After an Alien Took My Husband's Place - Chapter 2

After coaxing Tan Yao into the bathroom, I collapsed onto the sofa, my head a mess.

I pulled out my phone to search: Why is my husband, who has no interest in sex, suddenly acting strange?

Then that post caught my attention again.

The poster had updated:

> Wife avoids me. She is unwilling to have physical contact with me.

> Does this mean our relationship has not reached this stage, or that Wife has detected something abnormal?

> If so, I can only take action to eliminate this threat.

The commenters were facepalming.

> What is this, “Love me or die”? Who gave this guy the psycho-lover script? Cut it out.

> You just forced the physical contact? Your poor wife. Being courted by you sounds like suffering.

> Ever heard of showing a little vulnerability? Or do you have abs? If you’ve got abs, use them! Once the mood’s right, a little kiss will follow naturally.

> Gotta hand it to OP, though. He never breaks the alien character. From now on, clickbait accounts aren’t allowed to farm views unless they put in this much effort!

Only when steam drifted out through the bathroom door, and I saw Tan Yao approaching with wet hair, did I remember.

I’d gone online to ask for help!

Tan Yao stopped beside the sofa and said quietly:

“Wife, I am in pain.”

Why did he keep calling me that?

I was completely bewildered.

But remembering his bloodstained shirt, I decided to deal with the practical issue first.

“I’ll get the first-aid kit. Sit down.”

“All right.”

Tan Yao sat and began undoing his pajama buttons as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

The sheen of the satin shifted and warped beneath his fingers.

I turned back just as his lean, firm abs were fully exposed, the faint V of his hips disappearing below.

…How was this fair? I was a woman, after all! Okay, not the point.

Without thinking, I bit the inside of my lip.

My thoughts were wandering somewhere entirely inappropriate when several gaping cuts startled me right back to my senses.

“How did you get hurt so badly? We should go to the hospital.”

“No need.”

Tan Yao’s refusal was blunt. He offered no explanation for his injuries.

It made my concern seem presumptuous.

The effect was like a bucket of cold water.

“All right. Then bear with me. This will probably hurt a lot.”

“It is fine.”

And just as he said, he only lowered his eyes and watched me slowly disinfect and dress his wounds, showing no sign of pain.

As if the body didn’t belong to him.

“Does it hurt?”

I looked up at him and said gently, “Tell me if it does. I’ll be as careful as I can, okay?”

Something like confusion flickered in his eyes.

Just as I began to think I had overstepped the boundaries we’d set, he said quietly:

“It hurts.”

“Then I’ll be gentler.”

I nodded and tended his wounds with even more care.

Looking up again, I asked, “How about now?”

“It no longer hurts.”

“Good.”

I smiled, trying to keep my touch just as light.

After treating the last cut, I tipped my head back to remind him:

“All done. If I’d known they were this bad, I wouldn’t have let you shower.

“Keep water off them from now on. If they get infected, you’ll still have to go to the hospital.”

Tan Yao blinked slowly and said out of nowhere:

“Thank you, Wife.”

As he finished speaking, a drop fell from the ends of his hair into the hollow at the base of my throat.

So cold.

My cheeks heated in response, and my brain crashed.

Tan Yao remained perfectly composed, looking straight down at me as though he meant to pin me in place with his gaze.

His hot breath drew closer, brushing the tip of my nose.

I snapped back to myself.

Jumping to my feet, I stammered:

“Y-you’re welcome. It’s all done, so I’ll go back to my room and rest. You should get some rest too.”

With that, I fled into my bedroom.

I leaned against the door, my heart pounding.

So strange. Tan Yao was so strange today.

When he’d left just a week ago, he’d snapped at me for casually asking where he was going and told me to mind my own business.

Had his family started pressuring him to have a baby?

As I stood there in a daze, my phone chimed.

It was a notification: the post I’d read had been updated.

> Wife still rejects me.