She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't think.
The noise from outside bled through the thick hospital walls—indistinct, yet deafening.It was like drowning in a sea of voices that clawed at her skin, tearing through the fragile walls of her mind.
Shen Fuyue didn't register the nurses anymore.Didn't hear Shen Yuri's trembling voice.
She was beneath the bed, knees drawn tight to her chest, trembling so hard the frame above her rattled faintly with each shuddering breath.
Her eyes stared blankly at the wall—wide, glassy, unblinking.
She didn't see the nurses reaching for her.
Didn't see Shen Yuri crouch beside the bed.
"Fuyue-jiejie—please. Please, you have to listen to me!"
Shen Yuri's voice cracked, raw from crying. Her fingers hovered near her cousin's arm but dared not touch it.
"They can't hurt you, I swear—please, come out… please look at me!"
But Shen Fuyue's gaze shifted dully, as if Shen Yuri were a ghost. Her lips moved—soundless—words trapped beneath the crushing weight of panic.
"We're here, we're not leaving you!" "Jiejie… please…!"
Outside the ward—
"Hold the barricade!" Inspector Zhang's voice cut like a whip over the hospital comms.
"No one moves without my order— NO ONE crosses that line!"
The outer entrance was nearly breached twice in the past three minutes.More reporters. More camera drones. More wolves.
"She's the reason Qinglan Group fell!"
"She seduced Mo Ziqian for power—"
"She's a liar! A manipulator!"
"Is she pregnant with Mo Ziqian's child—"
"Does she deserve public sympathy or public trial?"
"ENOUGH!" Inspector Zhang roared outside, shoving reporters back from the barricades. But her voice was swallowed in the sea of noise and flashing lights.
Just then a young officer ran up, breathless.
"—Inspector! Urgent!—"
He was holding out a small comm device. "Inspector Zhang—Chief Superintendent Liao—he's on the line."
Inspector Zhang's jaw tightened.
"Hold your post," she snapped to her team."And tell the second line to ready smoke deterrents in case they breach."
Without another word, she seized the device and stalked inside the ward corridor, her boots echoing sharply.
"Sir, Inspector Zhang speaking."
***
The VIP room remained tense, the noise from outside a constant dull roar pressing against the glass.
Shen Fuyue was still under the bed—motionless, vacant.Shen Yuri crouched beside her, tears running down her face, whispering softly in vain.
The nurses exchanged helpless looks but dared not force her out.
Then—the door swung open.
Dr. Luo entered, white coat flaring with the sudden motion.
His face was grim, eyes shadowed, jaw clenched tight.
Something had changed.
The nurses looked up in alarm.
Before anyone could ask—Inspector Zhang followed him in, her expression like stone, a faint sheen of sweat across her brow.
"I've been ordered back to the station," Inspector Zhang said flatly, her voice clipped. "Another team is taking over security here."
Dr. Luo's eyes sharpened at that—but remained steady.
"I just received a call," he said next, voice low, strained."The hospital board wants her transferred—to another facility."
There was a beat of silence.
"Officially," he added, voice laced with bitter irony, "to 'protect the other patients from the chaos outside.' "
Inspector Zhang's mouth tightened into a grim line.
But they both understood the truth—unspoken, suffocating the room.
"They want her out in the open," Dr. Luo said under his breath. "Thrown to the wolves."
Inspector Zhang gave a slow, dark nod.
They knew exactly what this meant.
Someone was pulling the strings—and now forcing Lianhua Hospital to deliver their vulnerable patient straight into the hands of the press and the vultures outside.
Dr. Luo's eyes flickered with cold fury.This was not about the other patients.This was not about hospital policy.It was about forcing Shen Fuyue into the spotlight—where she could be torn apart.
Lianhua Hospital wasn't a place to cave under pressure.
It had handled worse. Yet here they were, using public outcry as an excuse to force them to move one girl.
"Someone wants her exposed," he said quietly. "Badly enough to pull every string they can."
"What do we do?" Inspector Zhang asked, grim.
Shen Yuri, who had overheard, gasped—eyes wide, trembling harder.
Before Dr. Luo could respond—his phone rang again, sharp and insistent.
He shot Inspector Zhang a glance, then stepped out into the hallway to answer.
No one knew who called. No one dared ask.
A few tense minutes passed.
Then—Dr. Luo returned, eyes burning with new resolve. He pulled out his phone again and made two more calls—his voice low, words curt, clipped.
When he returned fully into the room, he looked at the team.
"We're going to comply—with precautions."
"Prepare to move her," he ordered the nurses. "We'll transfer her—but on my terms. Inspector Zhang, I need your full cooperation until she is safe."
Inspector Zhang gave a sharp nod, her mouth set in a grim line. She already had her own calls to make.
Dr. Luo turned to Shen Yuri. "Miss Shen... You need to leave now."
Shen Yuri's eyes widened. "Why? No—I can't leave her here!"
"It isn't safe for you anymore," Dr. Luo said firmly, though his voice softened slightly. "Go while you still can."
"I won't—!" Shen Yuri began—but her phone rang suddenly.
She fumbled for it, answered in a shaky voice.
"Hello?!"
The voice on the other end spoke urgently.
Her face drained of color as she listened—eyes growing wider with each passing second.
After a long moment—she hung up, her hand trembling.
Dr. Luo gave her a look that said he already knew what the call was about.
"Go." His voice was softer now—but final.
Tears welled in Shen Yuri's eyes.
"Please... please make sure Fuyue-jiejie is safe."
Dr. Luo gave her a rare, brief nod.
Without another word, Shen Yuri wiped her face, whispered a trembling goodbye toward her sister's prone figure under the bed—then fled the room.
Outside—the chaos only grew louder.
Inside—the stage was being set.
The wolves were at the door.
But Dr. Luo would make damn sure they didn't get the girl so easily.