After The Sickly O Was Forced Into Marriage Chapter 7
byChapter 7: Who Exactly Is Being Punished?
Wang Shu tilted his pale, slender neck back, like a soft little swan.
He leaned against Jiang Xusheng, his whole body weak, trying hard to make his breathing even. His heart was racing, threatening to leap out of his chest.
The last time he was caught lying, the punishment was standing in the corner.
Was the punishment this time to stop breathing?
Wang Shu clenched his palms. He surprisingly didn’t feel that Mr. Jiang’s punishment was excessive. Instead, he felt he was the worse one; at a time when he should be extremely careful while carrying a baby, he had repeatedly used lies to conceal his health.
He pressed his lips together, which were slightly swollen from the kiss. Hearing no reply from Mr. Jiang, he cautiously tilted his face closer.
“Please don’t be angry, okay?” Wang Shu apologized softly.
Jiang Xusheng wrapped an arm around his waist and stated decisively, “No.”
Wang Shu’s heart sank. “Did I delay your business trip?”
Thinking of this, he felt even more self-reproachful. He could only rub his nose against the man’s chest in a pleading manner, a mix of coquetry and vulnerability.
Although Jiang Xusheng was a Beta, he possessed a tall stature and the fine physique of a mature man. His arms were strong, and in his embrace, Wang Shu felt an unprecedented sense of security.
“Wang Shu…” The man sighed, helpless.
His little wife’s overly cautious nature wouldn’t change anytime soon.
“Hmm?” Wang Shu responded obediently to the sound.
“Learn slowly. I have patience.” Jiang Xusheng rubbed his head.
Wang Shu seemed half-understanding, unsure what he was supposed to learn—how to kiss, or how to stop lying?
There were only the two of them in the ward. Jiang Xusheng held him, and Wang Shu’s pale, slender calves rubbed against the man’s suit trousers, intentionally or unintentionally.
“Do you have a brother?” Jiang Xusheng suddenly asked.
Wang Shu looked uneasy, as if something had occurred to him. His shoulders trembled violently, but he didn’t lie this time, honestly admitting, “I do.”
Wang Shu often mumbled “Ge” (brother) while he was unconscious.
Jiang Xusheng knew that the Wang Family hadn’t treated him well, otherwise they wouldn’t have sent him to his bed.
Jiang Xusheng’s palm stroked Wang Shu’s slightly protruding lower abdomen. “Where is he?”
“My brother passed away,” Wang Shu replied quietly. “When I was fourteen.”
The Wang Family dealt in Inhibitor raw materials. Over a decade ago, they had a laboratory, a gray industry that extracted human Pheromones.
Wang Shu grew up in the lab with another child.
They endured pain together, waiting for the endless Pheromone extractions, waiting for death.
It was just that his brother wasn’t as lucky as him. Many years ago, he was taken away for the final Pheromone extraction and never returned.
He was an Alpha teenager with a congenital S-class Gland. His high-quality Pheromones were the best raw material for Inhibitors.
Wang Shu had been locked up with Experiment Subject 11 until he regained his sight and left the lab, but he could never find any news about Subject 11.
Wang Shu was the only one who survived the lab until now.
He also suffered lasting health issues: a sluggish Gland, resistance to Inhibitors, and a frail body that easily caught a fever.
Jiang Xusheng said, “Tell me about him.”
Wang Shu replied, “When we were little, every time after a Pheromone extraction, we would share a piece of milk candy. My brother was always covered in injuries from protecting me.”
He was the Wang Family’s Illegitimate Son. He was obedient during Pheromone extractions, and if the experimenter was in a good mood, they would give him a milk candy, allowing him a brief moment of sweetness.
They would share a piece of candy and blow on each other’s swollen Glands.
“Brother smelled like flowers…” Wang Shu murmured.
Later, he tried walking through crowds, closing his eyes to sniff and search for the scent of roses, but unfortunately, he never found it.
His uncles had long since told him to give up hope, mercifully informing him that he would never find him again.
Over time, he buried the matter in his heart and rarely mentioned it.
If Mr. Jiang hadn’t asked, he could have pretended to forget.
The poor omega had a heartbreaking past, and he didn’t want Mr. Jiang to pity him.
Even his biological father had despised his existence since childhood. His cousins would throw coins at his face, mocking him for having the blood of a lowlife, saying he would never rise up and that dying in the lab was the only way he could be of any value to the Wang Family.
Only Subject 11 would fiercely protect him, rushing forward to fight back whenever his cousins bullied him, even if he was beaten until he was covered in wounds.
They were two small beasts in a corner, licking each other’s wounds.
Lingering, gasping for breath.
Wang Shu’s eyes were moist, his irises filled with tears. He realized that mentioning another person in front of his husband seemed inappropriate. He quickly wiped his tears. “I’m sorry, I won’t talk about it anymore.”
“Puppy.” Jiang Xusheng leaned close to his ear, kissing his forehead, which was damp from crying. His voice was as pleasant as a cello, the resonance sending a tingling sensation throughout Wang Shu’s body. “Don’t cry.”
Wang Shu’s nickname was Puppy.
When his surname was read repeatedly, it sounded like a dog barking: Wang Wang.
He was also clingy, like a quiet little dog, so his brother had called him Puppy since childhood.
Puppy.
A clingy little dog.
Jiang Xusheng stated frankly that he was not a broad-minded person.
Wang Shu’s cheeks were cupped in his hands, listening intently as his husband issued a new command: “Forget him. I don’t want to compete with a dead man.”
“I don’t like people who are disloyal,” Jiang Xusheng stroked his head. “Do you understand?”
Wang Shu froze for a few seconds. When he nodded, he was on the verge of tears, his nose red.
Even this nickname, which belonged to his brother, would now be claimed by Mr. Jiang.
Every part of his body, from his skin to his heart and pulse, belonged to Mr. Jiang.
“Hello, can we start the examination now?” A nurse knocked on the door after seeing that Wang Shu was awake through the glass.
“Come in,” Jiang Xusheng said, setting Wang Shu back down on the bed.
The nurse had already given Jiang Xusheng Wang Shu’s blood test and Gland reports.
Jiang Xusheng understood all the specialized medical terms and data that only doctors knew, and even directly instructed the nurse on what procedures to prepare next.
“We are going to do an Ultrasound now and listen to the Fetal Heartbeat. Don’t be nervous,” the nurse reassured him.
Wang Shu stared blankly at the ceiling. Suddenly detached from Jiang Xusheng’s embrace, he felt a little panicked. “Okay.”
The nurse’s heart softened hearing his gentle voice. “You’re quite young, and it’s your first pregnancy, so it’s normal to be nervous. Just relax.”
“Thank you, big sister,” Wang Shu gripped the bed rail.
“How does your eye pressure feel? Can you distinguish between day and night?” the nurse asked.
Wang Shu nodded. “I can.”
“The excessive Inhibitor injections before the transfer definitely affected your eye pressure.”
Wang Shu’s sweater was lifted, revealing his slightly curved white belly.
It wasn’t time for his regular prenatal checkup yet. He suddenly remembered, “Will the baby be affected?”
He was too thin, and his frame was small. Excessive Pheromone extraction had caused the organs affected by the Gland, such as the Reproductive Cavity, to be underdeveloped.
The Gestational Sac had grown very slowly in the previous months. After three months, it began to fill the Reproductive Cavity, and after four months, it would slowly stretch the cavity, making the Pregnant Belly larger and more prominent.
Male omegas’ Pregnant Bellies tend to be positioned slightly higher, with the fetus positioned forward. Surgery is usually required before eight months. In the later stages of pregnancy, the Pregnant Belly is very obvious, and the worse the physical condition, the more severe the reaction.
“That’s why we’re checking,” the nurse said in a coaxing tone. “It might be a little cold.”
The nurse took out the coupling gel and applied it to his belly.
Wang Shu was very nervous, staring blankly at the ceiling. He quietly asked, “Why is there no heartbeat?”
“Wait a moment.” Jiang Xusheng held the hand that was gripping the edge of the bed.
The doctor moved the probe across his abdomen. “The month is still early, and the fetal position is quite deep inside. Have you had any morning sickness recently?”
Wang Shu: “Yes.”
He heard the doctor pointing out the image to Mr. Jiang: “You see here? It overlaps with the organs. When the belly gets bigger, it will compress the organs. You’ve also seen his malnutrition. If his physical metrics still can’t be improved, we’ll have to consider early surgery, before July.”
Jiang Xusheng: “That early?”
“Yes.” The doctor then turned the question back to Wang Shu. “How long have you been vomiting? Have you recorded your recent food intake and weight?”
Wang Shu thought, I’m finished.
He hadn’t lied much in his life, yet Mr. Jiang had caught him every time.
“About… half a month,” he didn’t dare lie to the doctor, so he mumbled the truth about falsifying his weight. “It’s only a little bit lighter…”
“A little bit?” The doctor’s tone rose. “Since you don’t have exact data, we’ll measure your weight shortly.”
“One hundred and eight,” he said, slightly embarrassed. “It’s 108.6.”
“Wow, that’s four pounds lighter than your first checkup?” The doctor was surprised. “You’ve been vomiting this severely, why didn’t you come to the hospital sooner?”
Wang Shu felt Jiang Xusheng slowly release his hand, and he thought he heard the man chuckle softly.
It’s over.
He thought, Mr. Jiang must be angry again.
He had been trying hard to eat…
The sudden release of his hand made him instantly lose his sense of security, lying helplessly on the bed.
The doctor was amused by his precision. “What’s going on, CEO Jiang? You have so many social engagements and dinners, is it that hard to feed your wife?”
Jiang Xusheng tossed the medical record he was holding, wrote down a few medication names, and handed it to the doctor. “Go prescribe the medicine.”
He then took Wang Shu’s hand again, his rough thumb pressing against the soft skin. “Why are you vomiting so badly?”
“I will try hard to eat,” Wang Shu promised.
“If I had to see a husband with a perpetually stern face every day, I’d be too scared to eat too,” the doctor’s voice was clear. He was a young male doctor, and not the one who had previously done Wang Shu’s prenatal checks.
After the doctor left, the nurse told Wang Shu, “That was Ji Feng, the Director of the Gland Department at Xieshu Private Hospital. He came with Mr. Jiang.”
“Oh…”
Jiang Xusheng owned many assets—real estate, stocks, gold mines, funds—but the only product directly branded with the Xieshu name was pharmaceuticals.
He owned a very famous private hospital in Shen City.
“That Ji Feng is also very famous in academia, but his temper is a bit strange,” the nurse added. “Besides CEO Jiang, probably no one else could get him to come for a consultation.”
After everything was adjusted, a rhythmic, muffled drumming sound appeared in the ward.
It was the Fetal Heartbeat.
Jiang Xusheng returned from outside the ward and sat on the edge of the bed, wiping the gel off his abdomen.
Wang Shu held his hand, his fingertips hooking onto his, like a silk thread wrapping around the man repeatedly.
The omega couldn’t see, but he spoke toward his direction, “Sir, that’s the baby’s heartbeat.”
Wang Shu’s eyes were captivating—a pair of beautiful, alluring eyes on a youthful face. At this moment, they were empty and hazy, yet they curved into a smile upon hearing the little life inside his belly.
Innocent yet seductive.
Jiang Xusheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed. A surging feeling in his heart seemed to be forcefully suppressed.
The punishment just now—who exactly was being punished?
Jiang Xusheng asked himself.