Xu Kai froze.
"I'm… pregnant."
His breath caught. His eyes widened. His lips parted—but no sound came. For a long second, the world around him felt distant and muffled, as if someone had submerged him in water.
Pregnant.
His mind reeled. He stared at her, searching her face, trying to convince himself he'd misheard, that her trembling voice had said something else, anything else.
But no—her tears were real. Her fingers clung to him like she was drowning. Her body shook with silent sobs that clawed at his soul.
Shock thundered through him, then—pain.
A flash of something like pain twisted in his chest, so sudden it stole his breath. Regret and Guilt. And something far darker...fear.
"Would she hate him now?"
"…I'm sorry," he whispered finally, his voice cracking like glass beneath weight. "Baby, I'm so sorry… This is my fault."
He drew her closer, holding her with a kind of reverence, like if he squeezed too hard she'd shatter.
