CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 78; BUT SHE COULDN’T MOVE

Her fingers trembled around the knife as her gaze darted wildly from one silent guard to another, seeking any sliver of escape.

But there was none.

Shen Xuan clung to Bai Zhi’s skirt, his tiny shoulders shaking violently as his sobs echoed through the silent hall.

"Mommy... please... please don’t... you are so scary... Mommy Zhi is crying... I don’t want you anymore... I want Mommy Zhi... she would never hurt me like this... never..."

His words pierced her like burning needles, each syllable leaving her emptier, hollower, her limbs growing weaker under the crushing weight of hopelessness.

She pressed the blade tighter against Bai Zhi’s throat, feeling the woman flinch with a strangled cry as fresh tears streamed down her face.

"Don’t... don’t come near me..." Yueyao whispered hoarsely, her voice trembling and broken as she glanced around the guards tightening their circle around her. "I will kill her... I will... don’t think I won’t..."

But deep inside, she knew.

She was at the end.

There was no way out of this gilded hell.

And as her eyes burned with hot, silent tears, the truth settled like lead in her chest:

No matter how hard she fought, she would never be free.

— — — — — — —

The vibrating phone on his mahogany desk snapped Shen Xiao out of his silent, bone-deep exhaustion.

He glanced at the screen, his obsidian gaze sharpening instantly at the flashing security line ID.

He answered with a cold, curt, "What is it?"

The trembling voice of the head guard came through, tight with urgency and fear. "President Shen... Madam Shen has taken Miss Bai Zhi hostage. She’s armed with a knife and is threatening to kill her if we don’t let her leave the premises."

For a split second, silence filled his vast office and only held up breaths echoed.

Then a cold, violent fury erupted behind his eyes, so blinding that it made his vision go white.

"Where is she now?" he demanded, his voice low and calm, too calm.... the deadly calm of a predator seconds before it lunged for the kill.

"In the main living room, sir. She’s already downstairs, holding Miss Bai Zhi as her shield. Little Young Master is with them... he’s crying and trying to stop her."

The pen in Shen Xiao’s hand snapped in half.

"Hold your positions," he ordered icily, rising to his feet with lethal grace. "Don’t approach her and don’t you dare touch her. I will be there in ten minutes."

"Yes, President Shen."

He ended the call and slipped his phone into his pocket, his tall frame moving with coiled, silent rage as he reached for his charcoal suit jacket.

He slid it on smoothly, fastened the top button with precise fingers, and grabbed his car keys from the edge of his desk.

Xu Min entered the office with several contract files in hand, pausing when he saw the murderous coldness etched into Shen Xiao’s chiseled features.

"President Shen... your two o’clock....."

"Clear my schedule," Shen Xiao cut him off without sparing a glance. His voice was so sharp it sliced the air clean in half. "Cancel everything. Inform the legal team to prepare immediate damage control protocols for an internal crisis."

Xu Min stiffened. "Yes, President Shen."

Shen Xiao walked past him, the icy scent of his cologne mingling with the frigid aura rolling off his broad shoulders. The executive staff in the corridor froze instantly, bowing low as he strode towards the private elevator.

His polished leather shoes struck the marble floor with quiet finality.

His obsidian eyes were narrowed, the ruthless, bone-deep exhaustion burned away by a roaring storm of fury and desperation.

Ten minutes.

That was all he needed.

And God help anyone who dared stand in his way before then.

— — — — — —

The room seemed to tilt and sway around Yueyao, her vision flickering in and out of focus. She could hear her own ragged breathing echoing loud in her ears, mingling with Bai Zhi’s soft, choked sobs and Shen Xuan’s hysterical crying.

Her arms trembled violently, the blade slick with sweat as it pressed into Bai Zhi’s skin. Every nerve in her body screamed with exhaustion, her knees threatening to buckle under the crushing weight of despair.

Why... why did it come to this...?

She wanted to laugh, to scream.... To collapse..... But her body refused to let go of its single-minded desperation to leave.

Her blurred gaze darted across the marble foyer. She could see the gilded double doors leading to freedom, the warm morning light streaming through the narrow glass panels, illuminating the endless lines of silent guards in black suits.

But she couldn’t move.

Her feet felt like they were shackled to the cold marble floor, chained down by invisible binds that dug deeper with every passing second.

"Mommy... please... please... don’t hurt Mommy Zhi..."

Shen Xuan’s trembling voice sliced through her again. She looked down at him, her tears dripping freely onto Bai Zhi’s shoulder. His small face was twisted with terror and betrayal, his tiny fists clenched helplessly at his sides.

His eyes no longer looked at her with the bright innocence of love.

All she saw was fear.

Disgust.

Rejection.

Shen Xuan’s sobs grew louder, each ragged wail piercing the suffocating silence like a rusted blade.

His small hands trembled violently as he clutched at Bai Zhi’s dress, his tiny body shaking so hard he nearly collapsed onto the cold marble floor.

"Mommy... please... please don’t hurt Mommy Zhi... please... I will be good... I promise I will be good... just don’t hurt her... please... I will listen to you... I will... I will... Mommy... please..."

His words scraped against Yueyao’s eardrums like shards of broken glass, sending tremors of blistering rage through her chest.

Mommy... Mommy...

Her vision blurred with hot, searing tears as her lips twisted into a bitter, trembling snarl. She felt something inside her crack open, releasing a cold, choking hatred that poured through her veins like poison.

She looked down at him.

This child.