DREB CHAPTER 80

Li Yan spent three days in the ICU. On the fourth day, he was transferred to a regular ward, having fallen into a coma from excessive blood loss during surgery.

That night, he finally regained consciousness. His eyelashes fluttered weakly before he slowly opened his eyes, though his condition remained fragile.

An IV needle was inserted into the thin, bony wrist where his veins showed.

As his mind cleared, pain from his post-surgery wounds surged through him. Staring up at the spotless white ceiling, he struggled to recognize where he was. For a brief moment, he thought he was still trapped in a nightmare, locked in that silent, empty room by Lu Lianning.

His eyes snapped open, and he tried to move, but the sharp pain in his abdomen stopped him.

His newly awakened body was still weak, and the small movement was enough to wake Lu Lianning, who had been dozing at his bedside.

Seeing Li Yan awake, Lu Lianning jumped to his feet. Still groggy from sleep, he hadn’t yet masked the emotions flickering across his face.

“Li Yan, how are you feeling?” Lu Lianning leaned closer, asking, “Do you feel any discomfort? Can you hear me?”

Li Yan’s eyes gradually focused on him.

Right. Chen Yu had come to rescue him. They had been trying to escape, with Lu Lianning chasing after them. Then what happened…

The car crash.

Yes, Chen Yu had crashed the car.

Li Yan opened his mouth, but his voice was so faint that Lu Lianning had to lean in even closer to hear him.

“Chen… Chen Yu, how is he?”

Lu Lianning’s expression changed for a moment, but he quickly composed himself. Pressing his lips together, he replied, “He’s fine.”

Li Yan relaxed slightly, his exhaustion evident as his eyelids slowly drooped shut.

The next day, when Li Yan woke up, he looked a little better than the day before.

He watched as Lu Lianning entered the room, holding a baby—a small bundle curled up in his arms. It was obvious Lu Lianning wasn’t used to handling a child.

Li Yan’s expression went blank momentarily when he saw the baby.

Then, as if realizing it belatedly, the pain in his abdomen served as a stark reminder. After a brief moment of confusion, he calmly came to terms with it. Another thought crossed his mind, and he reminded Lu Lianning, “Didn’t you promise me that if there were complications during childbirth, you wouldn’t save me?” He vividly remembered the overwhelming loss of blood, the metallic scent still lingering in his memory.

Lu Lianning drew the curtains open, letting the morning sunlight flood the room and casting a warm glow over Li Yan’s sickly face.

Speaking in a natural tone, he told Li Yan, who had just spent three days in the ICU and barely survived, “There were no complications. Everything went smoothly.”

He walked over to Li Yan, bent down slightly, and asked softly, “Do you want to see our baby?”

From the moment he entered, he was deliberately trying to create a warm atmosphere, as if they were a family that had just welcomed a new member.

But to his surprise, Li Yan didn’t even glance at the bundle in his arms. Lu Lianning looked down at the little Alpha wrapped in a blanket, sleeping soundly, then spoke to Li Yan again, his expression awkward. “Although the baby doesn’t look great right now, everyone says newborns are like this—wrinkled, like little old men… But… he’ll look better as he grows.” He wondered if that was why Li Yan was uninterested.

“And an Alpha is great, too. Li Yan, you shouldn’t discriminate based on gender,” Lu Lianning added, still watching Li Yan’s indifferent expression. His voice trailed off, growing quieter with each word.

The room fell into a heavy silence. Li Yan’s face remained completely emotionless, making Lu Lianning wonder if he was even listening.

“Didn’t you say that after I gave birth, I wouldn’t owe you anything?” Li Yan asked coldly, out of nowhere.

Sensing the conversation was heading in a direction he didn’t want, Lu Lianning quickly resorted to his usual tactic of smoothing things over. “Yeah, I even had the ramen restaurant renovated for you.” Watching Li Yan’s face, he continued, “You can’t start working there right away, but once you’re discharged, I can take you to see it. If it’s not to your liking, I’ll have them change it.”

“No need,” Li Yan refused bluntly. His face, which had held a calm sense of despair, finally showed a flicker of emotion. He looked at Lu Lianning and said, “Since I don’t owe you anything, can you let me go?”

After being hurt by Li Yan’s every action from the moment he’d walked into the room, this was the final blow. Lu Lianning lowered his voice, “Go? Where?” His emotions spiraled out of control. “If you leave, what about me?! You’ve never thought about me, not even for a second! The moment you opened your eyes, the first thing you asked about was Chen Yu! Why can’t you think about how I feel? I had lunch with you and left home for just two hours, and when I found you, you were lying in a pool of blood!” His voice rose, the red veins in his bloodshot eyes becoming more pronounced, making him look even more terrifying. “Our child—you won’t even take a look…”

Just when Li Yan thought Lu Lianning was about to start shouting and throwing a fit like he usually did, Lu Lianning suddenly took a sharp breath, as though struggling to suppress his emotions, his chest heaving as he fought to stay calm.

“Forget it, you’re still not well… I don’t want to argue with you.” Lu Lianning spoke again, then added, “I won’t let you go; that’s my bottom line. Once you’ve recovered, we… we can discuss it.” It was rare for him to show any hint of compromise, and he almost stumbled over the words as he forced them out.

Lu Lianning’s words made it sound like he’d already made a huge sacrifice. Li Yan wasn’t sure how much was contained in that vague promise of “we can discuss it,” but it didn’t matter—this wasn’t what he wanted.

What was there to discuss? What could they even talk about? Didn’t Li Yan already know what kind of person Lu Lianning was? In the end, wouldn’t it just be like before? The freedom he longed for would still be denied, and instead, Lu Lianning would offer other things—things that held no value to Li Yan but were presented as condescending gifts.

Li Yan didn’t want any of it.

He had never wanted any of it.

But he had no right to refuse. His mind filled with fragments of their years together—the harsh words, the cruel threats, and the insults that suddenly became so clear at this moment.

Li Yan’s mood was clearly unusual, though he hadn’t realized it himself.

The barrier that usually shielded him from his negative emotions felt paper-thin, and with the slightest touch, it tore open, allowing his emotions to pour out and overwhelm him.

“What the hell is wrong with you!”

“As if being ugly wasn’t enough, now your brain is broken too!?”

“Even if the front’s ruined, the back can still be used.”

“By the time he’s old, I’ll throw him out. Let’s see who’d bother picking him up when he’s old, ugly, and useless.”

…

Those cruel words, along with Lu Lianning’s perpetually arrogant, domineering expression, made it seem like Li Yan was destined to spend his life teetering on the edge, trapped in the palm of his hand.

Suddenly, Li Yan said, “Don’t push me.”

Lu Lianning hadn’t expected this response after backing down. He was stunned for a moment, and in that instant, he remembered hearing those exact words from Li Yan once before.

When was it?

He tried to recall. It seemed… the last time Li Yan had said them was when he’d held a knife to Lu Lianning’s throat.