"I know you suffered a great grievance today. You can punish me however you want, just don't make jokes about breaking up, alright?"

"It was my lack of consideration. I’ll take you out to clear your head and help you cool down."

Serena said nothing, but Julian seemed convinced she was just acting out. He grabbed her wrist and led her straight outside.

If she made a scene now and woke Arthur, she would be the only one to suffer.

She bit her lower lip and ultimately stopped resisting, letting Julian drag her along as they quietly slipped out of the estate.

The car drove all the way until it pulled up to a dimly lit pub.

Julian pulled her to a corner booth to sit down and pushed a glass of juice in front of her.

"Drink something to calm your nerves."

Serena didn't move, turning a deaf ear to his words.

Seeing that she remained completely silent, Julian took a few sops of alcohol himself, occasionally speaking about insignificant matters, mostly promising to treat her well in the future.

After an unknown amount of time, he stood up and patted her shoulder. "I'm heading out for a moment. Wait here, don't wander off."

Serena gave no response, not even sparing him a single glance.

Only a few minutes after he left, a man with dyed yellow hair slinked over.

"Hey beautiful, all by yourself? Have a drink with me."

Serena frowned and turned her body away, wanting to distance herself from him. "Get away."

"Oh, quite cold, aren't we?" The man let out a sneer, suddenly picking up a glass of liquor and forcing it down her throat.

The liquid poured down her chin and into her throat, the harsh taste causing her to cough uncontrollably.

She struggled to push him away, but the man’s strength was immense, leaving her to watch helplessly as most of the liquor was forced into her stomach.

Within a few minutes, a wave of dry heat suddenly surged from her limbs, her cheeks instantly burning hot, and her consciousness began to blur.

Serena’s heart skipped a beat—this was bad, the drink was spiked!

She propped herself against the table, trying to stand up and leave, but her legs began to give way, and the scene before her started to tilt.

Seeing this, a triumphant smile appeared on the man’s face as he reached out to embrace her. "Don't be in such a hurry to leave, I’ll take you to a wonderful place."

Just then, a dark shadow charged over, a fist slamming squarely into the man’s face.

"Get lost!"

Julian’s eyes were filled with absolute malice as he delivered several kicks to the groaning man.

Once the man scrambled up and fled in agony, Julian immediately gathered Serena up by her waist, quickly walking out of the pub and into the car.

Serena slumped in the back seat, the drug’s effects growing more intense.

Knowing she couldn't afford to lose consciousness completely, she bit down hard on her tongue, the sharp pain instantly restoring a fraction of clarity.

Through her blurred vision, she saw that the person sitting in the driver's seat was actually Mandy!

"My birthday is in a few days, and I actually have to prepare the gift myself." Mandy grumbled while driving.

Julian sighed helplessly. "Alright, aren't we getting the chance now?"

"The way you charged in just now, one would really think you cared so much about her." The jealousy in Mandy’s tone was practically overflowing. "What, does her drugged up, helpless state look a lot more exciting than her usual pure and proud act? Do you also like the feeling of sleeping with her?"

Julian’s arms wrapped around Serena went rigid, his brow furrowing deeply. "Mandy, stop talking nonsense. Wasn't that guy just now someone you found in advance to act out a play with me?"

Chapter 6

"Hmph!"

Mandy snapped her head around to glare at him. "Take a few photos while she's incoherent, then we leave immediately. You are not allowed to care about this bitch anymore."

Julian was just about to speak when his gaze suddenly swept across the intersection ahead, his pupils instantly constricting.

"Watch out!"

Mandy was startled by his sudden shout. Before she could react, a massive truck charged out from the intersection, its blinding headlights making it impossible to open one's eyes.

Boom!

The violent impact was deafening. The car body instantly flipped onto its side, shards of glass flying everywhere.

In that split second, Julian shielded Mandy beneath his own body, using his back to take the brunt of the massive impact.

Amid the violent shaking, he bit his teeth. the moment the vehicle stopped rolling, he used all his strength to carry Mandy out through the shattered window. Mandy was trembling with fear, crying into his embrace. "Julian, I'm so scared..."

Julian patted her back to soothe her.

"Don't be scared, I'm here."

Inside the car, Serena was pinned in the back seat, her left leg crushed tightly by the deformed seat. A piercing pain forced a low groan from her lips.

The drug was still taking its toll, her consciousness pulling back and forth between clarity and blurring. Blood trickled down her forehead, obscuring her vision.

She wanted to move, but her body felt as heavy as lead, and she could only faintly hear Mandy's crying and Julian's soothing words outside.

"Help... help me..."

She used her last ounce of strength to let out a weak cry.

An unknown amount of time passed before someone finally dialed for an ambulance and the police.

The paramedics pried open the deformed car body and lifted the semi-conscious Serena out of the vehicle.

As she was placed onto the stretcher, she caught a hazy glimpse of Julian holding Mandy, anxiously speaking to the paramedics, without a single glance spared for her.

Serena slowly closed her eyes, sinking completely into darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, she was in a hospital.

The nurse changed the IV tube, chatting casually while packing her things. "Your friend is truly attentive to his girlfriend. The girl who came with him only had a scratch, but he kept pressing the doctor with questions for over half an hour, from dietary restrictions to wound care, even pulling out a notebook to write down the instructions. It's rare to see such a meticulous guy these days."

Serena lay on the hospital bed, her fingers mindlessly picking at the sheets.

She remembered that whenever she was hurt, Julian had never once accompanied her to the hospital.

There was even a time she had a high fever, yet he still insisted on sleeping with her, teasingly saying, "I heard the temperature is even higher this way."

She gave a self-deprecating smile, filled with a touch of bitterness and relief.

"You don't have any major issues either, just a mild concussion and some leg contusions. You can be discharged once this IV bag is finished. Go home and rest, avoid strenuous exercise."

After giving her instructions, the nurse turned and left the ward.

The liquid in the IV tube dripped down slowly. Serena stared at the ceiling, her mind flooded with memories of the past—all those fluttering emotions and falls now felt like a joke.

Once the IV was finished, she handled her discharge paperwork. Just as she walked out of the hospital gates, a flight reminder popped up on her phone.

This time tomorrow, she would leave this city that had left her bruised and broken, never to return.

She hailed a cab to go home to do one last thing.

To send that exam drawing of her grandmother to the school.

But upon returning to her room, she saw that the drawing—the one she had traced line by line from memory of her grandmother—had been torn into shreds, the pieces of paper scattered across the floor, trampled and stained with filth.

She froze in place, her fingertips ice-cold, a metallic taste rising in her throat.

turned and rushed out of her room, grabbing a passing servant.

"Who came into my room?"

The servant looked confused and said casually, "The second miss. She came with some people earlier saying she needed to take something. She's in your old study right now, saying she wants to remodel it into a walk-in closet..."

"Mandy!"

Serena gritted her teeth, uttering the name word by word, the fury in her chest nearly burning her to ash.

She turned and ran straight toward the study.

Just as she reached the door, she heard Mandy’s overbearing voice inside. "Throw away all these broken bookshelves. The wardrobe goes here, and the mirror hangs over there. Hurry up, stop dragging your feet!"

"What do you think you're doing!"

Mandy turned to see her, a provocative smile appearing on her face. "You're leaving the country anyway, and this study is just sitting empty. Why not change it into my walk-in closet? It's much more practical."

Serena didn't care about that. She demanded directly, "Was it you who tore my drawing?"