The caregiver lowered her head as she changed the bedding, not noticing the strange look on Su Yuqing’s face.
She went on, “I just passed the billing counter and saw a very handsome man taking care of your discharge paperwork.”
“What? Discharge paperwork?”
Su Yuqing looked surprised. “How do you know he was doing it for me?”
She hadn’t asked anyone to arrange her discharge!
“I heard him, of course. You could tell right away that man came from an important family.” The caregiver smiled mysteriously. “You’re Su Yuqing, right?”
“Mm.” Su Yuqing nodded.
“Exactly!” The caregiver slapped her thigh. “That man said, ‘I’m handling Su Yuqing’s discharge. I’m her fiancé.’”
Fiancé?!
Hearing those three words hit Su Yuqing like a blow to the head.
What was Huo Peiyan up to?
Didn’t he know they’d already broken up?
Why was he still calling himself her fiancé?
Su Yuqing was furious.
But then she thought about it: with someone like Huo Peiyan, nothing he said should come as a surprise.
She furrowed her brows slightly. The urgent thing now was to get out of here.
She didn’t want to leave with Huo Peiyan.
She had to be gone before he arrived.
Su Yuqing didn’t hesitate. After quickly packing her things, she left the hospital room.
She didn’t take the elevator, choosing instead to go down the stairs.
Her room was on the twelfth floor. Su Yuqing made her way slowly down the stairs.
Her leg had only just healed, and she didn’t dare go too fast.
The motion-sensor lights in the stairwell kept going out.
So Su Yuqing turned on her phone’s flashlight and slowly made her way down by its faint glow.
It was already eleven at night.
Su Yuqing muttered a curse at Huo Peiyan. He was like a ghost that wouldn’t leave her alone.
Instead of spending his time with Ruan Qingqing like he should, he had to keep messing with her.
Su Yuqing was so angry her chest felt tight.
Huo Peiyan was always like this: doing whatever he wanted, making decisions unilaterally, changing his mind on a whim, and never discussing anything with her.
A textbook chauvinist.
Yet he always thought he was right and never believed he’d done anything wrong.
Fine. Whatever.
If she couldn’t afford to provoke him, she could at least avoid him, couldn’t she?
But for some reason, he just wouldn’t leave her alone!
Lost in her thoughts, Su Yuqing quickened her pace down the stairs.
The stairwell lights flickered on, then went dark again, while the light from her phone wavered.
The next moment, the heavy fire door to the stairwell suddenly swung open, and a tall figure slowly approached.
An oppressive force radiated from him; his whole presence was icy.
The sudden appearance of the man startled Su Yuqing.
She hurriedly raised her phone, shining the flashlight straight into his handsome face. Only then did she recognize Huo Peiyan.
Her heart eased a little.
Huo Peiyan didn’t even blink as she shone the light directly at him. It struck his face like a spotlight, making him look almost otherworldly.
“How long are you going to stare?”
Huo Peiyan’s eyes were dark as he spoke coldly.
Su Yuqing snapped back to her senses. She quickly lowered her phone and turned off the light.
The narrow, stuffy stairwell plunged into darkness.
Neither of them spoke. An awkward silence fell, and Su Yuqing could hear only their mingled breathing.
“Why are you running?”
Huo Peiyan’s voice was icy. The motion-sensor light overhead came on, illuminating his sharply defined, expressionless face.
He exuded the pressure of someone accustomed to being in charge.
“I… I wasn’t running!”
Though they’d broken up and where she went was none of his business, Su Yuqing still felt awkward being caught in the act.
She gripped her phone tightly and stared down at her toes, her gaze flicking unconsciously toward the stairs beside her as she prepared to make a run for it.
“Heh.” A soft laugh came from above her. His black leather shoes advanced one step at a time, and the oppressive force grew stronger.
A powerful tug pulled Su Yuqing into his arms. She gasped as the familiar, clean scent of sandalwood reached her, and she collided with his hard chest.
Her ankle twisted and hurt. Her brows knitted as she sucked in a sharp breath.
Her small, fair hand shoved hard against the man in front of her as she struggled to escape his hold.
“Let go of me.”
Su Yuqing didn’t look up. All she could hear by her ear was the man’s steady heartbeat.
Huo Peiyan’s eyes darkened, as if a raging storm were brewing in them.
Su Yuqing saw his Adam’s apple move.
The next second, her feet left the ground. Huo Peiyan had lifted her into his arms.
“Put me down!”
Su Yuqing fought wildly in his arms, punching and kicking.
The softness of her chest pressed against his hard body. Huo Peiyan’s thin lips tightened. He wrapped his left arm around her waist, then reached out and smacked her bottom. “Don’t move.”
Su Yuqing froze as if someone had pressed pause. She nestled quietly in Huo Peiyan’s arms, though her earlobes slowly turned pink.
The narrow, cramped stairwell suddenly filled with an intimate tension.
Huo Peiyan lowered his head and studied her. His cool breath was close enough to feel. “How long are you planning to keep avoiding me?”
His gaze swept over her slender ankle. “Your ankle’s swollen.”
Huo Peiyan had eyes that seemed tender even when he looked at a dog. Looking down at her now, he seemed just like a devoted husband concerned for his wife.
But Su Yuqing knew how cold and unfeeling he was beneath those tender eyes and that striking face.
For seven years, she had felt the chill of his indifference every moment.
She used to hold on to hope, thinking she could move him, melt that block of ice. Like a moth flying into a flame, she had thrown herself at him without hesitation.
But in the end, she had become the biggest joke of all.
Now she had finally seen sense. She no longer wanted his love or his condescending handouts.
From the moment he’d left that night to go to the airport to pick up Ruan Qingqing, she’d understood. She’d seen the truth.
In his eyes, her feelings were no more valuable than weeds.
Rather than exhaust herself trying to please someone who didn’t love her, she was better off letting go—setting him free and freeing herself, too.
She took a deep breath and looked up at him, her gaze firm.
“Huo Peiyan, put me down. We’ve broken up! Where I go has nothing to do with you. From now on, you take your broad road and I’ll take my narrow bridge. We’ll stay out of each other’s way.”
Huo Peiyan looked down at her puffed-up little face.
She was like a kitten that couldn’t bite and only dared to bare its claws, all bluster and no bite.
And she still dared to talk about breaking up with him?
Huo Peiyan was so angry he laughed. “Fine, fine. You’ve gotten pretty bold, haven’t you? You dare to break up with me now?”
“Huo Peiyan, I’m serious!”
“Put me down. We’ve broken up. Go be with your Ruan Qingqing already. If you don’t let me go, I’m calling the police!”
Su Yuqing couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath on him. As she spoke, she struggled, trying to jump down from his arms.
Huo Peiyan’s eyes turned icy. He swung her over his shoulder, then reached for the fire door with his other hand, his voice tight with suppressed anger.
“When we break up is up to me!”