Xu Xinyu made a gesture of zipping her mouth shut and skipped away cheerfully. When her footsteps completely faded, Ye Xuanchen closed the door and locked it.
He turned back to the bed and patted the quilt lightly.
"Come out. She's gone."
Mu Ronyao slowly emerged from under the covers. Seeing that the door was locked and that Ye Xuanchen showed no intention of continuing anything she finally felt a little relieved.
She leaned weakly against the headboard, her brows tightly knitted. After hesitating for a moment, she looked up at him and said hoarsely,
"Sir… I can pretend nothing that happened just now ever happened. Please leave immediately."
Ye Xuanchen, who was in the middle of getting dressed, paused and looked at her.
"…What?"
Mu Ronyao's gaze accidentally swept over him and landed on the marks on his body scratches and faint red traces, all left behind in her moment of panic and confusion.
His muscles were firm and well-defined, not exaggerated, just perfectly proportioned.
The sensation from earlier seemed to resurface in her palm.
Her face flushed instantly. She turned her head away and said hurriedly,
"I said...please leave! I won't pursue what happened just now!"
Hearing this, Ye Xuanchen didn't rush to button his shirt. Instead, with it half open, he walked toward the bed step by step.
He advanced.
Mu Ronyao retreated.
Until her back pressed against the headboard nowhere left to go.
Panicking, she shouted,
"Stop! Don't come any closer! I...I'll call the police!"
Ye Xuanchen laughed softly.
"Call the police? Go ahead. Let's see how they handle this."
"I...I'll sue you!"
Ye Xuanchen chuckled, pointing lazily at the marks on his body.
"Are you sure?"
"Miss Mu, you really amaze me. Every time we meet, you surprise me."
"What three times? What are you talking about?" Mu Ronyao was confused. "We've only met twice at the hospital and just now!"
"Stop pretending." Ye Xuanchen's dark eyes locked onto hers. "You always say things like this to confuse me. I don't have amnesia."
He leaned closer, his voice low and deliberate.
"You didn't lose your memory. You just got drunk and acted recklessly toward me."
"We had a wonderful night together."
"…?!"
Mu Ronyao's eyes widened, still red from crying like a startled rabbit. Innocent, shocked, completely at a loss.
A wonderful night?
What night?!
Ye Xuanchen bent down, bracing one hand beside her, staring straight into her eyes.
"Don't you remember? That night… you were very passionate."
His low, husky voice pulled at something buried deep in her memory.
That night...
Mu Ronyao felt as if her brain had exploded.
Fragments of broken memories surged uncontrollably. Her body stiffened, her breathing grew erratic.
Him?
How could it be him?!
Ye Xuanchen only wanted to scare her not scare her to death.
Seeing her face grow paler and paler, her breathing chaotic, his brows knitted tightly. He stepped forward and patted her face.
"Hey! What's wrong? Hey!"
Mu Ronyao gasped for air as if she had forgotten how to breathe. Her lips were bitten tightly, her body rigid, her eyes rolling upward.
Ye Xuanchen's expression changed instantly.
He pinched her philtrum, laid her flat, and immediately began artificial respiration and chest compressions.
After a while, Mu Ronyao finally regained her breath, but she lay there blankly, as if her soul had left her body.
"Damn it!" Ye Xuanchen cursed under his breath, furious. "Why is she so afraid of me?!"
This woman truly didn't know how to appreciate kindness!
With his background, status, and looks, women usually threw themselves at him. Yet Mu Ronyao reacted as if he were some terrifying monster.
Did sleeping with him mean something so horrifying to her?!
He had scared her into fainting!
Anger surged. Ye Xuanchen paced the room, then walked to the sofa and kicked it several times in frustration. Straightening his clothes, he decided to stop caring and leave.
But when he turned around, his gaze subconsciously fell back on the bed.
Mu Ronyao was crying.
Not hysterically.
Not loudly.
She lay there quietly, eyes tightly shut, her pale face devoid of life. Her lips were bitten until they turned white, her teeth clenched so hard it looked like blood might seep out.
Tears slid silently down her temples.
Her entire being screamed four words to him...
Lifeless. And hopeless.
Ye Xuanchen felt irritated and inexplicably heartbroken.
How could a woman who should have been full of vitality become like this… just because she had slept with him?
The thought made him want to hit someone.
Suddenly, he froze.
Scenes from earlier replayed rapidly in his mind.
She had said she contracted AIDS three days ago because of that night.
Ye Xuanchen's pupils shrank violently.
He stared at Mu Ronyao as if he had seen a ghost.
Could it be…
Was she really that… naive?