Kim_Li_0078

#DARK ROMANCE 
Lin Yueyao spent five years of her youth married to Shen Xiao, a man whose heart was as cold as steel. She believed that her gentleness would eventually melt his indifference, but the only thing that melted was her own dignity.

Every night, she endured his cruel touch, his words like blades, and his silent disgust. But no matter how much it hurt, Yueyao clung on – for the sake of their son, Xuanxuan, and for the sliver of hope that someday he might see her.

That hope shattered completely when his first love, Bai Zhi, returned from abroad. The very night Bai Zhi came back, Shen Xiao left Yueyao alone to dine with her. His gaze, once cold and dismissive, turned tender only for Bai Zhi.

Then, just as Yueyao discovered she was pregnant again, Shen Xiao handed her divorce papers. Abandoned while carrying his child, betrayed by her husband, and discarded like a stain on his life, Yueyao’s world collapsed.

Even their son, Xuanxuan – the little boy she’d nearly died giving birth to, the one she raised with unwavering devotion – rejected her, clinging instead to Bai Zhi with innocent adoration.

But fate was crueler still.

Kidnapped straight from her hospital bed by men demanding ransom, Yueyao realised no one was coming to save her. Her husband hadn’t even noticed she was missing. As she lay in that abandoned factory, trembling in pain, all illusions crumbled.

She was done waiting for love from a man who treated her like dirt.

This time, she would save herself. And when she returned, it wouldn’t be as the pitiful Mrs. Shen, but as a woman reborn from ashes – with a heart no longer beating for Shen Xiao.

But will he realise her worth only when it’s too late?

Love After Divorce: Her Second Chance

Another man reached over and yanked down the neckline of her gown, exposing the raw rope burns across her collarbones and shoulders.

She tried to turn away, to hide what little dignity she had left, but her restraints held her firm. Humiliation burned through her veins like acid, searing through her last fragments of pride.

"Let's see if your loving family wants you back," the man muttered, scrolling through her contacts before dialling a number and switching the phone to the loudspeaker.

The ringing sounded loud and hollow in the silent warehouse. They dialed Shen Xuan's number, which was immediately answered and hope-filled Yueyao's eyes, but suddenly, it plummeted.

"Hello?" came Bai Zhi's delicate, saccharine voice.

Yueyao's chest heaved with a desperate sob even though she had lost all hope, "Please… please help me…" she croaked out, her voice breaking like a shattered glass.

But the men pressed her head down, forcing her to kneel on the cold cement.

She didn't have anyone else to call apart from him, he was the only person he hoped would rescue her.

"We have Lin Yueyao," one of them said calmly. "Pay twenty million yuan by tomorrow morning, or we will send you her corpse."

There was a pause. Then Bai Zhi's light laugh trickled through the speaker, airy and amused.

"Oh? You are calling me for this?" she said as if hearing about a minor inconvenience, "Shen Xiao has been busy the entire night, and he is just resting right now. Call back later."

Yueyao's shoulders shook violently as silent sobs tore through her chest.

Tears and snot streamed down her face, mixing with the blood caked around her lips. She had no strength left to wipe them away.

"Let's try the kid," the man said flatly, scrolling to another contact and finding Shen Xuan's number.

The phone rang only once before her son's small sleepy voice came through.

Yueyao's eyes flooded instantly, her heart leaping with fragile hope, "Xuan'er… Xuan'er… it's Mommy… baby, please… help Mommy… please… tell Daddy… tell him Mommy is in trouble…"

There was silence. She waited, every cell in her body praying that he would cry, scream, beg them to let her go.

Instead, Shen Xuan let out a soft sigh, almost bored.

"Mommy… you're so annoying. Always out there acting miserable, can't you understand Daddy can't fall for your schemes?"

Her heartbeat stopped for a second.

"I don't care where you are," his childish voice continued, calm and indifferent, "if so, just die out there so Daddy can marry Aunt Bai already. Don't call me again."

The line went dead, leaving only the echo of his words ringing in her skull.

Something inside Yueyao cracked open. A sound tore out of her throat, a broken wail that was half sob, half scream. Tears poured down her face in thick streams as her body shook uncontrollably.

One of the men kicked her in the ribs, sending her sprawling onto her side with a choked cry.

"Shut up," he snapped. "No one's coming for you."

They forced her back up to her knees, her arms twisting painfully behind her back.

Her vision blurred from agony, humiliation, and despair. Another man yanked her hair back, forcing her to look into the flickering bulb overhead as he snapped more photos.

"Your son doesn't even want you," he mocked, his voice filled with scorn. "You are worth nothing to them. Nothing."

The words sank into her bones, freezing her blood. Her mind was blank except for one thought echoing again and again:

Chapter 19; You are worthy nothing