"Let's go." Mr. Lowery didn't reply, simply leading the woman away.

The woman looked back at Julian and, while her companion wasn't looking, blew him a kiss.

I shuddered in disgust. I pressed my hands against Julian’s cheeks and forced him to turn his head.

"Don't look!"

What a wicked woman—stay far away from Julian.

Julian chuckled, ruffled my hair, and said, "Don't be nervous."

I relaxed.

"Who was that?"

"A subject of investigation in my current case," Julian replied casually. "Don't come to this plaza for a while; stay away from him."

Since I came from a legal background, I had dealt with many commercial cases and understood the nature of these businessmen.

I nodded and took it to heart.

Julian didn't want his date to go to waste. He suggested, "Let's go eat somewhere else. There’s a good spicy restaurant on Southeast Road."

I love spicy food, so I was naturally full of anticipation.

Today was perhaps my happiest day ever.

Ever since Julian reached adulthood, he had rarely taken me out to play.

I finished eating and put down my chopsticks.

Julian excused himself to the restroom.

At that moment, a server came over with a slip and handed it to me, saying, "Your bill, please check it."

I took it without suspicion, still counting the dishes on the table in my head, when my gaze was suddenly caught by the words "Marriage Agreement" on the slip.

I gasped, nearly knocking over the dishes on the table.

"This is—"

I spun around, only to find that the server behind me had turned into Julian.

Julian knelt down before me, took my hands, and said with a smile, "Those thirty-three marriage agreements you gave me—I will sign every single one. When I reach the last one, will you agree to be with me?"

A wave of sweetness poured into my heart. The spiciness was gone, replaced only by a sugary taste.

I lowered my head shyly and said stubbornly, "You're still getting off too easy. I won't agree."

Even though it was a rejection, there was no shortage of coquetry in my tone.

Julian knew my temperament; I was still complaining about how he had treated me in the past.

He wasn't impatient; I had chased him for so long, he was more than willing to chase me for as long as it took.

Dinner was followed by a night of celebration.

The temple street was filled with childhood memories.

It was as if we had returned to our days as innocent childhood sweethearts.

A single stick of Tanghulu could last me a long time, and Julian remained the king of the ring-toss game.

Every plush doll he won became mine.

Among them was a similar star bracelet, which Julian put on me once again.

I noticed the star bracelet on Julian’s left wrist was still a bit faded, yet he wore it constantly.

Although the new one was beautiful, I preferred the original.

"I want that one," I said, pointing to his wrist.

Julian gave his first refusal of the day. "That one belongs to the sister; this one belongs to the girlfriend."

My face instantly flushed, and I muttered, "I haven't agreed yet!"

Although I wasn't entirely happy, seeing how Julian cherished that bracelet, I couldn't stay angry.

His left hand held my right, the two star bracelets reflecting each other, sparkling brightly.

...

By the roadside, Mr. Lowery had just put down his phone when he looked up and saw Julian and me.

He pressed the button to roll up the window, blocking out the world outside.

We were standing very close, talking, and didn't notice the person in the car by the road smiling eerily.

Chapter 27

The summer wind rolled in, and the cats near the coffee shop were so hot they lay at the door, catching the air conditioning through the cracks.

I prepared the cat food, and these little darlings took turns rubbing against me with their tails held high.

Yu came in with a pile of packages from the door.

"Sienna, there's a letter for you."

A simple, cream-colored envelope with no writing on it.

Realizing what was inside, I took it with a slight blush.

Yu teased, "Another marriage agreement? Getting married before even dating—you two really know how to play!"

I gave Yu a mock kick and retreated to a corner with the envelope.

Opening it, the scent of paper wafted toward me.

The marriage agreement was signed with Julian’s name; the other side was what I had signed before.

With both parties having signed, it was technically in effect, lacking only the seal from the notary office.

While unboxing packages, Yu asked me, "Julian hasn't been by lately. Did he go back?"

I carefully refolded the letter and put it in my bag with the other agreements.

"The case is too busy; he doesn't have time to come over."

Yu said something about how prosecutors are truly busy.

Along with the agreement, there was a love letter.

The content of the letter was very businesslike; it was hard to imagine how Julian had written these things during his breaks.

If I hadn't been from a legal background myself, I would have truly disdained this love letter.

Things like "You are like the Northern Star, warm and fiery."

Are you sure this isn't a manifesto?

I finished reading the letter with a smile. I wanted to treasure these love letters and take them out for entertainment later.

Next, I took a law book out of my bag; I had been reviewing my old knowledge lately.

Regardless of the reason I had chosen the legal field before, being a judge was at least my dream.

Furthermore, with the recent treatments at the clinic, Dr. Chen said I had recovered a lot.

With the doctor's help, I was slowly weaning myself off the medication.

Now, I could try taking a step further—both in my career and in love.

While I was immersed in the book, the phone beside my hand suddenly rang.

I had intended to turn it off, but I saw the sender was Julian.

The message sent an address, asking if we could meet today.

I was dazed for a moment. I remembered that Julian always came to pick me up personally; was he too busy today, which is why he asked me to go there?

Although I had some doubts, I still packed my bag.

"Yu, today I..."

"I know! Going to see 'Brother-in-law' again, right?" Yu nodded, used to it by now. "I really want the boss to hire another person."

I gave a light laugh. "I’ll take your shift next time."

Yu was only joking and quickly let me go.

I didn't bike, choosing to take the subway instead.

I looked at the phone screen. "This place seems a bit far from the Procuratorate. Is he investigating there?"

Without further thought, I took a taxi to the destination as agreed.

I looked around and saw that Julian hadn't arrived yet.

While it wasn't exactly remote, there were indeed very few pedestrians. As it was mealtime, a crowd of workers poured out from the office buildings on both sides.

I stepped aside into a corner.

Suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder.

I broke into a joyful smile and turned around quickly: "Jul—"

With a squelch, a sudden sense of penetration appeared in my abdomen. My smile froze, and I looked down at my stomach in a daze.

Red blood slowly dripped onto the ground.

I looked up with wide eyes.

A man in a black trench coat wore a hood that covered his whole body, and a mask on his face hid his features.

But his eyes were exposed—those were the eyes I had gazed at for years.

As cold as they had been three years ago.

I grabbed the man’s arm, a trace of blood spilling from my mouth as I spoke. "Julian..."

The man stabbed again.

I lost all my strength and fell to the ground with a thud.

The agreements and love letters scattered from my bag, stained blood-red.

Chapter 28

The Magic City Procuratorate.

Julian sat buried in a mountain of documents, a shadow of stubble appearing on his chin and a weary look on his face.

Outside the building, the sudden, urgent wailing of an ambulance siren cut through his thoughts.

Flinging a document onto the desk with a hint of annoyance, Julian rose to go to the breakroom for a cup of coffee.

In the breakroom, Yara and the team leader were talking, but they stopped as soon as he entered.

Julian gave a brief greeting, set his phone down by the coffee machine, and waited for his cup to fill.

Seeing how hard he was pushing himself, the team leader couldn't help but advise, "You should go get some sleep. Stop drinking so much coffee; it’s not good for your health."

Julian thanked him for the concern and carried his coffee back to his workstation.