The Overnight Chosen Wife: Darling, Kiss Me Deeper

When Lin Jian left, Xiehan went to the studio to check on Lanni. She was almost done with her painting and was humming softly as she stroked it with her brush. He had never seen her paint this happily.

When she felt his presence, she turned to him with a smile. "How long have you been standing there?" She asked.

"Long enough to enjoy the view." He teased, and she chuckled.

"Come here. Did you finish discussing with Lin Jian? You didn't kill him, did you?" The last part was a teasing joke, which made him laugh.

"What if I did, mh?" He closed in on her. "Will you help me hide the body?"

"Only if Ruby doesn't kill me before I'm done."

"That will not happen. Well, I refrained from killing him." He responded and took a seat on the couch.

"Can you not make it sound like actual murder was about to happen?" She pinched him playfully.

He grabbed her hand and kissed it, then pulled her over so she would sit on his lap. "Lin Jian and I think someone is behind Yu Guang."

"Do you have a clue who it might be and what they aim to gain from doing this?" She asked, to which he shook his head.

"We are going to investigate. Meanwhile, he promised to suppress the news as much as possible."

"Thank you." She hugged him. While she was not certain whether or not the orchestrator had achieved what they had been aiming for, one thing was certain—that her reputation would be tarnished.

Suppressing the news might erase it but who knew if they would try to put it up again? Besides, there might be people who thought she had really cheated on her husband and if they realized that the news had been suppressed, they might assume it was because Xiehan didn't want anyone to know about his marital troubles. In the end, she would still need to find evidence that the screen shots were fabricated.

"I need to get back to painting. I should finish this soon, because I promised Xiao Yu to give it to her when I'm done." She slid off his lap and sat in front of the easel.

"What are you painting?" He leaned over to take a clearer look. He knew it was a landscape but for some reason, she was doing it upside down.

"This is what the beach looks like at midnight." She pointed at the painting and grabbed the sides to hold it right side up.

"Speaking of beaches, we had planned to visit Australia and kept putting it off." He spoke up, and noticed that her hand froze holding a paintbrush.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to travel the world anymore?" He questioned.

"It's not that I don't want to anymore, I just…" She took a deep breath. "Xiehan, would you believe me if I told you that Aunt Meiling has something against me? I don't know what I did to deserve it but she suddenly hates me."

He went silent and she didn't know whether or not he believed her.

"I was trying to find what reason she could have to hate you. I don't think there is any, especially because she has always liked you." He was puzzled.

"That's before I became pregnant. It all started on the night we announced out pregnancy. If you realized it, she started making strange remarks on the same night and offering me food she knew are not specifically good for expectant women."

He found it odd and frowned. "Even if she is going to make such an implication, she would not be stupid enough to hurt our child in the presence of so many people. Maybe you are over thinking it?"

She shook her head. "I trust my gut. And my gut says she is onto something."

"And I trust you." He responded. "Just in case she really is onto something, don't get close to her, okay? And don't go anywhere on your own. If I'm at work, take at least three bodyguards with you."

"Okay." She was glad that he didn't call her out for causing drama. If she was being honest, she would have loved to keep things neutral but after Ji Meiling gave her baby clothes as a gift earlier, she started wondering if she did it on purpose.

Maybe she was overthinking it but she felt Ji Meiling overheard her and Luna talk about it and only bought her baby clothes because she stated her discomfort towards buying them in advance. Besides, who gifts baby clothes of a specific gender before the gender is revealed? If was as though Ji Meiling was implying that she hoped the baby was a boy.

"Xiehan, do you want a girl or a boy?" She asked out of the blue when she realized it.

He raised an eyebrow at the sudden question. "All I want is a baby. Whether it's a girl or a boy, it doesn't matter as much as the love I have for both of you." He kissed her forehead.

"That's a smooth way of avoiding the question." She rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. "Maybe it is. Well, I don't know whether I prefer a girl or a boy. I weighed the options before but they just kept coming at a draw."

She smiled at his response. Most men wanted little girls they could spoil to the end of the world. She wanted that too, but it would also be great if she had a boy. He would play with Linhou and protect Xiaomu and Yue together.

Her hand ran down her tummy as she wondered why the thought ran in her mind, while the same thought crreeped her out coming from Ji Meiling.

___

Meanwhile, Lin Jian was getting the short end of the stick.

He had asked Ruby out for a movie and had been horribly late thanks to Yu Guang, so he sent her a text to ask if they could still watch it. She didn't respond and he was nearby so he drove to the Ji Mansion to check on her. Had she seen the rumors before they were deleted? If she had, then she might be mad at him thinking he had betrayed her. He needed to explain the truth to her.

As soon as he rang the doorbell, it was opened and he was met with a fierce glare.

"Aunty Lin?" He was startled when he met Wen Lin's furious gaze. "Did something happen? Why do you look so angry? Anger doesn't look good on your beautiful face."

"Is that the cheesy pickup line you used to lure my daughter into your womanizing trap?" A slap assaulted his face and he knew that he was dead.

He stopped messing around, taking the matter as seriously as it was. "Well, Aunty, we need to talk. I know you have seen the rumors about me."

"All I know is that I have realized what a jerk you really are." Wen Lin pushed him into the living room. It was almost as though they had been waiting for him to stumble into the lion's den. When he saw Ruby, Ji Huifen and Ji Meiling sitting and waiting, he knew that he was right.

"It's a good thing that you all are here. I need to explain what really happened." He sat down even though it felt as though the couch was made of fire with all the gazes directed at him. It was almost as though he had committed murder.

"You better have a good explanation as to why you are playing with the hearts of both my daughted and my daughter-in-law." Wen Lin huffed and sat next to her husband.

"I didn't play with either of their hearts. I only love Ruby with all my heart. On the other hand, Lanni and I respect each other as not only boss and employee, but also brother-in-law and sister-in-law. There is nothing aside from this between us."

"Yet you employed her, a girl who has no regard for commitments. She dropped out of school twice for hell knows what reason, has no qualifications in the media industry yet you still offered her a job as chief editor?" Ji Meiling expressed her shock at the facts.

"Well, Lanni did indeed drop out of school." He admitted. "However, we at Lin Media Group don't just focus on academic qualifications. We focus on nurturing talent and she had one. Don't forget that before she came to Lin Media Group, she was already a chief editor."

"For a company where Xiehan pulled strings for her." She rolled her eyes.

"Chief editor nonetheless. And no one ever complained about her performance. No one has ever complained about her in Lin Media Group either. Not to mention, she obtained a diploma from studying online. She has all the qualifications that any agency would find suitable for a chief editor."

Ji Meiling went silent with a huff and he thought it was over.

Ji Huifen asked, "If the two of you have nothing wrong going on, what's with the rumor?"

"Someone orchestrated this to attack Lanni and Xiehan. I have no idea who it is yet but I will sniff them out."

Wen Lin looked convinced and so did Ji Huifen and Ruby, but Ji Meiling looked skeptical. "Who is to say you are not covering something up? It may make sense for one rumor to be a lie but two at the same time?"

Lin Jian furrowed his brows. Ji Meiling was not attacking him.. It was as if the main point was to prove that Lanni was hiding something. What was wrong with her?