Chapter 24: Aftermath

I wake up on the sitting room floor with something warm against my back.

For a moment, I don’t remember, then it rushes back... Bael’s voice claiming the pregnancy, Feifei’s sobs, the vomit on the floor, the room spinning into black.

Someone caught me.

Bael’s arm is around me, keeping me upright. I can feel his chest against my shoulder blades, steady and solid while everything else spins.

The first thing I see when I blink my eyes open is Feifei.

She’s still on the sofa, face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking, she won’t look at me.

*She’ll never look at me the same way again.*

The thought arrives cold and certain, settling somewhere behind my ribs.

"He’s awake." Bael’s voice rumbles through his chest into my back.

His arm loosens, the warmth disappears.

I’m on my own again, sitting on hardwood that’s gone cold and unforgiving. My mouth tastes like bile and blood, everything hurts... ribs, face, my whole body.

Grandmother Wuchen stands near the doorway, phone in hand. "Dr. Xi will be here in ten minutes."

She called their family doctor, of course she did.

Can’t have anything happening to the Wuchen heir growing in the disappointing omega’s body.

Mother hovers by the entrance to the hallway, arms crossed tight, she looks pale, shaken, but she doesn’t come closer.

Father hasn’t moved from his position by the window, still won’t turn around, won’t acknowledge I exist.

And Feifei...

I can hear her crying, quiet, broken sounds that she’s trying to muffle against her palms.

*There’s no fixing this.*

The realization sits heavy in my throat. This isn’t something I can apologize away, isn’t something that will heal with time or explanations. I destroyed something fundamental between us...trust, love, the belief that her little brother would never hurt her.

All of it is gone.

Because I got drunk and fucked her fiance.

My stomach turns over but there’s nothing left to throw up.

"Don’t move yet," Grandmother Wuchen says, sharp and commanding. "Wait for Dr. Xi."

I stay where I am because moving seems impossible anyway.

The silence stretches, no one speaks. Feifei’s crying is the only sound, and each broken breath feels like a knife between my ribs.

I did this to her.

My sister, who brought me soup when I was sick, who defended me to our parents, who actually loved me despite everything...

I shattered her.

*I broke something I can’t undo.*

Footsteps outside, quick and professional.

The door opens and an older man enters, sixties maybe, with silver hair and sharp eyes. Medical bag in one hand, expression composed.

"Mrs. Wuchen." He nods to Grandmother, then his gaze sweeps the room.

Me on the floor, Feifei crying, the tension thick enough to choke on.

His face remains carefully neutral.

"Young Master Li." He kneels beside me, setting his bag down. "I understand you fainted."

"Yeah."

"Let’s see." He pulls out a stethoscope.

The examination happens in heavy silence, he checks my pulse, listens to my heart, looks at my pupils with a small light. His hands are steady and impersonal.

He doesn’t ask about the blood on my face or the bruises forming, he doesn’t need to.

"I need to check the pregnancy," he says quietly. "Make sure there are no complications."

The word *pregnancy* makes Feifei flinch. I see it from the corner of my eye, the way her whole body goes rigid, the way her hands press harder against her face.

Like hearing it out loud makes it more real.

Dr. Xi helps me onto the sofa, not where Feifei sits, the other one.

She still won’t look up at me.

I lie back while he presses careful hands against my abdomen. The examination is clinical and thorough, he asks about cramping, bleeding, sharp pains.

"No," I answer to each question.

My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears.

Finally he sits back, pulling his stethoscope from his ears.

"The pregnancy appears stable," he says. "No signs of distress or complications at this time."

Grandmother Wuchen’s expression doesn’t change, but something in her posture relaxes infinitesimally.

The heir is fine.

That’s all that matters to her.

"However," Dr. Xi continues, "Young Master Li needs complete rest for the next forty-eight hours minimum. No physical exertion, no additional stress, the first trimester is critical, and given what’s happened tonight..." He pauses delicately. "Any further trauma could be dangerous."

He’s not looking at anyone specific when he says it, just stating medical facts.

But Mother shifts uncomfortably anyway.

"Light meals," Dr. Xi continues. "Plenty of water, someone should monitor him and make sure he’s eating and resting properly."

"That will be handled," Grandmother Wuchen says with absolute authority.

Dr. Xi nods, he packs his instruments away with efficient movements.

"Call immediately if there’s bleeding, severe cramping, or another fainting episode." He looks at me directly. "Take care, Young Master Li."

Then he’s gone, ushered out by Grandmother Wuchen.

The silence that crashes back is worse than before.

I stare at the ceiling and try to breathe around the weight in my chest.

Father finally moves.

He turns from the window, his face is empty, carved from ice.

"Pack your things." Each word falls like a stone. "You leave tonight."

The finality in his voice makes something crack inside me.

Tonight.

Not until the wedding in two months, not even next week or tomorrow.

Right now.

"Li Chen.." Mother starts, but her voice is uncertain.

"Tonight," Father repeats. "I will not have him under this roof another hour."

Mother’s mouth closes, she doesn’t argue.

She wants me gone too.

I look at Feifei one more time. Hoping for... I don’t know, some sign that she’ll say something, object, anything.

She doesn’t move.

Doesn’t speak.

She just sits there with her face hidden, shutting me out completely.

The sister who loved me is gone.

"Go pack." Father’s voice is flat and final. "Now."

I stand on legs that barely hold me, the room tilts but I grip the sofa arm until it steadies.

No one helps me.

No one follows as I walk to the stairs.

Each step up feels like climbing a mountain, my body is screaming at me to lie down, to rest like Dr. Xi ordered.

But I can’t stay here.

Father made that clear.

My room looks exactly the same. Unmade bed, books scattered across the desk, rolled-up sketches in the corner.

Like nothing has changed.

Everything has changed.

I pull two suitcases from the closet and start packing in numb silence.

Clothes first. Enough for... how long? A week? Forever? I don’t know.

Toiletries from the bathroom, the sketchbook from my desk even though I don’t know why I’m bothering.

My hands move automatically while my brain stays disconnected.

Downstairs, voices filter up through the floorboards. Grandmother Wuchen speaking in measured tones, Father’s cold responses, Mother’s strained murmurs.

I don’t hear Feifei.

The suitcases fill quickly, I don’t have much worth taking.

When I’m done, I stand in the center of the room and look around.

Twenty-two years of Original Runze’s life happened here. Childhood, adolescence, dreams and failures, all of it contained in this small space.

And now I’m leaving it forever.

I should feel something more than hollow numbness.

I don’t.

I grab both suitcases and head downstairs.

They’re all waiting in the entryway.

Bael by the door, car keys already in hand. Grandmother Wuchen beside him, composed and regal, Mother near the stairs, eyes fixed on the wall, Father by the window, back turned.

And Feifei.

She stands at the base of the staircase, arms wrapped tight around herself. Eyes red and swollen from crying.

Our gazes meet for one brief second.

I want to say something. *I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this, please don’t hate me forever.*

But her expression shutters like a door slamming closed.

She turns and walks away down the hallway, her bedroom door closes with a soft click.

That sound...quiet, final...hurts worse than any of Mother’s blows.

She’s done with me.

"The wedding will proceed in two months as planned," Grandmother Wuchen says to Bael. "Bring him to the estate."

Two months.

Two months until I marry my sister’s former fiance and become a Wuchen.

Two months to prepare for a wedding that was supposed to be Feifei’s celebration.

"Let’s go." Bael picks up one suitcase without waiting for response.

I grab the other and follow him out.

Mother doesn’t say goodbye.

Father doesn’t turn around.

Feifei’s door stays closed.

I don’t look back as I get into Bael’s car.

The engine starts, and we pull away from the house.

I watch the Li family residence shrink in the side mirror until it disappears completely.

The drive to the Wuchen estate is silent.

Bael doesn’t speak, doesn’t look at me, just drives with both hands on the wheel, jaw tight.

I stare out the window at the city passing by in smeared lights.

My hand drifts to my stomach without thought, there’s barely anything to feel, just slight firmness that might be nothing.

Five weeks.

A cluster of cells the size of a sesame seed.

This tiny thing that just destroyed everything.

My family.

My sister’s happiness.

Any hope of a normal life.

All of it gone because I got drunk and stupid and didn’t know who I was fucking.

The Wuchen estate appears ahead, massive gates and sprawling grounds lit by security lights.

The gates swing open automatically.

We drive through.

I press my palm flat against my stomach.

"This is my life now," I whisper to the window, to the reflection staring back at me, to the barely-there bump that changed everything.

Bael’s hands tighten on the steering wheel but he doesn’t respond.

The car pulls up to the main house and stops.

This is my life now.

And there’s no going back.