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

Two men lounged on a stained velvet couch, one sprawled with his feet propped up on the low table littered with empty shot glasses, the other hunched forward with a lit cigarette dangling from his lips.

Their eyes lit up as they saw Yueyao, raking over her trembling body with lecherous glee. The man with the cigarette licked his chapped lips slowly, blowing out a cloud of gray smoke.

"She's new," he slurred, his voice dripping with drunken anticipation. "Bring her here."

The bouncer shoved Yueyao forward so hard that she stumbled and fell onto her knees, her palms scraping against the rough carpet, reopening the scabs on her wrists.

The second man leaned forward, grabbing her by the chin with rough fingers that smelled of tobacco and sweat, forcing her swollen eyes to meet his. His yellowed teeth showed as he sneered, tightening his grip so her jaw throbbed with pain.

"Pretty little thing," he hissed, his breath stinking of cheap whiskey as it fanned hot against her face.... "Cry for me."

A broken sob tore from Yueyao's throat as her knees gave out completely.

She collapsed onto the carpet, her arms trembling violently as she tried to cover her exposed body.

Their laughter rang in her ears like demonic echoes, their voices slithering through her mind, suffocating every last shred of dignity she had left.

As their hands reached for her, something inside Yueyao died completely.

Her mind felt cold and numb, detached from the humiliation and terror consuming her broken body. Her tears blurred her vision until all she could see was darkness. She could barely hear their laughter over the deafening silence that roared within her heart.

"I'm dead," she thought blankly, her lips trembling as she choked on her silent sobs. "I'm already dead…"

She didn't even have the strength left to scream or fight anymore.

The man's rough fingers slid up her trembling thigh, his jagged nails scratching deep into her sensitive flesh.

Yueyao squeezed her eyes shut tighter, bile rising to her throat as her body shook with silent sobs.

The room spun around her in a haze of red shadows and suffocating cigarette smoke. She could feel every filthy breath, every inch of rotten desire crawling over her skin like maggots feasting on her corpse.

Suddenly, beneath the heavy fog of her dissociation, a faint noise cut through the pounding bass, the soft creak of a door left slightly ajar behind her.

The two men were too drunk to notice. One of them was fumbling with his belt buckle, cursing under his breath, while the other laughed and poured another shot of whiskey into his already overflowing glass.

The bouncer who had dragged her in stood by the door, distractedly checking his phone as he lit another cigarette.

Smoke curled upwards, disappearing into the flickering red shadows above.

Yueyao's heart thudded weakly in her chest, echoing louder and louder in her ears.

'Run,' a broken voice whispered in her mind, hoarse with desperation and terror. 'Run now, before they take everything from you.'

She forced her numb legs to move, ignoring the searing pain that burned up her calves and thighs with every trembling inch.

Her knees screamed in agony as she shifted onto them silently, swallowing down the sobs that threatened to tear out of her throat.

Tears streamed down her bruised face, dripping onto the stained carpet beneath her.

She planted her bloodied palms onto the floor and pushed herself upright, her body shaking so violently she almost collapsed again.

Chapter 26; pretty little thing....