Li Anran was truly speechless.
What should she say? Should she say she's really dissatisfied with Lu Shen? Lu Shen is her fiancé now, and she's supposed to marry him. What if she upsets him now and he uses that as an excuse to cancel the engagement?
What are you all arguing about here?
Just as Li Anran was feeling awkward, the old lady's voice suddenly came from the stairs.
"The noise was so loud, I could hear it from upstairs. What kind of behavior is this!"
The old lady was clearly displeased with their argument, and her expression became much more serious.
Upon seeing the old lady, Li Anran immediately harbored a wicked plan. She quickly approached and spoke before Lu Shen and Jian Ruoxi could, blurting out the truth: "Old Madam, we were talking about Jian Ruoxi's pregnancy. Because of her pregnancy, there are reporters everywhere outside our house, and we can't even leave!"
"Is Jian Ruoxi really pregnant?"
The old lady was clearly shocked by the news. She had always thought it was just an excuse Jian Ruoxi had made up to come to the Lu family, and hadn't taken it seriously at all. Besides, Jian Ruoxi's usual behavior didn't seem like that of a pregnant woman. She never expected that she was actually pregnant.
Seeing the old lady's shocked expression, Jian Ruoxi knew things were about to go wrong.
She knew Li Anran had no good intentions and would never miss an opportunity to cause trouble. The old lady already had a bad impression of her, and now that Li Anran had preemptively informed the old lady, any explanation she tried to give would likely be taken as mere sophistry by the old lady.
Seeing that the old lady was still in shock, Li Anran quickly added another bombshell: "Old Madam, pregnancy is nothing to worry about, but Jian Ruoxi insists on keeping it a secret, not telling anyone else in the Lu family, and not confirming that it's true, causing misunderstandings. I think her motives are impure; she just wants to destroy the Lu family's child without making a sound!"
"Li Anran!"
Lu Shen was now furious at Li Anran's absurd and slanderous words. How could Li Anran so easily spread rumors and use them to sow discord? Didn't she feel any remorse?
Li Anran's words immediately brought the old lady back to her senses.
Destroy the Lu family's children? This is... this is too much...
Wait, we still need to verify this with Ah Shen and the others first. It's a matter of life and death; it wouldn't be good to misunderstand others.
The old lady composed herself and turned to look at Lu Shen, whose face was filled with anger: "Shen, is it true about the child? Is Jian Ruoxi really pregnant with your child?"
“It’s true, Grandma.”
Lu Shen couldn't afford to lose his temper with his grandmother, so he could only suppress his anger and answer the old lady's questions in a calm tone, confirming the pregnancy: "Jian Ruoxi is indeed carrying my child."
The old lady was now truly having a headache.
Why does her grandson always prefer to do big things quietly? Now look what's happened! He has a fiancée and a pregnant woman in the family. No wonder there's constant infighting and chaos in the house. It's hard for an old woman like her to have a few days of peace and quiet.
Forget it, blaming Ah Shen won't help now; what's done is done. The important thing now is to find out Jian Ruoxi's attitude towards the child, to see if she wants to raise the child properly, or...
The old lady turned her gaze to Jian Ruoxi, who had been standing quietly. Seeing the obvious worry and frustration in Jian Ruoxi's eyes and brows, the old lady suddenly felt unable to ask her any questions.
What should she ask? Should she ask why she hid the child's existence, making her mistakenly believe the pregnancy was just a false excuse? Should she ask if she wanted to have the child? Or should she ask what she considered the child, and whether she would use him to take revenge on the Lu family?
But how could she possibly ask these questions?
Sensing the old lady's gaze, Jian Ruoxi raised her head and met her complicated eyes directly.
Looking into Jian Ruoxi's eyes, the old lady suddenly recalled what had happened in the past.
She thought about how the Lu family had treated Jian Ruoxi before, and belatedly realized that she didn't seem to have the right to question Jian Ruoxi about all of this.
Regardless of the reasons for the concealment or the subsequent attitude, neither she nor the entire Lu family had the right to question Jian Ruoxi.
Because, if it were her, after experiencing everything that had happened before, she probably wouldn't want the Lu family to know about the child's existence.
Sigh, is this what karma is?
Jian Ruoxi only made eye contact with the old lady for a few seconds before looking away. She subconsciously protected her stomach and moved away from the old lady a little, maintaining a safe but not distant distance between them.
After spending the last few days together, she could clearly sense that the old lady's attitude towards her was no longer as sharp and hostile as before, and the relationship between the two of them had visibly eased.
However, this alone was not enough to make Jian Ruoxi feel safe enough to entrust her unborn child to her.
A significant barrier still exists between them; the old lady's misunderstandings and prejudices against her have not been dispelled. The old lady has only slightly improved her opinion of her; she's not as disliked as before, but she certainly doesn't like her, much less accept, appreciate, or favor her. If she does anything that displeases the old lady, she will still verbally abuse her, and in the worst-case scenario, she might even be barred from staying in the Lu family.
The old lady was already showing some conscience by not launching into a barrage of questions at her; she dared not place too much hope in the Lu family. She understood perfectly well that the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Li Anran frowned in displeasure as she looked at the silent old lady.
What's going on? She expected the old lady to interrogate Jian Ruoxi, so why hasn't she said a word? Has the old lady changed her mind?
No, impossible. Everyone knows how formidable the old lady of the Lu family is. Besides, how could someone suddenly change their personality in such a short time without any warning?
So, was it because her words weren't harsh enough, and the old lady felt the consequences weren't serious enough?
No way, they've already risked the child's life, how much more ruthless can they be?
Hiss—it's not that there's no way. No, she can't let this opportunity slip by; she has to provoke the old lady again!
"Madam, why aren't you saying anything? Are you just going to let this go?"
Li Anran was noticeably more anxious, and her tone carried a hint of ruthlessness, "Aren't you worried that after this child is born, Jian Ruoxi will use him to threaten the Lu family and do something detrimental to them? She might even do it now, before the child is even born!"
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