Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

While everyone finally breathed in relief, the look in Chu Lui’s eyes turned from cold to icy. He got to his feet and walked out of the room. The ringing sound descended as he made his exit slowly from the room.

It suddenly dawned on them that the culprit was none other than their great CEO. No wonder he had not vented his frustration at them.

Chu Lui took his phone out and flipped it open. The caller ID showed it was a call from his home. There had been many consecutive calls made with no intention of ceasing. He frowned and put the phone by his ear.

“Hello.” The line was connected. The first things he heard were the commotion and cries.

His heart sank in an instant as he felt a chill, and so did his face.

By the time Chu Lui rushed to the hospital, Li Manni’s and his parents had already arrived. They were restless and antsy. The light above the door to the operating theater was lit.

“Can someone tell me what has happened?” His voice was cold as frost; his eyebrows were so lightly knitted that they couldn’t be untangled.

Song Wan pulled his arm as she continued crying, sick with worry. “Ah Lui, Manni is inside. The maids said she has lost a lot of blood. It’s possible that she had lost the baby.” As she said this, Song Wan felt so heartbroken that she thought she might die. That baby was her life. She would not know what to do if this baby had been lost. This was a grandchild whom she had been expecting for the past four years. If it was really gone, she would die.

Chu Jiang was going through the same emotions as his wife. He embraced her in his arms as they went through the same pain which showed on his face. His grandchild—the one he had been waiting for the past four years—might be really gone.

The operating theater door opened, and the doctor stepped out. His expression was apologetic when he saw the crowd outside. From that, one could guess the answer easily enough.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Chu. We have tried our best. However, we couldn’t keep the baby. Both your wife and yourself are still young. There will be another one.”

When she heard his words, Song Wan started wailing. She had been so full of expectation while she waited for the arrival of her grandchild. Right now, it was gone.

Chu Jiang’s eyes were red, too. However, as a man, he knew it was his duty to console his grieving wife.

“Alright now. Don’t cry. We are not fated to have this baby. Ah Lui is only thirty years old. We should put our trust in him and believe that he will be giving us a grandson soon.”

Chu Lui closed his eyes. His hands which had been by his side were clenched up tightly into balls of fists. He felt a chill in his body as there was no warm left inside him.

His child was gone.

No one noticed that the doctor’s eyes had started dodging them at this moment. He lowered his head as his hand went into his pocket and held onto a check.

Li Manni did not eat or drink as she lay dully on the bed inside the premium VIP ward. There was no light in her eyes. Chu Lui sat by her side and reached out to embrace her into his arms.

“I’m sorry, Lui. It was my fault that I did not protect our baby. I should have been more careful.” Li Manni raised her head and looked at Chu Lui. Her eyes were filled with guilt, and she was drowning in them.

“It’s alright. Don’t think too much. We will have another baby.” Chu Lui held her tightly. Perhaps, this baby was not meant to be his. He had been waiting for this baby in anticipation, too. He did not feel good now that it was gone. However, he could blame no one; and no amount of pain would patch things up. The most important thing was Li Manni’s health.

“Listen to me. You must make sure you take care of yourself and recuperate well. Trust me. We will have lots and lots of children in the future.” His hand caressed her colorless face as heartache swept across his eyes. She must be the saddest person in this room right now. What right did he have to blame her? He should not blame her for not taking precautions to be careful of his child. No, he wouldn’t do that.

“Lui, will you leave me? You’re the only one I have now that the baby is gone.” Li Manni clung tightly onto Chu Lui’s shirt as her body trembled non-stop. She was terrified, truly terrified that he would leave her and discard her. This step of her plan was too risky, and she wasn’t feeling sure of herself.

“Why would I? You are my wife, and I am your husband. I won’t leave you just like this.” He patted her shoulders which had tensed up from her anxiety, wishing he could reassure her. In his mind, he thought that this woman would have a meltdown if history was to repeat itself.

She wouldn’t be able to bear it. Instead, let him be the one to shoulder her burden.

If only he could see the woman in his arms, he would have seen her in a trance.

Unconsciously, his fingers started to move and pat Li Manni’s shoulders gently. He would treat her even better in the future. He truly believed that they could conceive another child very soon. For sure.

...

Du Jingtang stared at the mountains of document folders as he stood inside the CEO office in the Chu Enterprise. He flung his phone aside. Currently, he was overwhelmed with work. His CEO cousin and his auntie were at the hospital, keeping the woman company as she had a miscarriage.

He was the only one here.

“How can she be so careless?” Du Jingtang could not help himself from saying. If this was the case, then that little girl would have died in vain.

He tossed his pen down. His thoughts seemed to be running too far ahead of himself. Those were matters concerning his cousin, the Chu family. It had nothing to do with him. His last name was Du. However, he could not help himself from feeling uncomfortable.

Time could be a heartless thing to a human. It would not slow down or stay on the spot no matter how much one wanted it to. Li Manni was discharged, but her spirits remained low, and Chu Lui returned to work. He had clearly become more aloof compared to before. The number of sighs that his parents made had increased, too.

Chu Lui tossed the folder that he was holding and shoved everything in front of him. He felt as though something was crushing him inside, causing him to suffocate.

He did not wish to go home. Whenever he went back, he would be greeted by the sight of Li Manni crying to herself. He would become more irritated and frustrated. There was so much going on in his life right now, and he felt as though all the air had been sucked out of him.

He picked up his jacket and stood up. He was not in the mood to go through the piles of documents that were laying on his table.

He opened the door and was greeted by Du Jingtang who had raised his hand to knock on his office door.

“Cousin, it is still so early. Are you done for the day? Don’t you feel tired at all? You are not a machine. Even a machine needs to be maintained by oiling its parts,” he said weirdly. It was rare to see his cousin leave the office so early. This man had put his work before everything else, even his life.