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

Silence crashed down between them, thick and suffocating, broken only by her ragged, sobbing breaths.

His broad shoulders trembled as he loomed over her, his obsidian eyes burning with a twisted cocktail of possessiveness, anger, and something else… something darker.

Her cracked lips trembled as she choked out in a hoarse whisper, "Why… why won't you let me go… what did I ever do to you…?"

He stared down at her, his handsome face carved from stone as his fingers flexed against her shoulders, fighting the trembling that threatened to betray him.

"You are mine, Yueyao," he said, his voice low and guttural, vibrating with a barely contained madness. "That's all you ever did wrong."

A broken sob tore from her chest as her fists beat weakly against his arms, her tears soaking his crisp white shirt as she whispered over and over again:

"I hate you… I hate you… I hate you…"

But he only closed his eyes, leaning down until his forehead pressed against hers, their ragged breaths mingling between them, hot and uneven.

"I know," he whispered softly, his deep voice raw and hoarse as it broke around the edges. "I know."

His grip on her loosened slightly, his large hands trembling as they slid up to cup her tear-streaked face gently, his thumbs brushing away her tears that refused to stop falling.

And for a fleeting moment, beneath the suffocating silence of the mansion, two shattered souls lay broken together in a bed of gold and silk, drowning in a love twisted beyond recognition, a love that felt more like a curse than salvation.

Outside, the first golden rays of dawn pierced through the thick velvet curtains, illuminating them in cold, indifferent light.

But as the warmth of his thumbs brushed against her damp cheeks, her hazy, tear-blurred mind registered the familiar scent enveloping her, sandalwood and cold marble, sharp and suffocating. Realisation crashed into her like a violent tide, tearing through her fragile calm and leaving behind nothing but pure, blind terror.

Her wide, swollen eyes locked onto his dark, fathomless gaze hovering inches from hers.

Then her entire body convulsed with hysterical panic as a scream ripped up her throat.

"Let me go… let me go… I don't want anything… I don't want you… please… just let me go…"

Her broken sobs ripped through the heavy silence, echoing off the dark wood paneling and marble floors like the cries of a dying animal.

Shen Xiao's chest rose and fell with ragged breaths as he hovered over her trembling form, his hands gripping her shoulders so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Enough, Yueyao," he growled, his deep voice low and dangerous. "Stop this madness. Please..."

But she only screamed louder, more hysterical...

"NO! Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me!"

Her fists flew wildly, punching and scratching at his chest and face with crazed desperation. Her nails raked deep, leaving behind angry, bleeding welts along his neck and jawline. Her knee jerked up hard, slamming into his abdomen. A guttural grunt tore from his throat at the sudden pain, his grip tightening painfully around her thin arms to subdue her.

"Calm down!" he snarled, shaking her roughly. But her eyes were glazed with hysteria, wide and wild with a broken terror that cut deeper than any blade.

Chapter 61; Calm down....