Shen Nanyue forced herself to look away from that breathtakingly handsome face.
Her beautiful eyes landed on the woman standing forgotten at the doorway.
The woman was staring in their direction, her face filled with disbelief.
Shen Nanyue glanced lazily at Zhou Yushen and smiled as she changed the subject.
“Your way of treating guests here is pretty unique.”
Zhou Yushen’s gaze swept lightly across the coffee stains on Shen Nanyue’s wrist before he straightened up.
“There won’t be a next time.”
As he spoke, he turned around, his cold and sharp gaze falling on the woman at the door.
His pitch-black eyes were as unfathomable as an abyss.
Simply standing there, he exuded the noble aura of someone in a high position, along with an intimidating pressure that made people instinctively submit.
The woman was so frightened that her body trembled.
“M-Mr. Zhou, I was wrong. I didn’t know you two were in a relationship.”
The arrogance she had shown minutes earlier was completely gone.
With her head lowered, she looked like a quail.
“So if we weren’t in a relationship, that gives you the right to treat my honored guest however you want?”
The workplace was not a place to vent personal emotions.
When Zhou Yushen became serious, an invisible pressure filled the surroundings, so suffocating that it made people want to escape.
The woman looked up, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Mr. Zhou, this time it was my mistake at work. I promise there won’t be another time!”
She understood the hidden meaning behind his words.
She didn’t want to lose this job.
“Go settle your pay with HR and leave.” His icy voice carried not a trace of emotion.
“Mr. Zhou…”
“Don’t make this uglier than it needs to be.” Zhou Yushen’s tone was freezing cold.
The woman realized there was no room left for negotiation.
She could only glare viciously at Shen Nanyue before turning around unwillingly and leaving.
“Tsk, tsk. This cursed tendency of mine to attract resentment,” Shen Nanyue muttered.
Zhou Yushen turned around and motioned for Shen Nanyue to sit.
“Receiving every guest who comes here is part of her job. If she can’t even do that properly, what’s the point of keeping her?”
Zhou Yushen walked to the desk and pulled out a medical kit from underneath it.
He took out iodine and burn ointment, then sat beside Shen Nanyue.
“So the person she should resent is her own recklessness, not you.”
Shen Nanyue lifted her eyes and met Zhou Yushen’s gaze.
It was cool yet gentle, as if there were a whirlpool inside, trying to pull her in.
She quickly looked away, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Was he using his good looks to seduce her?
Zhou Yushen took her right hand.
The coffee stains on her wrist had already dried, but her fair and delicate skin was faintly red.
He cleaned the coffee stains with mineral water, disinfected the area with iodine, then applied a thin layer of burn ointment.
The man’s movements were gentle.
His lowered brows were slightly furrowed.
Sitting with his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows, sunlight outlined his handsome features with a soft golden glow, while the chain on his gold-rimmed glasses swayed faintly in the light.
Shen Nanyue swallowed.
No matter what, Zhou Yushen was exactly her type.
Thinking back to his earlier proposal—physical first, feelings later—it actually didn’t sound like a bad suggestion.
“Be careful not to bump it. If the skin breaks, it won’t feel so pleasant.”
“Thank you.” Shen Nanyue withdrew her hand, the lingering warmth on her wrist making her heart flutter. “Where’s my bracelet?”
She finally remembered the reason she had come to see him.
“How have you been thinking about the proposal I made this morning?” Zhou Yushen asked instead.
As he spoke casually, he tossed the medical kit onto the desk.
His smiling eyes reflected in Shen Nanyue’s gaze.
Shen Nanyue lifted her eyes slightly, narrowing them as her tone turned colder than usual.
“Trying to force me into agreeing?”
“I never force people.”
Zhou Yushen pulled the bracelet out from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
The bracelet was made of fine red agate beads, each one full and glossy.
Shen Nanyue’s eyes paused slightly as she reached out to take it.
But Zhou Yushen pulled his hand back, avoiding her touch.
“This bracelet is very important to you?”
She had come all this way just to retrieve it, and when she looked at the bracelet, there had been a fleeting trace of sadness in her eyes.
It was obvious how important the bracelet was to her.
Zhou Yushen’s gaze darkened slightly.
But Shen Nanyue merely smiled faintly.
She quickly reached out, took the bracelet from his hand, and fastened it around her left wrist.
“Mr. Zhou, you’re crossing the line.”
Zhou Yushen’s eyes fell onto her left wrist.
The slender, jade-white wrist was encircled by a streak of red, making her skin appear even fairer.
“So, what’s your answer?” Zhou Yushen lightly grasped her elbow.
Shen Nanyue toyed with the red agate beads on her wrist and looked at him with a bright smile.
“For someone who covets both my body and my heart, I need to think it over carefully.”
She emphasized the last four words deliberately.
Then she stood up and waved her right hand at him.
“Thanks.”
She turned and left.
Only after her graceful figure disappeared through the doorway did Zhou Yushen let out a soft laugh.
For someone who didn’t believe in marriage, what kind of answer could she possibly come up with?
…
Two days later, while Shen Nanyue was busy at her studio, she received a phone call from her mother.
After learning that Old Master Shen was critically ill, she immediately threw aside her work and rushed to the hospital.
Outside the operating room—
Shen’s mother, Zhou Yu, sat on a bench in the corridor wearing an elegant dark green dress.
Lin Siwan sat beside her, continuously trying to comfort her.
When Shen Nanyue walked over, Zhou Yu spotted her at once.
Her eyes widened, and she immediately stood up and walked toward her.
“Come with me.”
Zhou Yu’s tone was grave as she pulled Shen Nanyue aside without giving her a choice.
Lowering her voice, she threatened:
“Your grandfather’s condition suddenly worsened. Who knows when he’ll breathe his last? Hurry up and settle your marriage with Meng Yan now. Otherwise, once the old man passes away, your father’s inheritance may not end up in your hands!”
Shen Nanyue looked at Zhou Yu coldly.
“Grandpa’s still in surgery, and this is what you want to talk to me about?”
Zhou Yu lowered her voice even further.
“It’s precisely because your grandfather is hovering between life and death that I’m anxious!”
Anxious about what?
Wasn’t she simply anxious about her father’s inheritance?
Before his illness, Old Master Shen had already had a lawyer notarize his will.
If he died, a huge portion of his assets would be donated to charity.
“Mom, I’m not going to argue with you right now. But if you keep talking, I swear I’ll give up my dad’s inheritance entirely.”
“You—!”
Zhou Yu’s face turned livid.
Pointing at Shen Nanyue, she was just about to start scolding her.
But Shen Nanyue didn’t spare her even a glance.
She turned around and walked straight to the operating room doors.
Just as she arrived, the surgery light went out.
The doctor stepped out, and Shen Nanyue hurried forward.
“Doctor, how is my grandfather?”
The doctor removed his mask, his expression heavy.
“The old gentleman has been pulled through, but this sudden deterioration caused problems with his bodily functions. He’ll need to stay hospitalized for observation for a while.”
“Is it serious?”
The doctor’s grave expression made Shen Nanyue’s heart sink.
“I’ll explain the details to you later. For now, your family should prepare yourselves mentally and go handle the admission procedures first.”
Shen Nanyue’s face instantly turned pale, and her hands and feet went numb.
She forced herself to stay calm.
“I understand, doctor. Thank you.”
The medical staff wheeled Old Master Shen out, and Shen Nanyue followed them to the hospital room.
Zhou Yu and Lin Siwan followed behind shortly after, but the expressions on both of their faces were rather complicated.
— The end of the Chapter–
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