Chapter 14

The paparazzi clutched his head, staring at Scarlett in absolute bewilderment.

Her eyes flashed sharply as she picked up another pebble from the ground, weighing it in her palm before demanding icily: "Are you going to delete it, or not?"

The paparazzi was utterly terrified, nodding frantically: "Deleting, deleting! I'm deleting it right now!"

"Get lost," Scarlett said with a wave of her hand, letting him scatter.

Turning back to look at Chloe, who remained collapsed on the ground, she let out a quiet sigh.

"Trash belongs in the dumpster."

She tossed the pebble into a nearby trash bin, aiming the words straight at her.

With that final remark, she turned around and headed up the stairs.

Following Chloe’s chaotic display, the sun had already begun to dip below the horizon, bathing the sky in a sprawling canopy of crimson and dusty rose.

Scarlett paused to observe the view, a rare wave of existential bewilderment washing over her after all this time.

Originally, over the past two years, she had firmly resolved to fade into the shadows and quietly live out the rest of her days in peace.

She hadn't anticipated that her mentor's cold case would suddenly yield a fresh lead...

Once she laid her mentor to rest properly, she would return to her peaceful retirement.

Having finalized her decision, Scarlett watched the encroaching darkness and stepped into the building entrance.

The moment she walked up to her door, she spotted Sebastian standing right outside.

"What are you doing here?"

Sebastian stood clad in a flawless haute couture suit, his leather shoes immaculate, looking entirely out of place in the dim, weathered hallway.

"Am I not welcome here?" The words didn't carry his usual freezing detachment; instead, they bore an undertone of gentle tenderness.

Scarlett's brows knitted slightly, sensing something was amiss.

Right then, the motion-sensor light clicked off, plunging the hallway into absolute darkness.

Only a sliver of moonlight filtered through the narrow window of the stairwell.

Sebastian's face was perfectly bisected—half swallowed by the shadows, half illuminated by the cool moonlight, presenting two entirely distinct personas.

One half appeared hazardous, warning anyone against coming close; the other half appeared enigmatic, pulling people in irresistibly.

Her heart skipped a beat, the words she intended to say dying in her throat.

The corners of Sebastian's lips curved into a slow smile, his eyes glinting as brightly as stars in a pitch-black night.

He murmured, "I'm drunk."

…

Scarlett possessed extensive experience in dealing with intoxicated individuals.

After all, she had been married to Ethan for a long time.

During his periods of constant networking, he would frequently come home heavily intoxicated.

Yet, observing the man sitting perfectly upright across from her, his posture entirely relaxed and his gaze crystal clear, she felt a profound surge of doubt.

"Are you genuinely drunk?" she asked, handing a cup of warm honey water over to him.

Sebastian didn't reach out to take it, instead fixing his eyes firmly upon her for a long moment.

His gaze was intensely complex, stripped of its usual unfathomable depth; she could clearly see a gentle warmth rippling through his eyes.

It looked like ancient glaciers melting away, causing a tranquil lake to ripple.

Scarlett went rigid under the intensity of that tender expression. Before she could analyze it further, he lowered his lashes and accepted the honey water.

"I am indeed drunk," Sebastian's voice was perfectly steady.

As he took the cup, his warm fingertips brushed against her hand, leaving a lingering tremor in their wake.

Her brow furrowed, "Your hands are incredibly hot. Are you feeling alright?"

Sebastian lowered his head to take a sip of the honey water, shaking his head slightly: "My body temperature always rises after consuming alcohol. It's nothing to worry about."

Before she could press further, Sebastian suddenly spoke up: "I'm hungry."

"I want a bowl of noodles." He raised his eyes to lock onto her, his gaze glinting with a transparent meaning.

"Then I..." Scarlett gestured toward the kitchen, "I'll go whip something up for you?"

"Thank you," Sebastian nodded.

Staring at his expectant expression, she swallowed her intended rejection and turned toward the kitchen.

An elite young heir truly functioned differently; instead of sleeping off his intoxication, he had traveled all this way just to demand a bowl of noodles from her.

"I only have instant ramen here, Master..." She turned around with the package in hand, only to find Sebastian resting his head against the back of the sofa with his eyes closed.

His brows were tightly knit, his tranquil face appearing weighed down by a thousand profound sorrows.

Watching him, Scarlett’s heart sank slightly, a wave of unbidden pity rising in her chest.

It seemed he truly was intoxicated.

It wasn't until the bowl of noodles was completely finished that Sebastian regained his usual composed demeanor.

"What exactly did you come here to discuss tonight?" she asked, steering the conversation back to business.

Sebastian shifted his gaze to lock onto the jade amulet resting against her chest, his voice dropping low: "Do you want to go find your mentor?"

Chapter 15

Scarlett’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes snapping up to meet his.

Sebastian’s proposition aligned perfectly with the exact plan she had harbored.

She had already intended to infiltrate the garden of Ethan's villa tonight to retrieve her mentor's remains.

She hadn't expected Sebastian to beat her to the punch, presenting the idea before she could act.

Scarlett's brow furrowed, "But he is still residing inside that villa."

Sebastian's eyes turned unfathomably deep: "He can barely secure his own survival right now."

…

The Villa.

Staring at the deeply familiar estate before her, Scarlett felt a strange, detached sensation of chronological whiplash.

Every blade of grass and every tree here was entirely integrated into her memory; she could navigate the entire grounds effortlessly with her eyes closed.

The grand black iron gates slowly ground open, and Sebastian’s vehicle glided smoothly onto the estate grounds.

"Ethan genuinely granted you access to enter?"

"Heh," Sebastian let out a soft chuckle, his tone holding a shroud of mystery: "Observe."

Before the car had even reached a complete stop, Ethan was already rushing out to meet them.

The assistant stepped down to open the door for Sebastian, while Ethan waited by the side with an obsequious eagerness.

He wore a black designer suit that appeared clean at a glance, but a closer look revealed a yellowing collar and a chaotic mess of wrinkles, a stark contrast to his usual immaculate presentation.

"What exactly is going on..." Scarlett began to ask, but Sebastian gestured for her to remain silent, slowly rolling his window halfway down.

Ethan immediately scrambled over, dark circles bruising the skin beneath his eyes and a heavy cloud of misery weighing down his tightly knit brows.

"Master Sebastian," Ethan forced a smile that looked far more agonizing than a sob, "have you come here late tonight to withdraw the lawsuit?"

Withdrawing the lawsuit?

Scarlett turned her head to look at Sebastian, deep confusion rising in her chest.

She was fully aware that the corporation was prosecuting Ethan for hiring paid internet trolls to orchestrate the cyberbullying campaign, but could a charge like that truly exert this much leverage over him?

Given how incredibly thick-skinned Ethan was, a mere blow to his reputation should have been entirely unbothered to him.

As she puzzled over the matter, the assistant stepped forward to bar Ethan’s path, stating coldly: "Mr. Ethan, the funds you used to hire those internet trolls came from an illicit source. The forensic auditors from the tax bureau are already en route. Even if we withdrew the lawsuit, nothing can save you now."

An indictment over internet trolls was indeed trivial, but tracing the origins of the currency used to fund that operation was an entirely different matter, unlocking a deeply hazardous line of inquiry.

Yet, using a cyberbullying charge as a pretext to trigger a full-scale corporate audit felt a bit too convenient.

Scarlett looked toward Sebastian, intending to ask more, but Ethan stepped closer, his voice strained with an undercurrent of desperate fury.

"Master Sebastian, we have absolutely no personal vendettas between us. Why on earth must you push things to such an ugly extreme? I beg you..."

His tone shifted, a groveling desperation seeping through his words: "Please, show some mercy and leave me a path to survive..."

Ethan’s implication was transparent; he was entirely convinced that everything from the cyberbullying charge to the tax audit was a calculated maneuver orchestrated solely by Sebastian.

Sebastian, however, merely turned his head to look at him, arching an elegant eyebrow as he asked dangerously: "Me?"

Ethan immediately backpedaled, his words tumbling out frantically: "I misspoke! The tax audit has absolutely nothing to do with you!"

As a sudden realization struck him, his tone flared with a desperate rage: "You've set your sights on Scarlett, haven't you? It's because of her! That's why you refuse to drop the charges!"