Chapter 278: It Hurts Right Now, Doesn’t it?

​April bit her lip, her face flushing bright red as she buried her head back into Nat’s chest to avoid looking at any of them. "I told you... I can handle it myself. It’s fine."

​"Handle it yourself?" Nat grunted, his arm wrapping around her waist to anchor her against the ache while his tone softened completely. "You can hardly sit up right. Stop trying to play the lone survivor over a damn cramp."

​April just pressed her forehead against his lapel, her breath coming out in tight, controlled shallow breaths as another sharp pang rippled through her lower belly.

​"I’m not playing anything," April muttered, her stubborn, pragmatic edge flaring up despite her pale skin. "I’m fine. I’ve always handled it myself up until now. I’m used to the pain."

​A heavy, suffocating silence immediately fell over the interior of the SUV.

​The quiet was so sudden and absolute that even the hum of the engine seemed to fade into the background. The three men locked their focus on her, their expressions shifting from concern to a deep, unsettling stillness.

​"Now... that is a lie," Xavier said softly, his low voice breaking the silence.

​April’s eyes snapped open, a sudden wave of flustered, humiliated heat rushing to her cheeks, making her face flare a bright, burning red.

"As if you’d know anything about a woman’s menstrual cramps!" she snapped, trying to pull back from Nat’s grip.

​"I do, actually," Xavier replied smoothly, his tone unbothered by her sudden outburst. His eyes remained fixed on her flushed face, holding a gentle seriousness. "I employ dozens of female executives and secretaries. Over the years, I have read medical reports and granted health leaves, and they made me understand one very important truth: a woman can never truly ’get used to’ the pain of menstrual cramps. It is not also one to be taken lightly."

​He reached out, his fingers gently taking her cold hand, squeezing it with grounding warmth.

​"Just because you have spent your whole life forcing yourself to bear it in silence, April, does not mean it doesn’t hurt," Xavier murmured softly. "It hurts right now, doesn’t it?"

​April bit the inside of her lip, her defense mechanism crumbling under his steady, perceptive gaze.

​"It’s just a bodily function," she gritted out, though her voice lacked its usual bite. "In the past... pain was just something you ignored if you wanted to stay out of trouble. You didn’t get to rest because your stomach hurt. If you slowed down, you’d just be giving Madam Morgan a reason to map your back with her whip."

​Nat’s grip on her waist tightened just a fraction more, his eyes darkening with a fierce, possessive ache as he listened to her quiet admission.

He rested his chin against the top of her head, his chest heaving with a deep, suppressed exhale.

​"Well, you’re not in that damn past anymore," Nat growled softly into her hair. "You don’t have to hide the fact that it hurts. You’re not alone."

​He dropped his palm right over her lower abdomen, covering her cold hand, letting his body heat radiate directly through her clothes to soothe the cramping muscles.

​From the front seat, Alexander looked back at her, his warm blue eyes filled with a quiet, unconditional devotion. "No one is going to hurt you here for showing weakness, April. Especially not for something like this."

​April sat frozen between them, her lower belly aching—yet as Xavier held her hand, Nat mapped his broad, warm palm over her stomach, and Alexander looked at her with gentle patience, the cold, defensive walls around her heart gave way completely.

​She let out a slow, trembling breath, finally relaxing her rigid posture as she let her head fall back against Nat’s shoulder.

​"...Fine," April squeaked out softly, her voice barely a whisper. "Just... don’t make a huge deal out of it. I’m really fine."

"That’s for us to decide, sweetheart," Nat rumbled softly against her hair, his heavy palm resting firmly over her abdomen, radiating a steady, comforting heat through her clothes.

​April closed her eyes, letting her head rest heavily against his shoulder as the SUV smoothly pulled up to the side of the street where a bright, illuminated pharmacy sign glowed in the dimming afternoon light.

​As the car came to a complete stop, she began tracing through the vast, endless inventory stored within her spatial dimension.

​She had tens of thousands of pharmaceutical supplies stocked away—boxes upon boxes of pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, and specialized medications meant for every conceivable injury or illness. She even possessed her miraculous revitalization water.

​Yet, during her first cycle after moving into Xavier’s mansion, she had tried using the water to relieve the cramps.

At first, the pain subsided but it was only that round of cramps and when the next round came, it was like nothing had been done about it at all. It was meant to heal wounds, clear scars, and external threats eating at the body, not rewrite hormonal cycles.

​She went out to get painkillers in the end since at the time, she had not procured the Pharmaceutical resources.

She downed the highest grade painkillers, hoping to purge the agony. But her body’s natural biological processes remained completely stubborn.

The standard pills only dulled the sharpest edges, leaving behind a heavy, lingering ache.

​Even with an entire dimension full of resources, April thought with a quiet, exasperated sigh, some things are just completely unavoidable.

​"I’ll be right back," Alexander said softly, opening the front passenger door and stepping out into the cool evening air before slipping inside the pharmacy.

​Xavier didn’t let go of her hand, his thumb gently stroking the back of her knuckles as he looked down at her pale face with unwavering focus. "When we arrive back at the estate, you are going straight to bed."

​April opened one dark eye, looking up at him with a faint, stubborn twitch at the corner of her lips. "What about sex?"

Xavier completely froze, his thumb locking mid-stroke against the back of her hand. He looked as though his entire cognitive system had just suffered a catastrophic, unrecoverable crash.

​Nat’s jaw dropped, a sharp, choked cough violently tearing out of his throat. His heavy hand, which had been gently warming her stomach, spasmed in place as he stared down at her in sheer, unadulterated shock.

Even the driver, Jude’s professional composure shattered, his eyes darting up to the rearview mirror in wide-eyed disbelief.

​None of them realized that for someone completely devoid of basic sex education, April had no concept of the actual mechanics involved. What to and what not to do. When to and when not to do it.

To her, intimacy was simply a logical next step—a mystery to be cleared, no different than solving a puzzle or figuring out how babies were made.