“Big brother, you need to comfort your wife properly. She must be feeling awful after everything that happened today,” said Huo Mei Shu with a wink after he walked over.
This sister-in-law was becoming more and more likeable to him.
“Mm,” Huo Shao Ting gave a noncommittal hum and drained his medicinal tea before heading into the house.
Rong Dai returned to the bedroom feeling terrible inside, so she decided to just take a shower.
Hearing the door open, she tensed under the showerhead almost instinctively.
She had never imagined she would care so much about what a man thought of her. She had wanted to enjoy their brief time together properly.
But now she realized things were not so simple. Huo Shao Ting was too perceptive.
She sighed softly, turned off the showerhead, dried her body with a towel, inserted a sanitary pad for her period, put on house clothes, yet still didn’t want to leave the bathroom. She just stood in front of the sink, staring absently at the mirror.
This face truly resembled her face in her past life, almost identical to the same face.
She raised her hand to touch it. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the cabinet on the side of the sink. She had never opened that drawer.
The original owner had not told her about these things in detail in her dreams either.
Out of curiosity, she reached out to open the drawer.
The first drawer contained unused, sealed toiletries. When she opened the second drawer, she was stunned.
Seeing the several packs of sanitary pads inside, one of which was unopened, as well as period panties, Rong Dai's pupils constricted sharply. Her breath seemed to catch in her nose.
Her heartbeat first skipped a beat, then began pounding like a drum!
It was as if ice water had been injected into her body. The chill penetrated her bones, and her freshly showered body instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she slowly closed the drawer. Gripping the sink with both hands, her face was deathly pale from the momentary oxygen deprivation and panic.
She stared at herself in the mirror, unable to help pressing a hand over her racing heart. Its frenzied pounding was almost too much to bear.
She had no idea about these pads and panties!
Did Huo Shao Ting already know?
Rong Dai didn't dare contemplate it. She was terrified!
“Wife? What's wrong? You've been showering for a long time. Do you need my help with anything?”
Huo Shao Ting had already been inside for a while. Based on when she had returned, it had been almost forty minutes.
If this continued, her skin would be rubbed raw.
Hearing the knock and his mellow voice, Rong Dai shuddered reflexively.
“Oh...almost done.” She realized her tongue felt numb from anxiety, affecting her speech.
She took one last deep look at the drawer, feeling something in her heart slowly sinking down.
She walked to the bathroom door, took a deep breath before opening it.
As soon as she opened the door, Huo Shao Ting's tall figure enveloped her. Even at almost 5'9”, she looked petite before him.
“Don't dwell on things. It will be resolved. I will take care of everything.”
Huo Shao Ting gazed at her. He had seen the panic and anxiety in her eyes the instant she opened the door, and vaguely guessed what had happened.
But he was also not yet prepared with how to ask her about this matter, or figured out a way to resolve it comfortably without making her averse and anxious.
He had only been vaguely suspicious at first, until learning of the ink jade’s origins today. Now he was fairly certain of his guess.
Although far-fetched, he trusted his instincts and judgement.
Rong Dai gave a bitter smile before slipping past him.
“You’ve had a difficult day. I’m a bit tired.”
She didn’t know how to handle this.
Firstly, she had no way to explain clearly, and revealing this could threaten her life.
Secondly, she wasn’t sure if Huo Shao Ting could accept this outcome. He had married the original, but now discovered the woman he had been intimate with for so long was actually a soul from another world.
Could he accept it? He would probably be freaked out.
The uncertainty and worry made her extremely anxious. Without waiting for Huo Shao Ting’s reply, she burrowed into the quilt to sleep.
Huo Shao Ting saw everything clearly. He could feel her tension and anxiety.
His eyes grew profound. Saying nothing, he went to shower.
After drying his hair in the bathroom, he saw the partially open drawer and immediately understood.
As he put away the hairdryer, he closed the drawer containing evidence of her secret.
Naturally Rong Dai could not fall asleep. She had never experienced such turmoil, even in her past life.
Even when, one year, the Imperial Concubine had schemed against her, causing Rong Dai to accidentally fall into her trap and the Imperial Concubine to miscarry the unborn prince, Rong Dai had not felt so unsettled when punished by the Emperor.
Perhaps the Emperor's coldness had worn away her past gentleness over time. She might not have even noticed when she removed the Emperor from her heart.
One feels no turmoil about what one does not care for. That she was so disturbed about Huo Shao Ting showed how important he had become.
Feeling like her heart was stuffed in a chimney, scorched and suffocated, Rong Dai was very uncomfortable.
Sensing the bedroom darkening as the bed dipped behind her, she couldn't help slowing her breathing. Even the hairs on her neck prickled tensely.
In the darkness, Huo Shao Ting could not see her expression but sensed her rigid body and felt her anxiety and tension.
He moved closer, enveloping her in his strong arms and kissing her cheek instinctively.
“No matter what, I can wait. Wait for you to give me the truth, wait for you to give me an answer.”
He suddenly spoke, perhaps affected after dispatching experts that day to investigate this matter.
She was likely reacting to his change in mood.
“Rong Dai, you are my wife. Understand?”
His voice was gentle.
Rong Dai shuddered at his words, unable to control her pounding heart. For a moment she even breathed rapidly.
He really was suspicious!
She should have expected it!
Someone as perceptive as him, able to seize control of the Huo family in such difficult circumstances and build it into the multinational conglomerate it was today with huge domestic influence, had immeasurable capabilities.
Even though she had been extremely careful, he had still noticed something off.
Rong Dai only felt shocked and powerless, as if all her strength had been drained. It was like falling into an icy lake, clinging to a straw.
The suffocating sense of submersion came in waves, threatening to swallow her whole!
She opened her mouth slightly, finding herself too anxious and stunned to utter a word!
