Chapter 233: Prematurely
"You're pregnant! Congratulations!" Lu Xia said loudly as she sprung up from the couch. Though as soon as she did this, she looked at her cousin with wide eyes, "Wait... you need a paternity test right?... Are you not sure who the father is? did you cheat on him!?"
Rong Xin and Lu Xia looked at Lu AnLing with a mix of confusion and shock.
Seeing this, Lu AnLing almost puked blood. "I'm not pregnant and what the hell? Who do you think I am? Of course, I didn't cheat on him."
Hearing this, Lu Xia felt a sudden wave of dizziness pass through her and so she sat back down. "Then...I'm confused..."
Lu Xia was about to speak but before she could, Lu AnLing shut her up, sighed and said, "If you give me a second, I'll explain everything but first, I want to know something."
"Okay, What do you want to know?" Lu Xia asked. Due to what Lu AnLing had said, she was very curious to know what was going on but Lu AnLing liked to do things at her own pace.
Seeing the curiosity overflow from the girl's eyes, Lu AnLing took a deep breath and said, " I have reason to believe that the hospitals in T City have been compromised... so, I need someone to make sure no one can tamper with the results when I go to court..."
"Why are you going to court?" Lu Xia asked curiously.
"... That's not the point right now. First, tell me if you can make sure that no one can tamper with the results."
Lu Xia nodded. "All you want me to do is make sure of this? Yeah. No problem. I can do it. Though most of the time the courts use the hospital in the north... the one Grandmother was at. I think I still have a friend there though, I'll check in with them."
"Are you sure that it'll be alright? I mean, do you think your friends can be trusted?" Lu AnLing felt weird saying this but she had to ask. She didn't want any loose ends, mostly when it came to fighting for the custody of her daughter.
Hearing this, Lu Xia looked deeply at her cousin. Seeing the slight pain flash across the girl's eyes, Lu Xia felt hurt for her. She was very interested in the reason why Lu AnLing was asking such a question and why she was going to court but Lu Xia was not going to ask, as of yet, because she knew that Lu AnLing had come here prepared to tell her anything and everything, as long as Lu Xia was patient.
Lu Xia: "You can never fully trust anyone, but in the end, the people I'll be asking are indebted to me and the one from the North hospital owes me a favor since I wrote all of her papers back in university."
"Why did you do that?" Lu AnLing asked with a frown.
"She was my roommate in America and she used to play music super loudly when she would study and do her essays. I wanted her out!" Just remembering it made Lu Xia clench her teeth in annoyance but then, she looked at Lu AnLing and smiled childishly, " Though, either way, I was bored. Writing essays is a great way to pass the time and get paid."
Seeing that Lu AnLing was not satisfied with such an answer, Lu Xia coughed awkwardly and then, she began to speak once more.
Lu Xia: "Point is, You don't need to worry about anything."
With that said, Lu AnLing gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much... I owe you one."
Lu Xia shook her head. "We're family. This is what family is for."
As she said this, Lu Xia's eyes accidentally met with Rong Xin's who starred calmly as the two girls as they spoke.
Rong Xin had never seen such a sweet sight. He himself didn't have any other family apart from his grandmother nowadays, but he knew, due to being close to the Kang family, that families could be cruel and vicious towards one another and that sometimes it was better not to trust anyone at all... but Lu AnLing and Lu Xia were not like that at all. They were like friends; a family that a person chose, and that was what made their relationship enviable.
"So..." Lu Xia said dragging her words. She really wanted Lu AnLing to explain the meaning behind her words from before.
Seeing the curiosity that appeared within Lu Xia's eyes, Lu AnLing gave a small smile and then she touched the ring on her right hand.
Suddenly, feeling herself choke up, Lu AnLing took a big breath. She had spent so much of her life trying to hide the fact that she had given birth that now that she had the chance to speak of it, she was fairly reluctant. What if Lu Xia were disgusted by her? What if it broke her relationship with her as it had done with Lu Shuya?
Lu AnLing did not want to be stared at by the same judging eyes that she had been when she was pregnant. She just wouldn't be able to take it.
Seeing her cousins be so hesitant, Lu Xia reached to touch Lu AnLing's hand.
Lu Xia wanted to know what was in Lu AnLing's mind. She was so curious but even so, she said, "You don't need to explain if you don't want to..."
Hearing this, Lu AnLing looked up to meet Lu Xia's unwavering gaze. This caused Lu AnLing's heart to squeeze and her skin to warm.
Feeling this, Lu AnLing took another shaky breath and held Lu Xia's hand tightly.
"The year I left to study abroad, I didn't actually go study... I was sent to a recovery institution..." Lu AnLing started.
Lu Xia raised her eyebrows. "To recover from what?"
"Well... to answer that, I should start several months earlier... my boyfriend of the time cheated on me I had a one night stand, with Kang Jun... though I didn't know it was him at the time. Then 7 months later... I gave birth."
"Wait, you were only pregnant 7 months?" Li Xia said with a frown.
"Yeah... I had a... shock of sorts and gave birth prematurely..." Thinking back to the day she had given birth, Lu AnLing's heart began to palpitate hard.
"Shock?"
Lu AnLing nodded her head. "Yeah... I thought... well... I thought I saw my father. But he's been dead for years."
Lu Xia wanted to ask more about that, but Lu AnLing's face hard turned dark as she remembered this and Lu Xia had many more questions to ask.
"Back home... who knows?" Lu Xia asked as she rubbed her arm.
"Only my mom and Shuya know about this..." Lu AnLing played with her ring; spinning it round and round until she began to feel her finger burn. "They... well ugh... they weren't okay with it, but I was okay with that. I was prepared to raise my child, even if I had to do it alone but then... As soon as I gave birth they took them away from me. After that, my mom sent me away. But even after I was released, I... I couldn't step foot in the family home after that. So I never came back to T City..."
Lu AnLing could no longer speak. She found her throat dry and her heart palpitating hard in her ears. She couldn't help but remember her past and It stabbed at her heart.
Suddenly, the room became deathly quiet but in the minds of the three who sat in the room, chaos reigned.
Seeing the faraway look in her cousins eye, Lu Xia felt her eyes glaze over and then, before she could stop it, tears trickled down her cheeks.
Lu Xia: "I'm sorry... I wasn't there... It must have been so hard..."
She had applied eyeliner in the morning so the tears caused black streaks to appear on her face.
Seeing this, Rong Xin and Lu AnLing were so shocked that they jumped out of their seats.
Lu AnLing told Rong Xin to go get her some paper. He then ran to get some. Meanwhile, Lu AnLing touched Lu Xia's shoulder warmly.
Because Lu Xia was crying, Lu AnLing also wanted to cry but she held herself back, instead, she began to speak,
"It was hard. It really was, but Xia Xia, please understand, I'm happy now... I met a man who loves me, I have people in my life who love and support me, I'm no longer afraid to be myself... and, most importantly, I found my daughter... and I can finally live my best life. I'm okay now."
When Rong Xin came back he saw both women cry and felt his whole body freeze but he quickly forced his body to move and gave them tissues.
Both girls took the paper and wiped their faces. With tears still at the corner of their eyes, they looked at Rong Xin and said, "Thank you..."
With that said, Rong Xin froze, unsure of what to say or do.
He wasn't good with crying women, he remembered how his mother and his aunt Anna would cry sometimes and it hurt his heart and for some reason, seeing Lu Xia and Lu AnLing cry ignited the same protective instinct that he had had back then.
When he was a child, he couldn't help anyone, but now, he was an adult, one who had done a lot of extensive physical training, so he could protect things now. He didn't quite care about Lu Xia and Lu AnLing as much as he cared about his mother and Anna but he was sure that one day he would...
They were blood. He could deny it but he could see it in their demeanour, in their smiles and in their tears.
***
It was still early in the day but Kang Mu and Mo Ruyi were at the venue making finishing touches.
Kang Mu was excited for the events that would transpire that night so as he walked through the room, analyzing it and fixing anything that wasn't perfect as he hummed a happy tune.
Hearing this, Mo Ruyi felt calm herself.
When Kang Mu was done, he walked to the far end of the room and gazed at the people who were working to make the night a success. Seeing this, he sighed. "I can't wait until Kang Jun is married..."
As Kang Mu said this, Kang Nianxi walked in, early, with Wang Tingting, Qiao Lan and Rong Yue Wan.
Mo Ruyi and Kang Mu immediately saw them as the group walked towards the two.
"It's strange to see you all together." Mo Ruyi crossed her arms and said in a nonchalant way but those who knew her well knew that she was accusing them of something.
Hearing this, Qiao Lan laughed calmly. "We wanted to know if you wanted help."
Kang Mu: "That's really kind of you guys but we don't need help. Just sit down and enjoy the refreshments."
Qiao Lan smiled at Kang Mu nicely and said,
"Thank you father, but if there's anything you need, feel free to call any one of us." Qiao Lan then looked at Rong Yue Wan and put her hand on the woman's back. "Yue Wan really cares about Jun, so she wants to make sure she can do anything g in her power to make tonight a good one."
Mo Ruyi rolled her eyes internally and then she looked towards Rong Yue Wan who wore a silver sequin dress suit which dipped low.
Seeing this, Mo Ruyi wanted to frown but she fought against it.
But now... Mo Ruyi could smell trouble but she wouldn't allow it.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
caremel
caremel I wish I could give you guys all the chapters of the engagement arc at once, but I haven't written it yet! Right now the chapters I publish are written the day before. Though I'll try to up my speed, though first I need to finish this essay I'm writing. Why did school have to have so many essays to write, do people write essays like this when they're in the work force?!
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