"How do you know?!" Yu Wanwan turned around, her eyes filled with shock in an instant.
Such a private matter—apart from her two best friends, no one else knew. How on earth did this person find out?
"Anything related to you, I know it all." He looked at her, a hint of provocation in his eyes. "You can't bear to let him touch you because you don't love him. The way you look at him is completely different from how you used to look at me. I admit your videos are well-acted, but no matter how good the acting, it's just acting, not real. Only I..."
"Lu Peizhi!" Yu Wanwan angrily interrupted him. She suddenly realized that their encounter at the hospital entrance today might not be a coincidence.
Thinking of how crazy this man could get when provoked, Yu Wanwan felt a chill run down her spine. A bad suspicion took root in her heart. She questioned him angrily, "Are you spying on me?!"
"So what?" He lay on the bed, his voice suddenly relaxed as he bluntly admitted it.
"In your heart, you and Zhang Jingxu are just partners. Maybe you really can't forgive me now, but you definitely can't love him either." His tone turned arrogant. "Think about it, he's pitiful—used as a tool to spite me. No matter how well he does, you won't give him a second glance. Ha, haha."
Yu Wanwan looked at his smug, thuggish expression and turned to leave in anger.
"Wanwan." Seeing her about to leave, Lu Peizhi suddenly sat up despite the pain in his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.
The man rested his chin on her shoulder, his breathing labored from the pain. His tone shifted from arrogance to a pitiful plea: "Don't go. I beg you, don't leave me alone here."
"Lu Peizhi." Yu Wanwan could barely breathe from his embrace; the weight on her shoulder made her unsteady.
She raised her hand to push him away but hesitated, afraid of aggravating his wound. Her hands hovered awkwardly in midair.
This guy...
If it weren't for the fact that he was injured, she would have kicked him into the wall so hard he'd never come off.
She tried to calm him down with words, "I'm not leaving. Let go of me first."
"I know I'm stubborn and often say things you don't like, but it's because I love you." He rubbed his face against her ear. Even though the wound on his shoulder was bleeding through, he refused to let go.
He lifted his head and glanced at the tall figure at the door, his eyes full of provocation. "If I lose you, I might as well die."
"Can you just let go?" Facing his heartfelt confession in her ear, Yu Wanwan felt nothing but exhaustion and even resistance to his touch.
But at this moment, he was like this—she couldn't push him away.
As they spoke, Gu Enzhun, who had accompanied Mi Xiaonai through dinner in the ward, was about to bring the porridge to the neighboring room. When she reached the door, she suddenly saw Zhang Jingxu standing there in silence.
Curiously following his gaze, she was shocked to see Yu Wanwan hugging someone. She quickly covered her mouth and called out to the person at the door to alert the two inside: "Zhang Jingxu."
Hearing the voice, Yu Wanwan turned her head and suddenly saw Zhang Jingxu standing at the door like a statue, wordless.
For some reason, the moment she saw him, Yu Wanwan felt an unprecedented guilt.
She didn't know how long he had been standing there or how much of their conversation he had heard.
She pushed at Lu Peizhi's uninjured shoulder but couldn't get him to let go. He seemed determined to hold her, using his weight to keep her trapped.
Gu Enzhun tiptoed in, put down the porridge, and quickly slipped away.
"Zhang Jingxu..." She called out his name unconsciously, a hint of panic in her voice that even she didn't notice.
Zhang Jingxu stood at the door like a statue wrapped in cold air.
Inside the ward, his wife was tightly embraced by her persistent ex-boyfriend, who even buried his face in her neck.
The scene was as piercing as a poisoned needle, stabbing deep into his eyes.
A surge of anger and a sharper pain exploded in his chest, nearly breaking through his proud self-control. His gaze quickly swept over Yu Wanwan's panicked face.
Only after confirming she wasn't hurt did he barely manage to contain his spiraling emotions.
When he looked at Lu Peizhi again, his eyes were like an unfathomable cold pool.
He stepped forward, his footsteps light but carrying an undeniable presence.
Lu Peizhi didn't let go of Yu Wanwan at the arrival of her legal husband. Instead, he met Zhang Jingxu's gaze with provocation.
Their eyes locked, both filled with gunpowder, neither willing to back down.
After a moment, Zhang Jingxu spoke slowly, his voice eerily calm, but every word seemed coated in ice—cold and sharp: "Even though you saved my wife today, that doesn't mean you can take advantage of her in front of me."
Lu Peizhi raised an eyebrow at him, still defiant, as if saying, "So what?"
Zhang Jingxu approached. Without using force, he looked down at Lu Peizhi clinging to Yu Wanwan, his oppressive gaze intensifying: "Let go."
These two words were not a negotiation but an ultimatum.
Seeing that he seemed addicted to holding her and refused to let go, Zhang Jingxu stopped being polite. He wasn't Yu Wanwan, and he didn't care about his life.
The next second, he coldly pulled the man away and pushed him back onto the hospital bed with moderate force.
"Ah." The impact tore at Lu Peizhi's wound, blood seeping through the thick gauze onto his hospital gown, staining even a small patch of the bedsheet red.
Yu Wanwan watched this, a mix of emotions swirling in her heart. She looked up and said with a hint of reproach, "What did you do?!"
Hearing that, the man in bed held his wound and let out a grim smile: "Ha, your wife seems to care about me a lot."
"Care?" Zhang Jingxu's voice was deep, surprisingly calm. "My wife has the softest heart. She cares about every vulnerable person."
He stepped forward, not to approach Lu Peizhi, but to shield Yu Wanwan behind him in a possessive stance, completely cutting off Lu Peizhi's line of sight.
"But I'm different." He looked down, twisting the wedding ring on his ring finger, as if deliberately reminding the other man of something. Then, fixing his gaze on the shocking red on Lu Peizhi's shoulder, his eyes showed no mercy, only cold warning: "If I ever see you harassing my wife again, I will not let you off easily."
Just as the situation was tense, Lu Peizhi's parents, who had seen the news about their son's accident, arrived in time.
"Son." Lu's mother hurried to the bedside, looking at the large bloodstains on his hospital gown. Her voice trembled with worry. "How are you? Why is there so much blood? Did the surgery not go well?"