Without Me - Chapter 2 Prologue

At first she thought that was only a product of her imagination, a dream from which she could not wake up. But the pain radiating from every little bit of her body reminded her that what had happened was not a dream. Unfortunately…

She opened her eyes, but all she was able to see was a faint light seeping through the gap under the door.

She winked several times until her eyes got used to the darkness.

She could not determine the time of day. She did not know how much time she spent in this place, but numb hands chained to a thick chain over her head told her that it must have been a few days.

She shifted slightly, trying to relieve although a little bruised wrists, but even so gentle movement made her gasps, and her eyes filled with tears.

Sharp pain pierced her chest, radiating through the ribs, making it difficult to breathe. She coughed, and the wounds on her back jerked as if her skin were torn off. Blood spurted from the corner of her mouth.

Disappointment and resignation flowed into Yao Xi’s heart full of bitterness.

In the end, she couldn’t make him fall in love with her.

Despite his coldness and hatred for her, for Yao Xi he was the whole world.

The only thing she got from him for all these years of boundless love was a look of disgust, as he lay on her body another whip hits and a cold face when she begged him to spare her life.

But even when she barely breathed, his hand did not stop for even a second.

Her scarlet blood still spurted, mingling with the stench of the musty cell, yet with each subsequent blow the pain of torn skin was nothing compared to the wound of her crushed heart.

Li Ye Han was her whole world. A ray of sunshine in a colorless and cruel world.

With her head bowed, she remembered the day when she met him, and tears of regret ran down her bloodied cheeks, and the sound of dripping drops echoed in the dead silence.

***

The night sky was illuminated by a single flash of lightning, making the city look like someone took a picture with a huge camera with a flashlight.

The abandoned streets looked like a horror movie in which a terrifying massacre was about to take place.

Somewhere in a dark alley at the back of a second-rate club, one woman was surrounded by few men.

Her captivating beauty did not escape their attention as she lazily sipped her drink at the bar, ignoring the loud and crowded surroundings.

The impassivity that she radiated gave the impression that the prosaic world had nothing to do with her when she sat quietly. Everything in her was natural, even when she tilted the glass to her mouth, she was perfect.

The men who watched her, enchanted by her sight, didn’t hide their lusty glances, while women stared at her with the envy and the desire to scratch this inhumanly beautiful face.

However, nothing influenced her. She was still drinking quietly when she casually scanned her surroundings.

Strangers immediately turned thheir attention to a lonely woman in such a place.

They were convinced that she was one of those women who was looking for a good time in the company of strangers.

They approached the girl without restraint, and when they looked at her closely, the three of them were speechless at the same moment.

The girl lifted her head under the shimmering light of the disco lights, her beauty breathtaking. Except for eyes that seemed bored, almost dead.

She shifted her gaze indifference after them, then returned to the sipping of her drink as if it did not exist.

One of the three strangers first shook off the initial shock. He moved forward slightly to get the attention of the beauty in front of him.

“Hey beautiful.” He exclaimed, moving closer to her ear so she could hear him through the thumping music.

But the beautiful woman didn’t react, as if he was not there at all.

He repeated again, but when after the third time, he did not receive a reaction from her, he unceremoniously grabbed the back of the bar stool and turned it around.

The girl clearly disgusted that she was interrupted in such a naughty manner, raised her head.

The man’s heart raced from the rhythm, he was shocked and could not find a voice. Cold and expressionless eyes chilled him to the bone.

For the first time in his life he met with such a look.

The man put on his most magical smile when he reached out and introduced himself: “I am Zhao Cheng” he said, straightening up, as if his name alone was enough to awaken her admiration.

But to his sincerest astonishment, the girl in front of him cast a contemptuous glance at his outstretched hand, as if he was infected with some contagious disease and did not pay any attention to him again, focusing again on her infinite drink.

She tilted her glass and took her last sip, and slammed the empty glass on the table.

After nodding to the waiter in the direction of her empty glass, lazily watched the bartender fill it with the rust-brown liquid.

The woman nodded approvingly as she rested her elbow on the counter, rubbing hand over her aching temple.

Zhao Cheng was speechless.

From an early age he was pampered.

As the oldest son of a wealthy family, there was nothing he did not have. Expensive clothes, cars, beautiful women who clung to him like honey bees.

All he had to do was snap his finger, and everything he wanted was given to him, like on a silver tray.

He was undoubtedly a handsome man, and was one of the most influential people in the city. Only a few people surpassed his position, but at the moment, in this club, he was definitely a big fish.

He never felt so humiliated.

His initially smiling face quickly changed expression as he gnashed his teeth, clamping them so tightly that the violet vein began to pulse at his temple.

He was about to show this brazen whore where her place was, when one of his buddies bent over him, patting on the back, and whispered something in his ear.

There was a cruel flash in Zhao Cheng’s eyes as he stared intently at the girl.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he left with his friends just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Luo Xi, unconscious, did not bother with such trifles when she quietly relished the taste, silently wondering when she would finally feel the effects of drinking alcohol.

When she left the club, it was already around three in the morning.

As soon as she was outside, a cold breath of air greeted her. She wrapped her cloak more tightly, and large raindrops dripped on her head.

She cursed her thoughts that she had not predicted it would start to rain and that she did not take an umbrella with her.

And judging by the gusty wind, the storm could break at any moment.

She pulled up her hood and curled her head to protect herself from the cold wind.

It did not help her that she drank too much.

Swaying, she tried to see a taxi in front of the club, but the mist caused by her drunkenness made everything blurred.

I think I finally understood why I am not allowed to drink alcohol.

It’s sucks!

As soon as she thought it, she felt a strong tug on her shoulder and in the next moment someone firmly caught her waist.

She tried to break out and fight, but all she had achieved was a loss of balance, which almost make her close meeting with the hard and cold sidewalk.

She tried to focus on the surroundings, but all she could see were some blurry spots, without any particular shape.

A single sober cell in her brain registered the stench of decaying food scraps mixed up with sweat and urine, which she classified as remnants of a dingy alley. Maybe in the back of the club she just left.

She wanted to force the last active cell of her hopeless brain to come up with a solution, but in her response she felt only dizziness, as if this cell were saying to her, “You asked for it yourself.”

She almost lost consciousness when she hardly registered any voices, but she was so drunk that unfortunately she couldn’t understand them.

Lao Xi clearly felt the touch of big hands on her body, and by chances she was completely aware of what it meant.

But she did not feel fear, not a bit. Yet she shuddered with disgust. She hated being touched, especially by someone she could not even see, even though she tried to open her eyes as widely as possible.

Somehow, the whole situation seemed comically ridiculous. She almost burst into a loud laugh when suddenly, she found her buttocks on the sidewalk.

She looked around, trying to understand, but even though her brain refused to cooperate, she could vaguely see that she was alone.

Hmmm … Hick … Something does not fit here. Hick …

Disoriented, raising her head above, wanting to remember what happened.

In the distance she noticed motion and tried to focus her jumping eyes on it.

With great difficulty, she understood that the black shadow was a human being. She did not know where, but she knew it was a man.

The light from behind him blinded her so that she wanted to cover her eyes with her hand, but her body didn’t cooperate with her mind.

A blinding flash hurt her eyes, but it did not stop her from stubbornly staring at the approaching figure.

Although her eyes were foggy, she somehow managed to register a designer suit and expensive shoes.

He revealed himself to her like an angel sent from heaven to save her. And when he leaned over her, she saw perfectly combed black hair, interspersed with golden threads of light from behind his back.

A face like a divine Apollo, with a strong jaw and pronounced cheekbones, and the deep wrinkle that formed between his eyebrows gave him an overbearing expression.

Lao Xi felt immediately sober when her eyes went down to his eyes.

Eyes as blue as the brightest part of the water somewhere on the faraway uninhabited island, where you can clearly see what is hidden in the depth.

Eyes so devastating that they could suck your soul, which you would gladly give back in exchange for the opportunity to look at them, if only for a second.

An inexplicable feeling crept into the heart of Lao Xi, and she knew that since she drowned in that look, she was condemned to endless anguish.

Then she fainted, but all she could remember were those unimaginably hypnotizing eyes, that had taken root forever in the innermost part of her soul.

That was her first meeting with Li Ye Han.

*******

There was a crooked smile on Lao Xi’s lips as she remembered that day.

She really sentenced herself to endless anguish.