CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77;MADAM SHEN

She wasn’t allowed to leave the mansion.

"Don’t come near me!" she screamed hoarsely, her voice echoing down the grand hallway. "Stay back or I will kill her! I do mean it, I will kill her..."

They froze instantly, hands raised cautiously as their eyes flicked between her trembling grip and Bai Zhi’s tear-streaked, terrified face.

"Yueyao, we can talk! Don’t act rashly!" Bai Zhi was terrified, she hadn’t expected she would act like this all of a sudden!

"Shut up.... Just shut up!"

They could tell she was irritated, and they needed to tread carefully.

"Madam Shen," one of them spoke carefully, his voice low and placating. "Please... don’t do this. If you kill her, it will be attempted murder. You could go to prison for a lifetime... think about your young son... think about your freedom... Think about your life..."

At his words, Yueyao let out a broken, bitter laugh, the sound ragged and filled with despair.

"Prison?" she rasped, her tears dripping silently onto Bai Zhi’s shoulder as she tightened her grip, "Do you think... do you think I care about prison anymore?"

Her wild, tear-filled eyes darted around at the circle of men closing in on her.

"At least in prison... at least there, I wouldn’t be in this hell... I want to leave... I want to....."

She felt suffocated in this mansion, yes, at one time it used to be her safe harbour, but now, it felt like a chain that had been choking her.

"Yueyao...." Bai Zhi was scared and her body was trembling effortlessly.

Shen Xuan sobbed loudly, clutching Bai Zhi’s dress as he cried, "Mommy... please... please don’t hurt Mommy Zhi... please, I will be good, I promise... just don’t hurt her..."

Yueyao looked down at him, her vision blurring with anguish and hopelessness. She had never thought in this life that she would fight against someone whose age had given life to her with so much difficulty.

Bai Zhi whimpered softly, her body trembling uncontrollably as she felt the sharp bite of the blade against her throat. Tears spilled down her pale cheeks, her breaths coming out in ragged, choked sobs.

"Please... Yueyao... please... don’t do this..." she whispered, her voice quivering with genuine terror now. "Think about Shen Xuan... think about what he’s seeing... please..."

"Shut up!" Yueyao’s voice cracked, raw and hoarse, her eyes burning with wild, unrestrained anguish. "Don’t... don’t say his name... don’t you dare say his name!"

Shen Xuan was sobbing hysterically now, his small fists pounding helplessly against her leg.

"Mommy... please... let Mommy Zhi go... I promise I will be good... I promise... You are scaring me... I don’t want you... I don’t want you like this... You are so scary... Mommy Zhi would never hurt me like this...!"

His words sliced into her like knives, each one embedding deep into her heart until her chest felt hollow and aching.

"Stay back!" she screamed again when one of the guards shifted slightly forward. Her grip tightened so hard around Bai Zhi’s neck that the woman let out a strangled cry, her legs buckling beneath her as Yueyao half-dragged, half-held her upright.

"Madam Shen... please..." the guard spoke again, his voice cracking with tension as sweat dripped down his temples. "You don’t have to do this... if you hurt her, there will be no going back... think of your son... he needs you... He is so young to be abandoned... Think about what you want for the future that would only end up unfulfilled."

Yueyao let out a shuddering, bitter laugh, her tears falling freely now.

"My son? My freedom?" she whispered, her voice shaking with broken despair as she looked down at Shen Xuan’s tear-streaked, terrified face. "He doesn’t need me... he never did... he has her... he has all of you... why... why do I have to stay in this hell... why...?"

Bai Zhi sobbed softly under her grip, her hands trembling where they clutched helplessly at Yueyao’s wrist.

"Please... Yueyao... please... don’t do this... I don’t want to die..." she whimpered, her voice cracking as fear shook her entire body.

But Yueyao didn’t hear her.

All she saw was darkness.

All she felt was the suffocating, choking chains around her chest.

And all she wanted... was to finally be free.

They descended the long, sweeping staircase slowly, each trembling step echoing in the cavernous silence of the mansion. Bai Zhi stumbled against her grip, her sobs hitching with every jarring tug, but Yueyao didn’t loosen her hold.

Her bare feet slipped slightly against the polished mahogany steps, smearing faint streaks of blood with each dragging footfall. Shen Xuan followed behind them, his hysterical sobs breaking through the suffocating quiet as he clung to the trailing edge of Bai Zhi’s dress.

"Mommy... please... please don’t hurt Mommy Zhi... please... I will be good... please..."

His voice grated against her ears like shards of glass. Every word he uttered felt like it carved another deep wound inside her chest.

When they finally reached the foot of the stairs, Yueyao’s blurred eyes darted around desperately.

The wide marble foyer stretched out before her, gleaming under the delicate golden light streaming through the tall stained glass windows. The faint scent of orchids and fresh linen lingered in the cold air.

But everywhere she looked, she saw them.

Guards.

Lining the walls. Blocking the exits. Silent, armed shadows in black suits, eyes sharp with caution as they watched her every trembling move.

She tightened her grip on Bai Zhi, dragging her further into the vast sitting area. The woman’s soft slippers slid across the polished floor, her knees nearly giving way with each step as she whimpered in terror.

Yueyao’s chest heaved with ragged, uneven sobs, her vision flickering between the endless rows of men and the looming, locked front doors.

There was no way out.

She was trapped.

The truth settled into her stomach like ice, a cold, suffocating numbness that spread up her chest to her throat, threatening to choke her.