CHAPTER 1028: CHAPTER 1028: A THOROUGH REJECTION

Her answer was a moment of silence.

Kim Zhiyuan stared at him intently, refusing to look away, stubbornly saying, "Why aren’t you speaking? I’ve liked you for so long, and now you’re telling me you like someone else. I’ve liked you for this long, at the very least I have the right to know who it is—I deserve to know who I’ve lost to, don’t I?"

Xi Zelie’s Peach Blossom Eyes revealed a trace of helplessness. His Rosy Thin Lips trembled, and he finally responded to her, "Zhiyuan, you haven’t lost."

With just one brief sentence, Kim Zhiyuan’s eyes reddened instantly, her tears almost bursting out. But she held them back, forcibly suppressing them, preserving the last shred of dignity of a wealthy lady. "I haven’t lost, not because I’ve won, but because in your heart, I never even had the chance to compete, right? So, when you say I haven’t lost, it’s only because there was never a match to begin with!"

From the start, she was never the one he liked. So this wasn’t a competition, no matter how she saw it. To him, she was merely a familiar face in the audience seats.

Kim Zhiyuan pressed her lips tightly together, the piercing pain in her heart suffocating her, making it almost impossible to breathe. She worked hard to make herself appear less pitiful, fixing her gaze one word at a time on the man lying on the sickbed. "Since you won’t tell me who you like, I don’t believe you actually have someone. Xi Zelie, you’d better remember this—I, Kim Zhiyuan, like you! As long as you’re not with someone else, I’ll keep pursuing you until I catch you! I won’t give up!"

"Zhiyuan..." Xi Zelie hesitated, about to speak.

Kim Zhiyuan cut him off. "Alright, seeing you unharmed is enough for me. I have a business meeting to attend, so I’m leaving now. If there’s anything else, we’ll talk another day."

With that, she turned to leave in haste.

As she reached the doorway of the ward, she suddenly stopped, stood silently for a moment, and then spoke in a low voice. "Don’t worry. I’ll keep your injury a secret—I won’t let your brother find out."

This time, when she finished speaking, she truly left.

Xi Zelie watched her disappearing figure, feeling an immense headache as he withdrew his gaze and pressed a hand to his forehead. The throbbing pain was unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

At that moment, the door to the ward was pushed open.

The man who had let Kim Zhiyuan in earlier glanced at him strangely and then quickly lowered his head, reporting, "Young Master Lie, Miss Kim has already left the hospital. Should we send someone to keep an eye on her, just in case Miss Kim leaks the news of your injury?"

"No need." Xi Zelie swiftly raised his head, resuming his usual cold demeanor.

The man couldn’t quite understand what had just transpired inside the ward, but seeing Miss Kim’s slightly red eyes as she departed and noticing the noticeably poor mood of Young Master Lie now, he could at least deduce that whatever had occurred wasn’t pleasant.

While he was busy trying to guess what might have happened, the man on the sickbed suddenly spoke. "From now on, don’t let her come in so easily."

Having confronted his own feelings, he no longer wanted to mislead Kim Zhiyuan—his refusal needed to be absolute.

"Young Master Lie, you mean... Miss Kim?" The subordinate was utterly astonished.

Hadn’t Young Master Lie always had a decent relationship with Miss Kim?

"Yes, her." Xi Zelie confirmed with certainty. "From now on, if she wishes to see me, just tell her I’m not here."

"...Understood." The subordinate, though perplexed, still complied respectfully.

Xi Zelie’s furrowed brows eased slightly as he raised his head, suddenly glancing at him. "...Enen."

He lingered for a moment before switching to a name the other person might find easier to understand. "The person who accompanied me to the hospital that day—where is she now?"