Chapter 128: Don't You Dare Joke About My Offspring!

Chapter 128: Don't Joke About My Seed

Watching Shen Yanlie’s expression, Mai Xijun felt a sudden, hollow tightness in her chest. She had never asked him if he wanted a child, nor did she know if he even liked children. He had never mentioned it, and she had never inquired.

He never used protection, and she had been careless, never deliberately trying to avoid pregnancy. This child had come too suddenly, catching her completely off guard. However, after attending classes on pregnancy and infants, she had begun to fall in love with this developing little life.

She did not know how to bring it up. She did not know what to say. If he didn’t want it, if he didn’t like it, where would she go?

He was a leopard, needing to roam freely—a wild, unruly man filled with untamed spirit. He was unwilling to be shackled, nor should he be. He was not meant to be bound by anyone, including women, marriage, or children. This was the reason she had kept it from him all along.

She had never realized she could care so much about his answer. She felt like someone whose death sentence had been commuted, with his every word deciding the highs and lows, the twists and turns of her life.

Han Xinyao slowly crawled up from the floor, her reason buried under hatred. When Shen Yanlie had pushed her away, she had instinctively stumbled back several steps. Now, any distance she covered to get closer to Shen Yanlie and Mai Xijun required time.

"Lie, no matter what happens in the future, we..."

*Swish.*
*Snap.*
"Ah!"
*Clatter.*

Following a few sounds, the "snap" that followed made Mai Xijun’s heart lurch. Then came the piercing, soul-shattering scream that filled her eardrums.

Looking back, she saw Han Xinyao had fallen to the ground once again.

At this moment, Han Xinyao’s face was twisted into a ghastly expression. Mai Xijun crouched down to help her up, but she was instantly restrained by Shen Yanlie. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, with an overbearing force that brooked no refusal, pulling her straight toward his desk as he pressed the intercom button.

"Get some men in here," Shen Yanlie said coldly, then hung up.

Barely moments after he finished speaking, the office door opened. It was the company’s special security team—several men in suits, all over six feet tall. Mai Xijun knew they were the staff responsible for protecting executives, acting essentially as a counter-terrorism unit for the company’s upper management.

In Shen Yanlie’s mind, Han Xinyao had committed an unforgivable sin.

"Drag her out," Shen Yanlie signaled with a glance. "Don't let me see her again."

Otherwise, he would surely kill her.

This shameless woman had broken into his office, struck his woman, struck the mother of his child, and finally, even pulled out a knife to stab her in the back. Had he been too lenient with her?

If he hadn't been quick, how would that scene have ended? His woman, his child...

"Don't be too—"

"Shut up," Shen Yanlie interrupted sharply. A woman like Han Xinyao deserved to die ten times over in his hands. What right did she have to hurt his woman, and right under his eyes at that? According to his chauvinistic nature, this was absolutely intolerable; it was playing a joke on his pride.

Mai Xijun struggled to break free from his embrace. Although she was furious at what Han Xinyao had done—being slapped for no reason and nearly stabbed—she was willing to listen to an explanation. After all, Han Xinyao had once cared for her deeply. If there was a reason, as long as it was sufficient for forgiveness, she would never hold a grudge.

It was like when she faced Xue Lizan; if he had offered a single explanation back then, she would still have trusted him, for there had been feelings between them. However... if the woman currently being so arrogant before her were He Jingjing, she felt she would have already responded with several slaps, accompanied by kicks and punches.

Although "kicking and punching" might be a bit extreme, it was her truest psychological reaction. She actually despised people and actions that lacked any justification.

"Behave yourself, and I guarantee she will remain alive," Shen Yanlie issued his final ultimatum. The hand on her waist never loosened even a fraction.

Mai Xijun stopped moving. Han Xinyao’s right arm was dislocated, hanging limp at her shoulder, and sweat soaked the messy hair plastered to her forehead.

As Han Xinyao was dragged out, her hair fell across her face, making her look utterly wretched. She looked like someone who had lost her soul, yet was still being bullied by others, appearing unable to bear the weight of it all. Her laughter was heartbreaking and desolate.

"Mai Xijun, you betrayed Little Stone's heart. One day, you too will be betrayed by your beloved in the same way. I swear upon this soul that is about to vanish from the world: the suffering Little Stone endured for you, one day you will feel it twice as deeply. Hahaha!"

The laughter grew more distant and louder, as if it would tear through her eardrums, making her entire body tremble uncontrollably.

Little Stone. What had happened to her Little Stone?

"Where is Mo Shaoxing?" Mai Xijun turned, her eyes red, her gaze like ice that had been frozen for a thousand years—devoid of temperature, yet beneath the sharpness lay a hidden, profound sorrow.

"He's gone." Shen Yanlie did not react strongly, nor did he try to avoid the question. This left Mai Xijun with a fleeting moment of confusion; a trace of melancholy crossed her brow before drifting away like clouds.

"Where did he go?" Mai Xijun asked, her tone sounding remarkably like an interrogation, which Shen Yanlie disliked.

He hated this feeling—the feeling of being at odds with Mai Xijun. It displeased him, so he released his hand from her waist to distance himself from her anger.

Shen Yanlie leisurely walked around the curved desk and sat down, interlacing his fingers. His demeanor was composed and self-assured.

"A place suitable for him."

"Name."

"I don't know."

"Location."

"I don't know."

"How could you not know?"

"Why must I know?" Shen Yanlie paused, his hand holding a file freezing in mid-air, before he continued, unhurried and as elegant as a black leopard prowling through the Mexican jungle.

"What was the document he gave you that day? Was it a resignation letter?" She clearly remembered wanting to go up to Little Stone that day to speak with him, as she hadn't seen him for a long time. He had been busy, and people in the company said he was away on business. She just wanted to show concern because she worried, too. She was afraid that Little Stone would be like Chen Xuemin—appearing suddenly and leaving just as suddenly.

She wanted to cherish everyone in her life who treated her well.

Yet, she had never considered that the man who had once protected her with his very life was gradually drifting further and further away from her...

"Where do you think you're going?" Shen Yanlie roared at the back of the woman who was walking away resolutely.

"Hmph, what do I think I'm doing? Don't you know?" Mai Xijun snorted disdainfully before continuing, "However, if you don't know, I can tell you. I'm going to find Little Stone, and I won't stop until I do."

Those bad premonitions from the past few days hadn't been groundless after all. Although she usually didn't believe in things without scientific basis, this one time, the premonition had been intense.

Actually, she shouldn't have rashly called out to Mo Shaoxing that day. She knew that Shen Yanlie was there—the man she called her own. She shouldn't have staged such a scene in front of him, especially chatting and laughing with another man. Even though Little Stone was someone very important to her, an irreplaceable person—someone even Shen Yanlie couldn't replace—she knew very well that a man’s jealousy and possessiveness were strong.

She hadn't thought much about it. She only knew that if she had committed herself to him, she would be loyal to him. But this didn't mean that Shen Yanlie was the only person living in her heart. She was a person who valued relationships deeply; she would never forget those who had been good to her. However, she kept those feelings clearly compartmentalized. While Little Stone was important, Shen Yanlie was the person she had chosen, and that would never change.

"Come back!" Shen Yanlie stood up, half-roaring, and grabbed her shoulders in a few strides. This woman—she had just said she was carrying his child and wanted to live with him, so why had she changed into a different person now?

"Let go of me!" Mai Xijun shook her arm, and Shen Yanlie loosened his grip out of fear of hurting her. Because she was now carrying another life inside her, he would never let her take any risks. He absolutely wouldn't allow it.

Mai Xijun thought Shen Yanlie had given up on controlling her, and a sense of disappointment washed over her. Would he really watch her leave? Did he not care about the child in her womb?

If he would just explain, if he would just tell her the truth about Little Stone, she would believe him. But not only did he refuse to explain, he had never even intended to tell her.

Even if she were disappointed in him, she had to keep moving forward.

Before Mai Xijun could take two steps, Shen Yanlie bent down and swept her up into his arms. Caught off guard, Mai Xijun reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You aren't alone anymore. You're carrying my seed, and you cannot joke with his safety."

He couldn't let her go, couldn't leave her to her own devices, couldn't indulge her, and couldn't let her be so willful anymore. He knew that at this moment, he had to be overbearing and strong to pull her back, or he would lose her.