Bai Zhi walked in gracefully, dressed in a pale lavender silk robe cinched at her narrow waist. Her hair was pulled into a sleek low bun, accentuating her delicate jawline. She carried a porcelain bowl, fragrant steam curling into the stale air.
"Yueyao," Bai Zhi cooed sweetly, her voice dripping with false concern, "You didn’t eat anything last night. You need to keep your strength up."
Yueyao didn’t move. She didn’t even blink.
Bai Zhi’s lips curled into a faint smile as she crouched down in front of her, close enough for her sweet floral perfu to suffocate Yueyao’s senses.
She placed the bowl on the floor and reached out to tuck a stray strand of Yueyao’s tangled hair behind her ear.
"Look at you... so pitiful." Her tone was soft, but her dark eyes glittered with sadistic amusent.
Yueyao flinched at her touch, recoiling against the wall. Bai Zhi let out a soft, mocking sigh as her fingers traced the fading bruises on Yueyao’s cheek.
"Shen Xiao told sothing interesting last night," she whispered, leaning closer until their noses almost touched, "He said he never loved you. Not even for a day."
Bai Zhi paused, studying Yueyao’s vacant expression. Annoyance flickered in her eyes at Yueyao’s numb silence and no reaction... She wanted to see her wreath in pain.
"He said... every ti he looked at you, he saw soone who had ruined his perfect life he could have had with ... The child should have been born by ..."
Sothing twisted painfully in Yueyao’s chest, but her face remained blank. The numbness spread deeper, swallowing the faint flicker of pain until only emptiness remained.
Bai Zhi clicked her tongue softly and straightened, smoothing her robe with delicate fingers.
"Still pretending to be strong? How long do you think you can keep it up?" She tilted her head with feigned pity, "Anyway... eat before you pass out. Shen Xiao doesn’t want a corpse rotting in his house. That’s a bad on.."
With that, she turned gracefully and walked out, the door clicking shut behind her.
Yueyao sat frozen for a long ti, staring at the steaming bowl of congee on the floor. Her stomach cramped painfully at the scent of chicken and ginger, but she didn’t reach for it.
Instead, her trembling fingers closed into tight fists against the thin mattress.
’I don’t need their pity... I don’t need their food...’
Later that afternoon, the door unlocked again. Heavy footsteps approached, and her body tensed involuntarily.
Shen Xiao stepped inside, wearing a charcoal cashre sweater over tailored black trousers.
His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing veined, strong forearms. He slled of sandalwood cologne and faint smoke.
His eyes narrowed as he saw the untouched bowl on the floor. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he turned to her huddled figure by the window.
"You are still refusing to eat?" His voice was low and dangerous.
She didn’t answer. She didn’t even look at him.
His chest tightened with frustration. He strode over and crouched down in front of her, gripping her chin hard enough to bruise.
"Look at ," he snapped.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze. Her eyes were dark and empty, twin pools of stagnant water. There was no fear in them. No hatred.... Just... nothing.
"Do whatever you want," she whispered hoarsely, "I don’t care anymore."
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