Ch. 3

The moment Xie Ruozhou appeared, the entire hospital room fell silent.

Even Yuan En couldn’t help sneaking a few glances at him before excitedly stepping forward to introduce herself.

“Excuse me, are you President Xie Ruozhou? I’m Yuan En from the Yuan Group. We met once at a business function. My name is Yuan En.”

Unfortunately, Xie Ruozhou had absolutely no interest in small talk.

He walked straight over, his gaze settling on me, his tone so calm that there wasn’t even the slightest ripple of emotion in it.

“I’ve arranged a VIP room for you. You just had surgery, so you shouldn’t be moving around too much. In three days, I’ll handle your discharge and transfer you to a private recovery facility.”

“It’s too noisy here, and the security is terrible. Anyone can walk in and bother you.”

His face was cold enough to freeze over, but every practical detail had already been handled with flawless efficiency.

He was basically the ultimate stone-faced dad who had everything under control.

Then, as if deliberately, he glanced at Chu Yan and Yuan En standing nearby and added coldly:

“Troublesome.”

No mercy whatsoever.

Yuan En’s expression immediately darkened. She looked at Xie Ruozhou, then at me, her voice suddenly awkward.

“President Xie is a friend of Xiaoxiao’s?”

This time, Xie Ruozhou actually lifted the corner of his mouth.

“No. Family.”

“Your cousin?”

Yuan En still refused to let it go.

I had a feeling something terrible was about to happen, but I was too weak to even lift a hand and stop him. All I could do was helplessly watch the drama unfold.

Sure enough, the next second, Xie Ruozhou calmly said,

“No. He’s my lover.”

Chu Yan had apparently taken another direct hit today.

He stared at me with an expression so complicated it was almost fascinating. His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, only one question came out.

“Are you sure? You’re her only boyfriend?”

Xie Ruozhou didn’t look surprised in the slightest.

“There was someone before me?”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m her only boyfriend now, that’s enough.”

Chu Yan said nothing else. He simply pulled Yuan En out of the room.

Before leaving, he tossed one last barb over his shoulder.

“You really know how to have fun.”

I sighed and answered honestly,

“Thanks for the compliment. They’re all partners my family arranged for me.”

Of course, Chu Yan took it as deliberate mockery.

When you got right down to it, we were divorced. He had someone new, and so did I—

Three someones, in fact.

It was a perfectly fair arrangement.

There was nothing unreasonable about it.

Unfortunately, I had apparently hit a nerve.

The private VIP room was, indeed, much more comfortable.

There were significantly fewer nosy people around.

Besides, I already had two top-tier heartthrobs sitting guard by my bedside. If people found out there was still a third one waiting in the wings, I’d probably be branded a shameless homewrecker.

Xie Ruozhou sat beside my bed, typing on his laptop while occasionally glancing at my IV drip. He looked busy, but he still somehow found time to check on me.

“Lu Xingyao already came by? He actually left? Didn’t he stay to keep you company and win you over?”

I was already bored out of my mind with no one to talk to.

“His manager dragged him away. Apparently, his career comes first.”

He hummed before asking,

“What about Jiang Chi? That racing addict. Didn’t he even call?”

I closed my eyes and rested.

“He’s probably competing somewhere and doesn’t have his phone. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have time to tell him. Besides, I didn’t want to bother him.”

This time, he was silent for quite a while.

When I woke up again, I found another blanket draped over me.

Xie Ruozhou had moved a little closer. His voice was lower than before.

“Of the three of us, you still haven’t chosen anyone to form a permanent contract with because of that doctor, haven’t you?”

I knew Xie Ruozhou very well.

On the surface, he was an untouchable, ice-cold CEO.

On the inside, he was a remarkably stable kind of lunatic.

Three years ago, he had been the first beastman to seek me out on his own.

My family had simply informed me that three contracted beastmen had been assigned to me. Whether or not a contract was actually formed still required both parties to agree.

Xie Ruozhou was the first one to willingly extend his hand, leaving me no reason to refuse.

A master-servant contract could only be initiated voluntarily by the beastman taking the servant role.

At the time, I had just gotten divorced and had nowhere to go.

He was the one who took me in for three months.

During those three months, I questioned everything about myself while slowly rebuilding my ability to trust again. Once my wounds had begun to heal, I left.

And he never tried to stop me.

He had simply been there when I needed him, like a friend I could always count on.

Compared with the other two, I naturally trusted him much more.

And beneath his question just now was an unspoken message:

Is that guy bothering you?

Do you want me to take care of him?

I gave him a sideways glance.

“It’s not because of him. He’s just part of my past. At most, he’s my ex-husband.”

“And besides, I need to use the bathroom. Call a nurse to help me.”

The next second, he bent down and scooped me into his arms, carefully avoiding my surgical wound.

“The doctor said you need to move around a little to prevent your intestines from sticking together.”

“Which doctor said that? Dr. Chu? You actually listen to him that much?”

One eyebrow arched, and there was something distinctly dangerous in his voice.

“Is he better-looking than me? Richer than me? Does he understand you better than I do?”

“Or does he… make you happier than I do?”

His slender fingers tightened slightly, warmth seeping through my skin.

Before I could even react, he calmly set me down on the toilet, turned around, and closed the door behind him.

I wanted to die of embarrassment.

The way beastmen expressed themselves was seriously far too blunt.

When I returned to the hospital room, I stubbornly insisted on climbing back into bed by myself.

The moment I opened the door, I saw Chu Yan standing inside.

His expression looked like it was about to crack apart. He was holding a takeout container, and I had no idea how long he’d been there.

Xie Ruozhou acted as though Chu Yan didn’t exist.

“I believe I asked the hospital director to assign a different attending physician to my girlfriend.”

Chu Yan set the food container down.

“Girlfriend? Does your girlfriend know she has another boyfriend? Who exactly is this hospital supposed to listen to?”

The two men faced each other, the tension between them stretched tight as a wire.

“Her feelings are her own business. At worst, it’s a matter of morality.”

Xie Ruozhou gave a cold laugh.

“But you?”

“You’re a disgrace to basic human decency.”

His eyes flicked toward the food container, his contempt unmistakable.

“Trying to win her back? Bringing her food to get on her good side? You’re Xiaoxiao’s ex-husband. The marriage is over. You have a fiancée now, yet you’re still clinging to her. If that doesn’t make you a disgrace, what does?”

“A decent ex-husband should be like a dead man.”