Five years without pregnancy means you're too weak; I remarried a powerful man and had triplets

"W-what?"

Shen Haozhi, who was originally half-lying on the back seat of the Cullinan with a relaxed expression, was so startled by Lu Zichuan's question that he almost jumped up.

Fortunately, the Cullinan is large and the back seat is spacious, otherwise he would have bumped his head.

Tan Gui, standing beside him, frowned as well: "President Lu, what are you talking about? Of course, Brother Haozhi is going back to his place. Why would he go back to mine?"

Lu Zichuan slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two, as if to see how long these two lousy actors could keep up their act.

"W-What's wrong?"

Tan Gui shrank her neck. Before, when she looked at Lu Zichuan, she only thought that this man was incredibly handsome. Although she knew his identity, she had never felt his majesty. Now, being stared at by him like this, she felt the hairs on the back of her head stand up. Any secrets would be discovered in his eyes.

"Naturally, it's because..." Lu Zichuan paused for two seconds, his gaze falling on Tan Gui's face, his voice tinged with amusement: "You are Anna Smith."

This name was something Shen Haozhi just made up on the spot; even he himself couldn't quite remember it.

When this unfamiliar name was casually uttered by Lu Zichuan, his first reaction was that he didn't understand it.

This was the second time Tan Gui had heard this name. The two looked at each other blankly, their expressions so dazed that Lu Zichuan couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.

"Alright, stop hiding it. I know Tan Gui, you're Shen Haozhi's girlfriend."

He spoke calmly, his tone even, yet it made the two people in the back seat widen their eyes.

"President Lu, you can't say such things! Haozhi and I are completely innocent. This is slander! It's defamation! I have the right to retain my civil rights!"

Tan Gui crossed her arms and straightened her back, as if this would give her some confidence.

Although Shen Haozhi was also waving his hand, his face unconsciously turned red, and he spoke without much confidence: "President Lu, what are you joking about? How could I possibly be with Tan Gui..."

"She's Zhizhi's best friend..."

"Yes," Lu Zichuan nodded, then dropped a bombshell: "So this time you're not dating, but rather..."

He paused again deliberately, looking at the two pale-faced people, a smile flashing in his eyes: "Old flames rekindled."

"Holy crap!" Tan Ying's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You...you...you wouldn't have been investigating me behind my back, would you?"

Back then, she didn't even tell Shen Zhiyi about her affair with Shen Haozhi, and no one around her knew. During those short three months, if Shen Haozhi hadn't come back, she would have almost forgotten about it. If Lu Zichuan hadn't been investigating her behind the scenes, she wouldn't have known about it!

Shen Haozhi froze, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of panic as he looked at Lu Zichuan: "President Lu, you, you..."

"Don't worry," Lu Zichuan turned back, leaned back in his chair, and his tone returned to its usual calm, "I didn't investigate you. I just have a bit more observational skills than your sister."

Tan Gui and Shen Haozhi exchanged a glance, then both slumped into the back seat of the Cullinan, their eyes seemingly devoid of light.

Tan Gui muttered to herself, "It's over. If Zhizhi finds out, she'll kill us..."

Seeing the two of them looking so lost and confused, Lu Zichuan's curiosity grew even stronger.

However, he never showed it, only saying, "If you're willing to tell me why you don't let Zhizhi know that you two are dating, I might consider not telling her."

Tan Gui and Shen Haozhi looked at each other, subtly pushing each other with their eyes, but in the end, Shen Haozhi gave in.

Tan Gui and Shen Haozhi looked at each other, their eyes seemingly pushing each other away.

you say!

You tell us!

You're my girlfriend, you tell me!

You're my sister's biological brother, so you tell me!

In the end, Shen Haozhi gave in. He took a deep breath, as if he had made a great decision, before speaking, "President Lu... we didn't mean to keep this from Zhizhi. It's just that... there were some misunderstandings back then."

He paused, his voice lowering, tinged with self-mockery: "Back then, Zhizhi had just started dating Xu Zhesheng, completely immersed in the throes of new love, and wouldn't listen to anyone. As for me and Tan Gui..."

He glanced at Tan Gui, who bit her lip and continued, "Haozhi and I met at Zhizhi's graduation ceremony. Later... we got together and dated for three months."

"Zhizhi doesn't know?" Lu Zichuan glanced at them in the rearview mirror.

"I don't know." Shen Haozhi shook his head. "Back then, she was really into Xu Zhesheng. She wanted to be with him every day, 24/7. I... I was afraid that if she found out, she would be distracted. I was also afraid that she would think that as her older brother, I was dating someone else when she was just starting out, which made me seem like I wasn't paying enough attention."

"Besides," Tan Gui added, her voice muffled, "Xu Zhesheng was...on the surface quite nice to her back then. We felt there was no need for her to know, lest we distract her. After all, Haozhi was going abroad later, and our relationship was never going to last."

"So you think," Lu Zichuan said slowly, "that telling Zhizhi will only add to her burden?"

"Yes." Shen Haozhi nodded. "Besides, I hadn't left yet at that time. If she knew that I was with her best friend, she would definitely try to set us up, or keep asking about it all the time. I was afraid that she would be distracted by both of us and would suffer grievances with Xu Zhesheng without saying anything."

He clenched his fist, his voice tinged with regret: "I never imagined... I had no idea about the suffering she endured afterward."

The car was quiet for a few seconds.

Lu Zichuan looked at the two people in the back seat through the rearview mirror, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "So your breakup wasn't because your relationship was bad."

"No." Tan Gui shook her head, her eyes a little red. "It's because he was going abroad, and I had my own things to do. Besides... at that time, Zhizhi had already registered her marriage with Xu Zhesheng, and we felt that there was no need for her to know anymore."

"And now," Lu Zichuan's tone carried a hint of mockery, "you're back, she's divorced, and you've rekindled your old flame. So why are you keeping it from her now?"

Shen Haozhi and Tan Gui exchanged another glance.

"...I'm afraid she'll scold us," Tan said softly.

"We were afraid she would think we'd kept this from her for so many years," Shen Haozhi added.

"I'm afraid she'll feel that we don't trust her enough," Tan said again.

"I'm afraid of her..." Shen Haozhi swallowed, "I feel that we're together but we're not telling her because we don't think she's important."

As Lu Zichuan listened, the corners of his lips curved almost imperceptibly.

"So it's not that you don't want to tell her," he concluded, "it's that you're afraid she'll get angry if you do."

"...Yes." The two said in unison.

Lu Zichuan didn't say anything more and turned to look out the window.

Outside the car window, the city lights flashed by one after another.

After a long pause, he rubbed his forehead and said, "She won't be angry."

Seeing her dearest brother and best friend together, both reliable and not womanizers, she was overjoyed and would never be angry.