’re a goddamn disgrace! Go call that little tramp Lu Youyou. He must be with her.”
“Yes, yes, right away.”
Aunt Zhao hurried nervously out of the nursery.
On the bed, Lu Tian’s face was unnaturally flushed.
Her stiff, fever-hot fingers radiated a bone-deep chill as she reached blindly through the air, trying to grasp something.
She murmured, “My baby, wait a little longer for Mommy. Just wait a little longer…”
“Stop talking nonsense, Lu Tian! It’s only a little cold. Do you really think I’d let you die?”
Chen Yi was so furious that his movements grew careless, and he accidentally knocked over the bedside table.
Several boxes of cancer medication and painkillers fell out of the drawer.
At seven the next morning, Fei Jing rushed into the villa, his clothes in disarray.
Before he had even steadied himself, a vicious punch sent him staggering backward.
Chen Yi cursed him without restraint. “Fei Jing, is this how you love Lu Tian? Where were you when she had a fever over forty degrees? In some spider’s den, enjoying the comforts of another woman’s bed?”
“I…”
Fei Jing wanted to explain, but when the words reached his lips, he found himself utterly speechless.
He had gone too far with Lu Youyou the night before.
His phone had run out of power and shut down, and he had fallen asleep.
By the time he woke up, daylight had already broken.
“I’m sorry.” Fei Jing grabbed his hair and knelt on the floor, consumed by remorse.
For a moment, he truly wanted to punish himself on the spot.
Seeing his good friend in such agony, Chen Yi could do nothing but sigh.
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He tossed the medicine boxes over.
“Those were in Lu Tian’s room. There were no instructions and no names on them. I smelled them. They seem to contain anti-cancer medication, along with powerful painkillers…”
Before he could finish, Fei Jing sprang to his feet, the veins at his temples bulging.
“Impossible! Tian Tian only has a weak immune system. She doesn’t have cancer. She won’t die.”
“Ah Jing, everyone gets sick, and no one can escape death forever. You should pay more attention to Lu Tian. Her baby only passed away recently. She’s truly suffering.”
Chen Yi patted his shoulder, which was rigid as stone.
He thought of the two of them and their years of twists and turns.
At the beginning, the boy had pursued the girl, while she had mistaken him for some street thug and been frightened into avoiding him.
Later, through some miracle, they had gotten together. Then the boy’s inferiority complex had driven him to ask for a breakup, while the girl had pursued him relentlessly. In the end, they had built a business together and married.
“Fei Jing, don’t you think you and Lu Tian have always been forcing something that was never meant to be? Do you really believe a future like this can end well?”
Chen Yi took the medicine boxes and left.
Before departing, he added, “Until the medication is tested, everything is only speculation. But one thing is certain: Lu Tian’s body is far more fragile than a normal person’s. I hope you understand when enough is enough.”
Upstairs, the nursery was so quiet that even a needle dropping could be heard.
After struggling through the entire night, Lu Tian’s fever finally broke. She had sweated through her clothes and fallen into a deep sleep.
Fei Jing removed the clothes Lu Youyou had touched and lay down beside her.
The tiny child’s bed somehow held two tightly embracing adults.
Perhaps she had caught the scent of something unpleasant. Even with her eyes closed, Lu Tian instinctively pushed away the man holding her and mumbled, “You reek. Stay away from me!”
Aunt Zhao brought in chicken soup and gave an awkward smile. “Sir, perhaps Madam dislikes Miss Youyou’s perfume.”
“Then tell Lu Youyou that from now on, she is forbidden to use any perfume.”
“Yes, sir.”
After issuing the order, Fei Jing took a quick shower, then coaxed Lu Tian into drinking the chicken soup.
But after only one sip, Lu Tian began retching and vomited sour fluid all over the floor.
Aunt Zhao broke into a cold sweat. Bracing herself beneath her master’s terrifying gaze, she explained, “S-Sir, this… this chicken soup was made by Miss Youyou. She said that, as your concubine, she ought to take good care of Madam for you.”
Crash!
The entire bowl of chicken soup was hurled into Lu Youyou’s face while she was still busy in the kitchen.
The soup was not scalding, but splashed across carefully tended skin, it still caused enough pain to make her whole body convulse and send her staggering to the floor.
The young woman lay there with tear-filled eyes and lifted her head pitifully. “Husband, it was all my fault last night. I forgot to charge your phone, otherwise Sister wouldn’t have had to fall ill alone. I felt so guilty, so…”
Slap!
Grabbing her long, beautiful hair, Fei Jing struck her again and again until her cheeks swelled red and she could no longer make a sound.
“Waaah…”
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Lu Youyou still tried to act coquettish and win his sympathy.
Fei Jing would not even spare her a glance. He merely ordered Aunt Zhao, “Throw her into cold water. She is not to come out until she develops a fever.”
Every bit of suffering his Tian Tian had endured, he would make this shameless woman experience in full.
After all, if she had not seduced him the night before, how could he have failed to stay by his wife’s side?
The chicken soup was prepared anew by a master chef from the state banquet kitchens.
Aunt Zhao dragged Lu Youyou away.
Terror filled her eyes, spilling out with her tears.
“Miss Youyou, at least a concubine like me is allowed to see the light of day.
“But you? Our master loves Madam more than life itself. A man’s roughness in bed is something he cannot bear to inflict on Madam.
“Otherwise, do you really think you would be allowed inside the Fei family estate?”
In the basement shower room, the warm air had been turned off.
Lu Youyou’s bruised, pale body lay submerged in a tub filled with icy water.
The phone on the floor lit up.
—Youyou, it’s been so long since you came back to visit us at the orphanage!
—Next week is your birthday. You have to come! We love you most, Sister Youyou~
A day and a night later.
Lu Tian’s fever had completely subsided, and she was fully conscious.
Her chest felt somewhat tight, and she tried to sit up in bed.
But when her foot touched the floor, it landed on a warm body.
“Wife, you’re awake? Don’t move yet. The IV hasn’t finished. Lie down a little longer.”
Lu Tian lowered her eyes and glanced at the bedding scattered across the floor. In a detached tone, she asked, “Have you been here with me the whole time?”
“Yes. The bed was too small, and I was afraid I’d crowd you, so I had to sleep on the floor.”
As he spoke, Fei Jing rose. He carefully checked how much fluid remained in the IV bottle, then instructed the servants to prepare a nutritious meal.
Even the little socks meant to keep her warm had been washed and changed by his own hands.
He busied himself from one task to the next, perfectly content to do so.
Lu Tian pressed a hand to her forehead and shifted her gaze slightly. She had intended to ask him to leave, but then she noticed the drawer was completely empty.
Her phone screen was lit as well, displaying a memo filled with red crosses…