Sowhere down the corridor, a maid’s voice murmured, followed by the soft creak of a door. Life moved on quietly around them, unaware that in this room, the fragnts of a woman’s soul were finally beginning to surface.
Dr. Lin placed a hand on Shen Xiao’s shoulder, firm, and steady. "What she needs now is safety, and not control, no explanations. Just space to breathe without being forced to rember. Let her choose when... and how."
Shen Xiao didn’t speak, but the haunted look in his eyes lingered. Regret hung heavy on his shoulders. Guilt too.
Dr. Lin gave a quiet nod and stepped back. "I’ll monitor her tonight. But from here on... be careful what you say around her. Even kindness can reopen wounds if the mind isn’t ready."
As the doctor left, Shen Xiao stood alone in the dimly lit sitting area, staring at the closed door to her bedroom.
Behind that door, Yueyao lay curled beneath thick blankets, her breathing shallow, her eyes wide open despite the sedative flowing through her veins.
And in the silence of that room, mories clawed their way up from the depths she thought she’d buried forever.
— — — — —
FANG LIN’S APARTNT – NIGHT
Rain tapped against the windows. The lights were dim, and Fang Lin sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by scattered notes, her phone clutched tightly in her hand.
Another call, it was voicemail again.
She threw the phone onto the cushion beside her and stood up abruptly, pacing around anxiously.
"Damn it, Yueyao. Why won’t you pick up the calls?"
She had tried every number to reach her, the House line, Private line, and even the clinic nurse who had once worked at Shen Manor had gone silent. The mansion was on lockdown and she seed not to be able to penetrate through.
When she was there, extra security and guards refused to speak.
It wasn’t just a concern now, it was dread.
She grabbed her coat and hesitated, fingers lingering on the hem. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t break through the wall Shen Xiao had built around that mansion.
She reached for her phone again, but this ti opened a contact she hadn’t touched in years.
’Uncle’ there was no na attached to it, just that. The last call was over two years ago. The man rarely answered unless he wanted to and most of the ti you couldn’t get through to him.
But at such a mont, she was at the wits’ end... This was her closest friend...
She couldn’t ignore it... She looked at the contact...
Still, her hands trembled as she pressed the call button.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three tis.
She was about to give up when the line clicked and it was connected.
Silence.
There was silence for a few seconds....
Then a low, quiet voice ca through the phone.
"Fang Lin."
Her throat tightened at the sound. That voice never changed, cool, precise, but with a weight that always made her feel like she was standing before sothing ancient and dangerous.
"Uncle... I.... I have a problem!"
"What is it? Speak!" There was a cold commanding voice echoing through the phone.
"I need your help, my friend wants to divorce her husband, she had ran over to my apartnt from her ho but that man ca over and took her away by force, I’m unable to contact her for the last two days, she had previously given a distress call saying she will kill herself before escaping to my ho, but her husband found her again, I’m worried that she could be in danger now." She trembled while stamring as she narrated the entire ordeal.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line.
Fang Lin held her breath hopefully. She knew her Uncle was the only person who could rival and go up against Shen Xiao.
Then ca his voice, slow and unreadable.
"Your friend. What is her na?"
"Yueyao. Lin Yueyao."
Another silence.
But this one was different. He wasn’t confused, he was processing everything because this na just sounded familiar.
Then, for the first ti in years, she heard the faintest shift in his breathing.
"...Lin Yueyao," he repeated under his breath.
Fang Lin didn’t catch the weight behind his voice, but it felt heavier now, quiet but dangerous, like a storm forming behind calm clouds.
"I didn’t know that," he muttered more to himself than to her. "She’s your friend?"
"Yes," Fang Lin replied quickly. "She’s been through so much, and I know she’s not safe in that house. Sothing’s wrong, I can feel it. She’s scared, trapped, and she looked like she was breaking down the last ti I saw her. Please, Uncle, help out!" It was rare to call and if she did, it was sothing pressing.
"What house?" his voice dropped lower, but he still wanted to confirm, like they were thinking of the sa person.
"Shen Manor. Her husband is Shen Xiao."
The silence that followed was icy, absolute, and suffocating.
Fang Lin blinked worriedly, would he help her out? What could be the price? "Uncle? Please, Uncle, help out, okay?" She has never begged like this, but she didn’t have any other options.
No answer.
She stared at the screen that hadn’t disconnected yet for a second long.
One of her hands dropped to her sides, confusion and worry tightening around her chest. Had she said sothing wrong?
"Wait for there at your apartnt, don’t do anything or move..." It was her girl, how could he not be shocked? How could sothing like this have happened and he didn’t know? What were his n doing?
Fang Lin blinked, clutching the phone tightly as her knees weakened from the sudden shift in his tone. The final sentence, sharp, commanding, and shaken beneath the surface, was enough to still every thought in her head.
"I... I will," she whispered, unsure if he was still listening.
But the line had already gone dead.
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