Shen Zichen vowed that he would take responsibility for planting this vengeful thought in her mind. He might have failed to save Li Xiuying"s life but he wouldn"t let Chuntao die at any cost. He had made up his mind to look after Li Chuntao from now on. Li Xiuying wouldn"t want her sister to end her life because of her and Shen Zichen"s pride wouldn"t allow him to make the same mistake again. At that point, Shen Zichen realized that maybe he was doing this for his sake and not for Li Chuntao.
This would be his greatest sin but if it would keep Li Chuntao alive then so be it.
Li Chuntao"s eyes slowly regained its will to live but instead of hope, she was fueled with rage and vengeance, which Shen Zichen thought was better than seeing her lifeless and empty.
"Shen Zichen, I demand an explanation, right now." Anger seared through her, restoring her will to live. "Who dared to plot murder against Ying?!"
She needed to know, needed to know who hurt her sister. Li Chuntao"s anger swelled up in her. Even if she had to use the rest of her life seeking justice for Ying"s death, even if she needed to give up her life to have it, she would.
If Shen Zichen was telling her the truth then she really shouldn"t die right now. She"ll have to make sure that whoever it was would suffer worse than death and would know how painful it was to lose everything.
Someone had dared to take away the happiness and bright future her twin sister deserved and Li Chuntao wouldn"t let that person go unscathed. She would make sure that the person would regret scheming against her sister.
Death wasn"t an option. That person must suffer a hundredfold of what Ying had suffered.
Instead of answering her, Shen Zichen helped her get onto her feet and led her back to his car. He didn"t forget to message Hou Chen to inform the Li family that he"d already found Li Chuntao so they wouldn"t have to worry about her whereabouts. He gave their coordinates so the Li family could send someone to retrieve the car Li Chuntao left near the lake.
Glad that he usually kept spare clothes and towel on his car in case of emergency, Shen Zichen took a duffle bag from his trunk and pa.s.sed it to Li Chuntao who was s.h.i.+vering in his pa.s.senger seat.
"Dry yourself first. Your questions can wait." He said and started driving his car away from the place that almost took Li Chuntao"s life. " Aunt Yue is worried about you. You gave her a good scare when you left."
He stopped at a nearby area and opened the first aid kit he kept inside his car to clean the shallow wound on her forehead. Once done, he continued driving back to the capital.
Li Chuntao didn"t deny this fact. She"d already known what could happen even before she left the capital. She just didn"t expect that Shen Zichen would be able to find where she was and ruin her plans.
She squinted her eyes on him for a moment before opening the duffle bag on her lap. She pulled out the light blue dress s.h.i.+rt and white towel from it before tossing the bag at the back seat.
She pulled the hem of her blouse and pulled it over her head, shocking Shen Zichen who"d noticed her action. He took a quick side glance and returned his attention on the road, avoiding looking at her direction.
Li Chuntao"s upper torso was revealed into his sight. Her ample chest was covered by a white lace bra. It also didn"t help that she looked exactly like Ying and that didn"t sit well with Shen Zichen.
"What do you think you"re doing?" He asked the half-naked woman sitting next to him. Was she forgetting that there was a man beside her?
"Changing clothes, what else." Li Chuntao said nonchalantly, slipping her arms inside the sleeves of his s.h.i.+rt and started b.u.t.toning it up. "I"m pretty sure you"ve seen a lot of patients stark naked lying on top of your operating table covered only with a flimsy blue hospital gown."
"We"re not inside the operating room, Chuntao," Shen Zichen reminded her. He gritted his teeth, not understanding why he was riled up by her action.
Heat crept on his cheeks that went unnoticed by Li Chuntao. Was she forgetting that he was a man first before he was a doctor?
Li Chuntao hummed and nodded in agreement before she took the towel and dried up her long hair. She was annoyed that it started to get tangled and running her fingers through it wasn"t enough to tame her hair.
"Don"t touch your temple! Your wound might get infected." Shen Zichen chastised her when she attempted to touch it as the dried blood on it started to bother her.
"Ah, sorry. I didn"t think we had to worry about propriety between us. Given our chosen profession, I a.s.sumed that you wouldn"t be bothered by it." She said as she turned to look outside the window, trying to clear her thoughts.
Shen Zichen frowned and decided not to play with words with her anymore knowing he wouldn"t be able to win against her.
The drive back at the capital was slow and silent given that Li Chuntao fell asleep soon after she changed her clothes. It also saved Shen Zichen from the trouble of answering her questions, when in fact he wasn"t sure what to say at all. It also gave him time to think about his next step.
It was past seven in the evening when they arrived back at the Li twins" penthouse. Shen Zichen pulled into the parking s.p.a.ce and nudged Li Chuntao"s shoulder to wake her up.
When Li Chuntao opened her eyes, she noticed that they arrived at their destination and sighed. Releasing her seatbelt, she followed Shen Zichen out of his car. He waited for her to catch up to him before stepping into the elevator at the same time.
They were both greeted at the front door by Zheng Yue and Hou Chen who"d been waiting for their arrival. Madam Li didn"t wait for Li Chuntao to speak or apologize and pulled her for an embrace.
"Chuntao, please don"t scare me like that anymore." The older woman cried as she held her niece tightly, "I wouldn"t know what to do if we lost you too." She choked a sob.
Shame washed over Li Chuntao hearing her Aunt Yue"s words. She"d been reckless, discarding the possibilities of how they would feel about her foolish decision to kill herself.
"I"m sorry, Auntie Yue. I won"t do it again." She lowered her head in shame. Now with a clearer mind, she realized how foolish and selfish she was for trying to take her own life.
"Zichen, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for bringing her back home," Zheng Yue thanked Shen Zichen repeatedly for bringing her niece back.
"Auntie, let"s go inside, shall we? Brother Zichen still needs to clean my wounds." Li Chuntao looked away, ashamed of herself.
"Yes, of course. Why don"t you two come inside while we prepare dinner? Zichen, please join us." Zheng Yue released her niece and smiled at their guest.