The Breeding Deal: Brother-in-law's Forbidden Offer

Christmas Eve had arrived.

The hospital corridors and wards were decked out in Christmas decorations, with red and green ornaments hung everywhere. The head nurse had even made an exception, playing Christmas carols in the hallways, creating an atmosphere of warm holiday cheer.

Christine was spending Christmas in the hospital room with her family - herself, Ethan, and Rebecca.

Last night brought the winter's first snowfall. Overnight, the world transformed into a silvery white wonderland, with thick snow blanketing the small plaza below the hospital.

Christine went downstairs to scoop up some snow in a cup, carefully carrying it back upstairs. She smiled as she held it out to Ethan, letting him touch it.

Looking at her reddened hands, Ethan wished he could pull them into his embrace to warm them, but he couldn't move. All he could do was say softly, "Don't let your hands get too cold... You might catch a cold."

His speech was slow and quiet now, but Christine remained patient as always, waiting for him to finish before responding gently, "It's okay."

Winter had always been Christine's favorite season.

Last Christmas, she and Ethan had traveled to Hokkaido, Japan. They went skiing at the Sapporo ski resort, played in the snow, and had snowball fights with new friends they met there. Ethan had taken countless photos of her, each one capturing her smiling face. Her phone's wallpaper was still that Christmas photo of them holding hands in the snow.

Rebecca was also in the hospital room today, sitting on the couch and browsing through the Blackwood Group's latest public art collection.

The exhibition was titled "Pink Winter," with its centerpiece being a pink Qing Dynasty vase. The collection for sale included various glass plates, cups, bookmarks, and decorative pieces. The jewelry line had been the best-seller, all following the pink Christmas theme, even featuring several couples' designs that radiated romance.

The comments section was buzzing with people wondering why the Blackwood Group had suddenly shifted to romance-themed collections, when their exhibitions and marketing usually maintained an ethereal, high-end image. Everyone was curious about what the mysterious CEO was thinking.

"Oh, these earrings are lovely. I think they'd suit Christine perfectly," Rebecca commented while scrolling through her phone.

"It's a shame you're pregnant now and not dressing up much. Otherwise, I could have someone bring them over for you to try on. How about that as my Christmas gift to you?"

Ethan said he wanted to see them.

Rebecca held the phone in front of him, and Christine leaned in to look too. On screen was a pair of pearl earrings. While pearl earrings weren't unusual, these were uniquely crafted into peach shapes, round and lifelike, with a subtle pink sheen that sparkled beautifully under the light.

"Beautiful,"

The man gazed at them for a moment before turning to his wife with a smile.

Rebecca nodded, looking quite pleased. "Well then, I'll have them sent over later."

"Please don't, Mom. Like you said, I'm not dressing up much these days. Don't waste money on these things for me." Christine shook her head in protest, but Rebecca was already browsing through more pages, searching for beautiful jewelry for her daughter-in-law.

"Look, there are matching necklaces and bracelets too. What do you think?"

The necklace was also made of pearls, each one shaped like a white peach, just like the earrings. From a distance, they looked like a string of white peaches threaded on silver wire, gleaming with a smooth, soft pink radiance.

They were truly beautiful, and Christine found herself drawn to them. Her eyes drifted down to check the designer's name, but it was left blank.

Before Christine could say anything more, Rebecca had already pulled out her phone and was making a call.

"Adrian? I'm looking at your art collection released today. Those pink earrings are quite nice - the peach-shaped ones. Save a pair for me, would you?"

Christine sat quietly listening. The hospital room was silent enough that she could hear the man's deep, detached voice through the phone. She realized it had been a long time since she'd heard his voice. He was still a man of few words, mostly just giving short responses to Rebecca's cheerful chatter.

Finally, she heard him say, "I'll have someone deliver them soon."

According to Sophie, after the day that Christine called him to stop doing those things , Adrian had left for Thailand on business. He hadn't returned even by Christmas Eve, apparently traveling across Southeast Asia meeting various collectors to acquire rare pieces for the company.

After Christmas, the company's executive annual meeting was scheduled at Long Island, requiring him to return to the US from Asia.

Once the New Year began, he would likely be even busier.

Since that day, he hadn't visited the hospital once, let alone come home.

Everything that had happened between them seemed to have just... vanished.

As for Marcus and Wesley, Victor's good-for-nothing sons who Adrian had beaten nearly to disability - Rebecca had gossiped with Christine about them in hushed tones. They were originally supposed to receive treatment in N City. Victor had spent considerable time networking to connect them with the country's best rehabilitation doctors.

However, at the last moment, Victor discovered that Adrian held significant shares in the rehabilitation hospital.

The old man was furious and frustrated, but eventually bit the bullet and spent a fortune sending his sons to Europe for treatment.

Rebecca was quite smug while telling this story - her previous anger and fear about Adrian's actions had long since faded, now that they hadn't caused trouble for so long. She said the person she hated most in her life was Victor's wife, Lily. Just thinking about their past days of competing for the old man's attention and their constant power struggles made her blood boil.

Now, with Victor's family in decline and Lily's troublemaker sons disabled, she could barely contain her joy.

When Marcus and Wesley were first beaten, Lily had sworn to make Rebecca "take responsibility" and get justice for her sons. But now, with Rebecca's husband gone and everything under Adrian's control - well, how could she dare say anything about injuries Adrian himself had inflicted? She just kept repeating that children's matters should be settled by children, and the elders shouldn't interfere.

Her words could never convince Lily - a woman with little education who'd relied solely on her pretty face and figure in her youth. At her core, she was shallow, vain, and selfish. Her marriage to the money-obsessed Victor proved the saying true: birds of a feather flock together.

Last week, while Victor was taking their sons to Europe, Lily stormed into the hospital.

Somehow she got past security and up the elevator. Her hair was unkempt, her once-beautiful face long faded. She burst into Ethan's room on the top floor like a madwoman, flinging open the door and screaming at him on the bed:

"After all these years! Your brother's still hung up on ancient history! For fuck's sake, my son only hit you once when he was ten! That bastard Adrian and his fucking revenge! Let me tell you something - you lying here, half-dead in this damn bed, that's karma! You're dying! You don't have much time left! Your whole family deserves this!"

When Rebecca heard this and recognized who it was, she didn't hesitate. She rushed forward and slapped Lily twice across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor.

Lily had never been hit like this before. After a moment of shock, she let out a piercing scream and lunged at Rebecca, grabbing her hair.

The two women in their fifties wrestled on the floor, their fight echoing through the entire corridor. Finally, Sophie rushed out and used her years of judo training and surprising strength to separate them, holding them back until security arrived to restore some semblance of calm.

Lily stood to one side, still shouting threats about calling the police and taking Adrian and his company to court, saying she'd fight Rebecca's family to the bitter end.

Rebecca went back into the hospital room with deep nail marks on her forehead, telling her son, "Don't mind any of this. Don't listen to her nonsense. Your aunt's gone crazy, and crazy people's words mean nothing."

Ethan nodded from his bed, seemingly unbothered. "I know, Mom. Don't worry about her."

That night, around 10 PM, in the quiet room, Christine was adjusting Ethan's blanket before heading home.

She noticed tears streaming down the sides of his face, so many that they had pooled in his ears.

Christine took some cotton swabs and gently dried his ears.

Then she lay her head on his now-frail chest, listening to his heartbeat, and whispered, "Everything will be okay."

Would everything really be okay?

The chemotherapy had been going on for so long, but hope... seemed to be fading.

No matching bone marrow, weekly test results showing declining numbers, and Ethan's increasing silence.

Ethan was losing hope - or maybe he never had any to begin with. Even Rebecca was near breaking point. She used to be full of encouraging words, but lately, after Ethan fell asleep, she would grab Christine's hands and ask desperately, "Christine, do you think Ethan will get better?"

Christine remained silent.

She gazed out the window. It was Christmas Eve, and the night was exceptionally quiet. Snow fell like goose feathers, blanketing this bustling, noisy city she loved so much.

Santa Claus, tell me, will everything really be okay?