The sound of beeping. . . The strong smell of chemicals and medicine. . . A red wall. . . Sore body. . . Hard bed. . .

He Xinyan slowly blinked her eyes open, taking her about a minute before she was finally able to fully open them.

The bright light shone into the room through the curtains. At once, she felt the burning pain in her head, and it almost felt like her head was splitting open. He Xinyan closed her eyes again for what felt like a second.

A second later, she opened them again. However, this time, there was no more light anymore. The world outside seemed to be dark, and this made He Xinyan wonder how long she had actually slept for.

Was it really only a second? Or had she unknowingly slept for half a day already?

The pain in her head was still there, but she felt that it was a little better. Or maybe it wasn't, but her body was just more used to it now.

She blinked her eyes a few times, taking in the darkness. She couldn't see anything around her because it was so dark, and it took several minutes before her eyes finally adjusted to the dark.

Her entire body was in pain. Well, she couldn't even feel some parts of her body.

He Xinyan blinked a few times again, as the only part of her body she could move were her eyes. She tried very hard to sit up but she couldn't even move her arms.

Finally, she gave up and the darkness overcame her again as she became unconscious again.

---

The next time she woke up, the room was lit up again.

She did not know how much time had passed, but the sharp pain in her head was half gone by now. She could also move her arms by now, but it was still incredibly sore.

She had never felt this sore in her entire life. . .

What had happened?

He Xinyan tried to think back to what had happened, but it hurt her head just to think too much. All she could remember was the honeymoon.

Then. . . what happened?

She took a deep breath in the respirator and slowly lifted her arm up, touching the respirator over her mouth.

When she tried to sit up again, she was able to push herself up onto her elbows. Just by simply doing that, she was out of breath already.

After a minute of staying in that position, He Xinyan gave up and fell back down onto the bed again, her entire body in pain again.

She was so exhausted that she became unconscious again.

---

The third time she woke up there was no respirator over her mouth anymore.

Because the "filter" was gone, He Xinyan could clearly smell the medicine, the smell of the thin blanket over her, and the smell of flowers, but she wasn't sure what flower it was.

There was the steady sound of beeping next to her, and when she tilted her head slightly to see what was making that sound, she saw the electronic vital sign monitor that beeps with each beat of her heart.

He Xinyan grasped onto the blanket and pushed herself up from the bed. This time, she was successful. She sat upright, leaning back against the headboard.

She blinked a few times before looking down at the sensor connected to the monitor, and she stared at it for several seconds before ripping it off.

The beeping sound stopped as she looked around the room.

The walls were a burgundy red color, and the room was way too large to be a hospital. The only things inside the room were the bed she was laying on and a table next to her.

On the table, there was a vase of red roses, which were the flowers she smelled earlier.

He Xinyan put one hand up to her forehead and shook her head lightly, the pain immediately sharpening when she did so.

She closed her eyes and scrunched her face up in pain.

After the pain had dissipated, she took a deep breath and moved her legs over to the edge of the bed, planning to get off of this bed she had been laying on for who knows how long.

Very slowly, she pushed herself up from the bed, falling back down right away because of the sudden dizziness she felt.

Her vision blurred and she closed her eyes tightly. It took several seconds before she opened her eyes again and the room came into the focus again.

It must be that she stood up too fast. . .

Even slower this time, she stood up like a sloth, taking her almost half a minute. When she was on her feet, she slowly took a step forward and then another and then another.

After realizing that she was still able to walk even with her sore body that was in severe pain, she relaxed a little as she looked around the room again.

She didn't see any door but as she took a few more steps forward, she saw that the door was to the left, hidden because of a short hallway that led to it.

He Xinyan slowly walked over to the door, placing her hand on the doorknob and pushing it down. She did not know if it would be locked or not, but when she pushed it down, the door opened.

With a breath of relief, He Xinyan stepped out of the room, into the dark hallway.

There was no window that allowed light in, so the hallway was only lit up by a few lamps hanging from the two walls.

The walls were still burgundy red and He Xinyan couldn't help but think how familiar it looked. However, when she tried to think about it, her head began to hurt again, so she stopped thinking about it.

She could think about it later.

She continued to walk and she didn't know for how long she had walked for. She walked very slowly because it still hurt when she moved too much, so each step was very small and took a long time.

Therefore, when she finally reached the end of the hallway, several minutes had passed already.

The end of the hallway was a dead end and He Xinyan let out a sigh since she had to walk back. Once again, she turned around and began on her slow journey down the other direction.

---

In the same palace, but in a different room a long distance away from where He Xinyan was, two people were inside the room.

The room also had burgundy colored walls, and like the rest of the palace, it was dimly lit by candles.

In the middle of the room, there was a large wooden desk with several pages and folders on it. To the left side of the table, there was a huge computer screen.

On the black chair in front of the desk, a man sat on it, casually leaning back against the chair with his legs crossed.

His arms rested on the two armrests, and his long and thin fingers were crossed together. In the dark, his pale skin seemed to glow.

His eyes intently stared at the computer screen across from him, which was the brightest thing inside the room.

As he watched, a woman knocked and walked into the room with a tray in her hands. She was wearing a red dress the same color as the walls, and it hugged her body curves very well.

The neckline of the dress was in a deep V shape, showing her pale porcelain skin and quite a large portion of her chest.

The dress ended at her knees, revealing her slender and smooth legs. She also wore a pair of three-inch heels the same color as her dress.

The woman's eyes landed on the man sitting in front of the computer, and she smiled as she walked in, swaying her hips side to side as her heels clicked against the ground.

The man didn't even look up when the woman walked in, as he was completely focused on the scene on the computer screen.

The woman placed the tray onto the right side of the table, and there was a glass of red wine and a plate of fruits on the golden tray.

After she had finished her task, she didn't leave the room right away. Instead, she walked around the table and over to behind the chair.

"Mr. Yi, what are you looking at?" Her high-pitched voice asked softly.

The man didn't respond, almost as if he didn't hear her.

The woman's eyes landed on the screen and after a few seconds, she narrowed her eyes, which were filled with hatred and anger.

She clenched her fists together angrily and forced herself to maintain a calm expression and voice as she asked again, "Mr. Yi, why are you looking at her? Mr. Yi, I brought you fruits and wine. Why don't you drink -"

"Shut up, Shen Xiner. Get out." Yi Qiansi's cold voice rang inside the room.

Shen Xiner took one last look at the screen before reluctantly leaving the room.

On the bright computer screen, He Xinyan's slender body slowly moved down the hallway.

--- ANNOUNCEMENT

hello readers ~

Please go check out the Mass Release Event under the 515 Webnovel Anniversary Event!

There will be many novels doing mass releases during the event, and this novel will be too!

There will be a mass release on 5/20 in celebration of Webnovel's anniversary, my 1-year anniversary writing on Webnovel, and the publish of my third and new book!! Woww!

Please go check it out :)

Love you