“Li Xiaohan, why won’t you look at me?”
As the woman’s choked voice sounded, a pair of icy little hands easily pried open the man’s tightly clenched fist.
Her fingers slipped between his and pressed against his palm, curling naturally into a finger-interlaced grip.
When the soft, tender touch of her hand reached him, Li Xiaohan froze slightly.
He didn’t curl his fingers to hold hers. In fact, his hand was so stiff it trembled faintly.
Lowering his voice, he gave a bitter laugh.“Wanwan, it’s useless. I won’t let you out.”
The last time he had softened and allowed her to go to the garden for some air, she had jumped straight into the swimming pool.
After being rescued, she had remained unconscious until now—three full days.
And now, the moment she woke up, she was trying to please him like this. The purpose was far too obvious.
It left Li Xiaohan feeling unbearably bitter.
“Li Xiaohan, I don’t want to go out. I just want to stay by your side.”
Tears burst from Xia Zhiwan’s eyes as she anxiously threw herself into his arms.
“Wanwan, how I wish what you just said were true.” Li Xiaohan let out a self-mocking smile.
“You’re holding me now, taking my hand—aren’t you afraid he’ll be angry?”
That man.Lu Zeming.
Li Xiaohan clearly remembered their wedding night.
“I’m in love with Ming—why did you have to tear us apart?!”
“What’s the point of scheming to marry me? I won’t see you, and I’ll never acknowledge any relationship between us!”
The woman had gone mad, waving scissors at him and screaming for him to leave.
From that moment until now—eight whole months—they had never once had any physical contact.
He knew she was keeping herself untouched for that man.
Yet now, just to leave him, she was willing to take the initiative—to hold him, to hug him.
Wanwan… do you even have a heart?
Sure enough, when she heard that man’s name, Xia Zhiwan’s body stiffened.
Sensing her rigidity, Li Xiaohan gently withdrew his hand from hers.
He stepped back half a pace and personally closed the door between them.
Wanwan, if the price of holding you tight is letting you go, then I would rather stand here quietly and look at you like this—
Alone for a lifetime.
Outside the door, Li Xiaohan leaned against the wall, his figure steeped in loneliness.
Inside the room, Xia Zhiwan was filled with seething hatred.
That man.
Lu Zeming.
I will make sure you die without a grave!
Thus ended Xia Zhiwan’s first meeting with Li Xiaohan after her rebirth, leaving her deeply dejected.
She knew it was impossible for Li Xiaohan to immediately accept her change.
But fortunately, everything was still in time—their future together was long.
When Aunt Wang brought in the chicken soup and saw that the room door had been locked, she sighed softly.
If Miss Xia hadn’t repeatedly tried to kill herself, how could sir bear to lock her in this room?
After knocking, she unlocked the door and entered. Xia Zhiwan was already sitting back on the bed.
“Miss Xia, drink some chicken soup to nourish your body.”
Xia Zhiwan truly felt weak—not only lacking strength, but with sharp pain in her abdomen as well.
She had just stood up to drink the soup when her vision spun, and she collapsed straight down.
“Miss Xia—!”
Aunt Wang’s voice called out anxiously by her ear.
But Xia Zhiwan’s consciousness gradually faded.
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the sight of a man running toward her in panic.
That anxious voice and rushing figure were just like the man who had once run toward her on the cruise ship, heedless of his own life.
“Wanwan… Wanwan.”
Li Xiaohan carried the unconscious woman back to the bed, calling her name urgently.
His hands didn’t stop for even a second as he dialed a number.
The phone rang for several seconds without being answered. The man’s expression grew darker as he looked at the woman on the bed.
“Who is it?!”The call finally connected, the voice on the other end sounding irritated, as if just woken up.
“Shen You’an, get to my house right now.”
Shen You’an, barely awake, squinted at the pitch-black window outside.
“Li Xiaohan, are you out of your mind? Don’t you have a family doctor? Why are you calling me again?!”
“Keep talking and I’ll blow up your hospital—believe it or not?!”
“I’m on my way.”
Moments later, Shen You’an came charging up to the second floor, out of breath, medical kit slung over his back.
He’d heard that a lunatic was threatening to blow up his hospital.
He hadn’t even changed clothes—still in his loungewear, he rushed over in a panic.
Thankfully, their houses weren’t too far apart, or he’d have run his legs off and still lost his hospital.
“What’s going on? Who—no, don’t tell me your ancestor is trying to kill herself again?”
One sharp look from Li Xiaohan, and Shen You’an immediately shut his mouth.
He then turned his attention to the person on the bed and began a careful examination.
At that moment, in Xia Zhiwan’s blank consciousness, color suddenly appeared—vivid crimson, reeking of blood.
“You think you can steal my favor? Keep dreaming!”
As the woman’s words fell, an iron rod smashed down viciously onto Xia Zhiwan’s legs.
The sound of bones shattering mixed with her agonized screams, echoing through the basement.
Then the woman’s voice rang out again.
“How ridiculous.”
“You think everyone who loves you wants to kill you—yet the one you’re desperate to escape from is the one who loves you the most.”
“Some ‘life-saving benefactor.’ Tsk tsk—only an idiot like you would believe that.”
“Don’t you like showing off your voice in front of your parents? Heh, what’s so great about it?”
Wracked by the pain of her shattered legs, the woman on the ground was on the verge of losing consciousness, utterly unable to resist.
The woman, her face twisted with malice, tossed aside the iron rod and took a bottle handed to her by the man beside her, stepping closer and closer.
“Drink this. From now on, even as a ghost, you’ll be a ghost who can’t speak!”
The woman laughed horribly as she gripped Xia Zhiwan’s jaw with ease and poured the entire bottle down her throat.
A terrifying sizzle filled the air, her voice trembling with unrestrained excitement.
“What a beautiful sound, brother—don’t you think?”
The man she called “brother” wrapped an arm around her waist, his voice gentle.
“Wan’er, don’t be angry. Be careful not to hurt yourself. She’s not worth my Wan’er’s anger.”
The woman on the ground spat blood, barely clinging to life.
Meanwhile, the man and woman before her flirted and entwined with each other, even committing such acts right in front of her.
“Miss Xia… Miss Xia…”
An anxious voice filled the fallen woman’s ears.
She shook her head as the sounds of intimacy and that urgent voice overlapped.
Xia Zhiwan suddenly opened her eyes.
Aunt Wang was beside her, looking at her anxiously.
Seeing her awake, Aunt Wang’s eyes turned moist, and she turned toward the doorway.
“Sir, Miss Xia is awake.”
Li Xiaohan was already standing outside the room, his gaze still fixed on the woman on the bed.
“I… what happened to me?”
Xia Zhiwan didn’t feel any intense pain, only the lingering memory of the moment she had fainted.
“Miss Xia, the doctor said you caught a chill after falling into the pool, and the mental stress was too much—that’s why you fainted.”
Hearing this, Xia Zhiwan nodded weakly.
How could someone who had gone through all that not be under tremendous mental strain?
The sky outside had already begun to brighten—she had slept through the entire night.
She turned her head to look at Li Xiaohan standing there. His expression was full of concern, yet he still didn’t step forward even half a pace.
“Li Xiaohan… can you come in and stay with me for a while?”