Yingqu Liuzi was pampered by her wealthy daddy.

His hands rested loosely on Xize's shoulders, his ankles close to Xize's waist.

"Where are you going..." Shen Yu'an's voice was hoarse and soft.

He buried his face in Xize's neck, his voice muffled against her skin: "Don't go..."

"What did you call me?" Xize's voice was close to his ear.

"Daddy."

"Anything else?"

Shen Yu'an buried her face in the crook of his neck.

His arms around Xize's neck tightened.

"Can't you call out?"

"...lao gong."

Shen Yu'an spoke those two words so softly they were almost inaudible.

After he finished speaking, he buried his face even deeper, his ears burning as if they were on fire.

"Say it again."

"husband……"

"Speak louder."

Shen Yu'an raised her face and glanced at him.

Shen Yu'an saw his profile; in the edge of the lamplight, the curve of his lips was more pronounced than usual.

Shen Yu'an buried her face back, her voice a little louder than before: "Husband."

……

His voice was so hoarse that he could no longer utter a complete sentence.

He was panting with his mouth open, his eyelashes were soaked with sweat, the redness at the corners of his eyes spread down to his cheekbones, and his lips were trembling.

He called out one last time, his voice soft and weak, as if he had squeezed it out with all his might: "Husband...carry me back..."

Xize looked down at him, his lips brushing against his wet eyelashes.

"I've called three times already, how about three more times?"

Shen Yu'an couldn't open her eyes; she could only feel his lips touching her eyelids.

Nishizawa stepped back from the bookshelf.

The sofa cushions slumped under the weight of the two people. The platinum ring on her ring finger flashed briefly in the dim light of the lamp, then went dark again.

The night outside the window was dark and deep. Only a desk lamp was left on in the study. Several pages of paper were crumpled and scattered, and a pen rolled under the bookshelf.

The study fell silent.

When Xize carried him back to the bedroom, Shen Yu'an was completely unresponsive.

His eyelashes were still wet, his lips were slightly parted, and his breathing was shallow and even.

Xize placed him on the bed. Shen Yu'an stirred slightly when his back touched the mattress, hummed a meaningless syllable, and then shrank back into the covers and remained still.

His legs curled up and then loosened, the chain on his ankles brushed against the sheets and then fell silent.

Xize stood by the bed and looked at him.

The lamp was off, and moonlight filtering through the curtains fell on the foot of the bed, outlining Shen Yu'an's silhouette as a light gray line.

His eyelashes were closed, and he was curled up in the blanket, breathing steadily, as if he had sunk to a very deep place.

Xize sat on the edge of the bed.

He lay down next to Shen Yu'an, turned to face him, and reached out to brush away the sweat-dampened hair from Shen's forehead.

Shen Yu'an did not wake up.

His breathing was still even, his lips were slightly parted, and Xize's fingertips slid from his forehead to the bridge of his nose to his lips. He did not react at all, except that his lips moved unconsciously when Xize touched his lower lip.

"The baby is so beautiful."

Xize withdrew his fingers and reached out to lift a corner of the blanket.

Shen Yu'an twitched slightly in her sleep, but did not wake up.

It was as if it sensed something, but its consciousness had not yet surfaced.

My heart rested against the spot of my heart for a moment, feeling the steady, slow beating beneath it.

……

His face was turned to the side on the pillow, his eyelashes trembled slightly in the moonlight, his lips parted slightly, his breathing was disrupted for a moment, and then returned to a steady rhythm.

Shen Yu'an's eyes remained closed.

Caesar's lips brushed against his earlobe, his voice so low it was almost a whisper: "Baby."

Shen Yu'an did not respond.

Xize looked at his face. His eyes were closed, his brows were slightly furrowed, and his lips moved slightly, uttering a mumbled syllable that was impossible to understand.

He leaned down and wrapped his arms around Shen Yu'an.

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, falling on the foot of the bed and onto Shen Yu'an's ankles, which were exposed outside the blanket. The pendant of the chain swayed gently with her movements, making a soft tinkling sound, before finally stopping after a long while.

Shen Yu'an's breathing remained unchanged.