* * *
"Oh Darling, it has been such a long time since you visited us..." Laura approached Fyre with a smile pulling the Omega into a brief hug, feeling relieved after spotting the ring she gave to him on his finger since that means he's still considering marrying her son. Still, she couldn't help feeling anxious...
"Have you been well? Is our Xiao Zi treating you well? I hope he does. He might be like that but we can all assure you that his face isn't only his good point. I'm sure if you give him a chance you'll see that he has a lot of good traits and one of them is that he's incapable of disloyalty," she added in an insistent tone, making Fyre a little bit awkward.
If Laura was to decide, she wanted Tian Zi to marry Fyre as soon as possible but knowing her youngest son's personality, he might just suddenly disappear with Fyre and come back already married just like his older brothers. She already had two sons who had gotten married secretly, she doesn't want that to happen the third time because of her mistake.
On the other hand, greeting Laura back, Fyre never expected the middle-aged woman to turn to him first as soon as they stepped into the house and said such things as if she were afraid that he was going to leave Tian Zi. It's ridiculous as he thought of it because there was no way this family would act like that, right? If anything, they should be at ease because by then they would be able to pair their son to a much better person than he was. Although he had not planned to leave Tian Zi, this was just something he suddenly felt from Laura's approach.
Furthermore, the reason why he and Tian Zi were even there was because of that photo which he did not manage to delete due to last night's... Anyway, not wanting to remember such a thought during a family greeting, Fyre just continued to smile awkwardly because he thought for sure that he'd be looked down upon for spreading such suggestive photos with another man when he was dating their son.
"Mother, why would you say that and put weird thoughts in my fiance's head?!" Tian Zi complained in irritation before he pulled Fyre close to him. He got that his mother was worried about that photo because he too was a little bit uncomfortable with it that he wanted it out of the public's eyes but he was sure his and Fyre love for each other was stronger than ever.
"Don't mind her... she's probably just concerned about the photo," Tian Zi whispered and it made Fyre more confused. Even though he did nothing wrong, even he himself was quite impressed with the photos and he wouldn't be surprised if everyone starts to doubt his love for Tian Zi but instead, there was no ounce of doubt and contempt. In fact, it's like they're—at least Laura Mo—desperate for him to not leave Tian Zi.
"Ahhh, about that photo..." Laura exclaimed, hearing Tian Zi before she glared at her own son.
"You useless and incompetent unfilial son! After finally and barely finding your own bride, you're just letting some nobody take him away?! Your father and I did not raise you like that! You're lucky Fyre said yes to you! Such a sweet and lovely child, you would not have a chance with him if the circumstances were different!" Laura scolded Tian Zi and started beating him on his back.
"What!? Ouch! Who said I'm letting... Ah!... some bastard take MY Fyre! Ouch! Did brother Hanlu plant these thoughts on you again?" Tian Zi defended while constantly reacting to the beating even though it didn't hurt him at all.
"What!? Is it not true? Fyre is spending more time with that actor than with you and you've been a weird kid growing up so you have no charm at all. Have you even been treating him well?! It's possible that Fyre had fallen out of love for you and it's only a matter of time now before you two break up! You'll lose such a beautiful and kind Omega!" Laura continued to scold as if Fyre himself wasn't around to hear it. Suddenly, the headache from his lack of sleep and extended exhaustion suddenly returned as Fyre quickly defended his lover.
"Auntie, please stop. Tian Zi has done nothing wrong. Those photos were just for a publicity stunt and actually, Tian Zi was there too when the photo was taken. Apollo and I just met for five minutes and left after that. I didn't even know how they capture photos like that. Also, Tian Zi had not been neglecting me, he even worked as my assistant using a different name, even to the point of wearing prosthetics on his face for long periods of time to hide his identity," Fyre said, hiding the Alpha behind him while Tian Zi peeked from his lover's back and was not ashamed at all for doing it.
"Yeah, Mother! Brother Hanlu knows about it too this whole time and he's definitely just making this seem like a big deal so you'd force Fyre to quit acting," Tian Zi added and immediately all heads turned to Hanlu who quickly busied himself with his nephew.
"Ah! I think I heard my son calling me just now, I should go and play with the kids in the game room, yeah? Buh-bye..." Hanlu immediately excused, bringing Little Eli with him, and did not wait for Laura to question his intentions. Meanwhile, seeing his husband running away, Ian just massaged his forehead and wondered how he managed to love such a man. Alas, he simply can't find the answer. Ian rubbed his protruding belly and silently wished their second child won't inherit such behavior from Hanlu.
"Xiao Luu! You overgrown brat!" Laura yelled before she slightly became dizzy due to her anger. Thankfully, Laotian was there to support her before everyone finally moved to the living room to take their seats and further discuss the misunderstanding.
"Zi and I will not break up, Auntie. You can be rest assured," Fyre smiled which instantly made Tian Zi's heart flutter as he neared the Omega and couldn't help but snuggle but of course before he could do it, Fyre's hand was already against his face pushing him away.
"Haa~ I apologized for misunderstanding the both of you... Tian Zi wasn't always the brightest kid so I was afraid he would end up alone. Chen and I wanted him to build his own family before we passed from this world. I hope you can understand, Fyre."
"I'm so sorry as well Fyre on behalf of Luu. He's gotten a lot worse recently," Ian added in frustration which Fyre didn't really mind but he simply couldn't smile as well after hearing what Laura Mo had just said.
'Hoping for their son to build his own family,' Fyre repeated in his thoughts, making him suddenly feel down. He really appreciated Laura and the rest for supporting him but he couldn't help but feel bad because he knew he would let everyone down if they discovered his condition.
"Anyway, why is Hanlu so eager to make you quit acting?? Wasn't he the one sponsoring the whole movie production?" Daniel interrupted a little confused, making everyone look at him because no one actually knew that except Tian Zi and Laotian and probably Mo Chendong as well. But of course, knowing Mo Laotian, it was impossible for him not to tell his beloved wife.
"He was?" Almost everyone said in unison. Fyre was the most shocked. He didn't know Mo Hanlu was sponsoring the Movie although he does know that Mo Hanlu had been pressuring Tian Zi to make him quit due to his condition. However, he didn't because he didn't want to cause trouble after breaching the contract and he wanted some distractions to distract himself. Besides, Sunrise Entertainment said that the sponsor information was classified and that they were going to tell everyone at the end credit of the movie. Of course, Fyre could find out if he wanted to but he didn't really feel the need to actually go and find out since it was irrelevant to him.
"Yes... he did it to make me jealous. He thought Fyre and I weren't together and planned this when Fyre and I hadn't confessed to each other. So without knowing, he forced the production to cast Fyre in the movie but later on he changed his mind," Tian Zi explained in frustration. He didn't know this was going to be revealed here today. And as expected, everyone was shocked again.
"Oh God, I think I remembered Hanlu saying back then that he was going to do something big and fun. I think this was it..." Ian mentioned and he became even more frustrated.
"That damn brat! Chen, where the heck did the child inherit that behavior from? Surely it wasn't mine!" Laura complained, not noticing Fyre's sudden change of expression. On the other hand, Tian Zi noticed immediately and quickly put his hands over his back before rubbing it as if telling the Omega it was fine and that he didn't need to worry. Fyre appreciated this and smiled at his lover.
"I don't know, Honey. I'm curious too," Mo Chendong replied with the same level of frustration despite how he remained silent until now.
"Anyway, why would I force Fyre to quit acting? Fyre can do whatever he wants as long as he's happy. Fyre, don't worry... I'm definitely going to punish that overgrown brat."
"No, it's fine Auntie... I'm just glad that the misunderstanding has been fixed already," Fyre forced a smile, while Tian Zi was still keeping his hand over his back.
"Thank you, Darling. You are so sweet, Our Xiao Zi is so lucky to have you," Laura smiled happily, seeing the two closer than ever. She was very pleased because Tian Zi was never the affectionate type but he was completely different when it came to Fyre.
"Xiao Zi, I'm so happy that you're putting a lot of effort to stay with Fyre despite your busy schedule so I won't ask for too many details and trust that you two will become a lot closer and stronger from now on. I am very proud of you," Laura smiled while Mo Chendong nodded.
The day went on and as usual, nothing major had happened except that Hanlu got his punishment from both Daniel and Ian. Meanwhile, the rest of their conversation varied from the viral photo to Fyre's movie progress, and even how are the plans for the wedding. And when it was late, Fyre and Tian Zi decided it was time for them to go. As always, Laura tried to convince them to stay over for the weekend but she no longer insisted when they declined since she knew the two also wanted to have their own privacy.
* * *
That same night, when it was time for them to rest, Fyre secretly went to the toilet room. He chewed on his lips nervously sitting on the toilet bowl. For some reason, his heart started raising as he waited for the small white thing to give him the result he was hoping for. Unfortunately, as soon as the one line appeared, he gasped in disappointment as he felt broken-hearted. He waited a bit longer hoping that it would change but alas, it did not and his heart sunk deeper.
He tried to act strong as he quickly hid the pregnancy test and planned to throw it outside where Tian Zi wouldn't notice it. This was already his fifth attempt since the doctor had told him about his condition and he would be lying if he said it didn't really bother him much because it did especially after hearing what Laura told him earlier in their visit.
Quickly fixing himself, Fyre went to the mirror to look at himself. He stared at his facial features and saw how stressed he looked, so he sighed before he decided to wash his face. However as he went back up to look at his wet face, his warm tears started streaming down. He quickly washed his face again to mask it but he soon began sobbing. This time, his haggard features were contoured with sadness and disappointment. He tried to comfort himself that it was fine and that his heat hadn't even come yet but the more he did it the more he cried.
Needless to say, noticing that his lover had been in the toilet room for so long, Tian Zi went ahead to check on him. He knocked on the door worriedly but didn't receive a reply on his first attempt.
"Fyre? Are you okay? Can I come in?" Tian Zi called, thinking maybe the Omega had a stomach ache. Meanwhile, since he was still sobbing uncontrollably, Fyre didn't say anything and just tried to calm himself quickly.
"Fyre, I'm worried. You're not answering so I'm coming in, okay?"
"No! Please, I'm fine." Fyre quickly exclaimed but it was already too late. As soon as Tian Zi saw his lover, his eyes immediately went wide as he ran towards him.
"What happened? Are you hurt anywhere?
* * *
To be Continued...
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A/N: Hi, don't forget to support this book if you are able. It will definitely make the heart grow fonder. Of course, you will be compensated with advance chapters. Link on my bio.