The Abandoned Bride

Chapter 32

The next morning I awoke to Zi-An standing over me.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean to wake you, Changwei was feeling nervous about you sleeping so long so he wanted me to come and check on you" He says and I start to sit up.

"It's fine, can I have some water" I say with my voice crackling and he goes over and pours me a cup of water.

"I want to check you over properly today" Zi-An says and give him my wrist to test my pulse for a long time.

"Oh" he says suddenly.

"What is wrong?" I say feeling concerned.

"Congratulations my Lady, you are pregnant" He says smiling at me.

"What? I am?" I say completely shocked.

"That is why you must be feeling extra tired, but everything seems to be well" He says and smiles.

"Do you think we can wait to tell Changwei? I don't want to get his hopes up and he is preoccupied at the moment with his mother, maybe just tell him I am a little bit sick for now?" I say with a pleading look.

"Of course, I will let you tell him the news yourself, it seems to be early days so I understand, but I think you should still tell him" Zi-An says and then excuses himself from my room. I can't believe that I am pregnant we haven't really had a discussion about trying to have children. I was also worried that I wouldn't even be able to get pregnant since my menstruation was very erratic. 

I pat my abdomen and smile and wonder if I am allowed to be this happy. I don't want to tell him the news of the pregnancy while under this roof where all my pain and torture happened. I want to share the news with him in a beautiful place, somewhere I can remember with happiness and hope.

It has been a few days here now and Changwei is very busy with the manor duties and taking care of Mother-in-law and I decide to stay away from everything here and spend some time reading and painting. One mid-afternoon I start to feel stuffy inside and decide to walk around and I end up going to my old house here in the manor.

 It looks just as desolate and lonely as it did before, as if nothing seems to have been touched in the house. I peek my head in and the room looks even more empty than when I lived there and I take a deep sigh and touch the doorway. I go and touch the tree where I hid my money and sit down on a low branch for a while.

"What are you doing here?" I hear a deep voice and turn around and see Changwei standing in front of me.

"I don't know, I just ended up here" I say and smile sadly at him.

"I told them to leave this place alone, I didn't know what you would have wanted" He says trailing off.

"It's fine, it's fine this way, I don't want to dress it up, just leave it as it is" I say.

"It pains me to think about your time here being treated so terribly, I am so sorry Danni" He says and slightly turns away from me.

"Changwei I know you now and I know your intentions would never be for me to suffer" I say.

"I am really a terrible husband and I have not fulfilled my duties properly. I should have come and been with you then I would have seen all these problems for myself. I really thought my Mother would have taken care of you, I never even had such a thought" He says and I can hear the words sticking in his throat.

"Changwei I forgive you, I truly do, and I want to be with you. I don't know if I can forgive Mother-in-law yet, but I don't want to be like her. I don't want to hold onto the anger and revenge in my heart."

"I don't deserve you Danni" He says and turns around and I pull him into a hug.

"Everything will be okay now, I am okay and so are you" I say and pat his back until he calms down a bit.