“Shen Nanci is dead.”
“She died at twenty-four.”
These two voices lingered like a curse, refusing to fade away.
In the nightmare, Li Hengyan shook his head repeatedly, sweat pouring down his forehead.
His thin lips murmured, “No, she’s not dead. CiCi isn’t dead…”
The night-shift butler outside the door, making his routine rounds, heard the man’s agonized voice inside the room. Fearing that Mr. Li might have an episode, he hurriedly called out, “Mr. Li, please wake up.”
Li Hengyan’s brows were tightly furrowed, his expression one of extreme suffering.
No matter how much the butler called, he couldn’t rouse him.
“Quick, call the doctor! Mr. Li is having another nightmare!”
On the bed with black sheets, Li Hengyan lay with his eyes tightly shut.
Nonsense. Who said his CiCi was dead?
His CiCi, his Shen Nanci, was clearly standing before him in a white dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, alive and well.
But in the next moment, the crowd suddenly erupted into chaos.
A terrified scream pierced the air: “Murder!”
The scene shifted. Shen Nanci, who had just been standing there and turning back to smile at him, now lay in his arms, covered in blood.
She had been stabbed over a dozen times.
Each wound was fatal, striking vital points.
Blood covered her body and pooled on the ground, staining Shen Nanci’s white dress, the floor, and his own white shirt crimson.
And his hands.
“No, CiCi…”
Li Hengyan pleaded, his voice trembling as he held Shen Nanci tightly in his arms.
“Shen Nanci, I forbid you to die! Open your eyes!”
“Shen Nanci! Do you hear me?!”
“CiCi, please open your eyes… I was wrong.”
“I was wrong. I’ll never force you or make you cry again… Even if you don’t love me, you are not allowed to die! CiCi, I forbid you to die!”
The woman in his arms lay with her eyes tightly shut, a single tear sliding from the corner of her eye.
Her hand fell limp.
Li Hengyan’s entire body stiffened, then uncontrollably grew cold and began to tremble.
The person in his arms grew colder and colder.
“No!!”
Li Hengyan’s eyes ached with a dull pain, his heart hurting so much he could hardly breathe.
Ignoring the screams and chaos around him, he lifted Shen Nanci into his arms.
In his ear, he heard the voice of Su Qingnuan, the top female star in the entertainment industry: “Hengyan, you’re scaring me. But Shen Nanci is just your secretary…”
Li Hengyan couldn’t hear her.
Su Qingnuan tugged at Li Hengyan’s arm, urgently saying, “Shen Nanci was stabbed over a dozen times. I’m afraid she can’t be saved…”
In the next moment.
Li Hengyan vomited a mouthful of blood.
It splattered onto Shen Nanci’s lifeless face.
Beside the airport, this famously cold, ruthless, and merciless man of the imperial capital’s business empire had eyes reddened with grief.
Holding the woman in his arms with tender care, he was filled with immense regret and remorse.
He raised a hand, gently wiping the blood from Shen Nanci’s face.
Burying his head, the man held Shen Nanci tightly and whispered a desperate plea: “Don’t die. Don’t leave me…”
Shen Nanci, without my permission, you are not allowed to die!
Do you hear me?!
Li Hengyan awoke from the pain, his eyes filled with utter despair.
“Mr. Li, you scared me to death!”
“Master Li, did you… dream of Miss Shen again?”
Hearing the words “Miss Shen,” Li Hengyan snapped fully awake.
He closed his eyes, his voice icy to the extreme.
“Get out!”
The group, fearing Li Hengyan’s wrath, hurriedly retreated.
The doctor prescribed stronger medication for depression and anxiety.
Outside.
Running into the butler, the doctor sighed, “Master Li, he…”
The butler tensed. “What’s the worst-case scenario?”
The doctor sighed with regret, “Master Li is suffering from a heart ailment. Miss Shen’s death has left him with no will to live, to the point where his condition is beyond cure.”
In other words, there was simply no medicine that could heal him.
Unless…
Miss Shen was still alive in this world.
For a full week, Li Hengyan’s condition grew increasingly worse.
He suffered from insomnia, nightmares, irritability, and violent outbursts—smashing objects in fits of rage—to the point of coughing up blood uncontrollably in the middle of the night.
During the day, the Li Corporation was in chaos with no one at the helm, while at night, the entire Li residence was plunged into darkness, resembling an abandoned haunted house.
Li Hengyan forbade even the slightest hint of light!
Three days later.
He went to a bar.
Drinking recklessly, as if trying to drown himself, he didn’t return until midnight.
Li Hengyan headed to a hotel, opened the door to the presidential suite, and stumbled toward the bedroom.
Groping in the dark, he made his way to the bed, swayed, and collapsed onto the mattress.
This bed had once witnessed countless moments between him and Shen Nanci.
Unfortunately, he had only used it for release and venting.
While Shen Nanci had left behind nothing but pain and tears, her body covered in wounds.
“CiCi…”
After uttering that name, Li Hengyan was seized by excruciating pain all over his body. He suddenly burst into laughter, laughing and laughing.
Then, abruptly, he vomited a mouthful of blood.
…
When Li Hengyan woke again, his head throbbed with pain. Groggily, he opened his eyes and sat up.
It seemed he had drunk too much.
Now, he was feeling the effects.
Li Hengyan stared blankly into the darkness when suddenly, his sharp, dark, and vigilant eyes turned toward the window.
When had the curtains been opened?
Hadn’t he explicitly forbidden any light in the room?
The next moment, Li Hengyan sensed something was off. He didn’t feel the weakness or pain from vomiting blood—only the throbbing headache from the alcohol.
Beside him, there seemed to be a faint, delicate fragrance.
A blend of sweet pear and locust blossom.
This scent was something Li Hengyan had only ever smelled on two people.
One was Shen Nanci.
The other was Su Qingnuan.
At the thought of the latter, Li Hengyan’s eyes sharpened, filled with intense disgust and murderous intent.
Su Qingnuan, if you dare climb into my bed, you’re asking for death!
The moment he switched on the light.
Before he could get a clear look, Li Hengyan reached out with a fierce glare, grabbing the woman by the neck.
With just a little more force, he could easily snap it.
The woman lying on the bed let out an unconscious, soft groan.
When Li Hengyan finally saw her clearly, his pupils contracted violently. He froze, his entire body rigid.
For a long moment, he couldn’t react.
His hand trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing the woman frown, as if in immense pain, Li Hengyan panicked and released his grip. He thought he must be seeing things.
He had to be.
How could it be… CiCi?
His Nanci, wasn’t she already…
Li Hengyan had no idea whether this was a mistake of his senses or a genuine hallucination.
Or perhaps, he had died?
Only in death could he see Shen Nanci again.
Li Hengyan’s eyes reddened involuntarily. He pinched his arm—it hurt.
Then he slapped himself hard across the face!
It still hurt!
Li Hengyan remained stunned for a long while, finally confirming that the person lying unconscious on his bed was indeed Shen Nanci.
Only then did he tremble, barely able to distinguish reality from illusion, and pulled Shen Nanci tightly into his arms.
The man could no longer hold back, tears streaming down his face.
“CiCi, don’t leave me…”
A phone on the carpet beside the bed rang, shattering the silence in the room.
It took Li Hengyan a long time to answer.
It was Shen An, Shen Nanci’s father from the Shen Corporation.
“President Li, Shen Nanci has been delivered to your room. You may… do as you please.”
Li Hengyan was stunned, plunged once more into confusion.
This scene felt eerily familiar.
He had experienced it before.
Three years ago, he had schemed to push Shen An’s business into crisis, forcing him to seek help, and in exchange, Shen An secretly sold his third daughter to him as an underground lover.
That night, Shen Nanci was sent to his bed unconscious.
Li Hengyan, dazed and confused, checked the time on his phone.
“…!!”
It was actually three years ago!
The very night he had lost control and taken Shen Nanci for the entire night.
He…
had actually been reborn back to three years ago!!