Chapter Four: You, You Poisoned It

After his shower, Qin Yunzheng felt mostly sobered, yet as he lay in bed wearing iron-gray silk pajamas, he tossed and turned, unable to find sleep. Despite a splitting headache, there was not a trace of drowsiness to be found.

In countless nights of despair, she had been by his side, gently coaxing him.

"Yun-zheng, you will get better. Trust me, I will stay with you forever, always."

Liar!

Qin Yunzheng sat up abruptly, threw off the covers, and stormed into Su Mian’s bedroom. The familiar room was spotless, permeated with the scent of disinfectant, sharper and more pungent than anywhere else.

"Someone, come here!"

His irritable roar woke the night-shift servant.

"Young Master?"

"Where are Su Mian’s things? Who gave you permission to disinfect this place?"

The man looked like a lion out of control. The servant was trembling with fear.

"It... it was specifically requested by Miss Su. She even had me throw away everything she had used at the outdoor dump. Sir, did you lose something?"

Qin Yunzheng gripped the armrest tightly, regaining his composure after a moment.

"Did she say anything when she left?"

The servant remembered the cake and hurriedly fetched it from the storage cabinet.

"Miss Su asked me to wish you a happy birthday on her behalf."

The anger he had just suppressed flared up again. With nowhere to vent his emotions, he swept the cake off the table, watching it crash to the floor. The meticulously piped roses, once vibrant and blooming, were now nothing more than a pile of sludge.

A ring box, wrapped in a plastic bag, rolled out from the mess.

*"Yun-zheng, on your birthday, I’ll give you a gift unlike anything else in the world. You must keep up with your rehabilitation; by that day, I want to see you standing to receive it."*

The girl had held his arm, helping him move forward step by difficult step. Her face was flushed from the effort, thin beads of sweat dampening her hairline, yet her eyes were exceptionally bright, like stars.

So that gift... was her.

Qin Yunzheng felt as if his heart had been seized; the sense of hollow loss grew increasingly vivid. He dialed her number again and again, stubbornly listening to the mechanical female voice on the other end, betting that Su Mian wouldn't just abandon him.

After a dozen attempts, his frustration reached its peak. He smashed his phone against the floor; the shattered screen smeared into the cream, sliding a few inches before stopping in front of the red velvet box.

"She even wanted to propose to me? Who would ever agree to that!"

"Su Mian, don't you dare indulge in such delusions! Since you’ve left, stay gone—get as far away as you can and never appear before my eyes again!"

***

In the guest room of the Huo family villa, Su Mian jolted awake, sitting on the edge of the bed and gasping for air.

The midnight hour was terrifyingly dark. The dim light of a small bedside lamp cast a glow on her pale face, where beads of sweat rolled down.

After the family banquet concluded, Lin Xiu had intercepted her to talk, then the butler suddenly appeared, saying the Old Master wanted her to stay the night and that a room had been prepared. It was the first time the Old Master had ever asked her to stay. Lin Xiu had been overjoyed, insisting she serve the Old Master his medicine to show filial piety.

As she left the room, the Old Master had said one thing: "Do not harbor certain intentions. People die for such things."

She had broken out into a cold sweat. After falling asleep, she had dreamt of the day she turned eighteen. A man had pinned her in his arms, kissing her passionately; clothes were torn away one by one, his burning breath against her chest—a place never touched by anyone else, filled with forbidden madness and an uncontrollable fear.

In the height of their entanglement, the car door had been ripped open. The Old Master of the Huo family stood outside with everyone else, and a swarm of reporters rushed in, tearing open the secrets buried in the darkness that were never meant to see the light.

She woke up in a fright, clutching her blanket, her whole body shaking.

Huo Beihan was the person the Old Master valued most. The century-long reputation of the Huo family could not be tarnished by Lin Xiu or her; if it were, people would truly... die.

Trying desperately to calm down, a wave of sharp, cramping pain hit her stomach. Tight nerves, combined with the fact that she hadn't eaten much, left her hunching over in discomfort. She had hoped to make it until dawn, but she couldn't bear it any longer. Barefoot, she carefully opened the door.

The living room was silent; at this hour, even the servants were asleep. She didn't dare turn on the lights, using her phone's flashlight to find a pouch of milk, grabbing scissors to pour it into a bowl for the microwave.

"Who’s there?"

The low, sharp bark made her hand tremble. The scissors pierced her fingertip, and the milk fell to the floor, spilling everywhere.

The lights flared bright. She covered her finger in a panic and looked toward the voice.

Huo Beihan, the man who had just appeared in her dream, stood there in light-gray loungewear, looking down at her.

The scenes from her dream and the Old Master’s cryptic warning set off alarm bells in her head. Her instinct was to run. In her haste, she forgot she was barefoot and that there was a large puddle of milk on the floor.

She slipped, stumbling headlong into the man’s arms, her bleeding hand pressing against his clean, crisp clothes.

It’s over!

Su Mian felt as if she had been struck by lightning, wishing she could just die on the spot.

"I'm sorry, I can pay for—"

Before she could finish, she was lifted into the air and sat on the nearby counter.

The man gripped her injured finger and pulled it under the running water.

"I can do it myself."

The proximity of their bodies was mortifying for Su Mian.

"Don't move."

The man’s long legs pressed forward, pinning her down to stop her from jumping off. But at this distance and in this position, Su Mian’s knees were almost touching his most sensitive area. She was too terrified to move another inch.

"Wait."

After rinsing her finger, the man left her with that one word and turned toward the living room. Half a minute later, he returned with a medical kit to disinfect and bandage her.

Sitting on the counter, Su Mian was tall enough to reach the man’s shoulders; if she even lifted her head, she would be brushing against the face of the man who was busy tending to her wound.

The smell of iodine mixed with the man's unique, clean scent, making her ears burn. Su Mian’s heart raced with tension, leaving her at a complete loss.

Once the bandage was tied, the man shoved the medical kit into her arms.

"Wait outside."

Su Mian didn't know what she was waiting for, but since she had dirtied his clothes, she felt she had to wait for the consequences. She obediently followed his command, watching through the frosted glass as the man crouched down to wipe up the spilled milk.

"I... I’ll clean it up."

"I said, wait outside." The man remained crouched on the floor, his cold, sharp brows slightly furrowed as he glanced at her bare feet.

Su Mian didn't dare provoke him, shrinking back onto the carpet in fear.

She had expected Huo Beihan to come out and reprimand her, but after waiting a few minutes, she smelled the aroma of hot food. Her already aching stomach growled in response.

She sat at the dining table, curling her body to endure the pain, when a bowl of steaming egg noodles was placed in front of her.

"Drinking milk on an empty stomach isn't healthy. Eat the noodles."

The man’s voice was light and indifferent.

Su Mian’s eyes widened in shock. Huo Beihan was actually cooking noodles for her?

On this dark, ominous night, her guilty conscience made her blurt out:

"Did you... poison them?"