Chapter 289 - 285: The Old-School Romance Heroine 5

Chapter 289: Chapter 285: The Old-School Romance Heroine 5

The glass door of Peninsula Coffee closed behind her. Ji Xiaosong stood on the sidewalk, looking at Huo Chen from across the bustling street.

He was wearing a deep gray custom-tailored suit today, his tie hanging loosely around his neck, exuding an air of languid nobility.

"Are you following me?"

She crossed the street, pulled open the door of the Maybach, and got right in.

Huo Chen placed his coffee cup into the cup holder. "Protecting my investment."

His gaze fell on her flat stomach. "Fifty million. You’ve got quite an appetite."

Ji Xiaosong’s hand paused as she was fastening her seatbelt. "You bugged my phone calls?"

"Just reasonable surveillance."

Huo Chen started the car. "Chen Mo recently lost forty million on the island. Now he’s being hounded by loan sharks."

Her head whipped around. "Did you set him up?"

A slight smile touched Huo Chen’s lips. "I just had the casino give him a higher credit limit."

He turned the steering wheel. "Now, we’re going to the Civil Affairs Bureau."

"What?"

Ji Xiaosong nearly choked on her own saliva. "I haven’t agreed to marry you!"

"About last night’s conditions, I’ve changed my mind."

With one hand, Huo Chen pulled a document from his briefcase. "Five percent of the Huo Group’s shares, plus a 51% controlling stake in the tech company."

Ji Xiaosong opened the file, her fingers trembling slightly.

The share transfer agreement was already stamped with the Huo Group’s official seal. All it needed was her signature.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

Huo Chen stared straight ahead. "You’re worth a better bargaining chip."

When the car stopped in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Ji Xiaosong was still poring over the details of the agreement.

Huo Chen had already walked around to the passenger side and pulled the door open for her.

"Wait." She looked up at him. "What about a prenuptial agreement?"

Huo Chen looked as if he’d just heard a joke. "The Huo Family doesn’t have divorces, only widowhood."

He leaned over and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Now, get out of the car."

The process of getting the marriage license was unbelievably fast.

When the official stamp came down on the red booklet, Ji Xiaosong still felt a sense of unreality.

’Just like that, I’m Mrs. Huo?’

On the drive back, Huo Chen’s phone rang nonstop.

He answered the call, his tone instantly turning sharp. "Freeze all their accounts. Notify the security department to increase patrols."

Hanging up, he explained, "Yang Yang’s father is getting desperate and trying to move his assets."

"Is there anything I need to do?" Ji Xiaosong asked instinctively.

Huo Chen glanced at her. "Your only job right now is to focus on a peaceful pregnancy."

As he spoke, he pressed the in-car intercom button. "Secretary Li, have the house prepare meals for a pregnant woman."

Ji Xiaosong frowned. "I’m not a porcelain doll."

"But you are Mrs. Huo."

Huo Chen’s voice left no room for argument. "From this day on, your security clearance is the same as mine."

Upon returning to the Huo Mansion, the butler and the entire staff were lined up at the entrance to greet them.

The moment Ji Xiaosong stepped out of the car, she was surrounded by two medical personnel in white coats.

"A routine check-up, Madam," the older female doctor said with a smile.

Ji Xiaosong looked toward Huo Chen, who was leaning against the car on a call, not even sparing her a glance.

She had no choice but to follow the doctors to a newly set-up medical room on the second floor.

After the examination, the doctor was grinning from ear to ear. "The fetus is very healthy. We can already hear the heartbeat."

She handed the stethoscope to Ji Xiaosong. "Would you like to listen, Madam?"

Ji Xiaosong hesitantly took the stethoscope.

When the faint but strong THUMP-THUMP sound reached her ears, her heart skipped a beat.

"The baby is very active," the doctor said with a smile.

Ji Xiaosong gently stroked her abdomen as a strange feeling washed over her.

’This little life... it really exists.’

Huo Chen didn’t show up until dinner.

He had changed into casual clothes, his hair slightly damp as if he had just showered.

"The check-up results?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

The doctor quickly reported, "Madam and the baby are both very healthy, but she is slightly anemic..."

Huo Chen frowned. "Prescribe the best iron supplements. Also..."

He looked at Ji Xiaosong. "Starting tomorrow, you’ll take a two-hour nap every afternoon."

Ji Xiaosong put down her chopsticks. "I’m not your employee."

"You’re my wife," Huo Chen corrected. "And the one in your belly is my heir."

The two glared at each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. The servants nearby didn’t dare to breathe.

In the end, Ji Xiaosong was the first to look away. "I want to continue working."

"Fine," Huo Chen conceded. "But you have to work from home. I’ll have your team transferred here."

That night, when Ji Xiaosong came out of the shower, she found Huo Chen sitting on her bed, reading a document.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, clutching the collar of her bathrobe.

Huo Chen didn’t even look up. "Sleeping."

"This is my room."

"It’s ours now."

He closed the file. "Did you think marriage was just playing house?"

Ji Xiaosong stood frozen in place. "We agreed this was just a transaction."

Huo Chen finally looked up at her. "It’s a rule of the Huo Family. Husband and wife must share a room."

He patted the empty space beside him. "Don’t worry. I won’t touch you until you consent."

After a great deal of hesitation, Ji Xiaosong finally lay down gingerly on the other side of the bed.

Huo Chen turned off the table lamp. In the darkness, she could clearly hear the sound of his breathing.

"Why me?" she suddenly asked.

Huo Chen was silent for a moment. "You’re very smart."

"That’s it?"

"Someone smart enough knows what to ask and what not to ask."

He rolled over. "Go to sleep."

The next morning, Ji Xiaosong was awakened by a rustling sound.

She opened her eyes and saw Huo Chen standing in front of the full-length mirror, tying his tie.

The morning light filtered through the sheer curtains, outlining him in a golden glow.

"Did I wake you?" he asked, looking at her through the mirror.

Ji Xiaosong shook her head and pushed herself into a sitting position.

Huo Chen suddenly turned and walked to the bedside, reaching out to touch her forehead.

"You have a slight fever." He pressed the bedside call bell. "Have the doctor come take a look."

"I’m fine." Ji Xiaosong dodged his hand. "I probably just didn’t sleep well last night."

Huo Chen frowned. "Don’t work today. Get some rest."

With that, he picked up his suit jacket and prepared to leave.

"Wait," Ji Xiaosong called out to him. "I want to go to my old apartment to get some things."

Without turning his head, Huo Chen replied, "They’ve already been moved. They’re in the walk-in closet."

In the walk-in closet, Ji Xiaosong stared, dumbfounded, at her clothes, which had been sorted and hung up by category. Even her underwear was neatly stacked in a drawer.

Even more unbelievably, her treasured design manuscripts had also been moved over, completely intact, and placed on the work table by the window.

She casually flipped open a manuscript and found that the photo tucked inside was still there. It was a picture of her and her adoptive father—one of her few precious memories.

"Madam, breakfast is ready," the butler said softly from outside the door.

In the dining room, Ji Xiaosong looked at the table full of nutritional supplements and had no appetite at all.

She picked up her phone and saw that Chen Mo had sent her more than a dozen threatening text messages.

Just as she was about to delete them, a news alert suddenly popped up:

"BREAKING: Yang Group Chairman Taken In for Questioning Amid Money Laundering Allegations".

The accompanying photo showed Yang Yang’s father being escorted away by the police.

Ji Xiaosong’s finger hovered over the screen. She suddenly remembered Huo Chen’s phone call from yesterday.

’So this is how he operates?’

Fast, precise, and ruthless. A single, fatal blow.

"Madam, Mr. Huo instructed that you must finish this bowl of bird’s nest soup," a maid said cautiously.

Ji Xiaosong came back to her senses and forced down a few sips.

Just as she put down the bowl, her phone rang again. This time, it was an unknown number.

"Miss Ji—oh no, I should call you Mrs. Huo now."

Yang Yang’s voice was choked with sobs. "I’m begging you, please let my father go..."

Ji Xiaosong hung up the phone immediately.

She wasn’t a saint; she had no sympathy for people who betrayed her.

In the afternoon, Huo Chen came home early, followed by several people in uniform.

"This is the head of security," he introduced. "From now on, they will protect you 24 hours a day."

Ji Xiaosong frowned. "I don’t need..."

"You do," Huo Chen interrupted. "The Yang Family won’t give up so easily."

After dinner, Huo Chen took her to the study.

From the safe, he took out a simple, antique jade bracelet.

"The Huo Family heirloom, passed down to the wife of the eldest son."

He took her hand. "Once you put it on, you’re not allowed to take it off."

The bracelet was bone-chillingly cold, yet Ji Xiaosong felt her wrist burn.

This bracelet represented hundreds of years of the Huo Family’s heritage and responsibility.

"Why me?" she asked again, repeating her earlier question.

This time, Huo Chen didn’t avoid it.

He lifted her chin, looking directly into her eyes. "Because only you are worthy of being Mrs. Huo."

His thumb gently grazed her lips. "And only you can give birth to my heir."

Ji Xiaosong’s heart suddenly began to race.

Huo Chen’s gaze was so aggressive, it was as if he wanted to devour her whole.

Just as the atmosphere turned intimate, the butler suddenly knocked on the door. "Young Master, the Old Master is on the phone."

Huo Chen released her. "Go get some rest."

Ji Xiaosong fled the study as if escaping.

Back in the bedroom, she leaned against the door, calming her breath.

The jade bracelet on her wrist glowed faintly in the light, a reminder of the fact that she could no longer turn back.

After washing up, she lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Huo Chen didn’t return until the early hours of the morning.

He got into bed quietly, carrying the faint scent of alcohol.

"Still awake?" he asked in a low voice.

Ji Xiaosong kept her back to him. "Almost."

Huo Chen suddenly wrapped his arms around her from behind, his large, warm hand covering her lower abdomen. "Was the baby good today?"

This sudden intimacy made Ji Xiaosong’s whole body go stiff.

But strangely, she didn’t hate the feeling.

"Mhm," she answered softly.

Huo Chen rested his chin on her shoulder. "Grandfather wants to see you."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

His breath tickled the back of her ear. "Don’t worry, I’ll be there."

Ji Xiaosong slowly began to relax.

In his sandalwood-scented embrace, she actually felt a sense of security.

Drowsiness gradually washed over her. ’This transactional marriage,’ she thought hazily, ’might not be as bad as I imagined.’