Zhou Xizhi held Zhao Ruoruo in his arms, his snow-white shirt stained with blood. At the sound of Wen Xiao’s voice, he only cast a brief glance before continuing without a single pause in his stride.
However cold the rainy night was, it could never be colder than Zhou Xizhi’s eyes.
Through the layers of rain, Yan Yi’an still caught the coldness and urgency in his gaze. Heh…
No amount of pain in her heart could compare to that single moment of indifference from him. Blood and rainwater mingled beneath her, her body long since numb to all sensation.
Before she lost consciousness, the last thing Yan Yi’an saw was Zhou Xizhi carrying Zhao Ruoruo through the curtain of rain—his brow so urgent, so frantic, yet when he looked at her, it was so cold, so icy…
Even Wen Xiao, a man, felt a pang of reluctance and pity rise in his heart. He called over a few people to help pry Yan Yi’an out of the car.
At Fangcheng Hospital, the red lights of two emergency rooms blazed on.
Zhou Xizhi radiated bone-chilling coldness, like Satan descending with the night, capable of destroying everything. Turbulent waves of fury churned beneath his eyes, and blood stained his tightly clenched jaw—utterly demonic and bewitching. No one dared approach within half a step.
When the emergency room doors finally opened, Zhou Xizhi immediately rose and strode toward the doctor.
“Rest assured, Mr. Zhou. Miss Zhao’s condition has stabilized. However, the severe injury to Miss Zhao’s leg may affect her future…”
Before he could finish, a nurse from the other end rushed over. “Who is the family member of the patient? The patient is in critical condition and needs a family member to sign the consent form.”
Intimidated by Zhou Xizhi’s furious expression, the nurse only asked once. When no one answered, she hurried back. From beginning to end, Zhou Xizhi never once went over to look.
Yan Yi’an felt as though she were adrift on turbulent seas—lights shining ahead, yet she could never swim toward them, never grasp them. She only felt her body growing terribly cold…
When Zhao Ruoruo woke, the first ray of sunlight had just pierced through the gray mist outside the window, casting across half of the man’s face—cold and stern, yet gentle, like a sovereign surveying the world below.
Hearing movement behind him, Zhou Xizhi turned immediately, his brow softening. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
Zhao Ruoruo’s face was deathly pale, her eyes rimmed with red, like a withered and defeated flower, fragile beyond measure. “Xi Zhi, I was so scared. In that moment of the crash, I truly feared I would never see you again.”
“It’s alright. It’s all over…”
Zhou Xizhi held her close, comforting her in a low voice, a trace of guilt flickering within him.
Zhao Ruoruo felt waves of pain radiating from her leg. Helpless and terrified, she looked up at Zhou Xizhi. “My leg…”
A flicker of guilt passed across Zhou Xizhi’s brow. The doctor had said the impact and compression had damaged the nerves in her leg, and she would need proper rest—there should be a possibility of recovery.
The implication being, there was also a chance she might become crippled…
Pain showed in Zhou Xizhi’s eyes, deep helplessness welling within him. All he could do was hold Zhao Ruoruo and comfort her again and again. “It’s fine. You’ll get better…”
Zhao Ruoruo was furious, resentful, and hateful all at once. She clung tightly to Zhou Xizhi, sobbing. “It was Yan Yi’an…”
“She said… she was pregnant. She wanted to use the child… to force me to leave you. When I refused, she drove her car into me. It was all her doing…”
A sharp glint flashed through Zhou Xizhi’s eyes.
Pregnant? She actually used such a despicable method to threaten Ruoruo into leaving him?
What a vicious mind.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ll make her pay for this, Ruoruo…”
Held in Zhou Xizhi’s arms and comforted, a trace of sinister satisfaction and triumph flickered in Zhao Ruoruo’s eyes—hidden where he could not see.
Her legs had never been seriously injured, but only this way could she make Zhou Xizhi utterly loathe Yan Yi’an.
Yan Yi’an, your death would be well-deserved, and living would only be worse than death.
In the end, Yan Yi’an was still fortunate to survive.
Opening her eyes to see the hospital ceiling and hear the rhythmic beeping of the machines beside her, Yan Yi’an took a moment before shifting her gaze, recalling what had happened. Outside the window, the sunlight was already bright and warm—everything was so beautiful.
After Yan Yi’an woke up, Wen Xiao immediately notified Zhou Xizhi.
Yan Yi’an was just propping herself up to get out of bed, her whole body feeling like it was falling apart.
The door was suddenly pushed open, footsteps heavy and urgent, carrying a destructive fury that swept in like a storm.
“Zhou—”
The moment Yan Yi’an opened her mouth, her neck was already seized tightly by the newcomer. Despite her feeble slapping and her gradually reddening face nearing suffocation, she was like a shattered doll, breaking at the slightest touch…
“Yan Yi’an, I asked the doctor and you were never pregnant. You actually used a fake child to coerce Ruoruo, hurt her, harm her—tell me, don’t you deserve to die?”
Zhou Xizhi’s eyes were bloodshot, his words like a demon’s curse, not even noticing Yan Yi’an’s weakness and suffocation, his heart filled only with betrayal and rage.
“I… I didn’t… hurt… Zhao Ruoruo… it was all her own doing…”
Yan Yi’an instinctively slapped and struggled against the man’s grip.
She had never seen Zhou Xizhi this angry before. She had no doubt that Zhou Xizhi truly wanted to strangle her.
The corners of Yan Yi’an’s eyes were bloodshot, her lashes trembling as a single clear tear fell onto Zhou Xizhi’s hand—so scorching, just like the intense and fervent gaze she always gave him.
Zhou Xizhi’s eyes were wild with fury, his grip suddenly tightening as he pressed Yan Yi’an hard against the wall, his breath cold as he let out a sneer, as if hearing something absurd. “Hmph.”
“Ruoruo’s legs are injured. The doctor said the chance of recovery is very slim. She treasures her career so much—how could she risk her own body? Yan Yi’an, you truly surprise me. A venomous, heartless woman.”
“If Ruoruo really can’t walk normally in the future, I’ll break both your legs to atone to her…”
“Mm…”
How could that be?
She clearly saw Zhao Ruoruo walk from the car to right in front of her…
But Zhou Xizhi didn’t give her a chance to prove her innocence. In his eyes, it was all just excuses—Zhao Ruoruo’s leg injury was the evidence.
Zhou Xizhi’s hand suddenly released, looking down from above at Yan Yi’an who had slid to the floor, gasping desperately for air, contempt in his eyes. “Yan Yi’an, I misjudged you. You’re the most venomous woman I’ve ever met.”
“Zhou Xizhi… whether you believe it or not… I didn’t…”
Yan Yi’an clutched her neck, rings of red marks surfacing on her fair skin.
New scars over old wounds, shocking to behold. The flush of red drained from her face, leaving only a complexion as pale as paper, like a dead person.
Yet stubbornly, she raised her head, her eyes reddened, her clear black-and-white pupils filled with unwillingness and hurt, looking up at the man who was looking down on her with contempt. “It was Zhao Ruoruo who called me on her own initiative, and she deliberately staged the car accident…”
Zhou Xizhi laughed in extreme anger, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, his thin lips pressed together growing even more cold and merciless. “Whether Ruoruo’s legs can ever walk normally again is still unknown. Do you think she’s like you—stopping at nothing, willing to harm herself to achieve her goals?”
“Hm?”
“Yan Yi’an, don’t think everyone is as vile and sinister as you, with such deep scheming. I never want to see you again—you’re an eyesore.”
“Why do you believe Zhao Ruoruo’s words without question, yet have not a shred of trust in me?” Yan Yi’an refused to accept it.
“Ruoruo and I grew up together, while you—you’re just a woman I slept with for two years.” A flicker of contempt crossed Zhou Xizhi’s face.
Just a woman he slept with for two years?
She had been a nuisance before, and now she truly had become trash…
Yan Yi’an stared at him in disbelief…
She collapsed completely onto the floor, pale-faced with black hair, lifting her slightly reddened eyes with a hint of stubbornness as she looked up at the man above her, murmuring with all her remaining strength, “Zhou Xizhi, Zhao Ruoruo left you for three years. People change…”