Chapter 55: The Pressure to Conceive (Part One)

That yellowed photograph by the lake at Stanford was like a red-hot iron, ruthlessly searing Yu Ling’s retina!

The affectionate way Gu Qianqian looped her arm through Zhao Chen’s, coupled with the elegant and devoted inscription on the back of the photo reading, "To my brilliant Chen, With all my love. Always," every single detail acted like a cold dagger, thoroughly shattering the lies Zhao Chen had fed her about Gu Qianqian being merely an "insignificant old classmate" and a "desperate stalker driven mad by unrequited love"!

A profound sense of betrayal and the fury of being made a fool of instantly crushed Yu Ling’s reason! She abruptly jerked her head up, her bloodshot eyes locked dead on Zhao Chen, who had just stepped out of the study. Her hand gripping the photograph trembled violently from the sheer force of her grip, her knuckles turning white as she almost crushed the thin photographic paper!

"Zhao Chen!" Her voice was warped and shrill with extreme rage and despair, thick with accusation, every single word sounding like jagged ice chunks forced out from between her clenched teeth. "Is this what you called an 'insignificant old classmate'?! Is this what you call a 'stalker'?! This photo! This inscription! Tell me! What on earth is this?!" She whipped the photograph up high, thrusting it almost directly into Zhao Chen’s face!

The exhaustion on Zhao Chen’s face was instantly replaced by shock and a flash of panic he was too late to conceal! Clearly, he had never expected this old photograph, long forgotten in some dark corner, to be unearthed at a moment like this.

His eyes glued themselves to the glaring photograph in Yu Ling’s hand, then met the unmasked fury and despair of total betrayal shining in hers. Complex emotions surged in the depths of his eyes: the wretchedness of being caught in the act, profound remorse, but above all, a cold, desperate anxiety akin to being driven to the edge of a cliff!

"Lingling!" he barked, his voice laced with a forcibly suppressed urgency and an unquestionable authority as he lunged forward with big strides! Abandoning any attempt to explain the photograph, his objective became crystal clear: to snatch back that damned piece of evidence!

"Listen to me! It’s not what you think!" While reaching out to grab the photo, he tried to trap Yu Ling with his body, his movements marked by an unprecedented roughness and panic that completely stripped him of his usual composure.

"Don't touch me!" Like an enraged beast guarding its young, Yu Ling violently retreated, her body slamming into the cold shelving unit with a loud *clang*! She desperately shielded the photograph, her reddened eyes filled with fierce wariness and icy hatred. "Not what you think?! Then what is it like?! Zhao Chen! Is there a single word of truth in your mouth?! How much longer were you going to lie to me?!"

Her interrogation was sharp and desperate, echoing through the empty living room. Overwhelming grief and anger made her tremble all over, and finally, tears broke free, surging uncontrollably down her face!

Zhao Chen’s outstretched hand froze mid-air. Looking at Yu Ling’s崩溃 (collapsed/shattered) state, at the thick, unmelting hatred and ice in her eyes, the very last shred of the composed facade he had tried to maintain completely shattered!

A dark, volatile fury mixed with lingering fear and indescribable pain rushed straight to his head! Abandoning his attempt to snatch the photo, he instead lurched forward, his hands clamping onto Yu Ling’s shoulders like iron pincers with a force that wrung a cry of pain from her lips!

"Shut up!" he growled, his voice chillingly cold, carrying a nearly uncontrollable viciousness and an absolute desire for control. His eyes were bottomless, swirling with a bone-chilling frost. "Don't you dare look at me with that look! Don't you dare say that word!" He was clearly referring to the word "lie."

He leaned down, pressing his burning forehead against Yu Ling’s icy one, their noses nearly touching, breathing hot and rapid with a heavy sense of oppression. "Lingling! Look at me!" He forced her to lock eyes with him, his voice low and hoarse, carrying an undeniable command mixed with a trace of near-fragrant pleading?

"All of that is in the past! It’s been over for a long time! Who is Gu Qianqian? What has she ever done? She means nothing to me! Now! Right here! There is only you! Only Yu Ling! Did you hear me clearly?!"

His words were like molten lava, carrying an unassailable dominance and a nearly paranoid declaration, attempting to forcefully wash away the swirling clouds of doubt and hatred in her heart.

Trapped between the cold shelving unit and his burning body, her shoulders aching from his tight grip, Yu Ling was forced to endure his searing gaze and the angry breath gusting against her face. His words struck her chaotic heart like a heavy hammer, stirring up massive waves.

She looked at the intense emotion in the depths of his eyes—emotions that threatened to swallow her whole, filled with anger, a desire for control, but most deeply, a fragile, haunting fear of losing her that pierced like a fine needle straight into the softest part of her heart.

A crushing sense of grievance and the helplessness of being forcibly placated drained all the strength from her body, instantly dissolving her will to struggle. She stopped resisting, standing rigid as he pressed against her, tears silently sliding down her pale cheeks to land on the back of the hand gripping her shoulder.

Sensing the stiffness of her body and her silent tears, the viciousness in Zhao Chen’s eyes receded as swiftly as the tide, replaced by a heavy wave of tenderness and regret.

His tense body relaxed slightly, and the grip on her shoulders subconsciously loosened, though he still did not let go. He lowered his head, his warm lips pressing against her tear-stained face with a nearly devout tenderness, kissing away the moisture bit by bit in a gentleness that was worlds apart from his previous roughness.

"I'm sorry, Lingling, I'm so sorry!"

His low voice sounded beside her ear, thick with a nasal quality and profound remorse, repeating the apology over and over, "It's my fault. I didn't handle the past properly and I scared you."

His kisses shifted from her cheek to her closed eyelids, and finally to her tightly pressed, tear-slicked lips—no longer a tyrannical plundering, but laced with a cautious soothing and an intense possessiveness desperate to prove something.

With her eyes closed, Yu Ling endured his burning, chaotic kisses, her heart a desolate wasteland of ice and fire. The shock of the photograph and Zhao Chen’s sudden burst of violence and tenderness pulled at her mind like two colossal, warring forces. Exhausted and emotionally drained, she only wanted to escape this suffocating vortex.

Just as she was on the verge of either completely drowning or breaking down within this chaotic placation—

*Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—*

An abrupt and persistent vibration, like the horn of a ship coming to the rescue, rang out startlingly in the living room! The sound originated from the phone Zhao Chen had tossed onto the sofa!