Chapter 3
The afternoon sun shone brightly, and the warm breeze felt like spring had unexpectedly returned. Minamino Shuichi parked his car in front of the hospital, rolled down the window, and looked at someone in the passenger seat.
"We've arrived, get off the bus."
Sakura Hoshino sat in the passenger seat, wearing a light blue knitted dress. She was petite and slender, and although her one-month pregnant belly was not yet showing, her skin was whiter and her temperament was as gentle as a flower swaying in the wind.
"Um...but..."
She suddenly hesitated, gazing at the building before her that was all too familiar, her eyes falling on the sign above it:
Tianquan Private General Hospital
Those few words made her gasp for breath.
"Could we... perhaps go to another hospital?" she asked softly, a slightly guilty smile on her face.
"You don't trust this hospital?"
"No..." She bit her lip and turned her head away, "It's just that... we're a little too familiar."
"How do we become familiar?"
"When I was a child... I often came here to play."
“…Play?” Minamino Hideichi frowned. “Were you in poor health when you were a child?”
"It's not me, I'm here to... to find someone." Her voice trailed off.
Check the front desk.
The nurse looked at the appointment information, her eyes lingering on the name "Hoshino Sakura" for two seconds.
"Please wait a moment, I'll help you confirm the doctor." She typed quickly on the keyboard, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
Not long after, the young female doctor in charge of the prenatal checkup pushed open the door and was clearly taken aback when she saw Xiaoying.
"Miss Sakura? Is that...you?"
“…Hmm.” Sakura’s eyes darted around, and she nodded.
"You...you're the dean's..."
"Shh!" Sakura immediately raised her index finger and pleaded softly, "Please, doctor, please don't tell my dad, okay? He doesn't know yet... I don't live at home anymore."
The doctor looked conflicted: "But what if your father finds out you're pregnant..."
“He’ll kidnap me and demand we marry immediately.” Sakura frowned and rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I don’t want to. I’m perfectly fine on my own right now, and…” She glanced outside furtively, “…him.”
The doctor followed the gaze and saw a tall figure standing outside the door, impeccably dressed in a black suit, with flowing red hair and calm green eyes—clearly a man exuding a dangerous aura.
"Is he the child's father?"
"Hmm." Sakura nodded, but quickly added, "But we're not familiar with each other."
"...Not familiar with each other?"
After the check-up, Sakura sat on a bench in the corridor, looking down at her phone. Minamino Shuichi sat quietly beside her, his eyes constantly glancing at her.
He suddenly spoke:
"Sakura".
"Um?"
What did you just say to the doctor?
"...I didn't say anything." She smiled, her eyes crinkling, like a kitten whose secret had been exposed but who wanted to pretend nothing had happened.
Do you know anyone here?
"Yes." She nodded and said frankly, "My father is the director here, Hoshino Yuuji."
Hideichi Minamino was stunned.
"...Are you the dean's daughter?"
"Hmm." She tilted her chin up, her smile charming yet slightly awkward. "And my mother is Minamoto Riri, whose surname was Minamoto in her youth. You might have heard of her—she's the daughter of Minamoto Kazuya, the chairman of the Minamoto Group."
Shuichi was completely stunned, a rare look of shock appearing in his eyes.
"...So you are—the granddaughter of the Yuan family, and the only daughter of the Xing family?"
"Sounds like a very wealthy family, right?" Sakura turned her head, rested her chin on her hand, and blinked. "But I don't like that kind of life, so I moved out and live on my own."
“You didn’t tell me before,” Shuichi said in a low voice.
"I don't want you to take responsibility for me because of this."
"No." He looked at her, a complex emotion welling up in his eyes. "So... this is why you've always been so confident in me, and never needed me to take responsibility?"
She paused, then curled her lips into her usual alluring smile.
"Yes," she said in a soft, seductive voice, "I earn my own living, I own a house and have savings, and I can even take good care of the baby in my belly."
"So, I don't need to rely on my family."
"Even if you don't take responsibility, I can still live a good life."
She spoke lightly, her smile dazzling, but the next second, she lowered her head, bit her lip, blushed, and whispered:
"...And that night was just an accident, wasn't it..."
Shuichi's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.
She continued in a voice barely audible:
"We didn't know each other at all back then, and I was even... drugged... You only did it to me when I was in a daze..."
"I don't want to do this for that reason—"
"—I only just started dating you."
She spoke softer and softer, her face flushed red, she lowered her head and dared not look at him, her fingers twisted tightly together, her whole body like a ruffled little rabbit.
He kept looking at her, his green eyes calm, and after a moment, he slowly stood up.
She thought he was angry and looked up in fright, but to her surprise, he bent down and picked her up in a princess carry.
“Hello—this is a hospital—” she cried out in alarm.
“You said you didn’t want to be with me because of that one night,” he said in a low voice. “Then now, I’m going to pursue you again.”
She was taken aback.
"I will make you fall in love with me when you are sober, instead of making you think about the responsibility after you have been slept with by me in a daze."
"...Don't be so blunt!!!" She buried her face in his chest, blushing with embarrassment.
"It's too late." He lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead.
"From the moment you became pregnant with my child, I never intended to let go."
In the hospital corridor, the wind blew up a corner of the curtains.
Sakura Hoshino nestled in his arms, her face flushed with embarrassment, while secretly raising the corners of her lips.
And in the office on the top floor of the hospital.
Dean Hoshino Yuuji had just finished reviewing the employee medical examination list when he suddenly stopped and stared at a familiar name:
【Hoshino Sakura】
He stood up abruptly, his pupils contracted, and his expression changed from calm to shock—
"Pregnant?! When did she get pregnant?!"
Meanwhile, inside the Yuan family villa, Hoshino Lily's teacup trembled slightly, her fingernails tapping lightly on the armrest, a hint of...danger lurking beneath her gentle smile.
"Yuuji, calm down—my son-in-law hasn't officially appeared yet, don't scare Sakura."
Before the storm brewed, the two were still indulging in their sweet rivalry.
The living room at the Hoshino family villa was completely silent.
No one spoke for three minutes.
Hoshino Yuuji stared intently at his blonde daughter sitting on the sofa in front of him, veins slowly bulging on his forehead, and he almost crushed the teacup in his hand as he tried to control his emotions.
“Sakura,” he finally spoke, his voice clenched through gritted teeth, “you’re pregnant.”
"I know," Sakura said, hugging a cushion, sitting elegantly with her legs crossed, but her expression was self-righteous. "Do you think I don't know I'm pregnant?"
"I'm asking you—who's the father of the child? What are you going to do? You're only twenty! Not married yet! And you're going to be in a musical! How could you—"
"Stop." Sakura raised her hand and slowly patted the table. "Dad, I'm an adult now. I'll take responsibility for this kind of thing myself."
"Take responsibility?! You make it sound so easy!" Hoshino Yuji stood up agitatedly. "Do you know how much this will affect your future? Your performances, your reputation, you're not even married yet, you..."
"You took advantage of my mother when she was a patient before," Xiaoying said, emphasizing each word as she looked at him with a smile. "As a doctor, you actually pursued her while she was hospitalized. You're simply—worse than an animal, a disgrace to medical ethics."
“…You!” Hoshino Yuuji’s face darkened, and he almost had a heart attack on the spot.
Hoshino Lily walked over at that moment, elegantly serving tea, and said with a soft laugh, "Yuji, your daughter is right. You were really pursuing me back then, didn't you bring fruit to my hospital room every day?"
"Lily, don't get involved!" Hoshino Yuuji's lips twitched violently, and he finally collapsed, clutching his forehead in despair. "Who has corrupted my precious daughter... Minamoto Kazuya! It must be that old man who taught her that! I knew it! He used to always have something on his mind about me, and now I finally understand how he felt!!!"
“Dad.” Sakura stood up and walked to her father, patting him on the shoulder while adding a charming smile: “Now you finally taste the pain of having your precious daughter taken away by a man you don’t like, right? Grandpa Yuan used to frown every time he saw you. I can’t help but laugh when I think about it now.”
"...!!"
Hoshino Yuji's smile vanished completely. He turned to look at the red-haired man in the corner of the sofa, his eyes filled with the intensity of a surgeon about to perform an operation.
Shuichi Minamino stood quietly, his suit impeccably tailored, his expression calm, his brows and eyes steady, his green eyes like the deep pool of pine trees, exuding his usual composure.
He stood up when Hoshino Yuji was at his angrier and said frankly, "Hello, Dean—I am Minamino Shuichi."
“I know you.” Hoshino Yuuji sneered. “You are the CEO of Wild Rose Technology. You built a medium-sized enterprise in your early twenties. In the past two years, you have made a series of acquisitions and expansions. Now your market value is enough to challenge the Genji Group.”
"You flatter me."
“I’m not just being polite,” Hoshino Yuji said coldly. “I’ve been observing your company, and it’s indeed very strong. But… I won’t just hand my precious daughter over to you because your company has a good reputation.”
"Please rest assured," Minamino Shuichi said firmly, his expression unchanged. "I am serious about Sakura."
"Heh." Hoshino Yuuji was about to speak when Sakura suddenly raised her hand to stop him.
“I never said I wanted him to take responsibility.”
Everyone paused.
“I didn’t protect him.” Sakura looked at her parents with a smile in her eyes. “To me, the baby in my belly is the most important thing.”
She spoke in a gentle yet firm tone, her right hand lightly protecting her flat stomach, but her eyes held a calm yet slightly coquettish disdain.
"How he is doing is his own business."
"..."
“I didn’t keep the baby because I like him,” she smiled, pursing her lips. “It’s just because… this baby is mine.”
"..."
"As you know, I've toured abroad so many times before, and with all that experience, my thinking is naturally much more traditional than yours," she said casually.
Yuji Hoshino covered his forehead, looking defeated.
“Lily… I can’t control your daughter anymore… She’s just Satan in a dress.”
“I think she’s like me.” Yuan Lili smiled as she sipped her tea, making no attempt to help ease the tension.
Just then—
"You're downplaying it too much."
Minamino Shuichi spoke in a low voice, his face already darkening.
He strode up to Sakura, and without warning, scooped her up in his arms, his movements swift and decisive.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Sakura exclaimed.
"You said you don't care about me taking responsibility for you, you only care about the child." He lowered his eyes and stared at her, his green eyes dark and unfathomable.
"Yes! I always have been—"
"And do you know what?" he gritted his teeth, his voice low and restrained, "I care about you a lot."
She was taken aback.
“I’m jealous,” he said. “It’s not that I mind that you’re a mother, it’s that I’m jealous that you’re only so gentle with that little one.”
"...You're crazy."
"I'm going crazy." He lowered his head, his lips close to her ear. "You're the one who's driving me crazy."
Sakura blushed deeply, her ear tips turning bright red.
"Don't you feel ashamed to say these things in front of your parents?!"
“You’re shy.” He smiled slightly. “That proves you’re not completely indifferent to me.”
"You...put me down!"
“I won’t let go.” He hugged her even tighter. “I’m here today to ask for your parents’ approval, not to be your shield.”
“I will pursue you, I will pursue you until you tell me in person that you love me more than the baby in your belly.”
If you can say that, I'll marry you right now.
Hoshino Yuji: "..."
Yuan Lili: "..."
The two elders fell silent in unison, and the next second—
Lily calmly said, "I like this son-in-law."
Yuuji Hoshino: "W-Are you my wife?!"
Lily smiled: "I just think he's a little more human than you were back then."
The living room fell silent again. Sakura covered her face, so embarrassed she was about to explode, while Minamino Shuichi remained as ruthless as a wolf, clinging tightly to his prey.
He was determined to win this game.
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