She wanted nothing more than to demand an answer from him: throughout these past three years, had she merely been a tool utilized to secure his corporate shares? Or was she simply a clown kept for his personal amusement?

Eric remained silent for a long moment before offering a single question: "How much money do you want?"

With those words, every single inquiry she had wished to make lost all remaining purpose.

Driven past the brink of sanity by his response, Chloe spoke, her voice incredibly hoarse and strained: "Eric Vance... a human life was extinguished... My brother was only eighteen years old when he died... How can you possibly bring yourself to utter such words?"

Eric’s brows knitted into a tight frown, his tone turning instantly freezing: "It was merely an unfortunate accident. How much longer do you intend to obsess over this matter?"

The moment the statement left his lips, even he experienced a brief hesitation.

Chloe stared fixedly at Eric, and at Lyndsey, who remained shielded behind his form.

The final remnants of her heart were completely ground into dust.

She took a slow step backward, her voice sounding as though it resonated from the very depths of the earth: "I was far too naive. To think that I actually harbored a final shred of expectation regarding your character."

To think I expected an apology... to think I expected a single trace of remorse from you...

Chloe retrieved her phone from her pocket: "I shall contact the authorities. It is high time she faces the consequences of her actions."

With that, she dialed the emergency services.

Chapter 10: Desperation

"Clang—!"

Before the emergency call could even connect, Lyndsey suddenly lunged forward, snatched the phone from Chloe’s hands, and smashed it violently onto the floor.

Lyndsey immediately dissolved into tears, pleading, "Eric, you have to help me! I don't want to go to prison!"

Chloe looked toward Eric, her heart trembling for some inexplicable reason.

She watched as Eric suddenly spoke to the servants standing behind him in a deep, absolute tone: "The mistress is unwell. Take her back to her room to rest!"

Chloe’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief as she stared at him: "Eric Vance! What do you think you are doing?"

"Take her back!" Eric radiated an aura so freezing that it made it impossible for anyone to look him in the eye.

Several servants swarmed forward, pinning Chloe’s arms and dragging her back to her bedroom before locking the door firmly behind her.

No matter how hard Chloe pounded on the barrier, absolutely no one paid her any mind.

As night fell, a gentle rain began to patter against the windowpane outside.

Chloe stared blankly out at the dark expanse, her heart reduced to nothing more than a ruined wasteland.

With a soft click, the door was pushed open.

She didn't turn around, nor did she make a single movement.

Eric stared at her retreating figure, an unnameable emotion swelling within his chest.

He spoke blandly: "I have already disposed of all the evidence."

Chloe’s body went completely rigid, as if she had been struck by a physical bolt of lightning. She turned around in utter shock, taking two swift steps forward to clutch the lapels of his suit jacket: "Eric Vance, do you possess a heart at all?!"

Eric's tone turned terrifyingly cold as he brushed her hands away: "Zack ran out into the street entirely on his own. Lyndsey still has a brilliant future ahead of her; she cannot be allowed to have her life ruined over a mere accident."

Whose brilliant future?

Her brother was the top scorer of the college entrance examination, a student accepted into Peking University. Was his future not beautiful?

Chloe stared at the man standing before her, feeling as though she had never truly known him.

Despite having lived under the same roof day and night, he felt so utterly foreign at this moment that it terrified her.

She drew in a deep, agonizing breath, the raging fury within her chest dissolving into a single sentence that felt as though it were wept in blood: "I will absolutely never let this matter rest. If you have the ability, then shield her for the rest of her days. Otherwise, I swear I will make her pay for his life in blood!"

Eric's eyes darkened to an unfathomable depth, the words slipping from his lips carrying an unfeeling, ruthless weight: "Tomorrow, I will have someone escort you out of the country. You will never be permitted to return for the rest of your life."

With that, he turned on his heel and strode toward the exit.

The turbulent waves crashing through Chloe’s heart came to an abrupt halt. She stood paralyzed in place, staring at his retreating back, before she suddenly whispered, "Eric Vance, I hate you."

Eric's footsteps faltered for a fraction of a second, but ultimately, he continued forward with absolute resolve.

The heavy thud of the door slamming shut was his only response.

Chloe collapsed helplessly onto the floor, suddenly feeling entirely drained of strength.

In the abrupt, suffocating silence, every ounce of grief and fury pressed down heavily upon her chest. The entire room felt like a massive cage, holding every single shred of her vitality captive.

She parted her lips, yet she found herself entirely unable to let out a single wail or cry; she had truly been driven past the point of desperation.

Immediately following his departure, the door was opened once more.

Lyndsey walked inside, a triumphant smirk gracing her features: "I told you long ago, no matter what transpires, Eric will always choose to shield me."

Chloe looked up at her, her eyes burning red with absolute hatred: "What, have you come to flaunt your victory yet again?"

Lyndsey, however, burst into a fit of loud laughter, her gaze turning lethal in an instant: "I am here to send you on your final journey!"

Before the words could fully resonate, Chloe felt her mouth and nose forcefully covered by a cloth. Her vision instantly spiraled into darkness, and she lost all consciousness.

Inside the study.

Eric stood by the window, that final "I hate you" echoing through his mind over and over again like a form of self-inflicted torture.

The rain outside had finally ceased, yet an abrupt, violent wave of unease began to throb frantically within his chest.

"Eric, you must be hungry. Have something to eat!" Lyndsey walked through the door carrying a bowl of hot soup.

Just as Eric prepared to harshly command her to get out, the villa's fire alarm suddenly pierced through the silence!

The shrill, rhythmic screeching echoed throughout the ancient estate.

Eric bolted from the study, only to discover thick plumes of smoke billowing out from the master bedroom on the second floor.

"Chloe!" His eyes tightened in sheer panic as he sprinted toward the room.

"Boom—!"

The next instant, a deafening explosion ripped through the chamber, and a wall of roaring flames erupted toward the heavens.

Chapter 11: Who Was His True Savior?

The ferocious fire raged throughout the entire night, reducing over half of the grand estate to ash.

By the time the flames were finally extinguished, Chloe had been burned to absolute nothingness, leaving behind not a single trace of her remains.

Eric stared blankly at the ruined villa, feeling as though a vital piece of his own heart had been scorched to ash alongside her.

Standing off to the side, Lyndsey hid a triumphant smirk; at long last, the greatest threat to her ambitions had been permanently erased.

As night fell, Eric drank himself into a state of absolute intoxication. The residence where he and Chloe had built a life together for three years had been completely wiped from existence.

Her departure seemed to have dragged away every single trace of their shared history from this world.

Unwittingly, his steps guided him back to Chloe’s old apartment—a place he had only visited a single time throughout their entire three years of marriage.

Yet now, it was the only destination his soul yearned for.

He dragged his heavy steps up the concrete staircase, collapsing into a drunken stupor right outside the wrought-iron security gate.

Reaching out with a trembling, hazy hand, his fingers slipped through the gap between the bars and miraculously located the spare key just as she used to keep it.

Unlocking the barrier, he stumbled blindly into the apartment.

The residence had been kept immaculately clean, projecting an immense sense of warmth and coziness.

A sudden memory drifted through his alcohol-addled mind. Throughout those three years, no matter how late he returned home, a single light in the living room would always be left burning for him.

Day after day, she had waited faithfully for his return.

But now, it was gone. Everything was gone, and she was no longer of this world.

The sudden realization caused an unprompted, sharp agony to surge through Eric's chest.

He collapsed onto the mattress where Chloe used to sleep, the faint, distinctive fragrance unique to her form still lingering upon the fabric, offering him a fleeting trace of solace.