After The Sickly O Was Forced Into Marriage Chapter 2
byChapter 2 Vomiting and Daring Not to Tell
Jiang Xusheng went up to the study on the fourth floor, standing by the window, quietly letting a cigarette burn down.
Outside the manor was a forest of phoenix trees, and the yard was planted with many roses, though they had missed their season and would not bloom again until next spring.
The cigarette tip glowed a dim red like a candle flame flickering in the air. The study was dark, but the three screens behind him shone with electronic light. Two monitors displayed footage of Wang Shu’s daily life, and the third showed his wife sobbing in the master bedroom at that moment.
Jiang Xusheng narrowed his eyes, his expression unreadable.
The cold white light of the electronic screen illuminated his face until the cigarette burned out.
Watching Wang Shu’s tears, his Adam’s apple bobbed. This feeling of voyeurism was like a cigarette burning a hole in fabric, the hole growing larger and larger, setting his whole body on fire.
When his body reacted instinctively, a feeling of irritation surged through Jiang Xusheng.
The text messages on Wang Shu’s phone simultaneously appeared on his own screen.
Secretary Chen was highly efficient, providing a plan within ten minutes and calling to inquire about the expected progress of the acquisition.
Jiang Xusheng had made his fortune abroad, taking a full decade to transition from trading raw materials to product development.
Xieshu Pharmaceutical had built a strong reputation overseas and went public via IO two years ago. Now, having returned to the country recently, it still needed time to monopolize the Inhibitor industry.
After reporting the specific plan over the phone, Secretary Chen asked, “Boss, should I arrange a trip to negotiate next month?”
“No,” Jiang Xusheng gave a final deadline, “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Secretary Chen was stunned. “Acquiring the Wang Family in such a short time…”
The price would certainly not be ideal, and the issues regarding corporate integration would be significant.
But Jiang Xusheng simply scheduled the date, and Secretary Chen followed orders.
Although the plan to acquire the Wang Family had been in place for a while, its acceleration was so sudden that Secretary Chen didn’t know what his boss was truly planning.
The Wang Family was an old enterprise that started by producing Inhibitor raw materials, but it was gradually being phased out by the tides of change.
He finished dealing with the work at hand.
On the monitor, Wang Shu was already sound asleep.
The glass of milk before bed contained an Inhibitor to aid sleep.
He returned to the bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed, and picked up the tissue Wang Shu had used. He couldn’t smell Pheromones, but he knew an omega’s bodily fluids were fragrant. What did they smell like?
His Adam’s apple slowly rolled as he tried to discern the scent. Wang Shu was so obedient, he should smell very sweet, perhaps like flowers, candy, or milk caramel…
Unfortunately, he couldn’t smell anything, except for a faint, metallic sweetness from the discharge, very much like diluted blood, or freshly shed tears—wet and viscous, and not sweet when tasted.
Jiang Xusheng leaned down, his nose almost touching Wang Shu’s sleeping profile.
The air Wang Shu exhaled was then inhaled by Jiang Xusheng.
Sniffing the scent he could perceive, even if it was only a hint of saltiness, he wanted to consume it completely.
The man sat by the bed, quietly watching the sleeping omega, slowly chewing the tissue.
He pulled Wang Shu’s hand and placed it on his lower abdomen.
Under the effect of the medication, the sleeping Wang Shu couldn’t wake up, only feeling someone disturbing his dream. The dream was restless, and his eyelashes trembled slightly.
Wang Shu’s palm was smaller than his. Jiang Xusheng guided his hand from his lower abdomen slowly downward.
He chewed the tissue, his tongue savoring the taste of his wife that he could perceive.
Wang Shu dreamed of the first time he met Mr. Jiang.
His father was the third in line in the Wang Family, and he was his father’s Illegitimate Son, kept hidden from the light. Since childhood, he had been confined to a laboratory, having his Pheromones extracted for raw materials.
His father died when he was fourteen, and he was taken back to the Wang Family old residence by his uncles.
His cousins bullied him for his lowly birth, and his uncles exploited his beautiful appearance.
Wang Shu hadn’t even attended school before he was fourteen. He was more like a flower meant to perform, as long as he attracted attention.
He had been engaged when he first started university, but the engagements were inexplicably broken off repeatedly.
Until Mr. Jiang appeared. He had business dealings with his uncles. Wang Shu fell asleep swinging on a swing in the garden, and Mr. Jiang draped his jacket over him, telling him to avoid catching a cold.
Jiang Xusheng was thirty-four, lacking any youthful air, possessing only the aura of a mature man long accustomed to a position of power. His appearance was gentle yet sharp, and when he looked at people, he always wore a slightly frivolous, upward-curving smile—the arrogance built on piles of cash.
Solely because of the gesture of covering him with a jacket, his uncles packed him up and sent him to Mr. Jiang’s room that very night.
His uncles gave him a Heat Inducing Shot and told him that if he didn’t serve the man well, they would break his legs.
Wang Shu didn’t remember much about that day. Before he passed out, he only recalled that his lower abdomen seemed to be distended, about twenty centimeters in size.
Fortunately, Mr. Jiang was very satisfied, signing a major contract the next day.
His uncles were also happy.
His uncles used him to entertain this new magnate from Shen City.
An omega who hasn’t been given a Heat Inducing Shot is very sensitive to pain.
Mr. Jiang stayed briefly at the Wang residence, and Wang Shu accompanied him overnight. The next day, without the shot, the pain was incredibly clear.
Jiang Xusheng noticed his continuous tears of discomfort and withdrew halfway, telling him they could just sleep if he didn’t want to continue.
Wang Shu spent those few nights in Mr. Jiang’s room, but later, the other man didn’t sleep with him, remaining silent with the blanket separating them.
Wang Shu thought he must have messed up.
After Mr. Jiang left the Wang residence, his uncles excitedly busied themselves with business, forgetting all about him.
He was enrolled at Shen City Art Academy, a private undergraduate school where he could be placed with some money.
It wasn’t until the school physical examination three months later. After his blood draw, the school doctor took him to a separate room for a private check-up.
He was pregnant.
Wang Shu pinched his small belly then, naively believing he had simply gained some weight because his uncles hadn’t been home recently.
He was quite thin, so any changes due to pregnancy would indeed be noticeable. The pants he usually wore had become tight.
An omega pregnant without a mark—this was likely assault.
Wang Shu denied it with a flushed face, saying it wasn’t assault.
He didn’t dare tell his uncles, and he didn’t know what to do about suddenly being pregnant.
Wang Shu was afraid to go home. He feared his uncles would beat him to death, even though he had taken contraceptives.
He carried his backpack to Xieshu Pharmaceutical and quietly waited on the steps.
Around eleven o’clock that night, a car stopped at the entrance of the tower, and Jiang Xusheng got out and walked straight toward him.
The man asked him why he was there.
Wang Shu opened his mouth but didn’t stand up; his legs were numb from squatting.
This was actually very presumptuous.
He was a gift his uncles used to entertain Mr. Jiang, and showing up pregnant now seemed inexplicable.
Facing the man, Wang Shu lowered his head and said, “Can I accompany you for two more nights?”
Jiang Xusheng frowned at him.
“Accompany you for two nights. Please give me some money. The surgery is very expensive, and I can’t afford it.”
He hung his head in shame, unable to see Mr. Jiang’s expression, but he guessed it must be annoyance.
“I don’t mean to cling to you. I just don’t know what to do.”
“Mr. Jiang, I won’t cry out in pain this time. I brought the shot…”
Jiang Xusheng did take him away that day, squatting down, carrying him into the car, and bypassing the Wang Family to complete the paperwork.
Wang Shu got married in a daze.
After marriage, he was settled in Jiang Manor. It was surrounded by mountains, like a paradise. Servants waited on him, afraid he might have any issues.
He heard that Mr. Jiang often came home, but he went to bed early and rarely saw him.
In the two months after their marriage, he had seen Mr. Jiang no more than ten times.
Occasionally, he would see Jiang Xusheng’s face on TV, learning that his company’s market value had risen again, or that he had appeared in some interview.
Mr. Jiang was truly amazing.
He often thought this.
His uncles knew he had disappeared. After several inquiries, they learned he had entered the gates of Jiang Manor. They frequently contacted him, saying he had considerable skill to have truly climbed into Jiang Xusheng’s bed.
Wang Shu had been confined to the laboratory since childhood. Besides the older brother who was locked in the room with him back then, he hadn’t spent much time with anyone else.
Since his brother died, he didn’t even have anyone to confide in or rely on.
Wang Shu missed his brother terribly. If only he had been the one taken away to die—he often thought this.
“Young Master, breakfast is ready. Should I bring it in for you?” The maid politely knocked softly.
It was already half past ten, past breakfast time.
“No need, I’ll get up now.” Wang Shu slowly supported his Pregnant Belly and sat up. His calves were slightly swollen and sore.
In the first two months, the baby in his belly didn’t bother him at all. Its presence was very low, and the early pregnancy wasn’t uncomfortable.
But since last month, his belly had become noticeably larger.
It seemed all the discomfort was slowly arriving.
“Why is my Gland still warm?” Wang Shu rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks also flushed. He had rubbed against Jiang Xusheng’s jacket yesterday.
But the effect wasn’t great. Not only did it fail to relieve the discomfort, but his calves were also swollen.
Wang Shu changed into loose pajamas, made of cotton flannel, and after staring blankly by the bed for a while, he slowly went downstairs.
There were only three servants in the house. They were only seen during meal times and did not disturb the master’s life. Jiang Xusheng was someone who disliked trouble.
The table was filled with breakfast. Shen Xiao, a classmate on the phone, asked him why he hadn’t been attending classes recently.
“I really don’t know where to go for my senior year internship. How are you feeling? Are you better?”
Wang Shu ate a spoonful of shrimp congee. The unnatural, sickly flush was still on his face. He pressed the back of his hand to his cheek to check his temperature. “Much better, I guess…”
Due to the experiments when he was young, his Gland was sluggish, and his Pheromones constantly leaked out uncontrollably.
All the servants in the house were Betas. No one but himself knew how excessively Pheromone-saturated the house was.
“What do you mean ‘much better’? I call you ten times and you throw up eight times. Are you really going to tough it out and not tell Jiang Xusheng?”
Shen Xiao had married early in her sophomore year and was spoiled by her husband since childhood. She couldn’t stand this kind of situation.
Wang Shu’s grades at school weren’t great, his personality was soft, and given his family background, not many people at university wanted to be friends with him.
Shen Xiao, however, had lent him her notebooks several times, and they had become quite close.
Wang Shu took a bite of a thin-skinned bun and chewed for a long time. “I don’t want to trouble Mr. Jiang. It’s not a big deal. I can endure it, and it will pass…”
“What?” Shen Xiao was exasperated by his spineless words. “Please, you’re carrying his child, okay? Because of the pregnancy, you might even have to delay graduation…”
Wang Shu smiled sheepishly, his voice softer than water. “I wasn’t smart to begin with.”
He was still very grateful to Mr. Jiang.
In the Wang Family, even the servants looked down on him. Here, he could at least sleep until he woke up naturally.
It was good. He was content.
“He doesn’t despise me, that’s good. Mr. Jiang is a very kind person,” he said, his eyes curving into a smile.
“Then what about the Inhibitor?” Shen Xiao asked worriedly. “How can your body handle it?”
“I’ll just take more normal Inhibitors. Mr. Jiang is very busy usually. I often see the news; he’s always traveling for business, his schedule is packed.”
Shen Xiao was furious and about to say more, but Wang Shu hurriedly got up and left the dining room.
Since the family stopped giving him Inhibitors last month, the morning sickness had slowly started to appear in the past few days.
He didn’t eat much, but he vomited frequently.
Wang Shu was very afraid that something might happen to the baby. Even if he couldn’t swallow, he would try hard to eat something, but often he would vomit more thoroughly and feel worse.
The sound of the running faucet completely masked the sound of his retching.
Breakfast was wasted. Wang Shu felt a sense of self-reproach for wasting the food’s good intentions. He weakly leaned against the sink, supporting himself with his arms, staring blankly.
The mirror reflected his pale cheeks. The four-month-old baby hadn’t grown very fast, yet it had already learned to start tormenting him.
Wang Shu stroked his lower abdomen with a sense of helplessness, only able to pray that the baby would be a little more obedient.
“Young Master, are you alright?” The maid, not seeing him return, knocked on the door and asked.
“I’m fine, I’ll be out right away.”
He wiped his face again and rubbed his cheeks, trying to make his complexion look rosier.
Shen Xiao told him there was a performance for the school anniversary this month, and after that, they would process their graduation certificates.
Originally, Mr. Jiang was going to arrange a leave of absence for him, but since there were only six months left and not many courses in the senior year, he could finish his studies.
When he came out of the bathroom, the maid happened to have washed a plate of raspberries and placed them in the living room.
Wang Shu ate two sour berries to relieve the discomfort in his stomach. After drinking coconut water for a while, he remembered to weigh himself.
Sunlight streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Wang Shu took off his slippers and stepped onto the scale.
One hundred and eight pounds. He was actually thinner than he had been two days ago.
Although he was an omega, with a small frame, he was still male and stood at one meter seventy.
He tried very hard to eat a lot every day so the baby could grow, yet his weight hadn’t increased at all!
That seemed a bit excessive. Had all his efforts been in vain during this time?
After thinking it over, Wang Shu pouted and stepped off the scale. He put his slippers back on and stepped back up. Sure enough, he weighed a bit more.
Wang Shu knew where the problem lay.
He hurried back to the second floor, put on his previous pajamas, and came down to weigh himself again. Finally, he hadn’t lost weight.
Wang Shu smiled contentedly, his dimples shallow.
The maid witnessed the entire process and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. “Young Master, you are so cute.”
“Huh?” Wang Shu turned his head blankly, realizing his somewhat foolish behavior. He murmured softly, “Sister, please don’t laugh at me…”
Wang Shu clumsily used the notebook on the wall to record the date and his weight.
“Mr. Jiang hardly looks at these, you don’t have to write them down,” the maid stated factually.
“Yes… he doesn’t pay much attention to this,” Wang Shu blinked.
The maid realized she might have said the wrong thing and encouraged him, saying it was fine.
Wang Shu smiled gently, thinking it was good to deceive himself a little. He patted his little belly and said playfully, “You have to work hard, baby.”
He secretly added one pound to the weight recorded in the notebook, making himself look healthier.