Seeing him smile, Lauren Shaw frowned. “What are you smiling about? Are you laughing at how silly I am?”
The car stopped at a red light. He turned to face her, his voice steady. “No.”
Taking advantage of the pause at the traffic light, he reached over, took Lauren Shaw’s hand, and pressed it to his lips in a gentle kiss. His gaze was unwavering as he looked at her. “Sheng Sheng, you’re the person I love most in this life. Don’t ever leave me, okay?”
“Okay. Then treat me well for a lifetime. No matter what happens, don’t ever leave me behind.”
There would be many unpredictable things ahead—she couldn’t foresee the future. But at least now, they loved and trusted each other.
“Okay.”
“It’s a promise. Pinky swear.” Lauren Shaw extended her finger. Yancy Shaw obliged, hooking his finger with hers.
She kept insisting she wasn’t tired, but ended up falling asleep anyway.
He touched her forehead and found it alarmingly hot. After a moment’s thought, he drove her straight to the hospital.
When they arrived, he glanced at Lauren Shaw slumped asleep in the passenger seat, let out a resigned sigh, and got out to carry her in.
Her cheeks were flushed a vivid red, looking so tempting he almost wanted to take a bite.
He laid her on the bed and took her temperature—thirty-eight degrees. She’d been drinking that night, so she couldn’t take any medication.
He wrung out a wet towel to lay on her forehead, then sat by the bedside, keeping a close watch on her.
Lying in bed, Lauren Shaw seemed to be tossing in some dream, her brows knotted tightly. Only her ragged breathing broke the silence of the room.
Yancy Shaw called her name. She answered, her voice thick with sleep, but didn’t open her eyes to look at him.
“Baby.” He tried again, softly.
Lauren Shaw slowly opened her eyes, bleary and uncomfortable.
“Cold... Honey, I'm cold.” She shivered uncontrollably as she spoke.
Yancy Shaw pulled the blanket tightly around her, but she was still shivering.
He undressed her gently, then slipped out of his own clothes, climbed under the covers, and wrapped himself tightly around her.
No telling how much time passed. Lauren Shaw woke drenched in sweat, sticky all over, but the fever having broken, she felt much clearer.
She shifted, noticing something odd—something was pressing against her from behind. She reached back, grabbing it, and a low groan escaped next to her ear. She suddenly realized what it was.
She really must have been delirious with fever.
Yancy Shaw’s hoarse voice sounded by her ear. “Feeling better now?” His arms were still firmly around her waist, pulling her in so close their bodies were pressed flush together—almost closer.
Only heaven knew how much self-control he was using up.
Lauren Shaw sat up, still a little dizzy. “Honey, I remember being in the car... How did I end up in bed?”
Sweat made her hair stick to the nape of her neck, giving her skin a delicate, alluring gloss that left Yancy Shaw struggling to keep it together.
Lauren Shaw had no idea how seductive she looked just now.
Her wide, dewy eyes gazed at him, cheeks tinged red. Having just cooled off from her fever, she hadn’t fully recovered her strength.
Yancy Shaw leaned back casually, supporting his head with one hand, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Of course I carried you up here.”
His words were innocent enough, but the look in his eyes made her uneasy—wicked and simmering, as if he could pounce at any moment and devour her whole.
Lauren Shaw dropped her gaze, finally realizing half her body was uncovered. Flushing, she pulled the blanket around herself.
Yancy Shaw smirked. “I took your clothes off earlier. It was the best way to help lower your fever. You’d been drinking, so you couldn’t take any antipyretics.”
“That’s a pretty... creative way to handle a fever,” Lauren Shaw remarked, giving him a long look.
Yancy Shaw didn’t tease her further. He got up and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
After washing up, Lauren Shaw changed into clean loungewear.
Yancy Shaw sat by her side, taking her temperature again. Seeing the reading come down, he finally relaxed a little.
Since she’d just been ill, he decided not to bother her further that night.
He stroked her cheek tenderly. “Sleep. I’ll stay and watch over you.”
Even though the fever had passed, Lauren Shaw still felt weak. She turned over, and soon drifted asleep again.
As he watched her sleep, Yancy Shaw bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
The phone on the nightstand rang. He glanced at the caller ID—Yuan Ran.
He quietly slipped out of the bedroom with his phone and answered it after closing the door.
“Third Young Master, Mo Fan just transferred a billion yuan to Mandy Snow and got Wan Rui out of jail.”
Yancy Shaw’s hand tightened on the phone. He’d been expecting something like this, but hadn’t thought Mo Fan would actually step in to help the Snow family.
“Got it. Keep watching the Snow family and report directly to me if anything happens.”
Yancy Shaw had people keeping an eye on the Snow family. Xue Qiang and his lot had actually been behaving themselves, showing no movement.
It was Mandy Snow who’d been running around for Wan Rui’s sake, knocking on every door, eating her share of rejections—until she finally turned to Mo Fan.
Standing out on the balcony, Yancy Shaw stared into the endless night, lost in thought.
After a moment, he went back inside. Lauren Shaw was still curled up in the same position, sleeping soundly.
His lips curled up unconsciously. Whenever he was upset, seeing Lauren Shaw always soothed his mood.
He gently lifted a corner of the blanket and slipped back into bed, wrapping his long arms around Lauren Shaw and breathing in her scent. Soon, he drifted off to sleep himself.
The next morning, when Lauren Shaw woke, Yancy Shaw was already out of bed.
She grabbed her phone—seven in the morning. Still early.
Getting up and putting on slippers, she opened the door. Hearing noise from the kitchen, she headed over.
Yancy Shaw was making breakfast. Sensing her arrival, he turned and smiled. “You’re up. There’s warm water in the glass on the table.”
“How did you know I was thirsty?” Lauren Shaw walked to the table, picked up the glass, and took a sip.
Yancy Shaw walked over and lightly touched her forehead to check her temperature. “You had a fever last night, and kept muttering in your sleep.”
“Huh? I kept muttering?” She looked puzzled. “What was I saying?”
Yancy Shaw just smiled and said nothing, setting the breakfast out on the table.
“Let’s eat first.”
As Lauren Shaw ate, she tried to recall details of last night—she vaguely remembered dozing off in the car, probably because Yancy Shaw was there and gave her such a sense of safety.
But as for whether she’d talked in her sleep, she really couldn’t remember at all.
Seeing her hesitate to pick up her chopsticks, Yancy Shaw frowned slightly. “Still not feeling well?”
He looked so worried that she couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. “The fever’s gone.”
As she ate breakfast, something occurred to her. She looked up at Yancy Shaw. “There’s something I forgot to tell you yesterday—tomorrow I’m going to Huadong for Fashion Week. It’s a great chance to learn from the international designers.”