"Yi Yi!" Dai Zhiqiang went forward and caught her wobbling body before she could collapse.

Her vision was blurry, and her legs almost gave up on her. Then, Li Caiyi massaged her throbbing temple as she tried to stabilize herself.

"I'm fine."

"No, you clearly are not! Don't push yourself too hard. You can hit me and scold me all you want later, but you should take a rest for now." Dai Zhiqiang said with finality before scooping her body and carrying her in bridal style.

He was aware that many people paid attention to them, so he cradled her in a way that made her unable to see her surroundings. It displeased him when other people tried to glimpse her weak state.

Li Caiyi felt bittersweet inside. Was this her punishment for snooping in people's lives so she could find something useful to blackmail them with? She never thought that the person she trusted the most would do that.

"Why did you do that?" Li Caiyi asked in a barely audible voice.

Dai Zhiqiang didn't answer and instead asked her. "Where is your room?"

After she pointed the way to him, he effortlessly brought her to the room on the second floor and laid her down on her bed. He tried not to think how this room was filled with her scent and crouched beside her bed to examine her condition.

"You didn't have a fever, but your eyes are red. Maybe because you are too agitated and exhausted after everything that happened."

When he put his hand on her forehead, which had a much lower temperature, she felt so soothed; she closed her hazy eyes. "Zhi, can I really trust you? I'm so confused and don't know what to think anymore."

"It's my fault. I planned to tell you after things had calmed down, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have any hidden agenda when I gave that necklace to you. It's like you said. Not saying anything doesn't mean I'm not deceiving you. I'm sorry, Yi Yi."

"It's always like this. Whenever we meet, we keep thanking and apologizing to each other."

Dai Zhiqiang's body tensed up, feeling alarmed by the distance in her words. "Yi Yi, your mind is in chaos due to shock and exhaustion. Don't overthink it. We are doing fine. Didn't we just have fun together a few days ago?"

Li Caiyi felt suffocated. He was right. Her head was packed with so many things she couldn't keep up with them anymore. She just wanted to throw everything away but couldn't.

If she left now, then what about Li Chunhua? And she wasn't confident that she could live without Dai Zhiqiang too.

She covered her hot eyes with her hand. Dai Zhiqiang watched over her while feeling distressed inside. "Get some sleep. Don't worry about anything, and just rest for now. I will be by your side this time."

"Lies. You will disappear again once I open my eyes. Because you are just a part of my good dreams. You aren't real."

Dai Zhiqiang frowned. "Why do you say that? I'm real, and so are my feelings for you."

"I don't know. The times I spent with you are the most wonderful times in my life, to the point I'm not sure if I'm still dreaming or not. You are my anchor, the only reason I can keep going on. Please don't betray me too."

Dai Zhiqiang wasn't sure what she talked about, but her fragile voice wrenched his heart. When people are exhausted, they tend to be more vulnerable and less guarded, so this must be Li Caiyi's true feelings she had been hiding from him.

She must have been very unhappy before if she thought the little time they spent together was the most wonderful.

Dai Zhiqiang held her hand firmly without hurting her. "Didn't I say before that it's already too late even if you want to run away from me? I will never let you go. You are mine, and that's final."

A drop of tears trickled down her cheek before her lips curled up in a weak smile. "Thank you."

After that, like a deflated balloon, she immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Considering all the shock she received, it was already good that she didn't collapse on the spot. Dai Zhiqiang knew Li Caiyi wasn't a weak girl who needed his protection all the time, but he still blamed himself for letting her fend for herself every time.

Carefully wiping the sweat on her forehead and brows, his mind wandered to various thoughts, including the words she had said to him earlier.

Actually, he couldn't answer her immediately because he was as confused as she was. Although it was true he was the one who put the tracking device inside her necklace, the information he got through Ye Wang and from Li Caiyi's account was not compatible.

Unless Huang Zhen gave her a false name, then there was no reason why this person called 'Hu Jian' would mention anything about him at all.

'Shit. This is getting complicated. Now I can't explain anything without telling her everything,' Dai Zhiqiang thought with a troubled expression.

There were many things he couldn't wrap his head around, but Li Caiyi would face more danger if he kept associating himself with her. He was naive for thinking that she should be safe if he kept some distance from her, even though he knew doing that would make her sad and lonely.

What's the use of putting the tracking device on her if he couldn't be there to help when she needed it the most? He couldn't monitor her 24/7 and failed to save her multiple times. Now she just had to find out about it in the worst possible way. It would be shameful if he still tried to make an excuse at this point.historical

Looking at Li Caiyi's peaceful sleeping face, Dai Zhiqiang felt terrible for her.

"I did nothing but make you cry all the time. Even after that, do you still think highly of our time together? I'm nowhere near that wonderful person you are talking about." Dai Zhiqiang let out self-mocking laughter. "Yi Yi, sometimes I think you see me as someone else. Just who do you mistake me for?"

"So she's here."

Dai Zhiqiang turned back when he heard a voice and found Li Junjie standing by the opened door. "I brought her here because it looks like she needs some sleep."

Li Junjie approached them. His gaze lingered on their interlocked hands, but he commented nothing about it. "Then let her sleep. You are her boyfriend; can I trust you to take care of her? I need to check on my other sister, who was brought to the hospital."

"I intend to do so without you asking," Dai Zhiqiang replied curtly.

"Then I believe you also know that you can't be too close to her, especially when she was unguarded like this? Keep some distance away from her."

From his minimal knowledge of Li Junjie, he knew that this senior of his was supposed to be cold and indifferent. But from that warning tone he gave him, it was clear he was worried about leaving Li Caiyi alone with him.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything indecent to a sleeping person."

Li Junjie frowned. Dai Zhiqiang's words implied that he had no qualms about doing indecent things if the other person was wide awake. He didn't like it.

Then Li Junjie thoughtfully stared at her sister's face before deciding. "She was attacked by two suspicious people in one night, so the more guard she had, the better for her. I will call someone I trust to come here shortly, so refrain from causing a ruckus and disturbing her."