A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go

Mei Wanying just wanted Pei Yan to leave immediately.

"If you don’t leave now, I’ll scream for someone."

Pei Yan raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead. Scream."

’Good. Let them see him in Mei Wanying’s room. Then he could logically demand that she take responsibility for him.’

He had come in a hurry and had to leave by dawn, but that was more than enough time for Mei Wanying to grant him a proper status.

The last time they parted, he had left Mei Wanying a Jade Pendant. She had given him one in return, which basically counted as an exchange of keepsakes.

Mei Wanying didn’t know what Pei Yan was thinking. She just kept urging him, "Hurry up and go."

She was anxious, her delicate brows knitted together. It didn’t look like she was being coy.

But the more she acted this way, the more Pei Yan felt she had a guilty conscience.

His deep eyes narrowed, their gaze once again falling on Mei Wanying’s stomach.

Pei Yan’s tone darkened. "Move the blanket."

A chill ran down Mei Wanying’s spine. She felt as if Pei Yan somehow already knew something.

’Perhaps he’s just one step away from the truth.’

She gritted her teeth and challenged him, "Are you insane? Men and women must keep their distance!"

Although she was wearing her sleep clothes, their current relationship didn’t permit such intimacy.

Pei Yan raised an eyebrow. "I changed your diapers when you were little. That excuse won’t work."

Back then, Mei Wanying was just a little baby, brought out into the courtyard by her wet nurse to enjoy the sun.

He had been returning to his own courtyard after finishing his training and passed by the garden. The wet nurse had insisted he hold Mei Wanying.

The moment he took her in his arms, Mei Wanying had peed all over him.

Pei Yan’s tone was teasing. "You were the first one who dared to draw a map on me."

’And the only one.’

Pei Yan added silently in his heart. ’If it had been anyone else, I would have just dropped the baby. I wouldn’t have tolerated it.’

Mei Wanying’s face flushed red.

She felt like she’d never truly known Pei Yan. ’How did I not realize he could be so shameless?!’

Mei Wanying said, "I’m not a child anymore. You may not care about your reputation, but I care about mine."

The more she resisted, the heavier Pei Yan’s suspicion grew.

In the past, Wanying was always being a brat, wanting him to hold her or carry her on his back. She certainly never mentioned anything about men and women keeping their distance back then.

’Something’s off. There’s definitely something strange going on.’

Pei Yan’s hands, resting on his knees, clenched into fists as he suppressed a surge of emotions.

"I’ll give you a count of three. Show me your stomach. I need to check it myself."

Mei Wanying had fabricated a fake husband, letting someone usurp his status as the Mei family’s son-in-law, and he had accepted it.

But if she dared to be pregnant with another man’s child... even if the man who touched her was dead, he would dig him up and flog his corpse!

Mei Wanying could only marry him. She could only have children with him.

Anyone who dared to touch her had better be prepared to have their bones ground to dust and their ashes scattered!

If there really was a child in her belly, Pei Yan thought with bitter frustration, ’as long as the child is discerning enough to know who its father is, I’ll let it live.’

’Otherwise...’ Pei Yan snorted coldly. ’Don’t blame me for being ruthless and tearing mother and child apart!’

He was already being very magnanimous.

’You wouldn’t find another man in the world as magnanimous as me.’

Pei Yan’s glare was so severe it was almost tangible. Even if Mei Wanying couldn’t see it clearly, she could imagine how terrifying his eyes must look.

’Pei Yan is insisting on seeing my stomach. He must know about the child.’

’But he’s not sure if I’m really pregnant.’

’He wants to see it with his own eyes.’

Mei Wanying’s head throbbed. She had no idea how to get through this.

"One..."

Pei Yan paused for a breath before another word escaped his thin lips, "Two..."

He was aggressive, refusing to stop until he got what he wanted. Mei Wanying felt both furious and helpless.

’Even if I really were pregnant, what does that have to do with Pei Yan?’

’This is my child. The Mei family will be responsible for all its expenses. I don’t need anything from him.’

’Besides, I don’t even want to have this child! It’s his own mother who’s forcing me!’

Now Pei Yan was here, forcing her too. He and Empress Gu were truly mother and son—their methods were identical. Overbearing to the extreme, leaving no room for others to breathe.

"Three..."

As the word fell, Pei Yan’s large hand landed on the blanket. "You’re not behaving. I guess I’ll have to do it myself."

Mei Wanying pressed down on Pei Yan’s hand. "Can you let me get dressed first?"

She was wearing her sleep clothes and wasn’t exposed at all. Pei Yan felt it was unnecessary.

’They’ll be married soon enough anyway.’

"Mei Wanying, stalling for time is useless."

’This won’t work, that won’t work... he only ever does things his own way.’

Mei Wanying was so angry she started to cry.

Pei Yan was still the same old Pei Yan. He never cared about anyone else’s feelings.

So unrestrained, so carefree.

Why did he have to come and provoke her?

She yanked a soft pillow from under the covers—the one Ding Xiang had placed behind her back earlier for support.

She hurled it at Pei Yan. "Are you satisfied now?! There’s no baby! It was all a lie!"

This time, she didn’t suppress her voice. Mei Wanying didn’t care about the consequences of someone discovering a man in her room.

She no longer cared if news of Pei Yan’s exposure would travel back to the Capital City and ruin his important affairs.

It’s not like Pei Yan had considered her feelings anyway. ’Otherwise, would he have shown up in the middle of the night just to cause trouble?’

Pei Yan caught the pillow, his gaze sweeping rapidly over Mei Wanying’s stomach.

She turned away from him, burying her face in the bed, so angry that tears streamed down her face.

In that dream of his, when a pregnant Mei Wanying had come to find him at the Border, she only ever slept on her back or her side. She would never lie face down on the bed like this.

She had been so careful, afraid of hurting the child in her belly.

Furthermore, her sleep clothes had a sash that cinched at the waist. This was also different from his dream.

In that dream, he had once crept onto the bed in the dead of night, gently gathering Mei Wanying and the child into a phantom embrace.

Her sleep clothes had been very loose, so loose that he could slip his warmed hands inside without waking her.

And gently place them over her pregnant belly.

If Mei Wanying were to wake up, he would sit up abruptly and scold her for kicking off the blankets while pregnant.

Then he would impatiently wrap the blankets tightly around her.

And finally, he would flee in a panic.

Pei Yan clutched the soft pillow, letting out a secret sigh of relief.

Mei Wanying wasn’t pregnant.

’Once I finish my business in the Capital City, we’ll have a child.’

’No, we’ll have many!’

Pei Yan reached out, wanting to soothe her back. He didn’t care if they were seen.

"Get out!"

She whipped her head around and glared at him viciously.

Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears. Pei Yan’s heart felt as if it were being pricked by countless needles, a dense ache spreading through him.

He didn’t want Mei Wanying to cry.

He frowned in annoyance. It seemed he had messed things up again.

He shouldn’t have snuck into Mei Wanying’s bedchamber at night. After all, they weren’t married yet.

Doing so was bad for a young woman’s reputation.

Mei Wanying had every right to feel wronged.

Hearing the commotion, a maid pushed the door open again and lit the lamp. Only Mei Wanying was in the room.

"Miss, what’s wrong?"

Afraid that Mei Wanying would press on her stomach, the maid hurried to help her up, only to see her face covered in tears.

Thinking her stomach was hurting, the young maid rushed off to fetch a doctor.

But Mei Wanying stopped her. "It’s nothing. I just had a frightening nightmare. There’s no need to trouble the doctor."

She had finally made it back to Jiangnan, thinking she would never have to see Pei Yan again in this lifetime. But then he had appeared so unexpectedly.

And had done such bullying things.

For Mei Wanying, this truly was a nightmare.