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Riding the elevator upstairs, as the doors opened, a few people were standing outside. One of them was a tall man holding a two- or three-year-old child in his arms. The expression on the man’s face was one Chi Yao had never seen before—warm and gentle to the extreme. Chi Yao stared at him with a dark gaze.

Fu Rong, finding it strange that the person in the elevator wasn’t getting out, then noticed it was Shen Ling’s admirer—his rival in love, standing inside.

The rival was giving him a cold, accusatory look, which confused Fu Rong. Then, the little girl in his arms suddenly spoke up, “Pretty Gege!”^[1]Intimate or closed way of addressing someone older than you. Or Brother in english, but not blood related.

The little one, though still small, saw someone who looked like an angel straight out of a picture book, and immediately started wriggling.

Her struggles were so strong that Fu Rong couldn’t hold her steadily. He crouched down, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she rushed into the elevator and wrapped her arms around Chi Yao’s leg.

Raising her soft, round, fair little face, she said in a sweet, childish voice, “Gege, you’re so pretty!”

Chi Yao was stunned. The child’s hand was soft, and her small hands hugged his leg. Chi Yao didn’t like people getting too close to him, let alone touching him without permission, but when the little girl rushed over, something tender in his heart was touched.

For a moment, Chi Yao almost wanted to bend down and pick up the child.

But he quickly restrained himself, gently pushing the child away as he stepped out of the elevator.

“Keep an eye on your kid,” Chi Yao coldly said as he passed by Fu Rong.

Walking away quickly, Chi Yao heard the little girl’s cry behind him, “Uncle, I like him! He’s so handsome! Go chase him, quickly! He’s going far away!”

The little girl was hitting her uncle’s body, her nose turning red from crying.

Fu Rong, who had no idea how to handle his niece, especially when she cried and begged, had no choice but to follow.

Chi Yao didn’t expect the two to actually catch up with him, and suddenly his wrist was grabbed. He turned sharply, glaring at Fu Rong with obvious displeasure.

“Gege…” The little girl tentatively tugged on Chi Yao’s clothes, her eyes filled with tears that threatened to fall.

At that moment, Chi Yao suddenly thought of a little life—a life that in his previous existence never had the chance to come into this world.

Even though he didn’t particularly like that child, he couldn’t deny that he had wronged them.

Without knowing what came over him, Chi Yao squatted down and wiped away the little girl’s tears.

The little girl instantly beamed with joy, then threw herself into Chi Yao’s arms, hugging his neck tightly.

“Gege, do you have a girlfriend? If not, can I be your girlfriend?” the little girl asked with pure innocence, her voice brimming with excitement.

Chi Yao, holding her tiny body, didn’t dare to hug too tightly. He looked up at the girl’s uncle, realizing from what he heard that Fu Rong and the girl were relatives, not father and daughter.

Chi Yao was crouching, while Fu Rong was standing, and as Fu Rong lowered his head, his eyes met Chi Yao’s gaze—eyes like clear, shimmering autumn water, full of tenderness and warmth, completely unlike the Chi Yao he remembered.

Just a few days ago, Chi Yao had brutally injured someone, yet now, here he was, cradling a child, radiating a serene and peaceful aura.

This contrast struck Fu Rong as odd. It didn’t seem to fit, yet at the same time, it felt like it suited Chi Yao perfectly. Someone like Chi Yao seemed to naturally attract children’s affection—perhaps very few kids wouldn’t like him.

What would Chi Yao be like if he had a child?

Fu Rong thought that no matter the gender, the child would undoubtedly be adorable.

Several thoughts flickered through Fu Rong’s mind at that moment.

He stepped forward and gently took his niece from Chi Yao’s arms. “Yuanyuan, he still has things to do. We can’t bother him.”

The girl sniffed and turned to look at Chi Yao with a deeply hurt expression.

Chi Yao’s fingers, resting at his side, curled slightly. Following Fu Rong’s lead, he said, “I do have some things to do. And I’m sorry, but I already have a girlfriend.”

The girl immediately burst into tears again, her sobs making Chi Yao’s heart tremble, as if urging him to pick her up and comfort her.

In the end, Chi Yao did nothing, merely giving Fu Rong a glance before walking away quickly.

The appearance of that little girl left Chi Yao feeling unsettled for days. He constantly found himself unconsciously touching his abdomen, but always ended up feeling the flatness of his stomach—there was no longer any small life inside.

Chi Yao had always known he liked men and had accepted long ago that he would never have children. But to his surprise, he had discovered that he could, in fact, carry a child.

The child hadn’t been born, but for a few months, it had accompanied Chi Yao in his body. Even in death, it was buried alongside him.

Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to Chi Yao—he wanted that child, the only child that would have been solely his.

His crazy— Chi Yao had always been aware of it—was such that he longed to be the kind of monster others would see him as, a man who could bear children like a woman.

Once the thought surfaced, it was hard to suppress. But to have a child, he would need someone else.

And no matter who that person was, the thought alone made Chi Yao feel sick.

So, in this life, it seemed he still wouldn’t meet that child.

Chi Yao continued working at the club, and during his shifts, he gradually noticed something—those few people he had encountered that day seemed to have a target in mind, planning to make a move on someone.

The methods were too familiar, just like what Chi Yao had once experienced. He was almost certain that his own downfall back then had likely been orchestrated by those same people.

But whether that was truly the case remained, just a speculation, never will have the light of a day to be discovered.

So, Chi Yao didn’t act right away. He decided to observe.

He saw those people drug a colleague and, after the person passed out, take them across the street to a hotel—the same hotel where Chi Yao had gone in his previous life. It was also there, after a night with someone he didn’t know, that Chi Yao discovered months later that a child had been growing inside him.