Liu Chunhua, Liu Hai, and Grandma Liu all exchanged glances. Jinhai put the chopsticks down and quietly stared at her.
Liu Chunhua gently asked, “Is there anything wrong, dear?”
Nana panicked for a moment, but she quickly calmed down.
“No, no! I mean, yes…I am not feeling well. Maybe I am sick, so the twins shouldn’t stay with me for a few days.”
“Oh, dear! Are you alright?” she worriedly got up.
Jinhai’s hand was already on her forehead in a flash as he seriously checked her temperature. “You don’t have a fever.”
“N-No…I don’t have a fever. But I…I still feel weak, and I think I will catch a cold. I don’t want the twins to get sick because of me.”
Grandma Liu stomped her stick. “Jinhai, what are you waiting for? Call her brother, Liang Shin! We will get you checked, don’t worry.”
Jinhai took out his phone and opened Shin’s number.
Nana slightly stiffened. She blocked his phone and quickly said, “No need to bother big brother. It’s just a cold. I will be fine in a few days.”
Jinhai sternly rejected. “No. If it comes to your health, then I won’t ignore even a simple cold.”
“T-that…”
Liu Hai smiled. “Ho Ho, are you scared if you will get an injection? Don’t worry. We will tell him to give you only oral medicines.”
She awkwardly smiled and lowered her head. It seemed everybody had decided to call Shin, so she couldn’t protest much further.
—
Shin hurriedly visited the Liu villa as soon as he heard the news. In her room, Shin did all the necessary check-up and said, “Well, you don’t seem to be sick. Everything is fine. But it could be the change in the weather too that may have affected your energy. So for the safe side, I am prescribing some medicines for cold and fever.”
Jinhai and the others nodded.
Nana felt a little guilty for making him come all the way here. “See? I told you it was nothing serious.”
Shin flicked her forehead. “They are right. You should take your health seriously, even if it’s a normal cold. Don’t be so lax about it.”
Nana pursed her lips.
Shin smiled and patted her head. “And how are my nephews? I heard what happened today. Mom and Dad are back in Paris for some work, and they had almost booked their flight back to China as soon as they heard the news.”
Nana uneasily shifted on the bed.
Jinhai slowly said, “Jian and Nian are fine now.”
Shin grimly asked, “Did you find that man?”
Jinhai squinted his gaze. “Soon, brother-in-law. Soon.”
He nodded and glanced at Nana. “Until this matter is sorted out, stay here in Liu villa. It will not be safe outside, plus the media is causing so much uproar. Take rest now.”
Shin got up and left. Outside her room, he asked Jinhai, “So, you have really stepped down from your position, huh?”
Jinhai just glanced back and shrugged.
“This is going to pour more oil in the fire.”
“It would have even if I had kept my seat. My stepping down is taken as my guilt, and the decision to not step down would have taken as my arrogance.”
Shin sighed. “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” Then he raised his brow. “Is it Long Guozhi?”
Jinhai hummed. “That is what the Tangs say, and well, they have a grudge against me.”
“But?”
“But nothing.”
“Where are they now?”
“They seem to be abroad.”
Shin narrowed his eyes. “Of course, they would have run away after their downfall. So are they managing everything, sitting somewhere in the USA or UK, and plotting against you?”
“Could be.”
Shin patted his shoulder. “Be careful. I will check with Dad too what we can do to help. Also, stay with Nana. She must have still shaken up with the incident.”
“…En.”
—
Nana quietly laid on the bed, facing the window side. The twins cried a lot when they sensed the change as they weren’t near their mother like usual, and it took all the energy from everybody to make them calm down. Finally, they fell asleep when Jinhai and Nana played with them for almost an hour.
Nana stared at the moon, shining brightly outside and casting a dim light inside the room. She clenched the bedsheet in her fist, and her lips trembled.
Over and over again, she recalled how that man took the stroller away. Every time she remembered that scene of her twins being taken away, she felt crippled and terrifying.
She silently sniffled, and a tear dropped on the pillow. Then very slowly, she felt an arm wrapped around her waist and softly pulling her back. Her back bumped against a sturdy chest.
Nana froze. She quickly but secretly wiped her tears. She didn’t want Jinhai to see her like that.
“Y-you, why are you here?” she softly asked, hiding the fact that she was crying.
Jinhai softly kissed her hair and said, “I miss my wife. You must be feeling lonely without the twins, too, right?”
She bit her lip.
“Do you feel sick? Should I bring the medicine?”
“N-no. I am fine.”
Even though they were supposed to sleep separately, Nana didn’t wish to be alone tonight. She felt a lot calmer when Jinhai hugged her. His familiar scent that she always liked to smell dissipated her anxiousness.
There was silence for a long time.
“Were you crying just now?” Jinhai asked.
Nana widened her eyes, and her heart sped faster. “No. Why would I cry? Jian and Nian are safe. So everything is fine.”
“…Hmmm.”
Nana gulped. She felt the disbelief in his tone. So, she quickly diverted the topic.
“I hope they don’t give any trouble to Mom and Dad.”
There was a pause.
“They will be fine. It was sudden for them to live apart from you and they felt that so they cried. But they are more comfortable now.”
Nana nodded. “That’s good.”
Silence again.
Jinhai finally broke it. “If you have to say or share anything, then I am here.”
Nana nervously fiddled with the blanket. She wanted to say a lot, but she felt ashamed of herself.
“There is nothing.”
Jinhai kept staring at her back. He didn’t force her and dropped the subject. He slowly turned her to face him and buried her face in his chest.
“You must be tired. Sleep,” he whispered.
Nana had an urge to cry again as she felt his warmth when he embraced her, but she held back her tears. “…En. Good night.”
Jinhai noticed her trembling shoulders, but he kept quiet. He kissed her forehead. “Good night.”
