Chapter 7: Shattered Glass and Standing Ground
1087 Words
The glass walls of the office seemed colder than usual.
Even from Xiao Nai’s executive suite, Ziya could feel the ice in the air. Whispers traveled faster than network speed. Stares lingered longer than professionalism should allow.
She hadn’t stepped into the common floor since the incident.
Not after the elevator confrontation.
Not after the clinic visit.
And certainly not after Xiao Nai insisted she move in with him.
Now, returning to work after persuading Xiao Nai thousands times— even if only from behind tinted glass in his private office — felt like walking into a war zone in paper-thin armor. She low-key regret her decision to return.
Zhou Chen, her cubicle mate and unfiltered best friend, dropped by with a smoothie and two muffins. “You’re not eating enough. Again,” he said, dramatically plopping into the chair across her. “First, you faint. Then the boss carries you like a Disney princess, then you move in with him and now you're hiding like some CEO’s secret lover behind smoked glass?”
“Zhou Chen!” a sharp voice barked.
Xiao Nai stood at the door.
Zhou Chen froze mid-bite.
“She’s with me. Anything odd about a boyfriend carrying his girlfriend?” Xiao Nai asked coolly.
Zhou Chen gulped in fear. “No sir."
Ziya flushed and stared at her screen.
Xiao Nai arched a brow. “Problem?”
“No! Just… unexpected. Wow. Carry on. I’ll, uh, go eat this muffin elsewhere.”
Ziya caught a glimpse of him retreating like a confused crab. But even his antics couldn’t drown out the rising storm.
Not when Lin Yue, all smiles and sharpened claws, launched her next assault.
By noon, social media feeds exploded.
An anonymous thread surfaced:
“She was a nobody. Suddenly the CEO’s pet. Pregnant? Please. Smart women don’t fall into that trap unless it’s on purpose. #OfficeScandal #SleepingToTheTop”
Photos followed — Ziya entering the building, Xiao Nai shielding her in public, a suspicious bump beneath her blouse.
Within hours, the post trended company-wide and beyond.
Ziya’s phone buzzed relentlessly with messages from classmates, strangers, and distant relatives:
"Climbing fast, huh?"
"You’re trending. Not in a good way."
"Heard he dumped you yet?"
She buried herself in work, forcing her focus, ignoring how coworkers refused to hand her papers directly. The final blow came at lunch, when a group of women passed by and one sneered just loud enough:
“She probably wiggled her tail at him until he noticed.”
Ziya flinched. They laughed.
Her world spun.
A sharp stab of pain knifed through her abdomen. Her hand flew to her belly.
Warmth.
She looked down.
Blood.
A deep, blooming crimson against pale fabric. A small puddle forming beneath her.
The last thing she remembered was Zhou Chen screaming her name as the room blurred into darkness.
---
“ZIYA!”
Xiao Nai burst through the office door — too late.
His eyes caught the trail of blood from her skirts. His pulse spiked.
By the time he reached the hospital, she was unconscious. Pale. Hooked up to machines.
He paced like a lion caged in glass, her blood still drying on his shirt. His mind reeled.
“Threatened miscarriage,” the doctor said gravely. “She’s stable. But one more episode like that… and we might not be able to save the baby.”
Outside, chaos reigned.
The media swarmed the hospital lobby. Whispers of scandal thickened. When Lady Wen stood beside Lin Yue at a press event and said the Vellor family had been “deceived and humiliated by an opportunist,” it broke him.
Xiao Nai stormed in mid-conference, ignoring cameras flashing and shocked gasps.
He stepped to the mic, suit straightened like armor. Cold. Controlled.
“My name is Xiao Nai. CEO of Solaris Games. I have something to clarify.”
Reporters leaned in.
“I was never deceived. I have admired Lee Ziya for a long time — her work, her sincerity, her heart. Yes, she is pregnant. And yes, the child is mine. We are engaged. Our wedding is scheduled in a few weeks.”
Lady Wen rose. “This—”
“This is truth,” he cut in. “You fed lies to the media. You humiliated her. You nearly cost me my child.”
He turned to the crowd.
“She is not a scandal. She is not a mistake. She is the woman I chose. And I will protect her with every breath I have.”
Gasps rippled. And then—
Madam Luo stepped beside him, regal and radiant.
“My grandson speaks the truth. The Xiao name has no place for saboteurs. We stand by Lee Ziya — and the future she carries.”
Lady Wen said nothing after that. Her silence was louder than her press statement.
At the hospital, the room was too quiet.
Monitors beeped steadily beside the bed. Ziya looked like she might vanish into the sheets — pale, weak, fragile.
Xiao Nai sat by her side, both hands wrapped around hers.
When the doctor returned, his voice was calm but grave. “The bleeding’s stopped. But the fetus is under stress. I must warn you, one more episode like this…”
“I understand,” Xiao Nai said, cutting him off gently.
When Ziya stirred, her lashes fluttering. Her gaze searched the room in a daze before finding him.
Her voice was barely a whisper. “The baby…?”
“Still here,” he said, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “But barely.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry—”
“No.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “From now on, I’ll protect you. Even if you hate me for it.”
She let out a shaky breath. “You can’t lock me away.”
“I’m not locking you away. I’m keeping you alive.”
Then he turned to his assistant. “Prepare everything she needs. A workstation will be installed at home. She’ll work from bed. No travel. No stress. She’s not returning to the office until after delivery.”
“But—”
“Veto,” he said, gently cupping Ziya’s cheek. “This isn’t negotiable.”
And for once, she didn’t argue.
Because beneath the fear, beneath the shame, beneath the weight of the world’s scorn—
She felt safe.
Safe in the one place she hadn’t expected:
His arms.
Even if everything else still wanted her to break.
- Writer
