Three days passed. The wound on Shen Zhe's leg began to scab over, bringing an agonizing itch that left him restless. But far worse than the physical pain was the deafening silence from the outside world.
Lin Yan cared for him with meticulous precision—so much so that he felt like a helpless child. She provided his every meal, every drop of water, and even tended to his personal hygiene. Her initial clumsiness had vanished completely, replaced by an extreme, obsessive devotion, as if she were polishing a piece of fragile porcelain.
"Yan, my phone... is it still not fixed?" Shen Zhe asked as she brought in his tray of medicine.
Lin Yan paused, her eyes momentarily clouded with a profound, melancholic sorrow. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hand—still marked with bandages—resting tremulously atop his.
"Shen Zhe... I don't want to hide it from you anymore," she choked out, her voice breaking. "I went back to the university in secret today to pick up some things. I saw... I saw the police there. The men who attacked you that night—they staged the scene to frame you as the mastermind behind a violent brawl. Your name is now on the police wanted list."
Shen Zhe was struck with horror. He tried to bolt upright, but a searing jolt of pain in his leg threw him back against the pillows.
"What? I'm the victim! How is this possible?"
Lin Yan lunged forward, throwing her arms around him as she sobbed into his ear. "I don't know! But your family... your father released a public statement disowning you to protect the corporation's reputation. Shen Zhe, if you step outside now, you'll be arrested immediately. Those thugs have insiders everywhere; they want you in prison to silence you for good!"
Trembling, she pulled out her phone and opened a local news site. On the screen was his ID photo, accompanied by a blood-red headline that hit him like a death sentence: "WANTED: STUDENT SHEN ZHE FOR AGGRAVATED ASSAULT."
Shen Zhe felt the blood in his veins turn to ice. The world he had once arrogantly ruled, the honor he had cherished—all of it had crumbled in just a few days. Disowned by his family, hunted by the law... in this suffocating darkness, he had nothing left but the small girl trembling in his arms.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here," Lin Yan whispered, her slender fingers gently stroking his hair. "This apartment is in the name of an old friend; no one knows you're here. I'll provide for you. I'll protect you from them. Just stay here... please?"
At that exact moment, the sound of heavy footsteps and aggressive shouting echoed from the hallway outside. "Which room is he in? Check every corner! Don't let him escape!"
Shen Zhe flinched, his breathing turning ragged as his pupils constricted in terror. Like a flash, Lin Yan killed the lights, drew the curtains shut, and pulled him into the thick darkness. She pressed a finger to his lips, her breath cold against his neck. "Shh... they're looking for you. Don't make a sound, please..."
In reality, the noise was merely coming from a Bluetooth speaker hidden under the bed, playing a chaotic audio file she had painstakingly edited. But consumed by panic and pain, Shen Zhe truly believed that Death was knocking at his door. He clung to Lin Yan—the only soul who hadn't abandoned him—viewing her as the last light of his life.
That night, after soothing him, Lin Yan quietly mixed a high-dose sedative into his water. She sat by the bedside, watching him fall into a drug-induced stupor, her lips curling into a smile that was bone-chillingly satisfied.
She leaned down and kissed his forehead, whispering:
"Sleep, my Shen Zhe. It's 'terrifying' out there. Only here... in my arms, can you truly be at peace."