Staggering a few steps back, she required the support of the wall to steady her.

A trolly containing clean plates and utensils pushed by a waiter pa.s.sed by the long, winding corridor where she stood. Thoughtlessly, Teng Man Rui grabbed a bread knife and tightly clung to it while trembling. Her pupils dilated, she could not sense her surroundings. All she could hear was her name repeatedly uttered by that voice.

"Man Rui! Man Rui!"

She shook more every time she heard her name.

"Man Rui." A different male voice – warm, soothing – penetrated her cloud of a mind.

'Zhu Li Qiang?'

She could not speak, but she knew it was him.

"Put down the knife. You're safe with me. Come with me." Said the soothing voice. It was too convincing that she obliged.

The metal bread knife eventually clanged at the ground. She felt her hand get tugged gently by a hand with clasp so strong as if rea.s.suring her safety.

But her body continued to tremble, and she knew that it wouldn't end soon.

Teng Man Rui felt a certain type of liquid ran down her legs. 'Am I peeing? This is embarra.s.sing.' She thought helplessly.

She didn't know why, but she couldn't speak.

Because of the trickling of liquid down her legs, she halted her movements altogether.

Zhu Li Qiang and Teng Man Rui, at this point, wear nearing the kitchen section of the building. A middle-aged lady around forty saw them from the windowed door and went out to warn them that the kitchen was out of limits to guests.

However, the moment she saw the pregnant lady, she exclaimed as she pointed with her hand, "Her water broke! She needs to get to the hospital! Mister, your wife is in danger! Quick!"

The kitchen servant acted quickly and had already called emergency help. Soon after, an ambulance came and Teng Man Rui was rushed through the hospital. They exited through the back door in the kitchen.

Zhu Li Qiang arranged all the initial paperwork in the hospital, yet he never failed to remember his place. He notified Teng Man Rui's husband, Xue Minhe, right away about the lady's condition. 

After just a few minutes, the Xue Young Master arrived at the hospital.

When he arrived, Zhu Li Qiang had lost all the authority he initially had as her guardian. The doctors stopped talking to him, and instead discussed Teng Man Rui's conditions with the Xue Young Master. 

He decided to leave, yet his feet could not move an inch. He was too worried for Teng Man Rui that he's ready to be shameless even this once.

The doctor said that the lady needs to deliver the baby or else both of their lives would be in danger.

"She's only at twenty-six weeks." Xue Minhe breathed worriedly. Zhu Li Qiang caught wind but stayed silent.

"Thanks for calling me. You may go now." Xue Minhe addressed Zhu Li Qiang as he made aware of his presence there.

Mustering his courage, the latter requested, "I'd like to stay."

Xue Minhe shrugged, "Do what you want, then."

"Thanks." 

The two men remained silent afterward.

Hours and hours pa.s.sed. The doctor who operated on Teng Man Rui finally met them with some news.

"Both mother and child are safe. However, the child is several pounds far from the ideal weight, and it needs mechanical intervention. It will be staying in the NICU [1] for a while. We will be observing the baby and check on her vitals and her development. At this point, we cannot give a hundred percent a.s.surance that there will be no complications on its body."

The two men nodded at the doctor's a.s.sessment.

"How about Teng Man Rui?" Zhu Li Qiang asked worriedly.

"She's out of danger now, but she's extremely weak. She needs time to recuperate. She shouldn't get stressed out."

"Understood, Doctor. Thank you." Xue Minhe shook hands with the doctor.

Turning to Zhu Li Qiang, he blurted out his observation, "You still care for her."

"It's not easy to shed off emotions. I wish there's a switch to turn it off in an instant." He retorted, "Don't worry, I will leave now that I know she's safe. I'm not here to go between you."

Xue Minhe snorted. "Its actually me who went between you two, didn't I? Don't you harbor any ill feelings towards me?"

Zhu Li Qiang shrugged his tired shoulders. "All I care about is Man Rui. I respect her decision whatever it is."

"Very well-said. How selfless." He muttered, seemed in deep thoughts.

Zhu Li Qiang stood up to leave.

"Why don't you wait until Xiao Rui wakes up? She would be happy to know you stayed behind."

"Nah. That's your job." He waved a hand in dismissal, and left.

Xue Minhe pondered on the circ.u.mstances. 'Maybe it has gotten too far.' He b.u.mped his head onto the concrete wall and closed his eyes. 

Out of the blue, his phone rang. 

"Bai An." The person at the other end of the line spoke first.

"That's' him, right? You called the man by his name this afternoon. I was at the party."

"En. I saw you there." The Xue Young Master responded curtly.

"Our proposal still holds. Are you sticking to your plan? We're here as a backup. Think about our proposal."

Eyes still closed, Xue Minhe ma.s.saged his aching head. "A dose of his own medicine, huh?"

"A dose of his own medicine. We'll gladly execute the deed. It's our idea anyway. Your revenge is our revenge as well. They destroyed our island."

"…I'll think about it."

"Just let us know. There are a few of us here in Beijing. Our s.h.i.+p is in Shanghai. Thanks to your brother-in-law's help on our livelihood we are now able to leave the island and seek revenge."

Xue Minhe flinched at the mention of his brother-in-law, Chen Linyun.

"Don't do anything rash. I am not comfortable with the idea, but I'll give it some more thought."

"Okay."

 [1] neonatal intensive care unit