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

Let them live their happy lives without her. Let them be free of the worthless woman who had only ever existed to be their sacrifice.

And as the silence wrapped around her like a burial shroud, Lin Yueyao finally let go of the last thread tethering her to life.

Only this endless darkness, swallowing her whole.

On the third day, Yueyao lay slumped against the damp wall, her eyelids swollen shut and her lips split, crusted with dried blood. Her body throbbed with a thousand invisible knives, but her mind was numb, drifting in and out of dark voids.

She barely registered the men entering until one of them grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, forcing her eyes open with his thumb.

"She's barely conscious. Take the photos quickly," he ordered coldly.

Another man lifted his phone, snapping several shots of her bruised, bloodied face. Her collarbones jutted out sharply above her ripped clothes, raw burns, and cuts branding her skin like cursed tattoos.

Her exposed shoulders trembled violently in the damp chill, her tears mixing with the blood crusting her lips.

They typed swiftly, attaching the photos to a message before sending it off. Ten minutes later, the phone rang. The scarred man pressed 'answer' and put it on speaker. A woman's voice, calm and sweet, floated through the dusty room.

"Is the money transferred?" he asked curtly.

"Check your account," the woman replied lightly. The chime of an incoming notification buzzed on his phone. He checked and smirked, flashing the screen to the others – five million yuan had been deposited.

"Good doing business with you," he said.

"What do you want us to do with her?" he asked casually, as if discussing trash disposal.

There was a pause, then the woman let out a small, indifferent laugh.

"Anything you want. I don't care what happens to her. Just don't contact me again."

The call ended. Silence pressed down heavily, broken only by Yueyao's ragged breathing and the drip of water from a leaking pipe. Her ears rang with the finality of the woman's words. Anything you want. Anything.

The men exchanged dark, greedy smiles. One of them crouched down in front of her, licking his cracked lips slowly as his eyes roamed her trembling form.

"You heard the lady," he murmured, reaching out to stroke her cheek with calloused fingers, making her flinch away weakly. "She said we can do anything."

Another man chuckled and unzipped his pants slightly, his gaze heavy with lust and cruelty," She's pretty for someone so broken. Let's have our share before we dump her somewhere."

But before he could touch her, the scarred man stepped forward and kicked him hard in the stomach. The man fell back with a grunt.

"Idiot," he spat. "Don't waste her like that."

The other two looked up at him, confused. He folded his arms over his broad chest, a sly grin spreading across his scarred face.

"I have a better idea on how to deal with her. We can earn more, so don't spoil the goods." He glanced down at his phone again, reading the notification of the transfer, then eyed Yueyao from head to toe like inspecting cattle. "With a face and body like that, the profit would easily exceed 200,000 yuan in just a week. We can earn more."

Chapter 22; Don't waste her like that...