Christian had mentioned he would come over today, though it would be in the evening. Terrified of any accidents, I stepped onto the balcony to place a call to him anyway.

It took a long while before the line finally connected. He claimed he was busy and would return a bit later, allowing me to let out a sigh of relief. Christian's tone sounded rather cheerful, and before hanging up, he inquired if I wanted to head out for dinner together later.

He hadn't answered my underlying question, and I didn't push further.

Julian was incredibly swift, stepping out from his shower to begin blow-drying his hair. The air filled with the light scent of shampoo, laced with a hazy aroma of sea salt.

Chapter 37: Playing a High-Stakes Game of Survival

Christian despised this particular fragrance and practically never touched it; encountering it now on another man left me rather unaccustomed to it.

Standing behind him, I hesitated for a moment before inquiring, "Was it the same group of people from last time?"

Julian's movements paused for a fraction of a second. He nodded, his expression turning complex as a dark, unreadable wave flashed through his eyes. "Pretty much. Perhaps you'll regret saving me."

"Then we should absolutely stop seeing each other in the future," I countered. "Lest I get dragged to my death by you." Taking a few steps back to create distance, I plastered a look of intense revulsion across my face.

In reality, I truly was terrified of death.

Especially after that one definitive ordeal.

Julian let out a laugh. "That isn't up to you to decide." Leaning down to retrieve his jacket from the floor, he adjusted his collar and prepared to step out, just as a sudden knock rattled the front door.

At this hour, Sera was still occupied with her university lectures and could absolutely never drop by; it could only be Christian.

Possessing lightning-fast reflexes, Julian grabbed his clothes and dove straight into a bedroom. I frantically stowed the medical kit away, rushed into the bathroom to damp my hair, and stripped down to wrap myself in a bath towel.

My heart was hammering violently against my chest. Standing at the threshold, I took several deep breaths, vowing inwardly that I would never dare to cross paths with that man named Julian ever again.

This truly was playing a high-stakes game of survival.

Stepping inside, Christian surveyed my form. "Taking a shower?" Wrapping my arms around his sleeve, I spoke in a coquettish tone, "Why did you suddenly come back early? I was barely halfway through my shower."

Christian claimed he had left an official document at the apartment and had returned specifically to fetch it. He stepped into the study, but upon exiting, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt, his gaze locking dead onto the door of the northern bedroom.

That particular bedroom was usually unoccupied, serving as my wardrobe space, and Christian rarely stepped inside. A faint noise echoed from within the room, prompting Christian to march over, his hand settling right over the door handle.

Damn it, Julian, you are absolutely trying to ruin me. In an instant, I held my breath entirely, cold sweat pouring down my back.

Just as Christian was about to yank it open, I caught his hand, a sharp cry escaping my lips: "Don't." Christian stared into my eyes calmly, the corners of his mouth flattening into a rigid line as his face turned cold, his powerful gaze sharp like a blade, slicing straight through my rationality.

Staring back at Christian with trembling eyes, he turned the handle and slowly swung the door open.

The exact moment Christian stepped inside, the blood in my entire body felt as if it had stopped flowing completely, leaving me able to hear nothing but my frantic, amplified heartbeat.

Standing at the threshold, I didn't dare follow him inside.

Total disaster.

Yet Christian displayed absolutely zero unusual behavior. Summoning every ounce of my courage to step inside, the room was entirely empty, the window left half-open as the wind blew in, gently fluttering the sheer curtains.

It seemed Julian possessed quite the physical agility. My apartment sat on the second floor, so leaping down shouldn't have caused him any major harm.

Christian surveyed the room once before his gaze finally settled onto the table. Running his fingers through my damp hair, he walked over to shut the window, his expression softening into tenderness. "Be careful not to catch a cold."

Sitting on the table was a piece of unopened lingerie, a mysterious birthday gift Sera had delivered to me earlier this year. Having thrown it onto the table casually, I hadn't managed to stow it away.

Christian had never seen me wear something like that before.

Without leaving a trace, I kicked Julian's discarded jacket entirely beneath the wardrobe, pretending to look thoroughly embarrassed as I clutched the lingerie to my chest. "I told you already not to come inside."

Exiting the room, Christian let out a laugh, a rare trace of teasing flashing within his eyes. "You are incredibly alluring even without those things."

That very afternoon, the Julian Group convened an emergency shareholders' meeting. Massive tremors shook the corporate hierarchy, resulting in a wholesale replacement of board members; any director candidate failing to show up on time would be deemed to have automatically forfeited their standing. Julian, the young heir of the Julian family, arrived exactly one minute prior to the commencement of the conference, firmly seizing control of the situation.

Chapter 38: A Thorny and Persistent Adversary

Christian returned exceptionally late that evening. He had consumed a significant amount of alcohol, and his wonderful mood from earlier had vanished entirely, replaced by an intensely oppressive aura as he threw himself over my body to unleash his frustration.

His movements were brutally rough, tearing my nightgown to shreds and leaving my body aching violently. Christian bit down relentlessly along my shoulders, leaving behind a trail of deep teeth marks. Letting out soft whimpers, I bit my lip with tears shining in my eyes, silently enduring the man's heavy impacts.

It was only around dawn that Christian finally released his hold on me. My entire body felt soft, drained of every ounce of strength. Christian carried me into the bathroom to clean my body.

Returning to bed, I snuggled into his embrace, inquiring softly, "Did you run into some trouble?" Christian pressed his thin lips together, and only after a long silence did he stare up at the ceiling. "A thorny and persistent adversary."

Suddenly clamping his hand around my jaw, his gaze ground into my face. "The day I was in that car accident, where exactly were you?"

My heart squeezed violently in an instant. Before Christian could even speak further, I bit my lip and blurted out, "I didn't mean to keep it from you intentionally. That day I was shopping with a friend at that mall newly controlled by the Julian Group, and I ran into him again. I was terrified that something fatal happened to you and was frantic with worry, so when Mr. Julian offered to drive me, I agreed."

Tracing my fingers slowly across Christian's lean back, I explained in a hushed murmur, "I only kept it from you because I was terrified you might misunderstand."

Clutching me tightly, Christian offered no reply.

The next morning, before Christian awoke, I stepped onto the balcony to place a call to Logan. Logan's tone sounded thoroughly innocent: "Ma'am, I was forced into a corner too. Director Christian seemed to have picked up on something and insisted on interrogating me. I have to protect my own livelihood, my entire family relies on me to survive..."

He launched into an endless stream of explanations over the line, claiming he hadn't exposed the incident that occurred at The Dusk, merely admitting he had witnessed Julian driving me to the hospital once.

Possessing zero patience to listen further, the phone slipped onto the sofa as my fingertips turned entirely freezing. Since Christian harbored doubts, why hadn't he confronted me directly?

Having followed Christian for eight years, I understood his profound, calculating nature well enough. I had once entertained the illusion that over time, I would slowly decipher this man's heart; thinking back on it now, I had been far too naive.

Taking my birth control pill in the morning, Christian snatched the water glass from my hand, wrapping his arms around me from behind as his jaw rested against my neck. "Didn't I tell you to stop taking those in the future?"

The man's subtle stubble rubbed against my skin, ticking me until I let out a giggle, pushing him away.

The words Crystal had spoken during her visit to the hospital ward still echoed with absolute clarity inside my ears: trying for a baby... a boy or a girl doesn't matter, as long as they look just like you...

Replaying each individual word over and over, it was completely impossible to forget. Clutching the small pill inside my palm until it brought a blunt ache, I lowered my gaze to look at him, still maintaining a smile. "What kind of talk is that? Are you planning to have two at once?"