The room was pitch black, blinding Qiao Xin from seeing anything, let alone the man's face in front of her.
"Xin'er." The man called out another woman's name with deep affection. Qiao Xin knew that she was just a stand-in, a surrogate mother, and all she needed to do was complete her duty. Yet, she couldn't help but speak up, "I'm here, it's me."
The man was smart. Even in his drugged state, he seemed to catch the discrepancy in the voice, "Your voice...?"
Cursing herself for being nosy when she should have refrained from answering, Qiao Xin quickly made an excuse, hoping to cover up her blunder.
"I have a cold, my throat's sore. Is something wrong?"
As wave after wave of intense yearning washed over him, all rationality drowned, and he no longer suspected anything. He lowered his head and kissed her deeply.
Before she knew it, Qiao Xin was propelled to the peak of passion...
...
Two months later.
"The test results are out." The doctor responsible for her pregnancy commented cheerily, "Congratulations, you're pregnant, and it's twins."
Qiao Xin was stunned, "Tw...twins?"
"Yes, take good care of yourself and rest well." The doctor advised earnestly.
...
Eight months later.
After a brush with death, Qiao Xin successfully gave birth to twin sons. She was soaked from head to toe, looking like a drowned ghost clawing its way out of water, her face pale as snow.
Beside her lay a little fellow whose loud cries emanated from inside her body.
A pair of beautiful and delicate hands picked up one of the infants. Qiao Xin followed the hands and saw it was Anxin, the planner of this surrogacy incident.
"Miss Qiao, take a good look." Her appearance was lovely, her voice also pleasant, a shame she couldn't bear children. "It's been hard these past months, look at your child."
Qiao Xin was surprised; she thought Mrs. An would not let her even see the child.
"No need to stare at me like that, I only needed one, but you gave birth to two, naturally, one should be returned to you." She put the wrinkled child, looking like a tiny mouse, into Qiao Xin's arms.
Qiao Xin was startled again, "Rea...Really?"
"Of course, it's true. The surrogacy fee is enough for you to raise the child to adulthood." Saying this, she placed a cheque on the bedside, took the other child, and turned to leave, but stopped midway and looked back, "But Miss Qiao, there's something I must make clear."
"Please speak, Mrs. An."
"Don't even think about finding the father of the child, you can't find him, you can't afford to, and especially don't go to City C, understood?" Her face was devoid of any smile, it was an obvious threat, her eyes, sharp and pressing, stared intently at Qiao Xin.
Qiao Xin nodded, "I'm very aware of this, and I understand, there's no need for Mrs. An's reminder."
Anxin stared at her for a while with a blank face, and then nodded, "That's good."
By the time she was discharged, it was already 10 at night. In the freezing winter streets, there were only a few pedestrians and vehicles. Qiao Xin held the child in one hand and hailed a cab with the other.
Not far away, inside a car.
The secretary-cum-driver looked through the rearview mirror at Anxin in the back seat and couldn't help but speak up, "Miss An, the person hailing a cab seems to be Miss Qiao."
The action of playing with the child paused. Anxin looked up; indeed, it was.
The surrogacy matter must absolutely be kept secret from the Rong family. If Qiao Xin and this child were to survive, they would always be like a ticking time bomb.
A ruthless light flitted across her eyes, An Xin casually said, "It's a snowy day and the roads are slippery, Secretary Chen, make sure you don't accidentally knock someone down."
Secretary Chen was a loyal servant of the An family, and upon hearing her orders, a cruel resolution formed in his heart. He twisted the steering wheel towards Qiao Xin and her child...
Five years later.
City C.
Quietly, Qiao Xin pressed down on the shutter. The 'click' echoed, surprising herself, her hand trembled, nearly smashing the phone onto the face of the man with prominent features and sharp brows and eyes.
