After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

The water in the bathroom stopped flowing, and the glass door, still damp with water droplets, was opened from the inside.

Anning was drying her hair with a clean, white towel when she noticed the phone screen on the table was lit up.

I picked up my phone and saw a missed call and a WeChat message, both from the same person.

Come down.

Two simple words.

Anning stayed in a hotel owned by a private person; it had three floors.

Standing at the window, I could see a black car parked on the ground floor with its headlights on.

Anning was afraid that people would get impatient, so she went downstairs without even drying her hair.

As soon as I got downstairs, I saw a tall, slender figure leaning against the car outside the main entrance.

A tiny, scarlet spark flickered between his slender fingers.

It was dim and unclear, yet even the hazy, indistinct figures were excessively beautiful.

She quickly stepped forward, and the other person's outline gradually became clearer before her eyes.

When she looked over, she met the man's gaze.

When their eyes met, An Ning's heart skipped a beat.

She quickly looked away and asked softly, "Is it about An Xian?"

She figured that the police hadn't finished explaining things to her since she came over so late.

"Yes."

The man finished his cigarette and extinguished it on the ground.

Upon hearing this, An Ning hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

An Xuan had already fallen asleep when he got back, and she hadn't had a chance to ask him what had happened. Besides, he was still too young to explain clearly.

An Ning looked at Lu Xiyan, "What exactly is the misunderstanding that Director Zhou mentioned? Who took An Xian away?"

Lu Xiyan looked at her; she was wearing a white, silk halter-neck dress, without any wrinkles, which wrapped around her thin body, so thin that you could hardly see any flesh on her bones.

Two slender arms, exposed to the light, stood out conspicuously in the darkness.

As always, she wore a ribbon on her left wrist, often changing the color. I don't know when she developed this hobby.

Her long, black hair was still dripping wet, and it looked like she hadn't even wiped it off much.

Her fair and clean face resembled a piece of translucent jade, unadorned, and her large eyes were filled with worry.

"It was Tan Xiaomin. She just wanted to tease you; she didn't do anything excessive."

Seeing her relieved expression, Lu Xiyang stared into her eyes and said, "She took An Xuan out for a meal and said that the kid really likes seafood and ate a lot of shrimp."

An Ning's eyes suddenly widened and her expression changed, her whole body tensing up.

The next second, she turned to run upstairs, but her arm was suddenly grabbed tightly.

"What's the rush? I haven't finished speaking yet."

An Ning's heart raced, and her face turned deathly pale. "Lu Xiyan, I don't have time to listen to you right now. Let me go."

Seeing her nervousness, Lu Xiyan tightened his grip on her hand. "Didn't you want to know the situation?"

An Ning was on the verge of tears, frantically trying to break free from his grasp. "Lu Xiyan, I really don't have time to talk to you right now! Let go of me! It'll be too late if we wait any longer!"

She needs to take Xuanxuan to the hospital, immediately!

Lu Xiyan not only didn't release it, but instead applied even more force, asking, "Why was it too late?"

An Ning's tears welled up, "Lu Xiyan, An Xuan, he..."

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but her lips trembled, and she didn't know how to say them.

Lu Xiyan's chest heaved violently, and his usually cold eyes churned with intense emotion.

"Because he's allergic to shrimp!"

He forcefully pulled Anning in front of him, gripping her thin shoulders tightly, staring intently into her tearful and shocked eyes. "At best, you'll get a rash all over your body; at worst, you'll go into shock or even be in danger of dying, right?"

An Ning was held tightly by him, her breath caught in her throat, and she looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm lying to you, he didn't eat it."

Lu Xiyan's eyes had turned a dark red at some point. "I asked the doctor, and this allergy has a high chance of being hereditary."

His breathing trembled, and the fingers gripping Anning's shoulders trembled slightly.

Seeing An Ning's tears streaming down her cheeks, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he asked her in a hoarse voice, "An Xian, is he my son?"

Anning almost stopped breathing, staring at his reddened eyes, her chest felt tight with something blocking it, unable to utter a single word, tears streaming down her face.

The man's tall figure slowly approached her, and she heard Lu Xiyan's voice in her ear, hoarse, gentle, and with a hint of pleading.

"An Ning... tell me, is An Xian my child with you?"

How he wished he could have a child with her!

He even wondered if she wouldn't have abandoned him so heartlessly if they had had a child four years ago.

An Ning silently shed tears, her fingers tightly gripping the hem of his expensive suit.

"Lu Xiyan..."

She choked out, sobbing uncontrollably, "Xianxian, it's—"

The phone rang especially abruptly that night, cutting off Anning's words before she could finish speaking.

Lu Xiyan looked at the name of the caller ID that lit up on her phone—"Yu Can".

He let go of her hand, turned around, lit a cigarette, and waited for her to answer the phone.

An Ning wiped away her tears, smiled, and said, "Yu Can, why are you calling me so late?"

The boy on the other end of the phone sounded amused. "Sis, I just finished class and got busy. I transferred five thousand yuan to your phone. Here you go."

An Ning frowned. "Why did you transfer money to me?"

"You and my nephew need money to come back, and your birthday is in a few days. I don't have time to go back, so take this and buy yourself a small gift, consider it a gift from me."

An Yucan's voice was filled with joy and pride, "Sister, this money is what I earned tutoring my classmates. I'll earn even more after I graduate and start working. I've said it before, we'll raise Xianxian together. Since Xianxian's father treats you badly, he shouldn't even think about taking Xianxian away from our An family!"

"Alright, sis, it's getting late, I'll stop talking to you now. Happy birthday in advance, have a nice meal with Xianxian."

The boy hung up the phone, but it stirred some of Anning's chaotic thoughts that night.

If Lu Xiyan knew that An Xian was his son, he would never give up his custody rights.

In every respect, she cannot win.

And he's getting engaged, and then he'll get married.

She couldn't accept An Xian entering her family and calling Cheng Wanwan "Mom".

The man saw her hang up the phone and put out his cigarette.

She took two steps forward, her voice unusually gentle, "Finished?"

"Hmm." An Ning lowered her eyes.

He leaned down slightly, staring into her beautiful eyes and brows. "You haven't answered my question yet."

An Ning clenched her palms tightly, and when she looked up at him again, her eyes were clear again.

"You've got it wrong, An Xian isn't yours."

The man paused, his brows furrowing, then he smiled again. "No? He's allergic to the same food as me, and like me, he's disliked egg yolks since childhood."

"And another thing," the man said, as if trying to see right through her, "he looks like me!"