Forget getting lost-Chen Yan couldn't even move.
The next second, a shadow loomed behind her. Two bodyguards blocked Chen Yan's retreat, restraining her as they prepared to drag her away.
"Wait," Shen Lian said in a muffled voice.
He pulled back the sheet. Though he was still leaning against Chu Yilan with intimate dependence, he had already composed his expression. "Didn't I tell you to leave?" he asked impatiently.
Chen Yan's face turned faintly ashen. Her lips trembled as she blurted out, "Save me..."
Shen Lian: "..."
Chu Yilan's presence was terrifying, but surely it wasn't that... All right, it was.
Shen Lian raised a hand and gently rubbed Chu Yilan's chin, softening those sharp angles, then sat up out of his arms and planted both feet on the floor. Seeing this, Chu Yilan bent forward, retrieved the slippers from behind him, and set them beside Shen Lian's feet. "Put them on."
Hearing movement from the far end of the hallway, Shen Lian waved them away twice with the back of his hand. "You two go first. Let her in."
The bodyguards pushed Chen Yan into the room, then closed the door and left before anyone could discover them.
Thank goodness, Shen Lian thought. I hadn't moved on to the next stage yet. Otherwise, if anyone had seen anything, embarrassment would've been the least of my worries. Chu Yilan might've drawn a blade on the spot.
Shen Lian patted Chu Yilan's arm to tell him to stay calm, then walked over to Chen Yan. After looking at her for a moment, he couldn't help sighing. "Why won't you listen to advice?"
"No, that's not it!" Chen Yan swallowed hard. "I did have other intentions at first, but not anymore..." Desperate to explain everything, she felt as though an invisible blade