---

His gaze turned cold, and he tightened his grip on my hand.

“What? Trying to escape again?”

“Huh? No, of course not.”

Though I was still planning to leave, at this moment I truly wasn’t, so I wasn’t exactly lying, right?

Gu Yan stared at me coldly for a moment before he stopped speaking. He tightened his grip even more and then pushed open the door to the private room.

The noisy room instantly fell silent as Gu Yan led me inside.

In the dim lighting, I could feel multiple pairs of eyes landing on me.

At that moment, a familiar voice called out.

“Gu Yan, you’re finally here.”

Su Jin quickly walked over to Gu Yan and tried to affectionately link arms with him.

I felt Gu Yan’s grip on my hand tighten further. His handsome face was filled with coldness, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were holding something back.

Something was off—Gu Yan didn’t seem quite right.

I noticed his shoulder subtly shift away, making Su Jin miss her attempt to link arms. At the same time, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Are you feeling unwell?” I asked, concerned.

Gu Yan remained silent, his face stern, as he led me to the sofa and sat down.

As soon as we sat down, Su Jin came over again.

She didn’t seem embarrassed at all by Gu Yan’s earlier rejection. Instead, she sat beside him as if nothing had happened, speaking to him warmly and intimately.

---

10

“Aren’t you supposed to come pick me up? I’ve been waiting for you for so long, Gu Yan.”

Although Su Jin’s words sounded like a complaint, her tone was filled with joy. She was clearly showing off her closeness to Gu Yan.

Gu Yan said nothing, completely ignoring her. But Su Jin didn’t mind and kept talking.

“Gu Yan, did you go to get me those matcha red bean cakes from the West City bakery?”

“Why don’t you say anything? You always quietly do things for me without letting me know. If I hadn’t recognized Ah Mu as your bodyguard, I might never have known that you personally wait in line every day to buy those cakes for me.”

As soon as she said that, everyone around expressed their amazement.

“Wow, Second Master really cares for Su Jin.”

“Only Su Jin can make Second Master go out of his way to buy her cakes in his busy schedule.”

People around us kept praising Su Jin, and her face lit up with happiness as she basked in their admiration.

Watching all this, I couldn’t help but feel both disappointed and confused.

Did Gu Yan really go out of his way to buy red bean cakes for Su Jin?

It didn’t seem like something he’d do.

But if it wasn’t true, Gu Yan would have denied it by now. Su Jin wouldn’t dare lie in front of him.

Thinking about it, I felt even worse.

Perhaps because I was pregnant, the smell of alcohol around me was making me nauseous. I quickly covered my mouth and ran out of the room.

I went to the restroom, washed my face, and stepped out.

As soon as I exited, I saw Su Jin standing at the entrance to the men’s restroom.

I was about to remind her that the women’s restroom was next door when she spoke in a sharp, mocking voice, “If I were you, I wouldn’t have shown up here tonight.”

I quietly looked at her.

Su Jin’s gaze turned increasingly disdainful as she spoke. “As a man, don’t you feel ashamed being another man’s plaything? And that’s not enough—you, a hidden toy, even dare to appear in front of me, his real girlfriend? Ye Yu, how thick is your skin?”

I thought I would be angry at Su Jin’s words, but surprisingly, I felt calm.

Perhaps my calmness only provoked her more, as Su Jin’s face twisted further in frustration.

“Do you believe that with just one word from me, Gu Yan would make you disappear from this world?”

I was slightly taken aback, suddenly recalling the fate of my character, a side character doomed to die in the story.

Could my tragic end in the book be because of Su Jin?

At that moment, I had the fleeting urge to eliminate her before she could do anything to me.

Just because she’s the female lead, does that give her the right to control others’ fates?

After a brief moment of resentment, I calmed down again.

I glanced at Su Jin and, without saying a word, walked past her.

As I passed the private room, I didn’t go back in but instead headed straight out.

Walking through the club’s entrance, I exhaled deeply, thinking it was all over. But suddenly, a large hand grabbed me from behind, pulling me forcefully backward. In the next moment, I fell into a warm, strong embrace.

“Why are you leaving without telling me?” Gu Yan’s voice sounded in my ear.

The frustration I had managed to suppress surged up again. I pushed myself out of his arms and glared at him angrily.

“There’s nothing to say,” I replied coldly.

“Nothing to say? Trying to run again?”

I remained silent.

Gu Yan suddenly pulled out a small pendant that hung around his neck. It was a tiny bottle, and inside, there seemed to be something white.

“Do you know what this is? Three months ago, this is what you left behind—your ashes.”

I froze, completely unable to process it.

Gu Yan had kept my fake ashes and even wore them around his neck?

Someone carrying another person’s ashes with them—it was such a…

Before I could finish my thoughts, Gu Yan’s obsessive gaze locked onto me, and he gritted his teeth as he questioned me again.

“Why are you running?”

I glanced at the “ashes,” then at Gu Yan, and decided to give up hiding.

I lowered my head and gently touched my slightly swollen belly.

“Are you scared of a man being pregnant?”

I had always thought that Gu Yan only saw me as a toy, especially with Su Jin around, so I never dared to have any hope.

But now, I decided to take a gamble.

I revealed the bombshell of my pregnancy and left the decision in Gu Yan’s hands.

---

11

That night, after Gu Yan dropped me back at Yuting Garden, he didn’t show up again.

At first, I still held onto some hope since he had brought me back to Yuting Garden…