His jaw clenched tightly, the muscles ticking along his chiseled jawline.
"Why… why do you have to force me to do this to you…" he whispered, his voice raw and hoarse with a grief he refused to acknowledge. His thumb brushed over her trembling lower lip before he pulled back abruptly.
He stood up, staring down at her fragile, broken body sinking into the ivory silk sheets. The faint dawn light filtered through the heavy curtains, illuminating the dark smears of blood across his white shirt and the angry red scratches along his throat.
Without another word, he turned away, his broad back rigid as he strode out of the master bedroom.
The heavy mahogany door closed behind him with a quiet click, leaving her alone in suffocating silence, trapped in a darkness from which she might never awaken whole again.
Shen Xiao exhaled shakily, pressing his palm against the cool wooden door for a brief moment as he tried to calm the furious pounding in his chest.
