Halfway through the cocktail party, Zhou Wanqing disappeared.
At first, I didn't think much of it. Not until I had made a full circle through the crowd, wine glass in hand, and still saw no sign of her.
I dialed her number, only to be met with the cold, mechanical female voice from the receiver: "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."
Once, twice.
An inexplicable weight settled in my chest. Anxiety, like a vine, silently crept over my heart.
Just then, two figures appeared at the top of the stairs on the second floor of the banquet hall.
Zhou Wanqing was walking in front, her cheeks flushed an unnatural shade of red, the hem of her gown slightly disheveled. Following behind her was Mr. Zhao, looking triumphant, a greasy, smug smile playing on his lips.
They were a step apart, yet there was an indescribable sense of intimacy between them.
"Wanqing, where have you been? I couldn't reach you." I walked up to her, suppressing the turmoil churning within me.
Her eyes flickered away when she saw me, then she quickly linked her arm through mine. Her tone was coquettish. "Oh, darling, I was just chatting with Mr. Zhao about a script. My phone was on silent, I didn't hear it."
Mr. Zhao ambled over with a chuckle, extending a fleshy hand to pat my shoulder meaningfully. "Brother Lu," he said, "your wife has a lot of potential. A boundless future ahead of her."
I forced a smile and said nothing.
After Mr. Zhao left, a few colleagues nearby looked at me with an extra dose of inexpressible pity in their eyes. They looked like they wanted to say something, but in the end, they just shook their heads and walked away.
I stood there alone like a fool kept in the dark, confused and lost.
On the way home, Zhou Wanqing was as excited as a little bird, chirping away nonstop.
"Honey! Mr. Zhao agreed! He gave me the role of the third female lead in his new drama! Do you have any idea how big the investment is for that show?" She hugged my arm tightly, her face filled with dreams of the future.
But to me, the excitement in her voice felt frivolous, almost unreal.
My gaze drifted out the window, but the face of Lin Jingxuan flashed through my mind.
Not long ago, with the best of intentions, I had introduced him to a wealthy woman, hoping to help him with his financial troubles. Only later did I find out that the woman's private life was incredibly messy and complicated. I saw him in a corner at the party tonight, his face etched with sorrow, a distinct scratch mark on the back of his hand. He was drinking by himself, head down, not saying a word.
A wave of guilt washed over me. I always thought I was helping them, but instead, I had pushed them with my own hands into a different kind of abyss.
When we pulled up to our building, Zhou Wanqing unbuckled her seatbelt, leaned over, and said to me mysteriously, "Honey, I have some more good news to tell you."
"What is it?"
She took a folded lab report from her purse and unfolded it in front of me.
"I'm pregnant."
Those words detonated in my head like a bomb.
For a fleeting moment, I was happy. But then, the image of Zhou Wanqing and Mr. Zhao coming down the stairs, one after the other, seared itself into my mind.
The facade of happiness was torn open, and the breath of a storm rushed in wildly through the crack.
A smile was plastered on my face, but my heart was a block of ice.
This child… is it mine?