Chapter 112: His Refusal, His Confirmation Of Pregnancy
Lian Cheng shivered, all the fatigue in her body vanishing as if blown away.
She understood that “vacation” was just a polite term; Liang Chaosu was indicating that he didn’t intend to return to the country for a while.
She had considered it before: Father Liang suspected her pregnancy but couldn’t catch her, so he would surely make a move. If Liang Chaosu wanted to keep her, especially with the possibility of her being pregnant, keeping her in Iceland, far from the country, was the safest course of action.
But Lian Cheng didn’t expect Liang Chaosu wasn’t staying for just a day or two, but for a period of time. Father Liang was cunning and calculating; anything he did could stir up trouble and threaten Liang Chaosu’s status.
He was deeply power-hungry, and his extensive expansion over the past four years, working day and night, had established his current prestigious position. It was easy to see that he wouldn’t give it up easily.
At this time, why wasn’t he returning to manage the situation, and instead was wasting time with her in Iceland?
If he didn’t go back and monitored her twenty-four hours a day, how could she find an opportunity to leave?
“You don’t want me to stay?”
Liang Chaosu put down his computer, leaned closer, and took the milk from her hand, placing it on the table, “You want me to go back to the country so you can find a chance to slip away?”
Lian Cheng’s eyes widened, “How can you make baseless accusations?”
Liang Chaosu hadn’t expected her to retort with that, and he was caught off guard, amused, “If you don’t want to slip away, why are you rushing me back to the country?”
His figure was broad and strong, his shoulders to his chest like an impenetrable wall, pressing in on her inch by inch. Lian Cheng leaned back as much as she could, “Don’t overanalyze. I haven’t even said anything that includes the character ‘rush’ in the past two days.”
Liang Chaosu rested his arm on the sofa’s armrest, leaned down, and got closer, “You did.”
Lian Cheng’s mind rapidly scanned back, and she couldn’t recall it, “Impossible.”
A smile appeared in Liang Chaosu’s eyes, “The first thing this morning, ‘Get up.'”
Lian Cheng: “…”
Silence was the greatest form of speechlessness, and a smile was the greatest politeness after speechlessness.
But she couldn’t manage politeness with someone like Liang Chaosu, a lunatic with an astonishing memory.
“Lost for words?”
It was rare for her to be rendered speechless. Liang Chaosu’s smile deepened. He picked her up, switched positions, and sat on the sofa, with Lian Cheng collapsing onto him.
He kissed her from below, his nose tip brushing against her nose bridge. It wasn’t deep, his lips and tongue swirling around the shape of her mouth. The milk was gone without a trace, replaced by another glistening, ambiguous moisture.
On the fine fluff around her lips, on her lip peaks, on her lips, a cherry red color from within.
Lian Cheng perceived that he wasn’t restraining her and immediately pushed off the sofa back with her hands, rising and moving away.
He had clearly relaxed his guard, his arm casually resting on the armrest.
The moment she pulled away, she was enveloped, tightened, and compressed into a cage. Inside the cage, she was forced to bow her head, as he aggressively broke through her lips and teeth, his tongue entwining and strangling, punishingly deepening and crowding.
Lian Cheng cursed inwardly, this lunatic was doing entrapment again.
…………………………
The sunrise in Iceland was late, and the sunset was early. By five in the afternoon, it was already dark.
By nine o’clock, when the neon lights in the country were just beginning to glow, it was already a deep, dark night here. The surroundings were silent and deserted, and the wind and snow raged and manifested along the winding streetlights.
The bedroom door and windows blocked out the blizzard. In the thick, heavy darkness, Lian Cheng’s breathing was shallow. Her long hair spread across the man’s chest as she slept soundly.
Liang Chaosu waited for a while longer, feeling her steady breathing on his damp chest. He put on his clothes, got out of bed, grabbed his computer, and went straight to the adjacent room.
The sound of the door closing arrived, and Lian Cheng’s eyes suddenly snapped open. Her stomach churned, filled with nauseating sour water.
She swallowed hard and curled up to one side.
Given Liang Chaosu’s strategic planning and decisive victories, if he was delayed for a while in the afternoon, he would make up for it with overtime at night.
The situation in the country was likely as she had predicted: precarious and volatile.
Lian Cheng had spent the entire afternoon contemplating Liang Chaosu’s reason for not returning to the country. She couldn’t determine if it was a hidden agenda or if he was waiting for confirmation of her pregnancy.
If it was the latter, Liang Chaosu would be too cautious, which was completely contrary to his shrewd, ruthless, and decisive style of operation.
When they first started living together, he didn’t work on Sundays. But once work started, there were no holidays. He occasionally worked in his study, reviewing documents, or held video conferences.
Lian Cheng avoided him as much as possible and would never enter the study. However, on one occasion, Liang Chaosu had an outbreak of cold sores due to internal heat, making his throat sore. He was acting erratically, sometimes wanting water, sometimes wanting ice cubes, and the nanny wasn’t satisfactory.
Lian Cheng ran back and forth for him a couple of times, and she got annoyed. She simply sat in the study, curious to see what other new antics he would come up with. To her surprise, he became well-behaved.
Then, a call came from a regional general manager seeking instructions. Liang Chaosu asked a few key questions, and the other party’s answers were neither vague nor specific.
It wasn’t their fault; this was a common trait among high-level executives, who never made definitive statements and avoided responsibility. Liang Chaosu’s expression darkened. He was meticulous in his work and wouldn’t tolerate the evasiveness of his subordinates. When assigning tasks, he demanded clarity.
It was after that that he began to reorganize his subordinates and cultivate his own team. This was also a significant reason why he was able to expand the Northern Market in four years and climb to the position of Vice Chairman before the age of thirty.
At the same time, just one wall away.
Liang Chaosu was listening to a report from the Liang family executives.
A small desk lamp was on, its light not very strong, illuminating only the area of the desk. Liang Chaosu leaned back in his computer chair, his entire body hidden in the dim shadow. Only his silhouette was visible on the video feed – robust, with a relaxed posture, and a detached air of complete control.
The executives also relaxed and took turns reporting. One executive expressed concern, “Your plan is progressing very smoothly. However, Director Liang’s insistence on supporting Gu Zhoushan is not without reason. Gu Xingyuan’s personality is paranoid, and his actions are ostentatious and erratic. Currently, he holds a three-point advantage regardless of the circumstances, but what if… Director Liang notices and takes action against him, he would be no match.”
Liang Chaosu’s voice was flat and certain, “My father will not take action against him.”
In the large conference room, the executives exchanged glances. One dared to ask, “How… how can you be so sure?”
Liang Chaosu, perhaps in a good mood, uncharacteristically offered an explanation, “Because he considers it a futile effort.”
After speaking, he hung up the video conference and reconnected with Xiao Da.
Xiao Da was clearly well-prepared, dressed in a suit and sitting upright, “Mr. Liang, as per your instructions, Xiao Wang deliberately exposed himself during Director Liang’s meeting. It indeed thoroughly struck Director Liang’s suspicion about Miss Lian Cheng’s pregnancy. He immediately sent people to re-investigate the previous medical examination and the head of gynecology from City First Hospital, whom Madam had specifically invited.”
Liang Chaosu sat up straight, his jaw appearing on the video feed. Having stayed up until past midnight, stubble had begun to grow, a thick, dark green patch. He tensed, and even his short, stiff stubble seemed to stand on end.
“Tell me the result directly.”
A flicker of hesitation crossed Xiao Da’s expression, “Mr. Liang, I am very sorry. The current result is that Miss Lian Cheng is not pregnant.”
After he finished speaking, there was a minute of silence in the video, so quiet that breathing seemed to disappear. Only the electric current of the electronic components whirring could be heard, like an elderly person over seventy lying in a hospital bed – heavy, difficult, with more longing than hope. The hope had accumulated bit by bit, and light had reappeared, but it turned out to be a final burst before death.
Liang Chaosu was not that dying old man. He refused to accept it, based on his certainty, “The process.”
Xiao Da got straight to the point, “Mr. Liang, the hospital was thoroughly investigated, and the entire monitoring process was transparent. There was no tampering with Miss Lian Cheng’s blood draw results. Upon investigating the head of gynecology at City First Hospital, it was found that she had received 1.2 million from Miss Bai Ying before the physical examination, and Director Liang personally met with that director.”
“It was learned that the reason for the 1.2 million was that Bai Family Hospital had been privately contacting the director since last year, hoping to poach her. The director had consistently refused until she could no longer afford the high medical expenses for her child’s severe injuries, at which point she agreed to the Bai family. Currently, the director’s resignation procedures are complete, and she will be joining Bai Family Hospital next month.”
Liang Chaosu remained noncommittal, waiting for the rest.
Xiao Da continued as expected, “Director Liang does not believe it, but tracing back to last year, the timeline matches, the meeting location is clear, and there are also corroborating phone records from Madam Bai and chat records with the headhunter, confirming that it has nothing to do with Miss Lian Cheng.”
Outside the door, Lian Cheng’s bare feet pressed against the door. The whole person was caught in a state of flux, rising and falling, unable to find solid ground.
