Li Feng remained silent, his eyes fixed unseeingly on the gardens beyond the window. His knuckles whitened where they gripped the window frame, but he said nothing.
Mrs Shen turned towards him, her shoulders shaking with fury and grief, "She was never strong, never! You knew that from the beginning. You knew how fragile her heart was, and still you treated her like..." Her voice broke into a sob, "Like nothing… like she was worth less than the dirt under your shoes…"
"Madam Shen, please step back," the doctor said gently, "She needs to rest now. I have administered a mild sedative to keep her calm once she wakes. The wound was deep, but she didn't sever any major arteries. Physically, she will recover… emotionally…"
His words trailed off, the unspoken blame lingering in the heavy silence before he heavily sighed!
Mr Shen clenched his fists, "If she doesn't survive this… if she tries again and succeeds… Li Feng, I swear, no wealth or status in this world will protect you from me. I will hunt you forever!"
Li Feng didn't flinch. He stood there, motionless, his face carved from ice as his eyes remained locked on the gardens outside, yet inside his chest, something twisted so tightly it felt like his ribs would shatter.
Behind him, Mrs Shen let out a shuddering breath as she stroked Shen Li's hair lovingly, "She loved you… So much… and this is what you gave her in return. How can you be this cruel to your wife and the mother of your kids?"
The doctor packed away his tools and checked Shen Li's pulse one last time before turning to leave, "I will return in the evening to change her dressings," he said quietly, "Try to keep her calm if she wakes."
As the doctor left, silence fell heavy over the room, broken only by Shen Li's faint, laboured breathing.
Li Feng closed his eyes briefly, fighting the nausea rising in his throat. His own words from earlier returned to him with cruel clarity:
You are nothing to me.
But as he turned around to face her sleeping form, bandaged and pale under the afternoon sun, he realised with a cold, dawning horror.....
She really was becoming nothing. Not just to him, but to the world. He could no longer feel anything or moved.
And for the first time in years, Li Feng felt afraid.
The afternoon sun slanted through the sheer curtains, illuminating Shen Li's fragile form curled under the thick duvet. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, her arm neatly bandaged in fresh gauze.
Mrs Shen sat by her side, gently wiping her damp hair from her forehead. Mr Shen stood stiffly near the foot of the bed, his sharp gaze daring anyone to approach too closely.
"Li'er… just rest, okay?" Mrs Shen whispered soothingly, tears brimming in her eyes. "Mommy and Daddy are here now. No one can ever bully you again."
Shen Li's eyelashes fluttered as tears spilled silently down her cheeks, "Mom… Dad… they hate me… they all hate me… I just… I just wanted them to behave, to listen to me… but they… they…"
Before Mrs Shen could respond, the bedroom door opened sharply with a loud bang.
Old Master Li and Old Madam Li strode in, their faces dark with unhidden displeasure. Old Madam Li's gaze swept over Shen Li coldly, her lips curling faintly in disdain as she clutched her prayer beads tightly.
"Where are Bo Yen and Li Ren?" Old Master Li demanded, his cane thumping once against the polished floor, "Why would they call me crying so pitifully that their own mother hates them?"