"Scarlett, have you lost your mind?"

"I’ve already told you, I don't love you anymore."

He turned to leave as soon as he finished speaking, hearing hurried footsteps behind him.

"I adopted you back then and paid for your education. Now you think you can just walk away?"

Scarlett’s voice carried a threat. "Julian, don't forget—"

"I haven't forgotten anything."

He whirled around, his gaze as cold as ice. "But feelings aren't a way to pay off a debt. If you want money, I can pay you back. Then we'll be even."

"You know that's not what I meant!"

Panic instantly filled Scarlett’s heart.

She stumbled after him for a few steps. "Julian, I swear from now on I’ll only have eyes for you. Can we start over, please?"

She reached out to grab Julian’s wrist.

"Don't touch me."

Julian stepped aside to avoid her.

"Scarlett, I am not your backup plan!"

Scarlett’s face turned ashen instantly. "How could you think of me that way?"

Her voice carried her former overbearing pressure, but it cut off abruptly when she met Julian’s indifferent gaze.

"So this is a transaction?"

Julian let out a light laugh, one tinged with self-mockery. "I thought those years of companionship were sincere. It turns out it was just a game."

He pulled a checkbook from his bag, the pen hovering over the paper. "Give me a number. I’ll pay back the kindness of those years, and from now on, we’ll owe each other nothing."

Clementine suddenly let out a sharp meow and jumped onto the low wall of the flower bed.

Scarlett looked at Julian’s resolute profile and suddenly realized that the boy who used to chase after her had long since vanished.

"I truly regret it," her voice softened as she reached out to touch his hair. "Give me a chance..."

"I don't want to see you again."

Julian took a half-step back. The setting sun pulled his shadow long, completely separating it from Scarlett’s silhouette. "Don't come back again, or I will definitely call the police."

"Julian..."

Scarlett watched helplessly as Julian’s back slowly disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

The evening wind swept up the dead leaves on the ground, scattering her unfinished words into the breeze.

Scarlett’s phone vibrated frantically. Her assistant’s voice exploded through the receiver: "President! Your parents suddenly returned from the States. They’re at the old mansion right now. Please, come back and see them!"

She watched Julian’s retreating figure, her fingernails digging deep into her palms, but she finally gritted her teeth and turned away.

She booked the earliest flight back to the country and arrived the following morning.

The moment the carved iron gates were pushed open, the air conditioning hit her with a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.

Xavier was sitting on the leather sofa wearing a white shirt, with a stray tear still hanging at the corner of his eye, looking exceptionally pathetic.

"Scarlett, you’re finally here."

As he lunged toward her, Scarlett’s mother wordlessly stepped between them.

"I heard you were running around abroad chasing another man?"

Scarlett’s father slammed his hand onto the coffee table, causing the red wine in the crystal glass to ripple. "If it weren't for Xavier, we wouldn't have known. And now, to act this way toward the child the family adopted..."

"Dad, that's not how it is! Don't listen to this lunatic's nonsense!"

But Xavier leisurely pulled out a notebook.

On the yellowed pages were math formulas she had scribbled in high school, interspersed with Julian’s name—it was the draft she had tossed into the trash after rejecting Julian’s confession years ago.

"I’m not lying. This is the proof!"

Xavier choked out, "I don't care if Scarlett has me in her heart or not, but she can't ruin the reputation of the family!"

Scarlett’s mother gently patted his back, her gaze toward her daughter filled with disappointment.

Scarlett rushed forward to snatch the notebook, but she was held back firmly by two bodyguards.

"You have disappointed us too much!"

Her father’s voice trembled with rage. "For the sake of the family business and your own reputation, you must marry Xavier!"

"I won't!"

Scarlett struggled and screamed.

"The person I love is—"

Before she could finish, Xavier suddenly stumbled backward, his forehead striking the corner of the marble table.

In an instant, bright red blood flowed down his snowy skin, blooming into a jarring flower on the carpet.

"Scarlett, look at what you've done!"

Her mother shrieked while supporting Xavier. "Prepare for the wedding immediately, or don't ever call me 'Mom' again!"

Night fell, and Scarlett sat in the study.

The moonlight spilled through the Venetian blinds onto her face, reflecting her reddened eyes.

Her phone received a notification for a large transfer. The latest message was a screenshot of the transfer sent by Julian, with the icy words "We're even" following the amount.

She punched the desk, knocking over a picture frame. Xavier’s smile in the photo now looked exceptionally ironic.

Her heart was filled with agitation.

When her secretary found her, she had been sitting in front of the old villa all night.

Since Julian had left, she had never come back here.

It wasn't that she didn't want to, but every time she came, she would repeatedly relive the past. Every moment with him replayed in her mind like movie clips.

Exactly when had she lost him completely? She couldn't remember.

"President, I found information on that person. She really is just Young Master Julian’s friend."

After saying this, the secretary paused.

She continued, "However, the two of them are indeed very close."

Scarlett’s heart jolted. Hearing news of him again, a new person had already appeared by his side.

What exactly was their relationship?

Inside the bar.

Scarlett drained her seventh glass of alcohol, the stinging burn spreading from her throat to her stomach.

Amidst the sounds of clinking glasses in the booth, a drunken voice suddenly pierced the noise: "Scarlett, honestly, back then Julian was the one who gave you his whole heart..."

At the sudden mention of Julian’s name, the clinking of glasses stopped abruptly. The expressions of several friends changed instantly, and they scrambled to cover the person’s mouth. "Too much to drink, far too much!" "Come on, let's go sober up!"

A chair scraped harshly against the floor as they dragged her away. The woman was still shouting, "I’m not wrong! Who wouldn't be envious? She’s the one who didn't know how to cherish it..."

The moment the booth door slammed shut, the entire space fell into an eerie silence.

Scarlett’s knuckles were white as she gripped her glass.

She suddenly grabbed the wrist of a friend passing by, pulling them so hard they stumbled. "Julian... was he very good to me before?"

The friend was frightened by her bloodshot eyes and nodded instinctively. "Everyone knows. He chased you for three years, he remembered even the casual things you mentioned..."

Before the sentence was finished, Scarlett let go.

Amidst the crisp sound of the glass shattering on the floor, she slumped into the sofa. Memories suddenly came flooding back like a tide.

"If you don't get married, I won't recognize you as my daughter!"

Her father’s roar made the crystal chandelier hum. As Scarlett slammed the door and left, the sound of glass breaking mixed with her mother’s sobs exploded behind her.

Her parents were completely under Xavier’s thumb now; they wouldn't listen to anything she said.

Scarlett had no way to defend herself.

The cold autumn night wind blew into the collar of her suit as she stumbled out of the bar she frequented.

The residual alcohol burned her throat.

Perhaps because she had drunk so much, she lost her footing for a moment and tumbled directly down the stairs.

Her forehead struck a step, and her body sustained several bruises. The sharp pain slowly cleared her mind.

Scarlett stood up and moved her limbs, finding that there were no major injuries.

As a waiter came over to ask if she needed a designated driver, Xavier suddenly pushed through the door.

"You’ve had too much to drink. I’ll take you back."

She focused her eyes and realized it was Xavier.

"Move!"

Scarlett pushed his hand away without hesitation. "What? Isn't it enough that you've bewitched my parents?"

"Scarlett, I only did it because I love you..."

He put a hand on her shoulder. The alcohol-hit Scarlett stood up abruptly, knocking over a wine glass that left a dark stain on the carpet. "Love? What you love is the title of the family! You love the money!"

Xavier was pushed directly to the ground. His face twisted instantly, flickering in and out of the shadows of the night.

He suddenly pulled out his car keys and pressed the unlock button. "If that's the case, we might as well die together!"

The roar of an engine suddenly erupted, and the black Bentley charged forward like a wild horse.

Scarlett’s pupils shrank. The acrid smell of gasoline mixed with the sound of screeching brakes hit her.