Dinner was unfolding in an uncannily warm atmosphere, the flickering candlelight dancing upon plates of steaming food. Shen Zhe even offered a rare, gentle smile as he looked at Lin Yan, softly praising her for the soup—it had become much richer, a clear sign of her improvement. The space felt like a peaceful dream they both had long yearned for, until suddenly...
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Dry, frantic, and authoritative knocks tore through the silence like a blade slicing across a placid lake. Both froze instantly; time seemed to coagulate. Shen Zhe could see the silver spoon in Lin Yan's hand trembling violently, clinking against the porcelain bowl in a rhythmic, panicked chime. Her face turned deathly pale, the blood draining from her lips as her eyes widened in sheer, raw terror.
"Local police! Routine administrative check! Open the door immediately!" A stern, commanding voice boomed from behind the cold iron door.
Lin Yan looked at Shen Zhe, her eyes no longer filled with crazed obsession, but with the harrowing despair of a small animal cornered in its burrow. She was speechless, but her tearful gaze shrieked a desperate plea: Don't leave me! Please, don't let them take you away!
In a frantic rush, she lunged upward, using every ounce of her frail strength to push Shen Zhe behind the heavy velvet curtains in the corner, where an old, mahogany wardrobe stood silently in the shadows.
"Get... get inside. Don't make a sound, no matter what happens. Please!" she whispered, her voice cracking, trembling as if it might shatter into a thousand pieces.
Shen Zhe crouched down in the cramped, suffocating darkness of the wardrobe. The smell of musty wood and mothballs flooded his lungs, making the air feel even heavier. Through a narrow slit in the door, he saw Lin Yan take a deep, shuddering breath. Her slender shoulders shook uncontrollably as she tried to smooth her disheveled hair, reclaiming a shred of false composure before stumbling toward the door.
Two officers stepped inside, the cold draft from the hallway causing the candle on the table to flicker once and die. They scanned the narrow room with professional scrutiny, their eyes lingering on everything from the unfinished blueprints to the two sets of bowls still radiating a faint warmth.
"Do you live alone? Why are there two sets of bowls on the table?" one officer asked, narrowing his eyes as he rested his hand on his notepad.
"I... I was expecting a friend for dinner," Lin Yan murmured, her voice quivering as she masked her dread. "But they just texted to say they couldn't make it at the last minute."
"We received reports of a suspicious individual hiding in this area. We need you to cooperate. Identification, please. And we'll be taking a look at the back."
At that moment, Shen Zhe's heart hammered so hard it felt as though his chest might burst. Every thud echoed in his ears like a war drum. One officer began to walk slowly toward the curtains where he was hidden. All it would take was a single cough, or simply pushing the door open and stepping out, and everything would end. He would return to being the arrogant young master of the Shen family, he would receive the best medical care for his legs, and he would regain the fame, fortune, and freedom he once craved to the point of madness.
But then, through the narrow gap, he saw Lin Yan's silhouette. She was standing directly in front of the curtains, her hands clenching the hem of her shirt until her knuckles turned white. Her entire body shook like a leaf in a gale, yet her gaze was hauntingly resolute. She stood there, frail and small, yet ready to face the law and sacrifice her entire future just to protect the secret of his presence.
In Shen Zhe's mind, her plea from the night before suddenly echoed: "Don't leave me under that pomelo tree again."
The officer's hand reached for the edge of the curtain. Shen Zhe held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, his fingers gripping the wooden frame of the wardrobe. In that life-and-death second, he realized with a jolt of horror that he no longer wanted to return to that glittering, frigid world. The outside world was too cruel to a cripple like him—a place where people only looked at him with pity or disdain. Only this dark room, with this mad and sinful woman, gave him the feeling of being a reason for living, a god, a soul truly needed without condition.
"Officer! We have a disturbance on the floor above. Let's go!" The radio suddenly crackled, breaking the suffocating tension.
The two officers hurried away after reminding Lin Yan to lock her door carefully. As the sound of their footsteps faded down the hallway, Lin Yan collapsed onto the floor like a creature whose spine had been removed. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing in great, heaving gasps from the aftershocks of terror.
Shen Zhe stepped slowly out from the darkness of the wardrobe. He did not run, even though the iron door outside might not yet be bolted. He knelt on the cold floor and wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Don't be afraid."
Lin Yan turned around in shock, looking at him through bloodshot, tear-filled eyes. "You... you could have gone out," she choked out in agonizing sorrow. "Why didn't you speak up? You would have been free..."
Shen Zhe didn't answer with words. He placed a deep kiss on her forehead, his eyes now completely stained by a dark, bottomless dependency.
"Because you aren't out there. From now on, wherever you are, that is my world. Don't ever chase me away again."
Lin Yan clung to him, a satisfied smile blooming through her tears. She knew the "cage" no longer needed a lock—for the eagle had clipped its own wings just to stay by her side forever.