Chapter 26: How Could She Be So Fragile!

Shen Hanzhi ignored him, as if he hadn’t heard a word he said.

Zhou Bei let out a sigh, his face tinged with guilt.

When the boss had gotten out of the car, Zhou Bei had felt uneasy and made a call to alert his own men. But he’d overlooked Lin Nanxun, who had been sitting quietly in the back seat. By the time he realized, she was already gone—and then, he had watched as that car sped toward the boss. The usually gentle and timid Miss Lin had, at that very moment, rushed forward…

Remembering this, Zhou Bei glanced guiltily at Lin Nanxun before turning to leave.

With Zhou Bei gone, only Shen Hanzhi and the unconscious woman remained in the hospital room.

He still kept his eyes lowered, his gaze fixed on her pale face.

The chill in his eyes deepened gradually.

On his handsome face, a trace of the shock from earlier still lingered.

Even now, he could hardly believe it—that he, someone who she could hardly protect herself, a woman so timid that even the slightest disturbance would frighten her, had risked her life to save him!

Though the situation had been dire, by the time he had reacted, he could have dodged in time—at most, he would have suffered some superficial wounds.

But she had appeared at that very moment!

It was entirely beyond his expectations.

Had the situation been any worse, she might not have survived.

In nearly twenty-nine years of his life, she was the first person willing to risk her life for him.

Branded as an ill omen since birth, orphaned by his parents, he had been cast out of the Shen family at a young age, growing up under the care of servants paid with high wages.

No one had ever shown him true kindness; no one, with genuine sincerity, had ever cared for him.

He had never believed that anyone in this world could be foolish enough to give their life for another.

So, he had never placed his faith in emotions between people; to him, only power and profit were real.

He had never imagined that someone—especially a woman he’d always disliked—would ever risk her life for his sake.

Now that it had actually happened, his heart was a tangle of complicated, heavy feelings.

He, always so clever and composed, found his mind in utter chaos at this moment.

When he saw her collapse to the ground, it felt as if something inside him slipped away in an instant.

Shen Hanzhi stood by the bedside for a long time, his body rigid.

After a long while, he finally raised his hand abruptly and reached out toward the hospital bed.

His fingers, still dust-stained, brushed against her impossibly fair cheek. The soft warmth of her skin made his gaze flicker.

Her face was so pale; the lips that were usually rosy now held not a trace of color. She looked fragile—more so than ever.

Like a porcelain doll that would shatter at the slightest touch.

How could she be so delicate?

Looking at her now, he felt a faint, spreading ache in his chest—a tenderness he could not explain.

He didn’t understand what was happening to him.

He had always been ruthless; even when a woman had thrown herself into the sea before his very eyes, he’d remained unmoved, his heart untouched.

Yet now, after she had shielded him from harm and lay here so weak and defenseless, his heart ached.

It was a pain unlike any he’d ever felt before—not the clean sharpness of physical injury, but something persistent and lingering, quietly tormenting him, impossible to ignore.