Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  She couldn’t help herself from feeling the jitters as she recalled her ordeal. A thought suddenly crossed her mind. Could it be Xia Ruoxin? Was she the one who had hired that man to take humiliating photos of her? Then again, how was it possible? A woman, who had nothing, had actually made her shoot herself in the foot? However, besides this, Mrs. Li couldn’t think of anything else. Why had her circumstances changed?

  Obviously, someone else was supposed to be the hapless one, and yet why did she become that unlucky person in the end? Her hands were clenched tightly into balls of fist that they started to sweat. Mrs. Li hastily took her daughter’s hand in hers, worried that Li Manni wouldn’t be able to contain herself and do something bad. That would allow others an advantage over them.

  “Manni, take my advice. Stay at home more in the upcoming days. Although you are pregnant, you should shower Chu Lui with even more care and attention. When women are concerned, men always find it difficult to reject their provocations.”


  A look of comprehension flashed in Li Manni’s eyes as she grasped the meaning behind her mother’s words.

  However, there was no need for her to worry about that. Ever since she had married Chu Lui, he had been leading a life worse off than the ascetic monk. Many women had thrown themselves at him, but he had never paid them any attention. Even if a woman were to fling herself at him naked, he would have kicked her out of his sight in a heartbeat. Chu Lui would be Chu Lui. If he wasn’t able to restrain himself or if he was afraid of being lonely, he wouldn’t be Chu Lui at all. Yet, she had one remaining concern about one woman—Xia Ruoxin, the ex-wife whom he had misunderstandings with.

  Whenever Li Manni thought of her, she could feel her mind running amok. There was not a moment of peace.

  Nevertheless, as she imagined Xia Ruoxin receiving her just desserts, she was able to sleep without a worry in mind. She knew that with her mother’s method, that woman would definitely be having a hard time. Even in death, she would never have the chance to come between Li Manni and Chu Lui’s marriage.

  Her hand caressed her flat stomach gently.

  She had hidden her thoughts deeply, but she didn’t know that her mother’s had been buried in the abyss—especially the ones that no one was aware of.

  She had dug a hole for Chu Lui as well as her own mother to fall into……

  Chu Lui held his mobile phone and was looking at something in there with interest. His heartless thin lips were curled up into a small devilish smile that thoroughly numbed a person. One wondered which hapless victim he was aiming at.

  Du Jingtang was wearing a sullen expression as he entered Chu Lui’s office and promptly sat his butt down on the sofa. His face was as long as a horse’s.

  He took out his mobile phone and waved it in front of his cousin.

  “Brother, it’s faulty.”


  Chu Lui opened a drawer and tossed his phone inside.

  “Mmm,” he answered.

  “Brother, it’s faulty.”


  “Mmm.”


  “Brother, I said my mobile phone is faulty, not working.” Du Jingtang was exasperated. His phone was a product manufactured by the Special Forces. There was no place for him to send for repairs so he would have to kiss his beloved phone goodbye…… unless he didn’t mind using a phone with a broken screen. Chu Lui’s attitude hurt him. His cousin had not offered any words of consolation.

  “Bring it here.” Chu Lui reached a hand out towards Du Jingtang.

  Without a thought, Du Jingtang handed him the phone. Well, actually, he was mumbling if his cousin could buy him another set through his connections. This particular was only meant for military usage. One would be unable to obtain it unless one had special connections. Although Dong Fangjing had promised to get him another set, Du Jingtang felt insecure. It would be different if his cousin was the one making the promise. Chu Lui would be able to secure one for him.

  He was basking in an air of complacency when he heard the sound of something being smashed. It flew over the top of his head and crashed into the wall behind him with a loud smack.

  Chu Lui clenched his hand and flexed his fingers as he said without any emotion.

  “It’s spoiled. Just trash it. Why are you still keeping it?”


  Du Jingtang’s eyeballs were bulging because he was glaring so hard at Chu Lui. His cousin had actually smashed his phone. It was his favorite mobile phone.

  He ran over and picked up the corpse of his phone. Its screen was totally shattered, and there was no way to turn it on. However, being a true blue military product, its corpse remained intact after such a violent fall. Not a part was missing.

  Now, Du Jingtang was really full of complaints. Chu Lui was indeed vicious; he didn’t leave Du Jingtang with a way to retreat. He had saved loads of information on the phone, but he couldn’t even turn it on much less use it.

  Chu Lui took out a cigarette, lit it, and began puffing out rings of smoke at his leisure.

  “Tell me, Jingtang. How will you explain to your mother if you have no way of getting a woman pregnant?”


  The pain in Du Jingtang’s heart was worse than what he felt when his favorite phone was crushed. Chu Lui’s words had sliced him like a knife. Without a doubt, he knew it would be impossible for him to have his own biological child in this life. How could two men achieve that? It would be weird if they could.

  Alternatively, he would resort to IVF (In-vitro Fertilization) and the help of a surrogate mother. However, he felt disgusted to having his child born in such a cold manner. No, he couldn’t do that. Adopting a child from one of his relatives was not feasible as well because he didn’t have that many. It might be possible to adopt one from Chu Lui, but he wasn’t sure if his cousin would agree. In this lifetime, he would have to forgo the thought of having a child.

  As a single man, it wouldn’t be possible for him. Even more so for Dong Fangjing. Yet, breeding had been a part of human instinct. If he didn’t reproduce a spawn, he would be letting his family and himself down. That thought had not occurred to him. However, he was getting a headache now that he was thinking about it. His mother was in the dark about his sexual inclination.

  When she found out that his cousin-in-law—Li Manni—was pregnant, she had been arranging for him to attend a matchmaking session every day. She would be most pleased if he could find a prospect and make a marriage proposal the next day. She wished he would give her a grandchild as soon as he was married. How would it be possible despite all her planning? After all, he was gay.

  “Cousin, can you stop bringing this matter up?” Du Jingtang scratched his head. “You promised you will keep it a secret.”


  Chu Lui puffed another mouthful of smoke out. “I remember, but you can’t keep it from your mom forever.”


  “I’ll come up with something.” Although that was what Du Jingtang had said, he had planned to delay the truth for as long as possible. He wouldn’t reveal this until it was beyond him.

  “Worse come to worst, I will adopt one. What else can I do?” Du Jingtang raised his hands helplessly. Anyway, the situation is already so bad that to make it worse makes no real difference to him.

  “Adopt one……” Chu Lui mumbled. Du Jingtang wondered if he was talking to himself or to him. His cousin was never one to waste his time meddling with another’s business.

  Not long after that, Du Jingtang heard that Chu Lui had started sponsoring an orphanage. He was moved beyond words to the extent that he would be loyal to his cousin for the rest of his life.

  In reality, he knew nothing. Chu Lui was doing all that for his own sake; not for Du Jingtang.