Please, see the note at the end of the chapter.

************

Chapter- 30

From A Botched Wedding To A Sordid Affair! What Else Is Hidden Behind That Charming Persona?

Under that bold, big lettering was another comparatively smaller line that read:

And A Baby Onboard?

Which was then accompanied by two blurry pictures. One of actor Wang Talu holding a baby, whose face was blurred out, while going inside a house. One of actor Wang YiBo talking to apparently the same baby while coming out of an ice cream parlour.

The article then went on to elaborate, in painstaking details, how Wang YiBo must have cheated on his fiancée, Vanessa Huang, with actor Wang Talu, going so far as to leaving her alone at the altar, thus ruining her life and reputation. They provided dates and times when either Yibo or Talu was off the radar and was seen in a specific locality often. Then they included Wang YiBo's sudden appearance at the Yiling show, the brand co-owned by Wang Talu, and many such little 'truths'. After that the article speculated about the child both of the men were seen with, hinting at the kid being the love child of the two lovers.

The entire thing would have been hilarious for the sheer stupidity.....only that it was not.

XOXOXOX

Talu was scheduled to leave the city that day in an early morning flight but he could not even get past the airport entrance before the paparazzi almost mobbed him and he had to be whisked away somewhere safe by extra security.

Oblivious and overwhelmed, sitting inside the car that were running back somewhere he did not know, when he opened his mouth to ask, his manager thrust a newspaper in his hands.

"Read it and then we need to talk," JiYa, his manager said in a clipped tone.

Staring at her suspiciously, Talu unfolded the sheets and froze immediately.

"That's...that's XingXing," he said dumbly, still looking at those blurred areas on the baby's face.

"And Wang YiBo, with whom you're having an affair," she paused and peered at him over her reading glasses, "and a baby."

"What in hell's-"

"Read it," she gestured at the paper, "we won't be going anywhere today."

"But what about the shoot?"

"Who's the manager here?"

Talu wanted to say something more but did not. Instead he looked sullen and went back to the paper.

Might not have been the best idea because the more he read the hotter his blood started to boil. And the more worried he became.

"Zhan? Zhan cannot see this! He-" His eyes were wide with worry. "He would go straight into a panic attack!"

"We can't go to his house at the moment. We're being followed as I speak. But once we reach the hotel, you'll be able to contact him. Meanwhile I'm trying to contact your brother," JiYa informed him in one breath, not once taking her eyes off her phone, tapping on it with lightening speed.

"Man, why? Why now?! He was starting to get happy after such a long time! Why now of all times?!" Kicking at the seat in front, Talu closed his eyes in frustration. "Things will only get uglier."

"It will. So, don't throw tantrums and make things harder for me. And do not contact Mr. Xiao without knowing the situation there."

"Yes, Ma'm," Talu grumbled and decided to sulk.

XOXOXOX

YiBo was on the shooting site when it happened. The production had a late night shooting arrangements and he was in the middle of it. It was after the first half of the shoot and YiBo was having his breakfast in his vanity, when Xiu Ying approached him with a tense, cloudy face.

"What is it?" YiBo asked chewing on a half boiled egg.

"We need to leave, Boss."

YiBo frowned. Leave? "But I still have three more scenes to shoot."

Xiu Ying shuffled his feet, "There's been an unexpected situation."

YIBo set his chopsticks down, "What is it? Are they all right?" They both knew who 'they' were. He, then, searched for his phone only to realize it was still with Xiu Ying. However, when he asked for it instead of the device, his assistant handed him a newspaper. "What is it?"

"You need to read it. I have informed the production. The paps are currently blocking the entrance. I have called for extra guards. And our PR team will be waiting in the office."

"What even-" The purpose of putting photos in a news article was mainly to attract attention fast and first. The same happened here. YiBo's eyes were immediately glued to those two photos, especially those two blurry small faces, as soon as he spread the news sheet.

He could feel himself going through an array of emotions within mere seconds. Confusion, shock, fear, rage. Rage. Which prevailed after the knowledge of what happened sank in, was pure and undiluted rage.

"They used my son?! They dared to use my son!" YiBo was so mind numbingly angry that his voice had gone down quite a few notches.

"Boss, now is not the time to get angry-"

"Not to get angry? Not to- WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EVEN-"

Xiu Ying quickly rushed forward, gesturing him to lower his voice. "This is not a safe place to discuss this, Boss. Please. They are arranging a new car for us to leave."

YiBo had stood up from the shock earlier; now he slumped on his seat again. "They have published photos of my baby son, Xiu Ying!"

"But the faces are blurred-"

"They did that only because they knew they would be sued otherwise!" He hissed out, "XingXing goes to a playgroup, he goes out to parks, to the zoos, to the stores. Do you know how high of a chance is there that someone's going to identify him and call the media? And- and what about- oh my god! Zhan Ge...." Panic settling in quicker than the blood rushing to his head, he waved his hand towards his assistant, "Give me my phone, I need to call him. Give me my phone-'

"Boss, just- just calm down for a sec-"

"GIVE ME MY PHONE, XIU YING!"

"YOU CANNOT CALL HIM AT THE MOMENT!"

Maybe because it was the shock from being yelled at by his assistant for the first time, YiBo slammed to a stop momentarily.

"I'm sorry but you cannot contact Mr. Xiao at the moment. We don't know if your connection is still secure. I have called Mr. Wang HaoXuan. He is at Mr. Xiao's house right now and asked us to go to a secure place as soon as possible. I've connected him to our PR team," informed Xiu Ying.

"How is he?..........How...oh god...why? How is he?" Pressing a white knuckled fist against his mouth, YiBo asked. His head felt light.

"We need to-"

There was a knock on the car's door. Xiu Ying hurriedly opened it and talked to whomever was on the other side. Then he looked at YiBo and said, "The car is ready, Boss. We have to leave now. Paps are out there. Please, do not react to whatever they tell you or ask, all right? Let's go."

Not knowing what was happening or why was it happening, wanting to know if his child, his Zhan Ge were all right, failing to stop anything and losing control over everything, YiBo somehow grabbed his backpack, wrapped the overcoat, that Xiu Ying had handed to him, around himself, pulling the hood up went out to a world that knew no mercy.

XOXOXOX

XingXing would not brush his teeth no matter what because-

"Dagon bush teetee noh!" He tried to wriggle out of his Papa's grip.

"XingXing! Stop moving! How do you know if Dragon brushes his teeth or not? Were you there when he woke up in the morning?"

"En," Xing nodded his head with absolute certainty.

"No, you were not. Stop fibbing. Now, open your mouth-"

"NOOOOH!"

"Please, don't make a fuss this early in the morning. Aunt MeiLi will be here any moment now."

"MehMeh?"

"Yes, open your mou- don't- don't bite the brush! Stop moving!"

Zhan and YiBo had decided to send Xing to a preschool activity group from this week. Not only that would give Xing more time to spend time with kids of his own age, also accordingly to the doctor his speech would improve a lot the more chance of interaction he would get, as his speech development was a bit slower comparatively.

While they were in the middle of the brushing battle, Zhan's doorbell rang.

"See, now MeiLi has arrived and you're still not ready yet." Sounding already tired, Zhan hurried to the door. The bell was rung again, making Zhan frown. What's the hurry?

Expecting to see someone but actually seeing someone else gave Zhan the expected startle. "Xuan? What happened? Come in."

"What were you doing?" Was the first thing he asked, sounding tense.

That was odd. "I was just trying to brush Xing's-" But he could not finish his sentence before his manager was speaking again.

"Where's your phone?"

"My phone? Xuan, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later. Can you please bring it to me? You weren't answering it."

"No, I forgot to bring it downstairs. It was in the-"

Xing shot out from somewhere and crashed into Xuan. "UNCA XUN!!!"

Zhan expected him to pick Xing up and make silly faces the way he always did but when he just ruffled Xing's hair absently and urged Zhan to bring him phone back again, Zhan knew something was horribly wrong.

"What's going on, Xuan? What's wrong?"

Xuan looked like he was really second guessing whatever he was going to say. "I'll tell you only if you promise me you'll get a hold of yourself and not go into a panic attack."

Well, that alone was enough to trigger Zhan's panic. "Xuan..."

"Has Xing's nanny arrived yet?"

"What? N-no, she hasn't but-"

"Okay. Here," he extended his own phone, "tell her that you're sending a car which she needs to take to come here. And tell her not to interact with anyone that she doesn't know."

"Xuan-"

"Listen, get me your-"

"No, you listen! Tell me what's going on first or I won't do anything you tell me."

His manager looked like he was about to protest but decided not to. Instead, he handed Zhan what looked like a newspaper, picked Xing up, who was looking very confused, and said, "Read it. It's on the entertainment section. Meanwhile, mind if I get your phone?"

Already busy finding the page, Zhan shook his head, "It's charging on the lounge."

"Come on, kiddo. Let's find Papa's phone."

"Kay!"

Zhan finally found the page and it was so wildly unexpected it took him way longer to realize what was happening here. And when he did.....it was not a feeling he wished to experience again.

He had no idea of how much time had passed between Xuan's going and coming back before his sense returned at his voice calling his name again and again.

"Xuan.....they are following Xing?" He said more than asked in a blank voice. His assistant was saying something but he didn't know what, nor did he care. All that was on his mind and lips was, "Xing...they are following my baby."

"More precisely, Wang YiBo. They've certainly been following Mr. Wang very closely and inevitably Xing captured their attention. More so when my brother was spotted with the same child."

"Is-Is-Is-" Zhan stammered, unable push his tongue any further; the paper on his hands had begun to shake.

"Zhan? Zhan, focus, get it together," Xuan spoke slowly and sat down on the centre table opposite a pale as white looking Zhan.

"Will-will they know about Xing now? Will they hunt him? Will they know about me?"

"It's still premature-"

"I can't face them! I can't face the public, not yet! I'm not ready! I'm not, I'm not-"

"Zhan!" Xuan's raised voice finally stopped Zhan and he looked at him with shock. "I know you're scared and it's making you nervous but this is not the time to panic. You want to protect your son and not give into the pressure of the media? Then buckle up. And there are YiBo and Talu too. You're not in this alone. We're all working in this together."

What the speech did was to divert Zhan's worry into another direction. "YiBo! How can he be so reckless?! How could he let something like this happen?! How can..." As soon as the words reached his own ears Zhan knew just how wrong he sounded. Even in this addled state he knew all YiBo did was to spend some time with his own son. How could Zhan blame him for that? "Is he- Is he safe? Are they safe? They're going to drag him to the mud if the truth comes out! Where's he?"

"The last I heard Xiu Ying was taking him to his studio's office. He is under heavy security. JiYa JieJie is handling Talu, so, he is safe as well."

"I want to talk to him, to- to them."

"I'm sorry but right now you can't. Their phones and SIM cards need to be replaced, and I have replaced your SIM card as well. We need to wait for them to contact us first. Comparatively, you're the safest of the lot as paps haven't found out this place or Xing's identity yet."

Xing's identity......

Zhan felt sick to his stomach. Xing's identity involved a whole history. If the media got a hold of that information all their lives would turn into a circus. How would he face the accusations, the pointed fingers? The murmured disgusts?

And would YiBo accept Xing publicly? Besides being a great father, YiBo had a separate life of his own. He was a public figure, an idol, an icon. His entire career depended on his image. Would he risk it? Should Zhan expect it? And YiBo was still officially engaged...

"I've talked to MeiLi and sent a car to her. Do you suspect her?" Xuan's question pulled him out of his rapidly spiralling thoughts.

"Who, MeiLi?" Zhan asked in a disbelieving voice, "No, of course not. You did her background check yourself. And if she wanted to sell us to the media, she could have done that ages ago."

"I know. I'm just rechecking everything. At this point no one is above suspicion."

Zhan ran a nervous hand through his hair. He was scared and wanted to talk to YiBo.

Xing's nanny arrived soon after and Xuan filled her in, sparing Zhan some time to get his thoughts together.

"I've set some guards around your house. If any of you needs to go somewhere, call me and I'll send a car. Do not use your own car, all right?" Xuan instructed while working on two laptops simultaneously. Zhan did not answer. He felt caged but knew it was necessary. But how would he be able to force his son stay at home all the time? And what would happen to YiBo? Media would tear his private life into shreds.

While his thoughts were going haywire, Xuan suddenly asked, "Mr. Wang wants to video chat. You up?"

Up? Zhan flew towards the laptop, almost shoving Xuan out of the way. The first thing he noticed was how haggard YiBo looked.

"Zhan Ge!"

That call, there were so many emotions in that small call.

"Where are you?" Zhan asked, eyes mapping every little detail of YiBo's face.

YiBo looked surprised at that question, "I'm- I'm at my office. Are you-"

"Are you safe? Are there reporters?"

"God, they are like ants pouring out of a hole, crowding just outside the building but I'm safe here. They can't enter. But are you safe? How are you? How is Xing? Is there any reporter?"

"He is with MeiLi. We haven't seen any reporters yet and Xuan had called some security guards to keep watch. YiBo....what's happening?"

YiBo looked so much in pain, "I'm so, so sorry, Ge, for dragging Xing and you into this. I- I had no idea. I made sure that we weren't followed but with these sneaky bastards you can never be-"

"I'm not blaming you," Zhan cut him midway.

YiBo stared at him in silence. "Buy why? Why aren't you? You should be furious. I'm fucking furious at myself! Why aren't you?"

"Because I know you would never put our son at risk knowingly."

"But if only I would have been more careful-"

"Then you would have to refuse Xing's every demand of spending time with you outside this house. Would you have been able to do that?"

Staying quiet for a heartbeat, YiBo said, "I thought you would angry at me, blaming me. I thought you would be way more anxious than you are now."

I thought that too, I thought the same. "Knowing that I'm not alone this time makes things easier for me." And it was true. He was not alone. He looked at YiBo, looked at Xuan, looked at the people from his company's PR team with whom his manager was working at the moment and knew that he was not alone.

"I'm with you," YIBo said, "I'm with you in this and whatever comes in our way, I'm with you. I'll never let you be alone again, Zhan Ge."

Emotional and moved, Zhan wanted to say something but was interrupted.

"Sorry guys but we need to talk together now. Mr. Wang, could you, please, shift to your assistant's laptop?"

And then they were facing each other again, only this time joined by Talu.

"Zhan! You all right there?" Talu asked the moment he saw Zhan. The look of worry and seriousness was so alien on him.

"I'm better now. How are the things on your end?"

"She's chewing me alive, dude. I'm in the 9th circle of hell," Talu whispered with a pathetic expression. If there was someone Talu feared, it was his manager. "I really didn't do it intentionally, you know that right? I should have been more careful. I know what was at stake here," he lamented as if he had been reciting from a rulebook. It was clear exactly who had been drilling these things into his head.

"Of course, I know! You care for Xing's safety just as much as I do, Talu. It doesn't even need to be said."

"And Xing would not have attracted any attention if that boyfriend of yours didn't parade him-"

Two things happened at the same time. A female voice cleared her voice quite pointedly from somewhere behind Talu and YiBo, who was also in this chat, interjected heatedly, "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. I'm babbling. It's just nerves," Talu tried to amend and was pushed aside by JiYa, who now faced the camera.

"Mr. Xiao, Mr. Wang," she greeted them with a nod, "Please, excuse my client. It's a pity that we couldn't meet under better circumstances. However, let me brief you on the actions we have decided to take," she informed in that no nonsense tone of her.

Xuan silently dragged his chair closer to listen on. Zhan was sure YiBo's PR team was doing the same off camera as well.

"As this is a serious allegation with a visual proof of a child involved, we cannot ignore the media this time. However, we have decided not to call any press conference either, as that would give the reporters opportunities to ask more questions than we are ready to answer. So, press release it is. We will post statements from our official sites, negating any claim of an affair. We are also thinking about addressing your child's identity by stating that he is Mr. Wang Talu's godson. But we need your consent and opinion on it before we make it official, Mr. Xiao. Also, this entire sequence of action depends on the question whether or not Mr. Wang YiBo plans to acknowledge his son publicly."

With a sudden pin drop silence all the eyes zoomed on YiBo's side of the screen. This was the question that had been tormenting Zhan all along. He knew YiBo loved Xing but giving the child his name involved more than just parental love. Not only the man was still publicly engaged but acknowledging Xing would invariably entail divulging the information regarding his conception. Would YiBo be willingly to expose himself that much?

On the screen, YiBo looked like he did not understand what was asked of him. When no one volunteered to elaborate further, he responded, "I'm sorry but was that a question? Are you asking me whether I would acknowledge my son? My own child? How dare you to even imply that-"

"No need to get snippy, Mr. Wang-"

Suddenly a nervous looking man, more like a teen really, almost shoved YiBo physically out of the camera and said, "I'm sorry, I apologize on my client's behalf-" YiBo growled out something off screen, "what Mr. Wang meant was that he would definitely recognize his son publicly; that goes without saying. However, we are facing another problem from Ms. Huang's end as her record label is refusing to accept this decision and threatening to sue us on the breach of contract. They want to delay their official break up till her new album comes out, as that would hike the selling rate. They have prepared quite a lot of statistical data to back their statements up. Oh, hello, Mr. Xiao Zhan. It's an honour to finally meet you. Oh, um, Mr. Wang Talu, I'm glad to meet you too. Not that I wasn't honoured in your case or uh...erm.. Hello, I'm Mark from the PR, everyone, hello." The boy finished with a nervous and awkward laugh after talking without a single pause.

While Zhan was still reeling from that long list of information, Talu's manager was ever prompt.

"So, you're saying that Ms. Vanessa Huang wants to profit at the expanse of mine and your clients' respective reputations?"

"Er...no, not really. I mean, Ms. Huang had no problem with our decision and protested against her company but she is bound with a contract as well and therefore, cannot really do something actively without facing a lawsuit herself."

"Hmm.....I see," JiYa glanced at Mark contemplatively for a moment, then addressed everyone in general, "Anyway, as I have mentioned before, if any of the concerned parties does not have any objection, we would like to release the statement of the child being Talu's godson as soon as possible. You see, my client is in the middle of a film shoot and the longer we keep mum about it the more difficult the situation would get at the production, which in turn might harm my client's career."

"But Jie, won't that only push the paps into digging exactly whose son this godson is?" Asked Xuan.

"Yes, absolutely," she agreed with certainty. "They will dig and dig deep. But as Mr. Xiao's tracks are well covered up and almost no information can be found on the market, they will only end up with whatever information Mr. Wang YiBo will disclose. That's the reason I had asked for Mr. Wang's stance in this situation previously."

"But Ms. Huang's agency-" Mark tried to put in.

"Yes yes, we've heard. In that case you'll have to act ignorant and let the media find out on their own. Because we will definitely be releasing a statement."

"We will as well," YIBo suddenly spoke up coming into view once again, "To hell with Vanessa's agency and those scums-"

"YiBo!" Zhan had to jump in before YiBo started running his mouth, "This is not something to be decided in the heat of the moment-"

"Why are you so calm about it? How are you so calm?!"

"I am calm? I am? Do I look calm to you? Do you think I am having a good time-"

Xuan quickly moved the laptop away from him and gave Zhan his phone back. "Your line is secure now. I've saved Mr. Wang's number in it. Talk to him over phone. Let me handle the other stuff, go on."

Not wanting to have a fight at a time like this, Zhan followed Xuan's instruction and called YiBo.

"Zhan Ge?"

"YiBo-"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things-"

"It's okay. I know you're stressed but YiBo, if we lose our cool when we need it the most how can we handle any kind of crisis?"

"How can I not? You don't know how much of a fuss Vanessa's agency is making! They won't let me officially accept my son, they won't let me break up with Vanessa before her album come out! They won't let me do anything! How can I stay quiet?"

"But you have to. We don' have any other choice, YiBo. And knowing that you'd be there for Xing irrespective of the situation is enough for me to-"

"Did you have a doubt? You thought I wouldn't?" And YiBo sounded so hurt.

"No! I mean..I-," frustrated for not wording his thoughts right, Zhan tried to amend, "I know you'd be there for him but this is your career, your reputation, your life-"

"I would protect you and Xing with my life if it ever comes to that, Zhan Ge. Remember that."

If only YiBo knew just what those words did to Zhan's frayed nerves and scared heart. "...............I know.....I know." It was difficult to squeeze those two words out around the emotion that suddenly formed a lump inside his throat. But now was not the time to be emotional. "But don't fight with Vanessa's agency, please, don't. We can't afford to make enemies now and certainly can't turn Vanessa against you."

"But how can I-"

"Promise me YiBo, you won't do anything drastic. Just for the moment. All our teams are working together. They will sort something out. Just promise me that you won't let the anger get to you."

YiBo did not say anything for a long moment. From his erratic breathing, Zhan knew how hard he was trying not to yell in absolute frustration.

"I promise."

"Thank you. It will be all right."

".........Stay by me, okay?"

"I will."

After disconnecting the call and trying to clear his head, a realization hit Zhan with the force of a meteor.

He was the one calming and soothing someone else in a triggering situation. He was the one on the giving end. He stayed focussed and got over his own anxiety to help someone else. He did that. Xiao Zhan did that.

How long had it been since he had felt this accomplished, this normal? This in control of his own self?

They were getting closer to the eye of the storm every minute now and he was sure his nerves would fail him at some point but he had come a long way and he had begun to believe that he would be able to cross the rest of the way as well.

With his family by his side.

With YiBo. Together.

[][][][]

So, let me state some things clearly once again:

If you don't like my stories, don't read. No one is asking you, forcing you, pleading you to. Easy come easy go. It's THAT simple.

If you think the plot sucks, either let me know just what you don't like (pointing out the flaws) in a civil manner or.....stop reading.

If you think my writing skill sucks, don't read my writings.

But insulting my skill or attacking the story without having an iota of contribution in anyway is just the textbook example of delusional entitlement. Just as I am not doing any favours by writing and publishing the stories on a free platform, you're not doing any favours either by freeloading on free stuff.

I know the risk of putting my work on the internet. I have been doing this long enough to know the hazards and honestly, I don't mind negative comments (don't confuse with rude of insulting). When I see readers yelling at a character it only confirms their emotional involvement. And if there are crappy comments, I gloss over them. Being impolite will only make you look bad, however valid your point is.

But to mock my story for getting low votes compared to the number of reads? I've taken that very personally because it's degrading, belittling. Not only towards me but towards all those people that have actually shown their love and interest to this story. That have been on this journey with me and the characters. It's an insult to all those people, including me.

I'm a mediocre writer with an average writing talent. I'm unpopular, my stories are unpopular and you know what? I'm unbothered about it. Because I chose this. I run a fanpage on IG and except for notifying on the updating day, I NEVER EVER ONCE promote my own stories. I get prompt requests frequently. Most are easy and catchy. But I choose to write about sucky life things because that's what I love to do! Poking fun at my unpopularity won't do any trick, really. Bragging? No. Just laying out facts for future asshole wannabes.

I was hurt, I was upset because I can't understand meaningless cruelties. I try to be polite and friendly and accommodating to all of you. I get 100+ comments on average every chapter and try to reply to everyone so that no one should feel left out. I reply all your DMs here or on IGs. I share my life's happenings with you. I try to make you a part of my life because I have a void inside me. I try to feel less alone by connecting with you. I try to update despite my ailments. So, yeah, it hurts to be insulted for no reason at all.

You might say it's just one person or one comment or one chapter but sometimes it's just one that all it takes.

I really did not want to update this week because I had absolutely no mood but did not want to keep you waiting. I finished the chapter roughly half an hour ago and have no idea how it turned out. Sorry for that.

Thank you, DiphylleiaGrayi03 for speaking up against the insult and supporting the story. For being so nice and supportive. I really appreciate it.

And to SabyyaButt, to my ever loving Butty, thanking you is not even remotely enough. With you by my side, I always know that there is someone who will always have my back. Who won't think twice to be the bad guy in others' eyes for the sake of protecting me. Who has seen me at my lowest but never doubted in me. Who is always loud and clear about her protests against all kind of bullies and never shies away from standing up for the things she believes in. I admire you, respect you, envy you and above all, love you. This story came into being only because of you.

Long rant but I needed to let that out. I am not instigating hate or discrimination but it does not take much to be polite, that's all I'm saying.