After accompanying Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan for dinner, the four children were about to be taken home by Song Yiwen.
They still had school the next day.
Because Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan had been unconscious after the car accident, the children had taken leave from school to stay with them. Now that both of them had woken up and their vital signs were stable, there was no longer a need for the children to remain at the hospital. As for Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan, since they had only just regained consciousness, the doctors needed to continue observing them to ensure they were truly fine before discharging them.
When the four children said goodbye to Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan, they were all reluctant to leave. Wen Yi in particular held tightly onto Xia Zhi’s hand and refused to let go. In the end, Wen Yu had to lift Wen Yi onto his shoulder to separate them.
Perched on Wen Yu’s shoulder, Wen Yi kept chattering nonstop, “Mom, we’re going back first. Take good care of yourself. If anything hurts, you must call a doctor.”
As if she felt she had neglected Wen Shihan, she quickly added, “Dad, you too.”
Watching Wen Yi being carried away, Xia Zhi pressed her lips together and smiled. No wonder people said daughters were like warm little padded jackets. Her parting words were enough to melt anyone’s heart.
Wen Yi’s voice gradually faded into the distance until it disappeared.
The once lively hospital room suddenly fell silent, leaving only the soft, rhythmic beeping of medical equipment.
In that strange silence, Xia Zhi finally became aware of something awkward.
Only she and Wen Shihan were left in the room.
Xia Zhi was truly afraid of Wen Shihan, to the point that she would avoid him whenever possible. If she had not wanted to report Zheng Wei back then, she would never have stepped into that elevator, nor would she have dared to speak to Wen Shihan first.
Thinking about it now, if she had not entered that elevator, none of this absurd situation would have happened. She wished she could hop into a time machine, go back twenty years, grab her past self, and say, forget about reporting Zheng Wei, losing the job is fine, at least you will not have to deal with a boss like the King of Hell. Just imagining that she had married him and even had four children with him made her scalp tingle with embarrassment.
At that moment, she heard the sound of Wen Shihan lifting his blanket and getting out of bed. To avoid facing him earlier, Xia Zhi had deliberately turned her back to him. Now that he had gotten up, was he coming to confront her?
Her body tensed like a spring stretched to its limit. She held her breath and listened as he put on his shoes. The bed creaked softly, and his footsteps began to move.
Xia Zhi stopped breathing altogether.
She listened as his footsteps slowly… walked into the bathroom. The door closed with a click, and only then did she feel like she could breathe again. She inhaled deeply, her tense emotions gradually settling.
Her gaze then drifted to the table between the two beds. The marriage certificate and family album that Wen Yu had asked Song Yiwen to bring had not been taken away. Before leaving, Wen Yu had repeatedly reminded them to look through them more, hoping it might help recover their lost memories.
Xia Zhi picked up the marriage certificate and opened it. Inside was still that photo of her and Wen Shihan smiling happily. They both looked young then, she at twenty-five and he at thirty, both in the prime of their lives, their expressions full of vitality.
Xia Zhi had never found the color red so glaring before. The certificate felt like a hot potato in her hands. She quickly closed it and tossed it back onto the table.
At that moment, the bathroom door opened.
Wen Shihan’s tall figure appeared at the doorway. Xia Zhi looked up instinctively, and their eyes met again. The shock he had shown earlier was gone. He had returned to being that calm, indifferent man who seemed to have everything under control.
His gaze slowly moved from her face to the marriage certificate she had just thrown onto the table, then back to her face.
His stare was too intense. Xia Zhi was both startled and afraid, unable to meet his eyes. She lowered her head again and again, like a mimosa touched and shrinking inward, leaving only the crown of her head visible to him.
After a moment of silence, Wen Shihan walked back to his bed and sat down. Just as Xia Zhi thought she could relax, he turned his head slightly toward her and said in a low voice, “Let’s talk.”
An alarm instantly went off in Xia Zhi’s mind.
Here it comes.
What was meant to come could not be avoided.
No matter what, it was the same outcome. She lifted her head and asked, “Talk about what?”
“Let’s clarify that matter.”
Which matter?
Xia Zhi activated her brain, trying to interpret his vague words. After years in the workplace, she was already used to leaders who spoke halfway and left the rest to be guessed. In this situation, “that matter” could only refer to the fact that they were married and had children together.
She scratched her head in distress, then adopted the humble attitude of an employee facing a boss. Without arguing or deflecting, she apologized repeatedly. “Boss, I was wrong.”
Wen Shihan looked puzzled. “You were wrong?”
“I was wrong for tarnishing your noble self.”
Wen Shihan fell silent.
Xia Zhi added in a small voice, trying to defend herself, “But I didn’t want this either.”
Heaven knew, she had never intended to aim above her station with Wen Shihan.
Back when Wen Shihan first became the CEO of Wen Yue Group, countless female employees had been stirred, hoping to catch his attention and rise to become the lady of the company.
The department with the most women closest to him was the secretarial department. It was said that some bold secretaries had even tried unconventional methods, going into his office to seduce him. The result was predictable, all of them were fired.
But Xia Zhi had not avoided such thoughts for that reason. It was simply because she had never imagined she would have any connection with Wen Shihan at all.
The harsh reality of society had already set the boundaries. Xia Zhi was clear-minded. First, she was just a low-level employee, while Wen Shihan was the head of the company. The chances of them meeting were almost nonexistent. She had worked there for three years, and he might not even know her name. Second, even if she had the chance to interact with him, what then? They belonged to completely different worlds. How could their paths ever cross?
“Also, I’ve always had an instinctive fear of anyone who becomes my boss. Whenever I see my boss, all I want is to stay as far away as possible, so how could I ever bring myself closer to them.”
Xia Zhi clasped her hands together and said uneasily, “I hope you can be lenient, boss.”
“How do you want me to be lenient?”
“Well…” Xia Zhi gritted her teeth, “what if we just pretend nothing ever happened?”
Wen Shihan’s gaze fell on the marriage certificate and family album on the table, his tone carrying a deeper meaning, “Do you think we can pretend nothing happened?”
Xia Zhi was completely stumped by his question. She could pretend she had never married Wen Shihan and had no connection with him, but what about the four children? Could she put them all back into her stomach?
Her face completely fell.
She bit her lip hard and asked, “Then what should we do now?”
Wen Shihan fell silent as well, not answering her for a long time.
It seemed that even he was trapped by the situation in front of them.
Two people who had barely met a few times, a powerful CEO and a low-level employee, somehow ended up married. It was hard to tell whether fate was playing a joke on them or simply toying with them.
“Let’s set that aside for now. Let’s talk about that other matter.”
“What… other matter?”
Wasn’t he referring to their marriage and children? What else could there be?
Wen Shihan said, “The matter you mentioned about reporting someone in the company for embezzlement.”
Xia Zhi froze instantly. She said in disbelief, “So when you said we should talk about that matter, you meant the embezzlement?”
Wen Shihan cast her a calm glance, “What else would it be?”
Xia Zhi: “……”