After Getting Pregnant, I Fought for a Divorce from My Alpha - Chapter 23

The dinner didn’t end until nearly eleven, and An Xiangdi was so sleepy he kept yawning.

Forcing himself to stay awake to say goodbye to Director Wang and the others, he finally climbed into the back seat of the nanny van and closed his eyes almost instantly.

The hotel wasn’t far from the restaurant, and soon, the car stopped outside.

Half-asleep, An Xiangdi vaguely felt Shen Xiao lift him into his arms and carry him all the way back to their room. By the time he woke up, it was already seven in the morning.

Before he could rub his eyes open, Shen Xiao was already tugging his head back, biting down on his lower lip. One hand gently rested on his lower abdomen, his touch tender.

“Don’t… not now… I have to film this morning,” An Xiangdi gasped, pushing him away, his lips red from the bite.

Shen Xiao looked down at him, his deep gaze making An Xiangdi fall silent for a moment.

After a beat, Shen Xiao closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. “I’ll go shower.”

An Xiangdi stuck his foot out from under the blanket and cheekily nudged his butt. “Be quick.”

By the time they arrived near the filming site, An Xiangdi still hadn’t finished the half-slice of cake in his hand. He didn’t have much of an appetite, but it felt wasteful to throw it out.

“Give it to me,” Shen Xiao reached for the cake. “I’ll leave after lunch. Call me if anything happens while you’re on set.”

“Mm. Aren’t you busy these days?” An Xiangdi was a little puzzled. With a workaholic agent like Hua Jiang, Shen Xiao was usually constantly on the go. It was odd how he’d stayed by his side at the set all this time.

“I’m unemployed,” Shen Xiao joked casually.

An Xiangdi looked up at him. “Then we’re doomed. I can’t afford to support you.”

Shen Xiao finally got serious. “I’m terminating my contract with the company.”

“…What?” An Xiangdi looked stunned. He thought Shen Xiao was kidding about the “unemployed” bit—he didn’t expect it to be true. “You’re not doing this because of my preg—…”

“No,” Shen Xiao cut in helplessly. “I started my own studio. I mentioned it on the phone.”

“What…” An Xiangdi was about to ask when, suddenly, a memory flashed across his mind—there was a phone call in the car a while ago. He’d been feeling nauseous then and hadn’t paid much attention, only catching the words “studio” before quickly forgetting it. Thinking back now, that’s what Shen Xiao meant.

“Then your agent…” An Xiangdi thought of Hua Jiang. Not having to endure that man’s sarcasm anymore gave him a certain satisfaction.

“I changed the whole team. Right now, Liu Qing is in charge. I’m meeting the new team leader this afternoon.” Shen Xiao did a mental count. It had already been a while since he started preparing the studio—he needed to get it on track soon.

“Sounds pretty good.” Breaking free from a big agency and starting his own studio would certainly be busy, but as his own boss, Shen Xiao could choose the jobs he wanted, and he’d have much more freedom.

“How’s Yao Honglang doing?”

An Xiangdi was caught off guard by the sudden mention of his new agent. “He’s alright.”

Yao Honglang had a strong personality, just like him. At first glance, they might seem incompatible, but the more they worked together, the more it felt like “heroes recognize heroes.”

They hadn’t worked together long, but their efficiency was high. Yao Honglang was also willing to take good advice, so whenever An Xiangdi had ideas or plans, he brought them up.

“Mm,” Shen Xiao responded softly.

As they walked onto the set, An Xiangdi quickly sensed something was different today.

He glanced around and saw someone unexpected standing next to the movie king, Yingdi Yingchong.

“Why is Zhao Zeyun here?” Xiao Gu had witnessed Zhao Zeyun and Li Guan making things difficult for An Xiangdi before and had no good opinion of Zhao, speaking his name outright.

An Xiangdi raised an eyebrow. “Xiao Gu, you’ve really grown up.”

Xiao Gu, who was about to graduate university in less than a month, straightened his back, trying to give An Xiangdi face.

At the moment, Zhao Zeyun was half-hanging on Ying Chong’s arm, whispering something as if he were about to glue himself to him.

“That’s shameless. Yingdi has a kid already. Where did this Omega come from?”

“Rumor has it Director Wang specially added a role in the script just for him!”

“But Director Wang doesn’t seem like that kind of person. He usually hates people who use connections the most.”

“Maybe he’s Yingdi’s relative?”

“Doesn’t look like it. That fake white lotus vibe is so off.”

A few staff members were whispering in a corner, and An Xiangdi caught most of it. He was curious too—why was Zhao Zeyun here?

“I thought he ran off after you scolded him,” he said, glancing at Shen Xiao while heading to the makeup room.

“Yisheng Entertainment made a generous move when they acquired Royal Films,” Shen Xiao said. “They bought it at half price. It was a bankrupt company. Besides you, they didn’t have any big-name artists.”

“Maybe he is related to Yingdi,” An Xiangdi shrugged. On set, it still came down to acting skills. An empty shell without talent couldn’t stir up any waves. Besides, Zhao Zeyun was just a kid. He used to attack from the shadows. Now that they were both in the open, An Xiangdi wasn’t afraid of him at all.

After getting his makeup done, An Xiangdi waited on the sidelines for his scenes.

Gradually, a scent wafted over. It was a typical aromatherapy fragrance, but his condition made it feel overwhelmingly pungent.

He held back the nausea as long as he could, afraid others would notice something was off.

Unfortunately, the crew had lit the same aroma in all four corners of the set—likely to help keep people alert. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and stepped outside.

Shen Xiao returned with a bag of bayberries Liu Qing had bought and didn’t see An Xiangdi. After searching around, he finally found him hiding near the set.

An Xiangdi was pale, one hand bracing the wall, his head bowed as he struggled to breathe. Morning sickness was hitting hard.

Shen Xiao hurried over. “Still feeling bad?”

“Yeah,” An Xiangdi muttered. “They lit aromatherapy on set.”

“I’ll have them remove it,” Shen Xiao’s tone was sharp.

An Xiangdi, feeling a bit better, grabbed his arm. It’d seem unreasonable to throw a fit over aromatherapy. “Forget it.”

Just then, a commotion broke out near the set.

“Wei Yi! Wei-laoshi! Please wait!” A staff member was chasing after Wei Yi, who was storming off.

“Stop following me!” Wei Yi shouted.

The staff member froze, stunned into inaction.

An Xiangdi was puzzled and walked over. “What happened?”

“A-An Xiangdi…” The staff member stammered, “Director Wang added a few scenes with Zhao Zeyun and Wei Yi, but there were too many takes… Wei-laoshi got yelled at really badly.”

An Xiangdi frowned. “That’s impossible.”

Wei Yi had been getting yelled at by Director Wang from day one. A few harsh words weren’t enough to make him lose his temper. He had to be truly pissed off.

“I’ll go check.” He handed the bayberries back to Shen Xiao and quickly followed Wei Yi.

“Mm,” Shen Xiao responded, turning back toward the set.

Inside the set, most of the crew looked uneasy. Zhao Zeyun was sniffling beside Ying Chong, eyes watery as if he were terribly wronged.

“Wei Yi didn’t mean it. I’m fine… just let it go,” Zhao Zeyun choked, glancing at Director Wang.

“How can we let it go?! You’re an Omega! Him being an Alpha and bullying you is already unacceptable!” It wasn’t Director Wang but the assistant director Yang Chu who was fuming.

“Maybe… maybe we have a high pheromone compatibility… so Wei Yi couldn’t control himself. I guess I can understand.” Zhao Zeyun looked like he was defending Wei Yi.

Shen Xiao’s face darkened. He stepped outside and made a call.

Cheng Youyi answered while hugging his dog in his office chair. “Shen-ge? What’s up?”

“When you gave me Zhao Zeyun’s info last time, you didn’t mention any ties to Ying Chong.”

“He doesn’t have any,” Cheng Youyi shivered. “Ying Chong? No way.”

“The people on set say they’re relatives.”

“Relatives? No way! If I’m lying, my red hair can turn green!” Cheng Youyi swore. “Wait… which set? Your wife’s set? What was it—‘Faded Season’ or something?”

Shen Xiao stayed silent.

Cheng Youyi quickly pulled up An Xiangdi’s schedule. Seeing the bold “Faded Season” title, he checked the cast and crew list.

“That guy has zero relation to Ying Chong, but he does have some ties to Assistant Director Yang Chu. Yang’s kid had leukemia. Zhao Qiangjun lent him money for treatment—though the kid didn’t make it, Zhao never asked for the money back.”

“But why is he at your set? Added scenes?”

“He’s clearly riding on Ying Chong’s name.”

“Ugh… that’s complicated. Yang Chu helped Ying Chong when he debuted—it was a big favor. So even if Yang’s kind of a jerk, Ying Chong’s just repaying a debt.” Cheng Youyi clicked his tongue. “Ying Chong’s really being used here.”

“Hey, Shen-ge, do you think that brat came to mess with your wife on purpose?”

“I mean, it’s not even his company anymore, and he’s still making trouble? Shameless…” he muttered.

Shen Xiao hung up. Since there was no tie to Ying Chong, cleaning up the mess just got easier.

Elsewhere, An Xiangdi found Wei Yi near a small shop by the set.

The 27-year-old Alpha was sitting on the doorstep playing with a yo-yo. Luckily, the area was fenced off, so fans couldn’t get close—otherwise, the tough-guy image they had of Wei Yi would’ve been completely shattered.

“Do you have any self-respect?” An Xiangdi was a bit winded from walking and sat down beside him.

“Nope.” Wei Yi was fuming.

“What happened?”

“That Zhao-whatever Omega—does he have paranoia or something? He said I touched him! Do I look like someone who’d lower myself to touch that green-trash?!”

An Xiangdi blinked. “Green… trash?”

“Green b*tch,” Wei Yi cursed through gritted teeth.

“Ha…” An Xiangdi rubbed his temples, a headache coming on. Wei Yi usually had a big heart and rarely lost his temper. That said a lot about how unbearable Zhao Zeyun had been.

“Come on, let’s go back and settle this.” An Xiangdi decided they’d deal with it later. He still hadn’t figured out the connection between Zhao Zeyun and Ying Chong, so it was best not to act rashly.

“No—” Wei Yi was about to object when An Xiangdi’s phone rang.

It was a message from Shen Xiao:

Xiao Xiao: “Handled. Want me to come get you?”

“Your big bro handled it. Let’s go,” An Xiangdi said, still a bit surprised but slapped Wei Yi’s back and got up.

Wei Yi widened his eyes in shock, about to ask what happened—when An Xiangdi suddenly swayed and collapsed.

He panicked and rushed to catch him. “What the—what happened to you—?!”

“Urgh…” He’d walked too fast just now. Nausea hit him hard.

Wei Yi: ???