CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 120; SHE IS LEGALLY MY WIFE

The room was vast, but its silence pressed in like a cage.

Two maids stood nearby, not servants now but wardens, their eyes fixed anywhere but her.

Straps cut into her wrists and ankles, holding her down, their bite a constant reminder that she could not be trusted with her own hands.

She twisted her neck toward the doorway, the motion small yet defiant, as if daring whoever entered to look at her and not flinch.

For a heartbeat, Shen Xiao forgot the men restraining him. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes locking on the woman bound to the bed.

"Yueyao..." His voice was raw, almost breaking, but it hardened again as he took in the restraints, the pallor of her skin, the faint tremor in her fingers.

The two maids at her bedside stiffened at the sudden intrusion.

One stepped forward instinctively, as if to shield her mistress, but froze when she saw the rifles aimed her way.

Her breath hitched, courage faltering. Slowly, almost reluctantly, she shifted aside, her body angled protectively but her hands empty, a silent surrender in the face of cold steel.

The other, younger and paler, clutched the edge of the coverlet as though she could anchor herself there.

Her knuckles whitened, her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes darted between the strangers and the fragile figure bound to the bed. Neither moved, fear had already nailed their feet to the floor.

Jin Shuren moved into the room like a shadow given flesh, his jade mask catching the faint light. He didn’t spare the maids a glance. His attention was all for Yueyao.

"Yueyao...." Jin Shuren’s voice suddenly went so low and soft, you could feel the heartache and yearning laced in his voice. He passed the little girl over to Jin Zhou as he walked over to the bed.

Yueyao, who had been called by this unknown man, immediately gazed at him as he removed the straps constraining her.

"Don’t you dare touch her! Leave my wife alone...." Shen Xiao shouted at him seeing where he was headed... "Leave her alone...."

"Yueyao..." His voice was so soft with melancholy, and he wasn’t bothered by that person barking; even the operative men were surprised by his softness, but when they saw that face, they immediately gazed at the little girl because she was her mother’s photocopy.

Did their Master develop some weird fetish? Because for so many years, they didn’t know where the baby had come from, it was just that when she came home, she was weak and frail, and needed medical attention all the time.

He had gotten close to removing the straps restricting her movement when she suddenly coiled back...

"Yueyao... Don’t be afraid...." Jin Shuren felt even more heartbroken seeing her like this! She was never like this...

"She is sick, leave her alone... Don’t you get any closer to my wife!" Shen Xiao shouted but he was restrained and couldn’t do anything apart from watching.

Jin Shuren removed the straps, setting Yueyao free. She looked lost and unfocused... She gazed at the man wearing a mask and felt like she was dreaming. This was the man she saw in her nightmare.

After removing the straps, he took a step back, letting her get down by herself, as much as he wanted to drag her into his arms and hug her, he could tell she wasn’t well.

In that room, Bai Zhi, who was being held hostage, was let go, Shen Xiao was let go, and then Yueyao.

"Yueyao... I came just as I promised you!" Jin Shuren spoke up softly gazing at her intently.

"You came? Are you real?" She was still confused; she could see him, but it felt like a dream. She could frown from time to time like she was thinking.

Shen Xiao rushed over to the bed, planning to hold Yueyao, who had sat up on the bed, in his arms.

"Yueyao... You don’t have to listen to them..." He bent over to hold her, but she instinctively coiled back, goosebumps growing all over her skin, retching like she wanted to vomit...

"Get away from her...." Jin Shuren immediately kicked him away from the bed. Couldn’t he see she was disgusted with him as a man?

Shen Xiao staggered back from the force of the kick, his shoulder slamming against the wall with a dull thud.

His breath hissed out between clenched teeth, but the look in her eyes wasn’t new.

Lately, she’d been reacting this way to his touch, tense, guarded, even you could see disgust on her face.

This time, it wasn’t just her body withdrawing; it was the unspoken message that stung more than any blow.

Jin Shuren didn’t move from his place at her bedside. His gloved hand rested on the bedframe, the black fabric stark against the pale sheets, but his presence was like a barrier of steel between her and everyone else in the room.

"Don’t you dare touch her again," he said, not loudly, but with such an edge that the air seemed to tighten.

Yueyao’s breathing was shallow, her hands trembling in her lap. She didn’t look at Shen Xiao. In fact, her eyes refused to meet his at all, as if seeing him made the nausea worse.

"She is legally my wife! Why can’t I touch her? Why can’t I touch my wife?" Shen Xiao was getting frustrated even more. This was his wife; they had been together for so many years.

Jin Shuren’s gaze shifted to him, slow and deliberate, the faintest curl of disdain at the corner of his mouth. "Because she does not want you to," he said evenly, every word clipped with finality.

"You!" He steadied himself glaring at him.

"Shen Xiao, I’m feeling terrible...." The aftermath of her actions did not give her a break. She was having excruciating pain all over her body.

Shen Xiao looked at Bai Zhi and then at Yueyao, who was weakly standing up from the bed, his legs wobbling.