"Do you not clearly understand what I want to do?" Chen Wenzhou slowly smiled, and Shen Heyu’s heart leapt into her throat in an instant.
"I’m giving you one day to clear things up with Pei Yansi and cut off all ties with him completely. Once Pei Yansi marries Mengmeng, I will naturally send your daughter back."
Chen Wenzhou, for the sake of Pei Yansi’s and Chen Lingmeng’s wedding, eventually resorted to targeting Shen Heyu, but Shen Heyu never expected that they would extend their malicious claws toward the young Yuexue.
"Yuexue is also Pei Yansi’s daughter. Aren’t you afraid that Pei Yansi, knowing that you’ve kidnapped his daughter and even used her to threaten me, would ruin his and Chen Lingmeng’s wedding?"
Shen Heyu clenched her phone nervously. The people of the Chen family were too arrogant, acting so recklessly.
"I believe you won’t tell Pei Yansi about this. After all, you still care about your daughter’s welfare. Once you let the news slip, you will immediately hear of your daughter’s death."
Shen Heyu sneered, "How can I be sure that if I do what you say, you will return Yuexue to me unharmed? I want to see Yuexue now and confirm that she is not in any life-threatening danger."
"Shen Heyu, just calm down and think. Yuexue is Pei Yansi’s daughter. If you do as we say, and we don’t return Yuexue to you, it would be of no benefit to us if you fight us to the bitter end."
"Our aim is clear, Pei Yansi is to marry Mengmeng as scheduled, and we will not harm a single hair on Yuexue’s head."
Shen Heyu felt a chill on her back, as if her entire being had plunged into an icy pit. They had kidnapped Yuexue and were using her safety to coerce her; Shen Heyu had no room to refuse.
"My patience is limited. You need to give me a definite answer now; do you or do you not want your daughter returned unharmed?" Chen Wenzhou didn’t give Shen Heyu a chance to think or seek help from others.
"Fine." Shen Heyu could only agree.
"I hope you stick to your word. The sooner Pei Yansi and Chen Lingmeng marry, the sooner your daughter can come home. So, you know what you need to do next."
Shen Heyu understood.
When she returned to Pei Yansi’s hospital room, she saw him lying on the bed, eyes closed, fostering his strength, his face pale due to excessive blood loss.
Hearing the noise at the door, Pei Yansi slowly opened his eyes, and his icy black gaze quietly melted when he saw Shen Heyu.
"You’re back, I’ve waited a long time for you."
Shen Heyu set the basket of fruit on the bedside table, "I just finished speaking with Lu Yi and then went downstairs to buy a bowl of seafood porridge. You’ve been unconscious all night and haven’t eaten anything since waking. Have some porridge to warm your stomach."
Pei Yansi carefully sat up, and Shen Heyu took a few pillows to prop behind his back.
Shen Heyu brought the seafood porridge to Pei Yansi, whose lips curled slightly.
"Have you eaten? Want to eat together?"
Pei Yansi spooned up a taste of the seafood porridge and offered it to Shen Heyu. Initially, she intended to shake her head, but seeing the tenderness in Pei Yansi’s eyes, her heart quietly shifted.
Shen Heyu stretched her neck, and parted her red lips, savoring the spoonful of seafood porridge.
"Is it good?" Pei Yansi inquired to Shen Heyu.
Shen Heyu absentmindedly nodded her head. In fact, she couldn’t taste the flavor of the seafood porridge at all, because her mind was heavy, and her stomach felt as if it was filled with a block of lead.
"What are you thinking about, zoning out ?" Pei Yansi noticed that Shen Heyu was preoccupied, because when she made eye contact, her gaze seemed vacant.
Shen Heyu slowly swallowed the spoonful of seafood porridge. Actually, she hadn’t intended to speak to Pei Yansi so soon; she had planned to wait until he finished his porridge.
However, seeing Shen Heyu’s soul-lost expression, Pei Yansi couldn’t help but put down his porridge and earnestly looked into her eyes.
"Is it some kind of problem you’ve run into? If there’s a difficulty you can’t solve, you can tell me."
She couldn’t tell Pei Yansi, because Yuexue had fallen into their hands. Shen Heyu had to ensure her daughter wouldn’t suffer any harm, otherwise she wouldn’t forgive herself.
"Finish your porridge first, then I’ll tell you some things after."
"Not telling me now is just whetting my appetite, and I’ve lost the mood to even drink this porridge."
Pei Yansi reached out to take Shen Heyu’s hand, but she deftly avoided it.
Noticing Shen Heyu’s avoidance of physical contact, Pei Yansi paused.
Even though they had both walked through hell’s gate yesterday and had grown much closer afterward, Shen Heyu had reverted to her old self so quickly.
"Is it bad news that you want to share?" Pei Yansi guessed that what Shen Heyu wanted to say wasn’t anything good, otherwise she wouldn’t have been so hesitant.
"Mr. Pei, I really appreciate your saving my life yesterday, and I will always remember this favor," Shen Heyu took a deep breath, looked up, and met Pei Yansi’s eyes.
Since there was no hiding it anymore, she decided to be straightforward.
Realizing something was off, Pei Yansi smiled soullessly—a preemptive crumble of the conviction in his eyes.
"Why so formal all of a sudden? Are you just trying to thank me for saving you yesterday?" Pei Yansi’s heart leapt to his throat at that moment.
He knew the matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed, even as he asked these questions.
Shen Heyu’s hands unconsciously tightened around her clothes, crumpling them on her lap.
When she spoke again, her voice had weakened, forcing Pei Yansi to concentrate to understand her words.
"Actually, what I want to say is, let’s just end this, it’s been over for so long, let’s not go back," Shen Heyu stated, almost subconsciously bowing her head, lacking the courage to meet Pei Yansi’s gaze.
She looked down at her toes. After her words fell, silence ensued for a long while in the sickroom, a silence so tense it was almost unbearable.
For a long time, Pei Yansi said nothing. When he spoke again, he chuckled self-mockingly, "I know asking you to accept me again, to see that I’m truly changing for you isn’t easy, but I’ll prove it to you. I don’t need your answer right now."
"All I want is for you to give me another chance."
Pei Yansi looked at Shen Heyu intently, raising his hand to reach for hers, but she immediately stood up and stepped back.
"Why can’t you understand?"