Shi Yu looked, flustered, into his eyes, which were as cold and deep as a winter pond. The proximity made her heart hammer against her ribs. “I…” Before she could form another word, he cut her down with his venom. “Know your place. To me, you’re no different from the girls at those clubs. The only thing that sets you apart is that I allow you to live here.” As she watched his retreating back, the color drained from Shi Yu’s face. She swallowed the wrenching pain in her chest. *It’s not the first time,* she told herself. *There’s nothing to be sad about…* He had been talking about the breakfast. To him, it was nothing more than a pointless gesture. … After pulling herself together, Shi Yu left for the hospital. She navigated the familiar route to the Cardiac Surgery Department on the third floor. As she passed the lab area, a clear, feminine voice cut through the air. “When will my results be ready?” She knew that voice. She had heard it just yesterday… It was the woman who had been crying to Jiang Yichen, telling him she didn't want to get rid of their child. The memory was sharp. Shi Yu stopped, her eyes searching for the source of the voice. She saw her then: a woman in a tight black slip dress and high heels, her long, slender legs on full display. With a willowy figure and a pretty face, she would turn heads anywhere, though the heavy makeup she wore bordered on gaudy. *So this is his type,* Shi Yu thought. The sight involuntarily conjured an image of the woman in bed with Jiang Yichen, and a sharp, visceral discomfort washed over Shi Yu, only to recede into a familiar calm. The hospital's labs were all concentrated on the third floor; the woman was likely here for a follow-up after yesterday's procedure. Not wanting to linger, Shi Yu went to her office and changed into her white coat, but she couldn't get the woman’s image out of her head. On a strange impulse, she found herself walking toward the OB/GYN department. “Dr. Li, that patient just now, the one in the black slip dress. She had an abortion yesterday, didn't she? How is she doing?” Dr. Li thought for a moment. “Oh, her… Li Mengxi, I believe. Yes, the procedure was yesterday. It’s barely spring, and she’s dressed like that… asking to get sick. But she's young. Her body will bounce back. She should be fine. Do you know her, Dr. Shi?” Shi Yu shook her head, a prickle of discomfort on her skin. “No, she’s… the girlfriend of a friend of mine. We've never actually met.” After all these years, she still couldn’t define her own relationship with Jiang Yichen. It was absurd. Even calling him a “friend” felt strange on her tongue. Just then, Li Mengxi herself bustled into the office, waving her lab report. “Dr. Li, my results are here. Can you take a look for me?” The previous topic died an instant, unspoken death. Shi Yu shoved her hands into the pockets of her white coat, a flush of guilt rising in her. She wasn't one to pry into others' affairs, and she felt as if she’d been caught red-handed. Sometimes she wondered if her love for Jiang Yichen had become something pathological. Why else would she need to know about Li Mengxi’s condition? Was it to confirm that the child was truly gone? If Li Mengxi had kept it, would he have married her? She didn’t know what she truly wanted, and she was terrified to look too closely at her own thoughts. Suddenly, Li Mengxi's gaze fell on Shi Yu, and she studied her with a probing curiosity. “I feel like… I've seen you somewhere before.” Shi Yu met her gaze calmly. She ran a quick search through her memory and came up empty. She was certain they had never met, unless it had been as a doctor and patient. After a moment, a flicker of recognition crossed Li Mengxi’s face. “Oh, right. I think it was with Jiang—”