Evening gradually fell.
Shen Nanyue looked at Zhou Yushen lying on the hospital bed, already asleep with his eyes closed.
She couldn’t help silently complaining in her heart.
He really falls asleep the moment he touches a bed.
She glanced at the IV bottle hanging beside him.
There was still more than half left.
Only then did she take out her phone and call Xiao Qi.
“Sister Yueyue, where are you right now?”
Before coming to the hospital, Shen Nanyue had already texted Xiao Qi and told him to leave.
But Xiao Qi had never received another update from her afterward.
He had been worried the entire time.
“I’m at the hospital…”
“The hospital? Are you hurt? Which hospital? I’m coming over right now.”
The sound of Xiao Qi hurriedly packing things came from the other end of the line, and Shen Nanyue quickly stopped him.
“No need. I’m not the one injured.”
The other end fell silent for a long moment before Xiao Qi carefully asked, “Is it Zhou Yushen?”
Shen Nanyue looked puzzled. “How did you know?”
Xiao Qi let out a light snort.
The two of them had gone in together.
If danger appeared, Zhou Yushen would definitely stand in front of Shen Nanyue.
Even though Xiao Qi hated admitting it.
For some reason, deep down, he simply believed it.
“Sister Yueyue, hire him a caretaker and come home yourself.”
“He got hurt saving me. If I leave him behind and go home now, my conscience won’t let me. Don’t worry about me. Just keep an eye on Meng Yan’s movements and let me know if anything happens.”
“…Alright.”
The two chatted for a little longer before hanging up.
Shen Nanyue looked at Zhou Yushen lying on the bed and estimated the time before taking out her phone to order takeout.
By the time the IV antibiotics finished and the nurse came to remove the needle, Zhou Yushen still hadn’t woken up.
Shen Nanyue found it strange.
She remembered Zhou Yushen being a light sleeper.
Even the slightest noise would wake him.
So why hadn’t he woken up despite the nurse making such obvious movements while removing the needle?
Could he have a fever?
Hesitating slightly, she stood up and placed her hand against Zhou Yushen’s forehead.
The temperature felt normal.
He didn’t seem feverish.
Still suspicious, she was just about to pull her hand away when Zhou Yushen suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Looking down, she saw that Zhou Yushen had opened his eyes.
His pitch-black gaze locked tightly onto hers.
Shen Nanyue’s heartbeat instantly skipped a beat.
She tugged hard at her wrist, her voice turning cold.
“Let go.”
Not only did Zhou Yushen refuse to let go, he used Shen Nanyue’s pulling force to sit up.
To keep him from straining his injured shoulder, Shen Nanyue instinctively reached out to support him.
After sitting upright, Zhou Yushen loosened his grip slightly, but still didn’t release her.
Shen Nanyue stood beside the bed, allowing him to hold onto her wrist.
“I ordered takeout. It should arrive soon.”
She wasn’t diligent or thoughtful enough to personally go out and buy food for him.
But takeout was fine too.
She had ordered from a restaurant she liked.
The food was clean, hygienic, and freshly made.
Using his free hand, Zhou Yushen held onto Shen Nanyue’s hand and rubbed at his brow.
“I had a nightmare.”
He spoke quietly, his voice carrying traces of exhaustion and desolation.
Shen Nanyue frowned in confusion.
Why was he telling her this?
“I dreamed that you died.”
Shen Nanyue’s face instantly darkened.
She twisted her wrist sharply and flung his hand away.
Yet Zhou Yushen seemed completely unaware, his voice sinking lower.
“Three months ago… were you kidnapped?”
The moment she recalled the cold look in Zhou Yushen’s eyes when he had held Gu Linlang that day three months ago, Shen Nanyue’s expression turned even colder.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. That day, Gu Linlang had also been kidnapped. After I rescued her, she told me you had been kidnapped too. I wanted to go find you, but then you texted me asking for a divorce. I was so angry about the divorce that when I got home and saw you sleeping peacefully, I assumed you hadn’t been kidnapped…”
He had just had a nightmare.
In the dream, after rescuing Gu Linlang three months ago and learning that Shen Nanyue had also been kidnapped—
He ran desperately to save her, only to discover that she had already perished in a sea of flames.
He could hear Shen Nanyue crying for help, screaming herself hoarse, every cry begging for him to save her—
Yet no matter how hard he ran, he could never reach her.
At the thought of it, Zhou Yushen could no longer control the fear swelling inside him.
He looked at Shen Nanyue and grabbed her hand again.
Feeling the slight trembling in Zhou Yushen’s hand, Shen Nanyue stiffened in place.
This time, she didn’t shake him off.
So what Zhou Yushen meant was… that day, he hadn’t known she and Gu Linlang were being held in the same place?
But back then, Zhou Yushen had clearly looked directly at her.
How could he possibly not know?
She lowered her eyes to look at him.
“You didn’t know where I was taken that day?”
Zhou Yushen shook his head. “I investigated it afterward, but I couldn’t find anything.”
As he spoke, he suddenly looked up at her, his dark eyes carrying a fierce intensity.
“Who kidnapped you? Tell me.”
Shen Nanyue pressed her lips together.
Judging from Zhou Yushen’s reaction, he truly seemed to know nothing.
But…
“But didn’t you see me that day?”
“When did I see you?”
Zhou Yushen looked confused.
That day, after learning Gu Linlang had been kidnapped—and because of the dying wish left behind by her mother—he couldn’t simply ignore her safety.
So he had gone alone to rescue Gu Linlang.
But from beginning to end, he had never seen Shen Nanyue there.
The only time he saw her was later that night, curled up under the blanket sleeping peacefully.
After sending him a divorce text that kept him awake the entire night.
“It was in the abandoned building. I was on the second floor. When you carried Gu Linlang away, you even looked at me once.”
Shen Nanyue’s voice was calm, but Zhou Yushen could faintly hear the accusation hidden beneath it.
Zhou Yushen frowned and froze.
He was absolutely certain he had not seen Shen Nanyue that day.
If he had seen her there, there was no way he would have left with only Gu Linlang!
His grip on Shen Nanyue’s wrist tightened unconsciously, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Back then, the reason he had looked toward the second floor was because a piece of glass had reflected light.
But through the glass, he had seen no one.
He had been tricked.
“There was a piece of glass on the second floor. Through it, I couldn’t see your reflection.”
Shen Nanyue frowned.
Glass?
She vaguely remembered there really had been a glass panel between the gaps in the second-floor railing.
Could it have been a specially installed one-way mirrored glass?
Specifically designed so Zhou Yushen wouldn’t be able to see her?
Shen Nanyue suddenly recalled how Lin Siwan had repeatedly whispered in her ear that Zhou Yushen had chosen Gu Linlang over her.
And she had believed it.
So when Zhou Yushen carried Gu Linlang away, she had believed it too.
Could everything have been a scheme between Gu Linlang and Lin Siwan?
A tug came from her wrist, and she followed the force to sit down on the edge of the bed, meeting Zhou Yushen’s apologetic gaze.
“You watched me carry Gu Linlang away that day?”
Shen Nanyue stayed silent, but nodded.
“And that’s why you wanted a divorce?”
Shen Nanyue remained silent again, unsure whether she should shake her head or nod.
The relationship between Zhou Yushen and Gu Linlang had always been tangled and unresolved.
She didn’t want such a troublesome relationship—one that never fully belonged to her.
So letting go had been inevitable.
— The end of the Chapter–
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