In a private hospital in City B.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant, and apart from a dim yellow light, the room was silent and gloomy.

Xia ZhiChu was sitting in an obstetrician's office, with the female doctor looking at her medical report.

After a moment, the doctor pushed up her black-rimmed glasses and looked at Xia ZhiChu.

"Xia ZhiChu, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Xia ZhiChu clenched her fists and looked up at the female doctor, "I've made up my mind, Doctor Liu."

Doctor Liu, also a recent mother, felt some sympathy for Xia ZhiChu's situation and tried to persuade her with kind words.

"Let me confirm with you once again, you are three months pregnant with twins. The ultrasound shows that the babies are developing well. You are a beautiful girl and your babies will definitely be cute."

Cute? Babies?

Xia ZhiChu was somewhat moved by the doctor's words, but when she thought of her mother lying in the hospital bed, she made a resolute decision.

"I've decided, I don't want them."

Her voice trembled slightly, but she was firm.

Doctor Liu sighed quietly:

"If you choose not to keep them now, we can only use drug-induced abortion or curettage. The latter causes more damage to the mother's body, so I would recommend the drug-induced method."

"Alright, let's go with the medication then."

As she spoke, Xia Zhi Chu closed her eyes, a single tear slipping from her eyelids.

Dr. Liu was typing information into the computer while advising her on precautions.

"I'll prescribe two types of medicine for you. One is Mifepristone, to be taken for the first couple days. The other one is Misoprostol, to be taken on the third day. You can fetch them from the pharmacy later."

"Mm."

Holding the prescription from Dr. Liu, Xia Zhi Chu first went to the payment counter. After she paid, she joined the queue at the drug dispensing window.

Just as it was almost her turn, a commotion erupted in the hall. A few men dressed in black with guns barged in.

Who... in the world were these men?!

The people in the hall, frightened, ducked down. Those in the pharmacy also scurried to hide under the counters, trembling. Only Xia Zhi Chu remained dazed and stationary.

A tall and strikingly handsome man stepped in, slowly approaching Xia Zhi Chu. A chill emanated from him, causing her to shiver subconsciously.

After a while, he positioned himself in front of Xia Zhi Chu.

She recognized him -- he was the man from the other night.

The man let out a cold snicker, reaching out to grab hold of her chin, and in a piercing, icy voice, threatened, "Dare to fight back!"

Xia Zhi Chu's chin hurt under his grip. With her brows slightly furrowed, she defiantly retorted,

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Upon hearing her words, a bloodthirsty smile hidden within the depths of his azure eyes, he gazed leisurely at her.

"Heh!"

He laughed instead of getting angry.

Xia Zhi Chu was startled, her prescription paper crushed in her hand.

"Why do you have any say in my life? I can do whatever it is that I want."

The corner of Mo Bei Xiao's lips raised even higher, he scanned around the area with a cold look, and his sexy thin lips parted, "Want to enjoy the show or risk your life!"

Even though it was a question, he spoke with a declarative tone. Those in the area were quite scared, and they quickly scattered, leaving the place suddenly silent.

At this point, you could probably hear a pin drop.

Xia Zhi Chu was strangely looking at the man who had suddenly appeared, gripping tightly onto the prescription in her hand, though she was afraid, she forced herself to look at him, "What do you want?"

The man's captivating smile appeared, "You're carrying my child, what do you think I want?"

"The...the child is mine."

"Marry me!"

Huh?

The man suddenly declared something completely out of context, causing Xia Zhi Chu to hesitate for a moment.

Almost immediately, she saw the man raise his hand and a man in black promptly brought forth a document.

She didn't take it, but she still saw the bold words at the top.

"Marrying?"

"He must be out of his mind!"

...

Xia Zhichu began her relationship with him on one night three months ago.

The scorching summer had turned the land into a steaming sauna. The heat from the ground was so intense that one could feel its stifling warmth upon standing over it; it was suffocating.

Xia Zhichu had just finished an interview. She had been attending interviews at dozens of companies over this period, all to no avail.

This puzzled her greatly; given her excellent academic performance during her university years, finding a job shouldn't be a difficult task.

As she pondered, her phone inside her bag rang.

It was a call from her mother's attending physician, Dr. Shao Yang. At once, she answered the call.

"Hello, Dr. Shao, is it about my mother again?"

Hesitating for a moment, the person on the other end revealed the purpose of the call.

"Miss Xia, your mother's medical bills have been overdue for two months now. The hospital doesn't give me any face. They say if the bills are not paid within three days, they'll have to move your mother out of the intensive care unit."

Upon hearing this news, Xia Zhichu was filled with rage.

"But, aren’t my mother's medical bills set to be regularly transferred to the hospital's account?"

Dr. Shao was somewhat reluctant to tell her the truth, but after weighing the pros and cons, he let it out.

"Xiao Xia, I haven't seen your mother's medical bill since April."

April?

Now it's already July, which means that there has been no payment for over three months, but just now...

"Doctor Shao, you..."

"Sigh! Xiao Xia, this is all I can do for you." Shao Yang sighed helplessly on the other end.

Xia Zhi Chu was extremely angry. The Xia family actually dared to stop paying her mother's medical bills. It must be the doing of that malicious mother and daughter.

Xia Zhi Chu's hand tightened around her phone, and she quickly spoke to the other end, "Doctor Shao, can you hold on for me a bit longer? I will pay the medical bills within three days."

Shao Yang felt quite sorry for Xia Zhi Chu. He had always taken good care of her, but this time it was too long, and he had to tell her reluctantly.

"Alright, don't worry, I will take good care of your mother these days."

After a pause, Shao Yang said urgingly with a heavy heart.

"You... you better pay the medical bills quickly, otherwise I won't be able to help you."

Xia Zhi Chu naturally understood his predicament and was grateful for his help. She thanked him profusely.

"Okay, thank you Doctor Shao."

After hanging up, Xia Zhi Chu flagged down a taxi and headed directly for the Xia house.

In the Xia family villa, the family of Xia Yonghe was sitting on the living room couch, not even bothering to look up as Xia Zhi Chu entered.

Xia Zhi Chu walked straight up to Xia Yong He, her voice icy as she asked, "Why did you cut off my mother's medical expenses? Give me half a million, I'll pay it off."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yong He looked up at her, "You don't even call me father, just demand money upfront, where are your manners?"

At his words, Xia Zhi Chu sneered.

"Dad? You think you're worthy of being called 'Dad'? My mother is lying in the hospital and you don't even bother to visit, now you even cut off her medical expenses. And you want to lecture me about manners? My mother has been in the hospital for ten years, no one taught me manners."

Upon hearing Xia Zhi Chu's accusations, Xia Yong He frowned, and only then did he coldly look at Liu Yulan beside him.

"What's going on?"

Seeing that Xia Yong He was angered, Liu Yulan immediately reached out to hold his arm.

"Oh dear, isn't the company in poor financial condition recently? We're searching for investments everywhere, we're out of money that we can use at home. Yu Han and I haven't been to the mall for a while, naturally the money for Biyun was stopped."

Hearing Liu Yulan's words, Xia Yong He abruptly stopped.

Xia Yu Han also complained from the side, "Yeah, Dad, I haven't bought new dresses in a long time. I'm embarrassed to go to friends' parties and have turned them down."

What she meant was that their social circle has been cut off, and the Xia family will be detached from the upper class society in the future.

Xia Yong He could clearly understand, he immediately comforted Xia Yu Han, "My darling daughter, come with Dad in a while. Dad still has around 10 million in a card, you can take it to buy some new clothes, you should still attend the parties you need to go to."

Hearing this, Xia Yu Han immediately said obediently, "Thank you, Dad."

Standing to the side, Xia Zhi Chu, seeing all this, was so angry she gritted her teeth.

"Dad!"

Xia Yonghe finally looked at her properly, "Just look at yourself, all disheveled and unrefined, not at all like a young lady from a reputable family."

Xia Zhi Chu pulled a wry smile, her tone full of sarcastic undertones.

"Where am I a young lady from a reputable family? Don't you claim to the outside world that you only have one daughter, Xia Yu Han?"

Xia Yonghe choked on her words, glaring at this beautiful yet inexplicably cold daughter of his with disapproval and a frown.

When Xia Zhi Chu was born, everyone deemed her to possess a natural beauty that promised a future as a stunning beauty. Unfortunately, her mother's lowly status determined she could only be kept hidden.

Xia Zhi Chu did not want to go over pointless matters with him. With a serious expression, she spoke coldly.

"I am here today for only one thing, to continue paying for my mother's medical expenses."

Xia Yonghe, trying to suppress his impatience, furrowed his brows, "We are out of money at home, wait a bit, I will figure something out."

"Wait? Can we afford to wait? You can afford to give Xia Yu Han money for clothes, but not for my mother's medical fees? That could be the difference between life and death! The hospital has said, if we don't pay soon, they will have to move her out of the intensive care unit.”

Thinking of how hard he had been working to no avail, Xia Yonghe felt a surge of anger welling up in his heart.

"Your mother should have died a long time ago. All the money spent on her hospital stays is a waste."

Xia Yonghe's words felt like a lightning bolt striking Xia Zhi Chu. She felt a chill run down her spine as she glared at the man before her, who shared blood relation with her.

Watching the father-daughter argument unfold, Liu Yulan, standing at the side, hastily intervened to mediate.

"Zhi Chu, try to understand your father's position. He's been working himself ragged for the company lately, and his health is not as good as it used to be."

"Ah, it's all the fault of the useless aunt. Originally, Zhao from the Xiangrui Group had said he was willing to inject capital into our company, but he wanted to have dinner with a Xia family daughter in exchange. However, Yu Han is soon to be engaged to Mubai, and we can't afford any complications at this critical moment, therefore, the deal fell through."

Liu Yulan spoke while observing Xia Yonghe's expression. She noticed a flash in his eyes when she mentioned the injection of funds, pushing Xia Yuhen next to her slightly.

“Exactly dad,” Xia Yuhen immediately agreed. “The day mom heard about this, she immediately told me about it.”

She paused, pretended to ponder, and then said in a calculated manner, “If you really need me to dine with President Zhao, I can go. But as for Mu Bai…”

Xia Yuhen did not finish her sentence, but Xia Yonghe understood her implication.

The Shen family are significant figures in City B, with Shen Mu Bai, the future heir, being the cream of the crop. If he found out that his fiancée was dining with an old man, trouble would certainly arise.

After some consideration, Xia Yonghe glanced at Xia Zhi Chu who was standing there.

She's just a daughter after all. And he had more than one.

Clearing his throat, Xia Yonghe spoke in a disgruntled tone, "If you want me to pay for your mother's medical bills, that's fine too. Tomorrow at eight in the evening, accompany President Zhao for a meal at the Empire Hotel. Otherwise, the deal's off."

“I won’t go." Xia Zhi Chu refused firmly.

“Hmm, if you don't go, don't come to me for money.”

With a heavy heart, Xia Zhi Chu walked out of the Xia family villa.

She didn’t get the money. What now?

She only had two days left. Xia Zhi Chu slapped her forehead.

Li Yun Kai.

Yes, only he could help.