The soft touch of her palm assailed him once more, spreading through his organs like poison with alarming speed—yet he greedily didn’t want to let go.
Meeting the girl’s adoring, love-filled gaze, Sheng Yanyu’s heart seized. Instinctively, he turned his hand over and gripped hers tightly.
Those dark, obsessive thoughts couldn’t be suppressed no matter how hard he tried, surging outward madly.
He had never been a gentleman of honor—otherwise, he wouldn’t have confined her here!
So her approach now, even if it was while she was not in her right mind, made him despicably want to seize it, to possess it!
“Tang Yan…” Sheng Yanyu gazed at her with deep, dark eyes. Something seemed to struggle within them, but in the end, his last shred of reason crumbled: “It’s late. You should go rest.”
“Okay.” Tang Yan nodded earnestly, then pulled him along as she walked outside.
Sheng Yanyu wanted to shake off her hand, yet in the end, he let her lead him forward.
Back in the room, Tang Yan obediently took off her shoes and lay down, then turned her gaze to Sheng Yanyu and patted the spot beside her on the bed. “You lie down too.”
Sheng Yanyu frowned. “What?”
Tang Yan blinked her eyes gently, thinking about how she and Sheng Yanyu had never actually taken things that far. Even though he had imprisoned her in this villa, he had never done anything inappropriate to her.
In fact, in her previous life, aside from going against her will and confining her to this villa, he had never done anything bad to her at all!
And what she had called imprisonment was actually just his way of protecting her in disguise.
“Sheng Yanyu, I can’t sleep. Will you stay with me?” she spoke softly, with a pleading tone.
For Sheng Yanyu, this moment felt like a dream—illusory yet beautiful.
But for Tang Yan, wasn’t it also a dream?
She had just been in a car accident and had been through a whole day of turmoil. Her body was exhausted, and she wanted to rest.
But she was afraid—afraid that if she closed her eyes, she would never open them again. Even if she did, it would only remind her that everything was nothing more than a fleeting illusion.
Sheng Yanyu was dead!
Everything was merely a dream she had wished for as her soul scattered.
In her palm, his warmth was scorching, dispelling the unease and fear in her heart.
Only by holding onto him could she stop being so afraid.
“I’ll stay with you. Sleep.” Sheng Yanyu clearly saw the fear in her eyes, and his voice unconsciously softened.
Her dependence stirred a pang of bitterness in Sheng Yanyu’s heart.
You truly love Shen Ze that much!
Tang Yan ultimately couldn’t fight off her drowsiness. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
As dawn’s light began to creep in, Tang Yan jolted awake. It was the familiar room, but Sheng Yanyu was no longer there.
Not bothering to put on shoes, Tang Yan ran barefoot out of the room and pushed open Sheng Yanyu’s door—but the room was empty.
She searched around but couldn’t find him, though she did startle the servants who were busy downstairs.
“Miss Tang, what’s wrong?”
“Where’s Sheng Yanyu? Where is he?” Tang Yan stepped forward, grabbing the maid’s hand, her face full of urgency.
“The young master left early this morning.” The maid looked at her with concern. “Is something the matter?”
Tang Yan didn’t answer. She turned and went back to her room, picked up the phone on the nightstand, and dialed Sheng Yanyu.
But the other end only prompted that the phone was powered off.
Why would it be off?
The maid was somewhat worried about Tang Yan and had been following her the whole time. Noticing her dejected expression, she couldn’t help but ask, “Were you trying to call the master? When he left this morning, he was carrying luggage—he should be on a business trip. He’s probably still on the plane right now. You could try calling him again later.”
Business trip?
Was Sheng Yanyu avoiding her?
Tang Yan thought back to how she had treated Sheng Yanyu in the past and decided not to call again.
Take it slow!
It was only natural that Sheng Yanyu would reject her—after all, she had done so many terrible things before.
Give him a few days to process it. He definitely wouldn’t believe her!
He might even think she was doing this on purpose, that she just wanted to leave.
There was no denying it—Tang Yan had guessed exactly right!
Although Sheng Yanyu had left because Tang Yan would wake up the next morning, and he couldn’t bear facing her cold attitude again, which was why he used this opportunity to go on a business trip—
When he left, he still had the villa staff keep an eye on Tang Yan’s every move.
After learning what had happened since Tang Yan woke up that morning, he felt no joy at all!
He had absolute faith in Song Zhoulin’s medical skills.
And as for Tang Yan’s so-called memory confusion caused by the car accident—after a night of calming down, Sheng Yanyu had already concluded it was just one of Tang Yan’s tricks!
She wanted to leave, so she was deliberately doing this!
She just wanted to lower his guard, so that in the end, he would personally let her go!
Tang Yan had hit her head and was feeling groggy. After breakfast, she was about to return to her room to rest a little more. Just as she lay down, her phone rang.
Seeing Song Wan’s name on the screen, a deep hatred instantly surged in Tang Yan’s eyes.
The pain of having her heart dug out in her previous life—even thinking about it now, she still felt the ache.
It was summer now, but recalling that pouring-rain winter, lying on the road at death’s door, the cold seemed to seep straight into her bones.
The phone rang for a long time before being cut off, then quickly rang again.
Only then did Tang Yan slowly pick up.
Before she could speak, she heard Song Wan’s gentle, considerate voice on the other end: “Yanyan, how are you? Are you alright? Brother Aze and I are both very worried about you.”
Tang Yan’s hand gripping the phone tightened.
“I’m fine.”
“Yanyan, don’t hide it from me. I already know—you got into a car accident yesterday, and can you believe Sheng Yanyu actually took you back from the hospital without caring about your safety? He’s really too much!”
Song Wan spoke indignantly on her behalf: “Yanyan, you must not give up. Brother Aze and I will both help you.”
Tang Yan curled her lips coldly. “I think maybe Sheng Yanyu loves me too much, which is why he did this.”
Song Wan froze for a few seconds, then grew a bit anxious: “Yanyan, what’s wrong? Did Sheng Yanyu say something to confuse you? Don’t believe a word he says—he’s lying to you. How could he possibly like you? Don’t let him fool you! Aren’t you thinking about Brother Aze? He’s still waiting for you to come out.”
“But I think Sheng Yanyu treats me quite well. I’ve decided not to leave.”
“What?!” Song Wan’s voice unconsciously rose. Seeming to realize something, she lowered her voice again and spoke gently: “Yanyan, is Sheng Yanyu threatening you? Don’t be afraid, we—”
Before Song Wan could finish, Tang Yan hung up the phone.
Song Wan stared at the disconnected call, her expression turning sour. What on earth was wrong with Tang Yan?
Had she hit her head and lost her mind?
Half an hour later, Tang Yan’s phone rang again. She wasn’t surprised in the least to see Shen Ze’s name on the screen.
Song Wan must have called him.
Tang Yan didn’t answer—she hung up directly and blocked Shen Ze.
Tang Yan rested for three days, and the bandage wrapped around her head was finally removed. During those three days, she tried every possible way to get in touch with Sheng Yanyu, but to no avail.
His phone remained perpetually unreachable.
Tang Yan had no way to leave the villa, and three days was more than enough to exhaust all her patience.