Chapter 759 - Im Not Your Real Daddy (3)
It had never occurred to Zhang Jiren that there would be a time when he would be teasing Li Meili like this. Their usual conversation was far from being so lighthearted. They usually just had cordial conversations— those that revolved around polite and normal topics like not so close friends shared with each other. He had no idea where his courage to talk to her like this came from.
"I'm going to sleep so you better stop talking nonsense now, Zhang Jiren," Li Meili warned him, refusing to face him as she buried her blushing face against a huge bolster pillow on her right side.
"Nonsense?" He laughed. "But you were the one who suggested using the used shirt method, so why is it my fault now?"
"Just as you said, I suggested it." Li Meili so wanted to face him right now and give him a good smack on his head, but managed to stop herself. She had tried not to cause more trouble for him and reminded herself to have patience with this man.
"If you don't like it, then fine," she scoffed before shutting her eyes, forcing herself to sleep. Li Meili decided that she would deal with him later.
"I didn't say I don't like your idea. Let's try that for Leyan's sake. It wouldn't be good if she keeps on crying because of me," he said, but Li Meili didn't say anything in return.
Zhang Jiren stared at her back and smiled. At least, now, their contractual marriage wasn't boring and too restrictive, but time was too fast to his liking. He truly dreaded the day that everything would be over, to wake up one day, only to realize that Li Meili and Leyan had left, and that he was all alone again.
Sure, there were no regrets on his part for agreeing to this scheme of pretense. Still, each and every day since he realized his feelings for Li Meili, was like being pushed to both heaven and hell. With the addition of Leyan in their lives, the temptation to claim this happiness as his own amplified. But Jiren refused to be selfish and pushed all those thoughts far away, at the back of his mind.
The past months he shared with her was something he would forever cherish in his heart and he should learn to be satisfied with that. It's a pity that he couldn't stay by their side forever no matter how much he wanted to, yes, but he convinced himself that it was for the better.
Their life wasn't perfect. Waking at three in the morning, helping Li Meili look after her daughter, and days of sleep deprivation wasn't something he had expected to happen, though. With him returning to work soon, there's no doubt that the stress would be unbearable for him and Li Meili at some point.
There was even one time when the two of them talked about it. Since Leyan was born, they worked as a team to care for her. Li Meili was feeling insecure about whether she could handle things on her own. What if there's an emergency?
"Stop overthinking things, Meili. I will surely try to come home on time every day, if that's what you are worried about," he reassured her. However, he was so sure that once he resumed work, he wouldn't be able to focus much and would also be worried. He would always think about what his little family was doing at home and how were they faring.
Jiren's eyes that stared at the ceiling widened. Little family, he thought as his expression softened. He was initially shocked by how he referred to Li Meili and Leyan as his little family in his mind. Then again, pretense or not— even if this marriage was temporary, in his heart, the two were really his little family.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Zhang Jiren quietly rose and left the room, making sure Li Meili was still asleep before closing the door behind him. He went straight to the kitchen and brewed coffee while he looked outside the window seeing that the sky was still dark.
His mind then shifted to his conversation with his brother-in-law earlier. Now that they already knew who the culprit was behind the accident that caused Tang Beixuan's death, only made him feel guiltier than he already was. Zhu Ziqian shouldn't blame Feng Tianyi for his wife and child's death because the accident wouldn't have happened if he wasn't blinded with rage back then.
'You are really stupid,' he scolded himself. If he didn't scheme against Feng Tianhua back then and his subordinate didn't make a mistake of tampering the older Feng brother's car instead, he wouldn't be in this conundrum at all.
If something bad were to happen to his twin sister's family, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Zhang Jiren considered his choices. He needed to do something, or he might regret keeping his silence later. Whether Feng Tianyi forgave him or not or his twin sister would hate him for what he'd done in the past, he knew he didn't have any choice but to accept it.
He was aware that this would also affect the family he had with Li Meili. Would she hate him? He wondered, but he also already knew that there's no doubt about it, considering her bond with his sister was tighter and stronger than what he had with Tang Moyu. If his sister would hate him, so would Meili.
Once his brewed coffee was ready, he decided to finish some work at his study before his wife and stepdaughter wake up for breakfast. He also made a mental note to seek Feng Tianyi and his twin sister secretly.
As he buried his head in work, he didn't notice that another two hours had already passed.
"Hey, you want some breakfast?" Li Meili knocked on the door of his study to get his attention.
Zhang Jiren lifted his head and saw her leaning against the door frame. She was wearing a white robe right now and her hair was dripping wet, indicating that she had taken a bath before seeing him.
His jaws hardened, willing his face to remain nonchalant and calm. Even though he was only her substitute husband, Zhang Jiren wanted to remind her that he was still a man, so seeing her looking like this would obviously have an effect on him.
He rose to his feet and turned off the laptop on his desk.
"Get dressed. I'll see what we can have for breakfast."
Since Li Meili was oblivious to what she'd done, Zhang Jiren had no other choice but to be the one to avoid her.
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