What followed was a deafening knocking on the door.
Xia Yiwan came to her senses and tried to turn off the shower, but her entire body seemed frozen, unable to muster any strength.
"Bang!" The bathroom door was kicked open.
Si Mo glanced around and saw Xia Yiwan standing under the shower, completely bare.
"If you're not dead, hurry up and come out!" Si Mo instructed, before abruptly turning around to leave.
The bathroom was filled with an icy chill, far from the usual warmth after he had taken a shower.
Xia Yiwan's face was ashen, her body cold, teeth chattering in the chill, yet her eyes held a defiant glare.
Si Mo strode over to her, switched off the shower, unmindful of the icy water and lifted her out of the bathroom.
"Bang!"
Xia Yiwan was unceremoniously dumped onto the bed, bouncing once.
"Do you think death will put an end to all this?" Si Mo berated her, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty rage.
"There are those in this world who particularly enjoy dead women; if you die, I'll have you delivered to them."
"You're sick!"
Xia Yiwan, shivering from the cold, couldn't hold back her words despite Si Mo's cruelty, and bitingly reproached him.
An icy glint appeared in Si Mo's deep eyes. "For that term 'sick', I would invite all of MAX Company to witness."
MAX Company was her contracted entertainment firm.
"You're inhuman!" Xia Yiwan trembled all over, whether from rage or terror, she wasn't sure.
Si Mo leaned in, grabbed her chin, his gaze terrifyingly dark. "You have such a sharp tongue, would you like to witness that right now?"
At his words, Xia Yiwan quickly recoiled.
"Well done recognizing the situation!" Si Mo huffed coldly, grabbed a blanket and threw it onto her, then turning to stride away.
Xia Yiwan shrank into her blanket, with no energy left to cry.
Soon after, housemaid Sister Gui came into the bedroom with a bowl of ginger soup, and helped the ashen-faced Xia Yiwan up.
"Miss, you must get up and finish the ginger soup, you'll feel warmer afterwards."
Xia Yiwan managed a self-deprecating smile, "I'm no Miss, you can call me Xia Yiwan."
"This was master's orders." Sister Gui replied.
She dared not disregard master's commands.
While speaking, Sister Gui moved the bowl of ginger soup a little closer to her. "Master also said, to make sure you finish it before I leave."
Xia Yiwan wanted to push her hand away, but recalling Si Mo's threatening words, she felt a chill rise up in her heart and quickly drained the ginger soup.
"Miss, you rest now. If you need anything, just call me." Sister Gui said with a long sigh.
Xia Yiwan quickly asked, "Do you have any clothes? Anything will do—I didn't bring any change of clothes."
"Oh, yes, I'll get you some right away." Sister Gui hurried downstairs.
"Thank you."
Xia Yiwan wiped her eyes, the spicy ginger soup making them sting.
After drinking the ginger soup, her body began to warm up. Sister Gui didn't return, and drowsiness began to overtake her. Soon, she drifted off into sleep.
In her dream, she was sometimes in a desert, hot and thirsty, and sometimes immersed in a cold pool of water, shivering from the frosty temperature.
"What's her condition?" Si Mo asked the young doctor, touching Xia Yiwan's forehead with both hands, his expression grave.
Later, when Sister Gui returned with the clothes, she found Yiwan already asleep and silently left without disturbance.
It was him, returning from the study and preparing for bed, who noticed her pallor and, upon touching, found out that she had a fever.