Outside, the mansion halls stretched dim and endless, the faint scent of sandalwood still clinging to his clothes as his heavy footsteps echoed off the cold marble.
His obsidian eyes were dark with silent questions and a cold, rising dread.
'Why… why would she reject her own son…?'
HALLWAY OUTSIDE SHEN XUAN'S ROOM – PAST MIDNIGHT
The door closed softly behind him, sealing away his son's quiet, broken sobs.
Shen Xiao stood in the dim corridor, his broad back rigid as he pressed a hand against the cool mahogany door. For a moment, his long fingers trembled faintly against the polished wood.
The faint golden lamplight casts stark shadows across his chiseled face, hollowing his sharp cheekbones and accentuating the cold lines of his jaw.
He drew in a deep, slow breath, letting it burn down his throat and settle like ice in his chest.
Inside his mind, her voice echoed over and over, shattering the silence he tried so hard to maintain.
