The Overnight Chosen Wife: Darling, Kiss Me Deeper

He stood still for a moment, trying to comprehend what her tears meant. Was she so happy that she was in tears, or was she disappointed? When she broke into a sob, he finally understood.

"Oh, honey." He cupped her face and kissed her, then held her in a tight hug.

She cried against his shoulder, her sobs echoing through the room. All he did was pat her back until she had gathered herself. Then he carried her back to their room and sat her on the bed.

"I'll make sure Yue is alright. I'll be right back." He whispered over her lips. She nodded, and he kissed her before leaving the room.

Yue was still playing with the toys he had set up for her but he carried her off the floor.

"Uncle?" She whined in protest, not comprehending why he was taking her away from her game which had just gotten interesting. She would be distracted for a long time but there was no such thing as certainty with leaving a toddler on her own, so he relocated her play station to the guest room opposite the master bedroom.

He was about to put her down when the girl turned her small body and hugged him, before kissing his cheek. Her eyes dropped when he didn't react.

He forced a smile and belatedly patted her head, but she probably knew that he was not truly happy.

He didn't know how he felt. Disappointed? If he was, it was with the outcome. Not with Lanni. He knew how awful she felt because he felt it too, and he hated that she was sad because of the false hope he had created in her heart.

He had not intended to break her heart but now that he thought about it, the way he had questioned her recent paintings of herself was the beginning of the whole fiasco. If only he had shut his mouth…

He wouldn't get anywhere by dwelling on it so he put Yue down, gave her more toys than she could possibly play with and left both the guest room and master bedroom doors open.

Lanni was still sitting on the bed when he returned.

"Yue is settled." He reported.

She nodded but continued sitting in the same spot, unmoving.

"Honey, we still have so many years ahead of us. So many months. Heck, we were not even trying yet. There are so many chances."

She shook her head and he stopped speaking, to listen to her.

"It's one strip." She raised her forefinger.

It took a moment for her to realize what she meant.

"You still don't believe it."

She shook her head. She had done a lot of that in the last few minutes.

"Nope."

He considered her words as he weighed the options. He saw it in her eyes so he gently asked, "Do you want to have another test, this time at the hospital?"

She nodded then immediately shook her head. "Nope."

The last thing she wanted was to let her hope rekindle and for her to believe that the results could be different even though she had already seen them. If the blood test turned out negative as well, it would break her much harder than it was already.

He didn't push. He let her lie down and pulled a light comforter over her so let her take a nap.

When she woke up, Xiehan had been replaced by Yue on the bed and she was playing with her hair. She smiled and hugged the little girl. "Yue, you are so cute."

She overheard Xiehan's voice as he talked to someone downstairs so she got down from the bed and headed over. It turned out to be Li Yuming.

"Sweetie, you're awake." Li Yuming was happy to finally see her. "How are you?"

Lanni responded by walking over and hugging her. While she was happy to see her mother, her eyes were swollen and Li Yuming was certain that it had nothing to do with being sleepy.

She knew how much Xiehan loved her daughter and that he would never hurt her but her first reaction was to shoot a glare his way.

"I promise, we are not fighting." He half-laughed.

Lanni's eyes widened when she realized what her mother must have thought, and she felt awkward.

"I was hoping for something and didn't get it. I'm just disappointed." She explained, hoping Li Yuming would not think she was making an excuse to save his skin.

Li Yuming looked at her for a while and as if verifying the truth in her statement, she nodded and pulled her to sit beside her on the couch, and the latter adjusted Yue to sit on her lap.

"I know just what you need. A day out with Luna." Li Yuming winked.

"Huh?" She was taken aback by the sudden change of topic, which had taken her a while to process.

"She wanted me to accompany her to the gynecologist's tomorrow but I think you should go instead. You need the distraction, and besides, I have plans."

Lanni's hands trembled and she balled them into fists away from her mother's eyes. Gynecologist. Sure, that was going to be an unlimited distraction.

She wanted to snap at the thought but she couldn't get a single word out.

Gynecologist.

The mere word was enough to set her mind ablaze. She wanted nothing to do with it but before she could get her response out, she thought about how hurt Luna would be if she knew what her reason was.

Just because she had found out she was not becoming a mother didn't mean she should punish her sister by being jealous of the fact that the latter was.

"Okay." She bit the word out before she could stop it and it tasted bitter on her tongue.

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AN

Hello darlings, I have dropped all the privilege tiers except the first one, but that's just because the first tier is automatic and cannot be deleted. Henceforth you will only need to spend one coin to purchase privilege.. Changes will take effect on the first of December. (GMT+8)