*Chapter 4: Fractured Beginnings*
The penthouse was quiet, almost too quiet, when Li Xue stepped into the living room. The tension from the kitchen lingered in her chest, heavy and suffocating. Zhao Liang sat on the couch, phone in hand, his expression unreadable. He didn't acknowledge her presence, as if she were nothing more than air passing through.
She clenched her fists, reminding herself of the vow she made: not to give up. Yet every time he looked through her as though she didn't exist, the weight of his indifference cut deeper than any blade.
A knock on the door broke the silence. Two men entered without waiting for permission — both tall, dressed in casual elegance, their confidence filling the room immediately. Zhao Liang's eyes flickered with recognition at them, though no warmth followed.
"Still brooding, Zhao?" one of them teased, tossing his blazer onto the armchair. His smile was mischievous, the kind that could either start a party or a fight.
The other rolled his eyes. "Don't provoke him on your first visit. He's already impossible enough."
Li Xue blinked at their easy banter, so different from the suffocating air she had grown used to. These were his friends — the ones who seemed to carry a piece of the life Zhao Liang had lost.
Zhao Liang's jaw tightened. "Why are you here?"
"Because you'd be dead without us," the mischievous one answered smoothly. "And because someone has to make sure your… contract bride doesn't run away yet." His gaze flicked toward Li Xue, curiosity dancing in his eyes.
Heat rose in her cheeks, but she held his stare. For the first time in days, she felt something stir in her chest — not hope exactly, but the faintest glimpse of a world beyond cold silence.
Yet, even as laughter sparked between the friends, Zhao Liang's silence cut through it like a shadow. And Li Xue wondered if she would ever reach the man hidden behind those walls of ice.