WKRA Chapter 4

When Ye Qiushi woke up, he didn’t have any particular negative feelings.

He ate well, slept well, and spent his days in relative peace.

Jiu Jiu, their little bundle of joy, was well cared for by the maternity nanny, leaving Ye Qiushi with only occasional playtime duties. Yet every time the little one cried for him to hold her, Li She would step in, lifting the growing, chubby baby into his arms as though terrified that Ye Qiushi might get tired.

It was thoughtful, sure—but it only made Ye Qiushi feel even more stifled.

Li She kept both Jiu Jiu and him firmly under his wing, not letting either of them leave. Ye Qiushi had tried to talk to him several times, but before he could even finish a sentence, Li She’s face would darken, and he’d go silent.

If Ye Qiushi pressed further, it would only sour his mood.

“An Alpha from a prestigious family would never marry a mediocre Beta—you know that, don’t you?” A soft, clear voice suddenly broke the quiet.

“Huh?” Ye Qiushi, who had been lounging on a small, sun-dappled hammock that Li She had recently set up for him, blinked in confusion. He looked up to see an unfamiliar but stunningly beautiful young person standing nearby. His face was filled with puzzlement.

“Who gave you permission to speak to him?” Before Ye Qiushi could respond, Li She stormed out, his temper flaring.

It wasn’t clear who Li She was angry at—perhaps Ye Qiushi himself? He blinked, unsure how to reply.

With a grim expression, Li She scooped Ye Qiushi up and carried him back inside, setting him carefully on the sofa before closing the door behind him as he left.

The unwanted guest left shortly after, and the commotion subsided.

All Ye Qiushi had done was take a nap—he hadn’t even initiated the conversation! He lowered his eyes to hide his emotions and quietly focused on his meal.

Li She was angry again.

He’s so hard to deal with.

Ye Qiushi couldn’t understand why Li She was upset, nor why he refused to let him leave. Keeping Jiu Jiu close made sense—he didn’t want his child out in the world without care. But why not let Ye Qiushi go?

Was it because he wasn’t… satisfied yet?

To be fair, Li She did look incredibly sexy when he stared up at him from below, wearing that bite stopper, gripping his waist and pinching his hips. Just thinking about it made Ye Qiushi’s face flush and heart race.

But it didn’t take long for Ye Qiushi to realize he was overthinking things.

Despite the appearance of a harmonious family of three, Li She, who had once been so consumed with desire for him, no longer touched him. If anything, Li She’s attitude had softened into something closer to respectful distance.

One time, Ye Qiushi deliberately left his shirt open and feigned sleep, hoping to entice him. But Li She simply draped a blanket over him, covering him snugly before leaving the house—and he didn’t return that night.

The man who had once been addicted to his touch seemed to have lost interest entirely. Now, they were just two people co-parenting a child, living under the same roof for the sake of convenience.

As a Beta, Ye Qiushi knew his place and value were limited.

So he gave up any attempt to communicate with Li She or to reach out. Instead, he accepted Li She’s meticulous care, resigned himself to wait for whatever plans were being made for him, and braced for the inevitable separation that hung over them.

Li She was devoted to Jiu Jiu, which made it all the more likely he wouldn’t be able to take the child with him when the time came.

Every day, Ye Qiushi began writing letters to Jiu Jiu.

As he penned the letters, he tried to ignore the bitterness that surged in his heart. He imagined his chubby little Jiu Jiu calling someone else “Daddy.” He pictured Li She marrying a gorgeous, wealthy Omega.

When that day came, Ye Qiushi vowed he would find a way to take Jiu Jiu away. As he wrote to his future child, he silently made this promise to himself.

The letters didn’t stay a secret for long. Li She had been spending more time at home and seemed to watch him constantly.

He was always there, always in sight. Impossible to ignore.

The increasingly silent Alpha picked up one of the letters, his eyes rimmed red as he glanced at Ye Qiushi. He put the letter down without a word and walked out the door.

For the next few days, Ye Qiushi didn’t see Li She at all. The housekeeper informed him that Mr. Li had gone on a business trip.

Ye Qiushi sat in a daze, clutching a small pillbox in his hand.

He had a strict schedule for taking his medication, and Li She had always been the one to prepare the doses and ensure he took them on time.

Every morning at seven and again at three in the afternoon, Li She would set an alarm, drowsily get up, and carefully prepare a cup of water—cooling it just right.

Over time, he’d perfected the routine. He would leave a cup of warm water by the bed each night, so by morning, it would be the ideal temperature for Ye Qiushi’s pills.

But now that Li She was away, the housekeeper had taken over the task. The water was often too hot, making the entire process feel lackluster.

One day, a doctor came to check on him. When asked about his condition, Ye Qiushi casually replied, “I’ve been tired, sleeping a lot, feeling nauseous, and I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Could you be pregnant?!” The elderly doctor’s eyes lit up as he immediately began preparing a test for Ye Qiushi.

But by the time the doctor returned, gleefully holding the test results, the room was empty.

Oh no!

He’d lost Mr. Li’s most precious person.

Not just one person—two!

The old family doctor paced nervously, nearly jumping in frustration.

Ye Qiushi was gone. And it was obvious he had left on his own.

He had left behind a note:

“Sir, you’ve always been attentive to Jiu Jiu’s care, so I trust you’ll look after her well. You once said you wouldn’t have any more children, so could I keep this little one?

I promise I won’t fight for your inheritance or let the child become a bargaining chip against you. I’ll disappear. This is my only wish—please grant it.”

Li She sat on Ye Qiushi’s side of the bed, clutching the yellow sticky note. His eyes were bloodshot with fury.

It seemed no matter what he did, he could never get it right.

Ye Qiushi was always so close yet so far away. He occupied Li She’s every thought and demanded his full attention, yet he kept Li She’s heart suspended, unable to find solid ground.

And now, the kite string had finally snapped.

His heart, like a balloon drifting higher into thinning air, burst into fragments.

Those fragments lodged deep into his flesh, impossible to remove.

Every day, they throbbed with pain.