Chapter 20: Li Jingshen, The Beast

A chill shot through Li Jingshen from head to toe, leaving him frozen in place. His eyes narrowed, and it felt like his heart was being yanked out of his chest.

Tears welled up in Li Jingshen's eyes as he stared, horrified, at the bloody mess in the basin. Was that what was left in Shen Zhichu's stomach? Chewed up, undigested bits of tissue paper soaked in her blood?

"Why the hell would she eat this stuff..."

Qin Mo coldly glared at him, his own eyes misty with tears. "I should be asking you what the hell you did to her that she had to stuff her face with tissue paper to keep from starving!"

It was him. He had locked her in the bedroom for four days. Four days without food, and she resorted to eating tissue paper. Li Jingshen, who had a mild stomach condition, knew how excruciating stomach pain could be, let alone for Shen Zhichu who was in the advanced stages of stomach cancer.

Li Jingshen looked like a drowning man grasping for air. He clenched the plastic basin so hard his knuckles turned white, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

"I... I didn't know... she had a stomach problem... didn't know it was this bad..." If he had known, he would never have left her locked up without food for four days.

Li Jingshen hung his head, staring at the bloody water in the basin. The strong smell of blood hit him, and tears fell from his eyes, causing ripples in the blood before it settled again.

The room was filled with the heavy sound of Li Jingshen's breathing. Qin Mo felt no sympathy for him, only disgust. It was his fault that Shen Zhichu, who used to be so full of life, was now broken.

Qin Mo's gaze was as sharp as a knife, and Li Jingshen couldn't meet his eyes. He imagined Shen Zhichu stuffing paper into her mouth, swallowing it while coughing up blood.

He couldn't fathom how she endured those four days, knowing how much she hated pain.

Li Jingshen seemed like a soulless husk as he frantically looked around, trying to find Shen Zhichu.

"Zhichu is in the ICU. If you have any shred of guilt, divorce her and stop dragging her down," Qin Mo finally said.

Li Jingshen snapped back to reality. He put down the basin and looked straight at Qin Mo. "Shen Zhichu will always be my wife. I will never divorce her."

He realized that what he felt for Shen Zhichu wasn't love, but guilt and possessiveness.

"Even if she dies, she will still belong to the Li family, and be my wife," he declared.

Li Jingshen's words meant he had no intention of letting Shen Zhichu go. Thinking of her lying in the ICU, still in critical condition, Qin Mo saw red.

He lunged at Li Jingshen, wanting to punch that smug face, but was stopped by a quick-reacting nurse.

"Calm down, Dr. Qin! This is a hospital," she reminded him. The operating room was packed with expensive equipment, and a fight could cause serious damage.

Qin Mo took a deep breath, his jaw clenched so tight it felt like he might shatter his teeth. "Li Jingshen, you bastard! Haven't you done enough to Zhichu?"

"That's between me and her. None of your damn business!" Li Jingshen retorted.

Qin Mo had never met anyone as shameless as Li Jingshen before. Calling him a beast felt like an insult to animals.

The nurse who held back Qin Mo was taken aback by the fury on his face. Those who knew him were aware that he was usually as gentle as a lamb. They had never seen him lose his cool in the hospital, and this rage was something rare.