"With what?"

Xavier gave a disdainful smirk and landed a heavy punch on Julian’s face.

Julian was knocked to the floor, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He struggled to get up, his eyes fixed on Bianca, his voice full of pain and questioning: "Why? What did I ever do to deserve this from you?"

Bianca looked at him with nothing but mockery: "Julian, you think too much of yourself. I’ve loved Xavier from the start. If it wasn't for you, Xavier wouldn't have hit rock bottom. I approached you just to help him get revenge—to let you taste the feeling of losing everything."

"I gave you everything you wanted! Sera’s medicine, her villa, her life-saving heart! I gave her up for you! Why would you still do this to me?"

Julian screamed, tears falling once again.

"Because what I wanted was never those things."

Bianca said coldly, "I wanted your reputation ruined. I wanted the Julian Group to collapse. I wanted you to pay for everything you did to Xavier!"

Julian collapsed onto the floor. It was all so absurd.

For a woman like this, he had destroyed his own happiness and discarded the Sera who was devoted to him.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Julian. The show is just beginning."

Xavier looked down at him.

Julian suddenly looked up, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes. "The heart in Bianca belongs to Sera. Everything you owe her, I will take back—bit by bit!"

He struggled to his feet and staggered out of the room.

The sneering laughter of Xavier and Bianca followed him like knives stabbing into his back.

As he walked out of the hospital, the rain had stopped, but the sky remained a gloomy gray.

Julian looked up at the sky, his heart filled with despair.

He was wrong. He was so incredibly wrong.

He had lost the person he loved most and had been deceived by the person he trusted most. Now, he had nothing.

But he couldn't let it end like this.

He had to get revenge for Sera. He had to make Xavier and Bianca pay the price they deserved.

He would take back everything that belonged to her, even if it cost him his life.

Returning to the empty villa, Julian sat on the sofa Sera used to love. Looking at the familiar surroundings, the tears fell once again.

Every corner of this place held her trace.

On the coffee table lay the book she hadn't finished reading.

On the balcony, the flowers she tended were still in bloom.

In the closet, her clothes still hung, giving off a faint fragrance.

But the person who once laughed, argued, and gave everything for him would never return.

Julian picked up his phone and dialed his assistant, his voice icy: "Use every resource. Track Xavier’s every move. Also, I want everything on Bianca. The more detailed, the better."

"Sir, the company's recent..." The assistant hesitated, wanting to mention the crisis.

"I don't care about the company!" Julian roared. "Right now, I only want them dead!"

Chapter 10

In the days that followed, the Julian Group fell into an unprecedented crisis.

Armed with the trade secrets previously stolen by Bianca, Xavier united several competitors to launch a full-scale assault on the conglomerate.

In the stock market, the Julian Group’s share price plummeted, with billions in market value evaporating in just a few days.

On the operational front, multiple core partners suddenly terminated their cooperation, causing the company’s capital chain to snap.

Internally, many executives were turned by Xavier; they resigned one after another, taking a vast amount of client resources with them.

Julian’s office was piled high with various crisis reports. The telephone rang incessantly, filled with debt collectors and inquiries.

Every day, his assistant reported bad news with a frayed mind, urging Julian to find a way to stabilize the situation as soon as possible.

However, Julian acted as if he heard nothing. He poured all his energy into finding opportunities to retaliate against Xavier and Bianca, remaining completely indifferent to company affairs.

In his eyes, a company could be rebuilt, but the vengeance for Sera had to be exacted.

"Sir, the west-side land project was snatched by Xavier! They outbid us by thirty percent!"

"Sir, the bank is pressing us hard. If we don't repay the loan soon, they are going to seize our assets!"

"Sir, several veteran employees have resigned together. They said... said there's no future in following you anymore."

Julian didn't take in a single word of his assistant's pleas.

"Good, that’s just perfect."

Julian muttered to himself, a bizarre smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

He picked up his phone and dialed an unfamiliar number: "Find out if Xavier has any important trips coming up. Also, I want Bianca’s real-time location. Report to me at all times."

The person on the other end was silent for a few seconds before agreeing: "Sir, the price has doubled."

"No problem," Julian agreed without hesitation.

He had nothing left now except money and a paranoid obsession with revenge.

He mortgaged the villa and his luxury cars, exchanging them for a large amount of cash used entirely to hire private investigators and thugs.

Looking at Julian's madness, the assistant was filled with worry: "Sir, please wake up! If this continues, the company will be completely finished!"

"If it’s finished, it’s finished!" Julian stood up abruptly, his eyes bloodshot. "The company can be rebuilt, but if Sera is gone, she’s never coming back! Do you understand?"

The assistant was terrified by his demeanor and didn't dare speak further, quietly backing out of the room.

Sitting alone in his office, Julian watched the heavy traffic outside the window, and Sera’s figure flashed through his mind once again.

He remembered her staying up all night to revise proposals to help him secure projects.

He remembered her getting dead drunk just to help him deflect drinks at social events.

He remembered her taking meticulous care of him when he was ill.

With every memory, his guilt and hatred deepened.

He began to shadow Bianca frantically, searching for a chance to strike.

However, Xavier protected her extremely tightly, with bodyguards always following her. Julian’s several attempts all ended in failure.

He discovered that no matter what he did, it felt as if he were being manipulated by an invisible hand, hitting walls at every turn.

As soon as the people he arranged got close to Bianca, they would be detected in advance.

The "accidents" he planned would always fail due to various coincidences.

Julian didn't understand why he, who was once so high-spirited and successful, had now become so powerless.

He didn't know that this was the logic of the novel world taking effect.

As the protagonists of the story, Bianca and Xavier were granted the author's "golden finger," making them invincible.

As for him, the "gloomy male supporting lead" who failed to win love, he had long been judged as a villain by the plot, destined for downfall.

But Julian knew none of this. He only assumed his luck was too poor and that Xavier was too well-prepared.

The intertwining of hatred and regret in his heart made him increasingly paranoid and demonic.

Shortly after, the Julian Group officially declared bankruptcy.

The commercial empire that once dominated the city collapsed just like that.

When the news broke, Xavier and Bianca raised their glasses in the hospital room to celebrate.

"Xavier, look. I told you, Julian would definitely lose."

Bianca leaned in Xavier’s arms, smiling triumphantly.

"You’re the impressive one, Bianca." Xavier leaned down and kissed her forehead. "In a while, I’ll take you away from this city, and we’ll never come back."

"Okay," Bianca snuggled into his chest, her eyes full of yearning.

They both thought Julian was completely broken and could no longer cause any trouble.

But they didn't expect that Julian’s madness far exceeded their imagination.

After the bankruptcy, Julian became even more reckless.

He no longer hid his intentions, even going as far as publicly declaring that he would make Xavier and Bianca pay in blood.

He was like a beast driven into a corner, with nothing but madness and murderous intent in his eyes.

He knew he had no way back. He would either kill them for revenge or perish together with them.

Chapter 11

After the bankruptcy of the Julian Group, Julian remained hidden in the shadows, closely monitoring the movements of Xavier and Bianca.

He knew Xavier would soon take Bianca away from the city. This was his last chance.

Finally, an opportunity arose.

Due to an urgent project, Xavier had to personally travel to a neighboring city to handle it. Before leaving, he arranged a large number of bodyguards to protect Bianca, but he didn't expect that one of them had already been turned by Julian with a massive bribe.

On a dark and windy night, as Bianca was being driven back to the villa from the hospital, the driver suddenly yanked the steering wheel while passing through a secluded alley and pulled over.