Pregnant with My Brother's Child

Xia You'an has two secrets.

One is that he mustn't let anyone find out he loves his older brother.

The other is that he mustn't let anyone find out he had his brother's child.

At fourteen, Xia You'an learned that he'd been switched at birth and wasn't the Xia family's second young master by blood. He didn't find it strange. His intelligence was nowhere near that of his older brother, Xia Yuanzhan, who was seven years older and always called him stupid.

Perhaps they worried that someone as foolish as him wouldn't survive if he returned to his birth family, so the Xia family never asked him to go back.

At seventeen, he secretly overheard his brother, who never lied, playing truth or dare with a friend. His brother said the happiest moment of his life was finding out Xia You'an wasn't his biological younger brother.

At twenty, an accident left Xia You'an pregnant with Xia Yuanzhan's child. He hurried abroad to study and escape his brother's control. Not long afterward, he said he was going to marry his girlfriend, a local plantation owner, and join her family. Xia Yuanzhan was furious. He cut off Xia You'an's bank cards and said he shouldn't have let him study abroad: it had taken no time at all for him to go bad. Terrified, Xia You'an cut off all contact with home.

At twenty-four, Xia You'an was raising his daughter by playing violin at an upscale restaurant. When he saw that Xia Yuanzhan was the customer who had requested him, he almost lost his grip on the bow.

Xia Yuanzhan still had a way with words. He said the Xia family hadn't paid for all those years of artistic training so he could provide emotional support to strangers for a mere eight hundred yuan an hour.

Xia You'an was angry but didn't dare talk back. Xia Yuanzhan offered him a deal: he'd give him enough money to never work again, if he came home and pretended that the two of them had made up so they could spend Grandma's final days together.

Xia You'an knew that, in his brother's eyes, he was shallow and heartless. He agreed.

When Xia Yuanzhan found out he had a four-year-old daughter, his gaze grew even more complicated.

*

Xia You'an had to keep his secret hidden. He couldn't let his brother find out.

If his brother learned that the younger brother he hated had given birth to his child, surely he'd want to kill him.

*

Unfortunately, the secret didn't stay hidden.

P.S. The main character only develops feelings beyond familial affection after learning they aren't related by blood.

The older brother is a domineering, old-fashioned patriarch type, and the younger brother is a bit of a lovesick fool. It's not going to be too angsty, just a little bittersweet. Neither of them has eyes for anyone but the other.

Theme: Love