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

Her husband didn't care. Her son didn't care. Bai Zhi wanted her dead.

What was the point of surviving this hell when no one in the world cared whether she lived or died?

If only her parents were alive! If only she were still the Li family princess... She wouldn't have gone through all this...

She felt her spirit collapse inward, shattering like thin ice under too much weight.

Tears continued to fall, hot and silent, as her body slumped forward, limping in their grip.

The scarred man crouched down, gripping her chin to force her empty eyes to meet his. "Call your son again," he ordered coldly.

She didn't move. She didn't even blink. She no longer cared.

"Call him!" he roared, backhanding her so hard her head snapped to the side, her vision bursting into stars of pain.

Hands trembling violently, Yueyao reached for the phone and dialled Xuan'er's smartwatch again.

This time, her tears blurred the screen so much that she could barely see.

When the call connected, his small face appeared. He was sitting on the couch, his feet dangling, eating snacks while Bai Zhi helped him peel an orange.

"Xuan'er… baby…" Yueyao whispered, her voice so broken it barely came out. "Look at Mommy… please… please save me… Mommy is scared… Mommy… loves you… so much…"

The kidnapper suddenly grabbed her hair, yanking her head back to expose her neck. He pressed a knife to her throat, drawing a thin red line of blood.

"Tell your daddy to send ten million yuan right now if you want her alive!" he barked.

Xuan'er just stared blankly at the screen. His little lips pursed before he turned to Bai Zhi, who smiled softly at him.

"Auntie Bai, Mommy is so annoying," he said, his childish voice tinged with irritation, "Why can't she just die already? I don't want her... You are my mommy now."

At that moment, the last sliver of light in Yueyao's soul flickered and went out. Her body went limp as the phone fell from her hands onto her lap.

She stared blankly ahead, tears silently falling down her cheeks, dripping onto the dirty concrete floor.

Her son didn't want her. Her husband wouldn't save her. Bai Zhi wanted her dead.

She was utterly, completely alone.

The kidnappers laughed and snapped more photos, sending them to their boss. One of them leaned down and whispered into her ear, his breath reeking of stale cigarettes.

"You see? No one's coming for you. You are nothing. Just meat. Just a body to use until it rots."

But Yueyao didn't hear him. She didn't feel the cold anymore, or the burning pain in her shoulders, or the blood trickling down her neck.

She had died a long time ago. She just hadn't realised it until now.

And as darkness swallowed her vision, Lin Yueyao stopped hoping altogether.

The darkness of the small room pressed against her eyes like heavy iron slabs.

Yueyao lay curled up on the cold cement floor, her knees drawn tightly to her chest despite her tied wrists and bruised arms.

Each breath came out as a ragged, rattling wheeze through cracked, blood-caked lips.

She had stopped crying hours ago, or maybe it was days.

Time blurred in endless cycles of pain and numbness, pain and numbness, pain and numbness… until there was nothing left but silence inside her mind.

Her stomach cramped painfully with hunger. Every nerve felt raw, every joint burned from the tight ropes, and her head pounded with a constant migraine that made her vision pulse black and white. But all of it felt so distant, as if it belonged to another body entirely.

Chapter 20; They don't want me....