Lin Yueyao had spent ten years nursing a crush on Shen Xiao, and five years as his wife.
She had believed that if she loved him hard enough, if she humbled herself enough, she could eventually thaw his heart, no matter how cold it was.
She needed to put a little bit more effort, and he would turn around to love and cherish her. It was all about time.
But she had never expected it to remain just her wishful thinking.
The sound of running water echoed from the bathroom splashing onto the marble floor.
Yueyao stood by the bed, staring numbly at her phone as it lit up with a new message.
It was a photo taken at Qinglan Pavilion, the most exclusive fine-dining restaurant in the capital.
Shen Xiao sat across from a woman, his gaze gentle, lips curved into the faint smile Yueyao had once fallen for, but immediately disappeared the moment she became his wife.
She has never seen this side of him after all these years.
The woman in the photo was Bai Zhi, Shen Xiao's ex-fiancée.
Bai Zhi had returned from studying abroad only last month. The very night she came back, Shen Xiao had left Yueyao alone at home to see her.
To Shen Xiao, Bai Zhi was a flawless white jade, while Yueyao was nothing more than a speck of dirt on its surface.
The bathroom door swung open with a click.
Shen Xiao stepped out, wearing only a charcoal grey bathrobe draped on his body.
Steam rolled off his sculpted chest and collarbones, fogging up the glass behind him.
Yueyao quickly put her phone down and turned away, but his deep voice stopped her.
"What are you hiding?"
Before she could answer, he was already behind her. His fingers pinched her chin with painful force, tilting her face up to him. They gazed into each other's eyes.
"Nothing," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
A sardonic smile touched Shen Xiao's lips, "Nothing? You are trembling like a rabbit caught in a trap. How can it be nothing? What is it?"
Yueyao frowned and tried to push him away, "I'm not feeling well tonight," she managed to say. "My stomach… it hurts."
But Shen Xiao only let out a soft scoff that came off sarcastically, "You chased me for five years, clinging to me like a parasite. And now you want to play hard to get? What do you think?"
Tears pooled in Yueyao's eyes, unable to explain or express herself. "That's not...."
Before she could finish her statement, he roughly shoved her onto the bed.
There was no tenderness. He stripped her nightdress down to her waist and forced himself into her in one swift, brutal motion.
"Ah....." Yueyao bit her lip to keep from crying out.
To the outside world, Shen Xiao was the picture of a refined gentleman: he was polite, poised, and impossibly perfect. But behind closed doors, with her, he was nothing but a ruthless man who had no boundaries or emotions.
He thrust into her over and over, each movement like a punishment. As if it was her fault he couldn't love her. As if her mere existence offended him.
She stared up at him through blurred vision. His expression was cold, almost bored. And yet, in that photo, he had looked at Bai Zhi with such tender affection as if she were a treasure.
It turned out he was capable of gentleness and showing his emotions. It was just never with her. He never belonged to her to begin with.
At the height of it, when she should have felt close to him, Yueyao felt only suffocation. A single tear slipped down her cheek. She no longer desired him, she no longer wished to be his wife. Only nonchalance was replaced in her heart.