I came down with a fever that evening. Through a hazy cloud of delirium, I felt Qin Siyu walk into the room, bringing with him the crisp, cool scent of peppermint fresh from the shower. When he reached out to touch my forehead, I pushed his arm away in annoyance. “Don’t bother.”

“Then who do you want bothering with you?” His voice dropped an octave, laced with a dangerous undertone of persuasion. “Be good. Take your medicine first.”

His cool fingertips brushed against my lips. His gaze locked onto my fever-flushed mouth, his breathing turning heavy and uneven. Moments later, the roar of running water echoed from the bathroom again. Qin Siyu… was taking another ice-cold shower.

When I opened my eyes again, I was nestled tightly in his chest. A searing wave of heat pressed against my thigh. Qin Siyu had just stirred awake as well, reaching over to test my temperature. “Still running a bit warm… guess the fever hasn’t completely broken.”

That heat is entirely your fault! Just as I went to shove him off me, his arm tightened around my waist. The subtle, calloused trace of his fingertips skimming my skin sent a sudden shiver straight down my spine.

“Le Shu…” He murmured my name in a low, agonizingly seductive raspy tone. “What if… we give it a shot?”

Had this been a few days ago, I would have agreed in a heartbeat. But right now, all I felt was a heavy, suffocating weight in my chest. Was this his version of playing carrot-and-stick? I closed my eyes, drained. “I can’t take it.”

The man behind me went rigid instantly. A long, excruciating moment passed before he finally loosened his grip and pulled back, letting out a self-deprecating chuckle. “My fault. I don’t blame you. But don’t push yourself like that next time—you can’t handle it while running a fever.”

I let out a cold snort. He swung his legs out of bed to fetch my clothes. Today, he wore nothing but a white towel low on his hips, exposing his chiseled abs and a ridiculously breathtaking mermaid line. I casually began changing right in front of him. True to form, the great “man of pristine virtue” immediately looked away, not daring to glance in my direction for even a second.

Over the next few days, I noticed my wardrobe was mysteriously shrinking.

It started with a few loungewear sets, but then… even the black lace lingerie set I had bought just last week vanished into thin air. Without security cameras in the house, I had no clue which sick pervert was targeting my closet.

Finally, over breakfast, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I think we have a thief in the house.”

Qin Siyu was casually spreading butter onto a slice of toast for me. His hand froze mid-motion. “Did you lose something?” His voice remained as unshakeable as a mountain.

I rested my chin on my hand and looked at him dead-on. “Underwear.”

The very next second, his hand slipped. The butter knife nicked the small mole in the web of his fingers, leaving a faint crimson streak. I narrowed my eyes, slowly raising an eyebrow at him.

“Why are you suddenly so jumpy? Don’t tell me… you’re the thief?”

Qin Siyu fell silent for a few seconds before letting out a soft, low chuckle. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his dark, narrow eyes locked onto mine, unfathomably deep and icy cold. “What do you think?”

Before leaving for work every morning, he was always dressed to perfection in a way that felt almost suffocating. Buttoned up to the absolute top collar, tie straight down to the millimeter, paired with those gold-framed glasses that gave his sharp features an unmistakable “keep out” aura.

I sneered internally. What was I thinking? A man as straight-laced as a retired high-ranking official, how could he possibly do something as filthy as stealing lingerie?

I brushed the topic aside. “What time are you coming home tonight? I have something to tell you.” (The divorce papers were already tucked safely inside my bag.)

Qin Siyu slid the buttered toast over to my plate, his response coming out remarkably fast. “Whenever you want. I can come back to see you as quickly as possible.”

He spoke so fast it caught me off guard. Come home as quickly as possible, or come back to see me as quickly as possible? My heart skipped a beat, and an unexplainable flush spread over the tips of my ears. Why did this man keep dropping these “accidentally charming” lines for no reason?!

Taking advantage of some free time later that afternoon, I headed to the clinic for a routine checkup.

The doctor adjusted his glasses and gave his diagnosis with a straight face. “Slight hormonal imbalance. My advice? Find a man to help balance things out.”

When Lin Nan heard the diagnosis, her eyes lit up as if she’d struck gold. “I can lend you a few six-pack models from my agency! Big chests, narrow waists, rock-hard chocolate abs—take your pick!”

I looked at the two fresh breakouts on my chin and felt a stab of deep grief in my heart, cursing Qin Siyu another eight hundred times in my head. Men really are detrimental to a woman’s health!

“Why stick to the home garden when wild flowers smell sweeter?” Lin Nan pushed on persuasively. “Besides, you’re divorcing him anyway. You sure you don’t wanna take a test drive?”

I paused my drawing pen and declared with absolute gravity, “Look, but don’t touch. My moral standard is rock-solid!”

That very night, my own dream slapped me right in the face.

In the dream, I was pinned in a tight embrace, wrapped in scorching heat and heavy, ragged panting. A burning sensation traced every inch of my skin, pulling me under. But the moment I finally caught a clear glimpse of the man’s face, Qin Siyu, I bolted upright, drenched in a cold sweat.

With the lingering heat of the dream still clinging to me, I held onto the wall for support and dragged myself downstairs for a glass of water. Just as I reached the bottom of the stairs, snickers and playful banter drifted out from the living room.

His usual inner circle was hanging out again.

“Brother Yu, if you keep holding back like this, someone else is gonna reel Sister-in-law right off her feet.”

Qin Siyu sat there as cold and detached as a marble statue, taking a quiet sip from his glass. But this time, I caught an impossibly suspicious detail:

They mentioned he had an alt account on Weibo where he went to vent.