Chapter 116: Do You Have Feelings for Me?

Mo Qi left the building and immediately hailed a taxi to Ren De Hospital. After purchasing a bowl of winter melon and pork rib soup from a hotel nearby, she carried it over and asked the nurse for directions to room 304.

Standing outside the patient’s room with the insulated food container in hand, Mo Qi hesitated for a moment before knocking softly on the door.

Xiao Zhang opened it. Seeing Mo Qi, he let out a visible sigh of relief. "Mo Qi, you’re here. Brother Shen is still sleeping, but he’ll need to take his medicine when he wakes up."

Mo Qi stepped into the room and frowned slightly. Even though it was a VIP suite, it was still filled with a heavy, medicinal scent.

"Xiao Zhang, you should head back first. I’ll look after him here," Mo Qi said.

"Alright, I’ll go then. Call me if you need anything." Xiao Zhang grabbed his briefcase, clearly in a hurry. "Sorry to trouble you." With that, he opened the door and walked out briskly.

Mo Qi closed the door and tiptoed to the bedside.

Shen Yijue lay quietly on the bed, his face looking haggard, with dark circles under his eyes from lack of rest. His deep eyes were closed, stripping away his usual sharp intensity and replacing it with a cold, distant indifference. What kind of upbringing could have forged a personality like Shen Yijue’s? Cold, overbearing, and possessing a terrifying sense of possessiveness and desire for control.

Mo Qi sighed, placed the food container on the bedside table, and sat down. It wasn't that she hadn’t noticed Shen Yijue’s feelings, but the nature of love in this industry made her unable to trust it—especially given the vast disparity in their social standings. Once the novelty wore off, the only outcome would be a breakup, heartbreak, or even resentment. How would she face that then?

Mo Qi admitted she wasn't a particularly magnanimous person; she couldn't forgive someone after being hurt. If that was the case, it was better never to begin at all.

Thinking of this, a trace of a sarcastic smile touched her lips. When she first met Shen Yijue, she had signed that "indenture" contract with no other choice, prepared to be his bed partner. Yet now, when it was clear that Shen Yijue wasn't just using her for "hidden rules" but had developed genuine feelings, she found herself struggling and retreating.

Mo Qi realized she was being pretentious. Ultimately, she was only acting this way because she knew Shen Yijue’s feelings for her meant he wouldn't force her, so she took that for granted and acted willfully. If this had been the early days, back when Shen Yijue wanted to use his power over her...

Mo Qi shook her head, gave a bitter smile, and whispered to herself, "Though you seem cold and unapproachable, you are actually honorable at heart. Someone like you deserves a kind, sunny woman—not someone like me, with a dark mind full of schemes. Even though Wang Min is unreasonable, she wasn't wrong about one thing: I am a sinister and ruthless woman."

"Did I agree to you belittling yourself like that?" Shen Yijue’s voice, raspy and devoid of its usual cold crispness, cut through the air. He opened his eyes and looked at Mo Qi, who was sitting hunched over by the bed.

Mo Qi was startled. She looked up and smiled as if nothing had happened. "Did my practicing lines wake you up? I brought some winter melon and pork rib soup—would you like some?" As she spoke, she stood up to open the container and took out a small bowl of soup. Her expression appeared natural and calm, but from start to finish, she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze.

"It’s still warm. I tasted it earlier; it’s not bad," she said, offering the bowl.

Shen Yijue didn't answer. He sat up, leaned against the headboard, and watched her in silence. Even while ill, his gaze was so sharp that it made Mo Qi instinctively want to flee.

When Shen Yijue didn't take the bowl, Mo Qi forced a laugh, set it back on the nightstand, and reached for the medicine instead. "Xiao Zhang said you should take your medication as soon as you wake up. If you don’t want the soup, take your medicine."

Shen Yijue still didn't take the pills. After a long pause, he said, "Were you practicing lines just now?"

"Yes."

After another suffocating silence, Shen Yijue continued, "Why did you come here?"

Mo Qi explained, "Xiao Zhang’s mother fell down the stairs—it sounded pretty serious—so he had to go back and asked me to look after you."

"Is that all?" Shen Yijue wasn't satisfied and continued to press her.

Mo Qi blinked innocently. "What else would it be?"

Seeing that Shen Yijue had fallen silent again, Mo Qi joked, "You’re my biggest benefactor. Of course I’m worried that you’re sick."

"Mo Qi, you know exactly what I want to hear." Shen Yijue remained expressionless, but a hint of gloom shadowed his brow.

"Oh, Mr. Shen," Mo Qi laughed it off. "I’m not a mind reader; how would I know what you want to hear? Are you looking for some auspicious blessing like 'may your reign last for ten thousand years'?"

You can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep. Shen Yijue suppressed the anger rising within him and said in a low voice, "Get out, before I lose control."

"I can leave," Mo Qi said, her smile fading. "You don't have to drink the soup, but you must take your medicine."

"Are you ordering me?"

"A high-and-mighty figure like you? How would I dare to order you?" Mo Qi held the water and medicine out to him. "Mr. Shen, please, just take the medicine."

Shen Yijue stared at her coldly, and Mo Qi glared right back, refusing to yield.

Suddenly, Shen Yijue reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her down onto the bed with a violent tug, flipping over to pin her beneath him. The water and medicine in Mo Qi’s hands spilled onto the bed, but she couldn't spare a thought for that now.

"Mo Qi, I tolerated your avoidance only because I wanted you to come to me willingly." Shen Yijue loomed over her, his eyes flashing with a cold, bloodthirsty light. "Don't force me to hurt you!"

A sense of desolation washed over Mo Qi. She had once lived for a man, and now, having been reborn, was she still unable to control her own fate?

Mo Qi’s gaze turned cold, and a mocking smile curled her lips. "When you forced me to sign that contract, I had already made my peace with this." As she spoke, she reached up and began unbuttoning her shirt one by one. "Isn't this just a sale of flesh? Whatever position you like, Mr. Shen, I can accommodate you."

Hearing this, the coldness in Shen Yijue’s eyes deepened. "Mo Qi, don't provoke me!"

"Provoke? Don't wrong me, Mr. Shen." Mo Qi had undone two buttons, but because Shen Yijue was pinning her down, she was forced to stop. "Since you want my body, I am offering it to you to enjoy. Isn't this an act of pleasing you? How can you call it provocation?"

Mo Qi spoke with a smile, but the warmth never reached her eyes.

Shen Yijue simply watched her in silence, and the room fell deathly quiet. Mo Qi stubbornly met his gaze, refusing to soften.

After a long while, Shen Yijue slightly loosened his grip on her shoulders, the anger receding as he said, "I will ask you one question."

Mo Qi replied, "I will answer everything truthfully."

Shen Yijue: "Do you have feelings for me?"