The private doctor from Yushan Villa arrived promptly.
Ethan fed Elena Shen her medicine and watched over her IV drip until her temperature finally dropped. Only then did he allow the doctor to leave.
By the time the color returned to the girl's face, and she lay quietly in bed, it was already past 3 a.m. The violent storm outside had mellowed into a gentle drizzle, the thunderclouds long dispersed.
The next morning, Elena Shen woke up groggy and dazed, greeted by a bright, cloudless sky.
The vivid nightmares that had tangled through the night faded like mist as her eyes opened, gradually becoming too blurry to recall.
Rubbing her aching temple, she glanced at the empty side of the bed and lifted the covers to get up.
Just as she swung her legs off the bed, her gaze caught the small bandage still taped to the back of her hand. She froze.
Staring at the adhesive patch left behind from the IV, fragments of hazy memories—uncertain whether a dream or reality—slowly pushed their way into her mind.
She vaguely remembered a moment when her body felt like it had fallen into an ice cave. She'd curled into herself from the chill, only for that cold to shift into searing heat, like she was being roasted over flames. Even so, the heat did little to ease the bone-deep freeze.
The alternating agony of hot and cold had made her restless and uneasy. She kept struggling, but someone had held her down firmly, refusing to let go.
At the time, she thought she was just dreaming.
But now, seeing the faint bruising beneath the torn-off IV patch, she wasn't so sure.
In the study, Ethan was on the phone with Elliot Song.
As soon as the call connected, the other end spoke up.
"I heard from Gavin Chen that your little girl was sick last night?"
"You should've called me,My medical skills aren't inferior to your family doctor's, you know."
"And I just heard from Gu Wenchuan that you're married now. Why not bring your new bride around and introduce her properly? Or at least let me drop by to check on her while she's unwell."
"It's been years since I last saw Elena—since Grandpa kicked me overseas, remember?"
Ethan sat behind the desk, his usual calm features tinged with a deep, unreadable coldness.
He answered his friend's complaints with a single line:
"Weren't you out in the suburbs of Huaihai these past two days? With that storm last night, you think you could've come even if I had called?"
Elliot Song laughed, his tone irreverent. "Why not? If you needed me, even hail couldn't have stopped me. I'd have flown over in a damn helicopter."
"But seriously," he added, dragging out his words. "Didn't Elena always have great health? You two just got married, and she's already fallen sick. What did you do, huh?"
There was unmistakable innuendo in his voice.
Chen Ze had only briefly mentioned that Elena was sick before rushing off to the hospital. So when Ethan called him in the middle of the night, Elliot Song assumed it was just newlywed antics gone too far.
"Honestly, Ethan," he teased, "the girl's just turned twenty, and you've already dragged her home and—"
The study door was only half-closed.
Elena Shen had just approached and spotted Ethan on the phone.
She didn't mean to eavesdrop and was about to quietly leave when he looked up and saw her.
The sight of the girl in her pajamas, face still a bit pale, instantly silenced Elliot Song's nonsense. Ethan hung up with a curt "I've got something to do."
Elena Shen stood outside the study, hesitant to step in.
To be honest, she was feeling uneasy.
She couldn't remember much from last night's fever, but the sensation of being pinned down while she flailed in confusion didn't feel like a dream.
Last time she got drunk, she bossed Ethan around shamelessly.
Now she'd had a fever—completely delirious—God only knew if she'd done something even more outrageous.
So when Ethan stepped out of the study, she looked up at him nervously.
"Did I… do anything last night?" she asked.
He wore a tailored shirt and slacks, sleeves rolled up. On the inside of his forearm was a faint scratch.
Elena's eyes darted to the mark, her guilt growing.
But Ethan didn't answer directly.
Instead, he raised a brow and asked, "Which part are you referring to?"