CHAPTER 70: CHAPTER 70; GOOD MORNING

He stepped inside, closing the door softly behind him. The faint scent of roses and antiseptic mingled in the cold, still air, coiling around his chest like invisible thorns.

For a long moment, he just stood there, staring down at her.

Her face was pale and drawn, dark lashes trembling against tear-stained skin. A faint sheen of cold sweat glistened along her forehead, and her lips were parted slightly with ragged, uneven breaths.

Something twisted violently in his chest.

Slowly, he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, his weight dipping the mattress beside her fragile body. Reaching out with a large, trembling hand, he brushed a stray lock of hair away from her eyes.

Her skin felt feverish and clammy beneath his calloused fingertips.

His throat worked silently as he leaned down, pressing his lips gently to her damp forehead.

The kiss lingered for a moment, it was tender, desperate, and suffocating, before he pulled away, his dark eyes unreadable.

"I will be back soon," he whispered hoarsely, his deep voice breaking around the edges. "Don’t... don’t do anything stupid."

He stood up slowly, adjusting the cuffs of his suit jacket before turning towards the door. As his hand reached for the gold handle, he paused, his sharp gaze flicking towards the intercom panel embedded into the wall.

Pressing a button, his deep, cold voice reverberated through the private security channel.

"Double the guard shifts today. No one enters or leaves without my direct authorisation. Assign two men at the end of each hallway. I want updates every thirty minutes. Understood?"

"Yes, President Shen," came the immediate, crisp response.

His jaw tightened slightly as he glanced back over his shoulder at her sleeping form, half-buried beneath the ivory sheets.

For a fleeting second, his obsidian eyes softened with something fragile, something dangerously close to grief.

Then he turned away abruptly, stepping out of the master bedroom and closing the door behind him with a quiet, final click that sealed her back into her silent prison, guarded now by men stationed along every hallway, their black earpieces glinting beneath the cold, indifferent lights of the mansion.

And as he walked down the corridor, his polished shoes clicking against the marble floor, the silence closed in around him once more like a suffocating shroud, each step echoing with the promise of a day built on power, control... and the quiet, relentless ruin of everything he touched.

SHEN GROUP HEADQUARTERS – EXECUTIVE FLOOR, MORNING

The towering glass facade of Shen Group pierced the morning sky like a silent blade, gleaming beneath the rising sun.

Inside, the marble floors of the executive lobby gleamed under crystal chandeliers, reflecting the fast, silent footsteps of assistants and secretaries scurrying about with tablets pressed to their chests.

The private elevator doors slid open with a quiet chime.

Shen Xiao stepped out, his tall, powerful frame wrapped in an impeccably tailored charcoal suit. His obsidian eyes remained cold and unreadable as he strode across the corridor, polished leather shoes clicking sharply against the marble with every precise, unhurried step.

"Good morning, President Shen," the staff murmured in hushed tones, bowing their heads respectfully as he passed.

He did not respond, his gaze fixed dead ahead, jaw clenched in silent tension. A faint shadow of fatigue lined the edges of his eyes, but his aura remained sharp, dangerous, and commanding.