His fingers trembled as he brushed the hair away from Elena’s temple, and he lowered his head to kiss her.

Yet, after several attempts at CPR, Elena showed no reaction at all.

Emergency services finally arrived and lifted the bloodless Elena onto a stretcher.

Julian knelt where he was, then scrambled up in a disheveled state, chasing after the stretcher.

Watching Elena lying there so quietly, tears fell from his eyes without warning.

As he waited outside the emergency room, his heart felt as if it had stopped beating.

I don't know how much time passed, but the lights inside went out, and the doctor walked out.

Julian looked like a lost child. He grabbed the doctor, but couldn't get a single word out.

The doctor shook his head:

"I am very sorry. We did everything we could."

Chapter 8

The doctor’s short sentence echoed crazily in Julian’s mind. He stepped back in a daze, shaking his head:

"No... that’s not possible! You’re lying to me!"

His expression frantic, he stumbled past the doctor and rushed inside.

Elena was lying quietly on the resuscitation table.

It was impossible... Elena had only looked a bit paler than usual. She was so skilled, so physically strong—how could something happen to her?

Julian’s trembling fingers hovered beneath her nose.

Not a single breath.

Refusing to believe it, he stood there for a full minute, his fingers shaking more and more.

"Sister Elena!"

Summer rushed over, her makeup ruined by tear streaks, but she only gripped Elena’s limp hand.

Cole furrowed his brows and pulled her up forcefully:

"Why are you crying? She was my bitter rival. You should be happy she’s dead."

Summer wailed loudly.

Julian seemed to be suddenly awakened. He plopped onto the floor, looking at everything before him with the blank expression of a child who had lost their protection.

He watched the people coming and going, tears falling unconsciously.

A long while later, a shrill, piercing wail erupted from his throat.

He pushed Summer away, gripped one of Elena’s fingers, and rambled incoherently:

"Elena, you promised not to leave me. You lied to me! I’m going to punish you, I..."

Cole watched coldly for a long time before sneering:

"She’s already dead. What are you going to punish her with? Throwing the corpse into the sea to feed the fish?"

"Julian, you really are a piece of trash. You couldn't even protect the woman by your side."

Julian looked up sharply:

"Why didn't you send someone to save her at the time! If you had..."

But as his eyes swept over Summer, he realized something.

Because of his obsession with Summer, Cole had long harbored a grudge; he would have been thrilled to see Julian die—why would he have intervened?

For the first time, he felt regret for his past pursuit of Summer.

"Even if you didn't want to save me, what did that have to do with Elena?"

Cole laughed as if he’d heard the greatest joke in the world:

"Who doesn't know that Elena was the most loyal dog under your command? Even when I was torturing her to the point of death, she wouldn't leak a single piece of information about you."

"What difference is there between me saving her and me saving you?"

Julian opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

He stared blankly, holding Elena’s hand for a long time, never feeling the warmth that should have been there.

Summer cried for a long while before coming to pull him up, her eyes red and swollen:

"Julian, don't be too sad... If Sister Elena were still here, she wouldn't want to see you like this."

Julian was pulled up in a daze. Summer tried to settle him, but he clung to the doorframe, refusing to leave.

Cole jammed a needle of sedative into him and ordered his men to drag him away.

Late at night, when the entire cruise ship had fallen into silence, Elena suddenly opened her eyes.

She moved her sore and aching limbs and discovered that the door was locked.

She had planned to wait until they reached shore to escape, but just then, she saw another cruise ship slowly passing by through the window.

Elena made an instant decision; she climbed out the window and jumped.

【Whoa, is the second female lead this hardcore? But what is she trying to achieve by doing this?】

【Right, she finally waited for a good ending, why is she so self-destructive...】

【I say she should have run away a long time ago! Look at how she was tortured while by Julian’s side?】

Elena fought to move closer to the other ship.

Fortunately, someone discovered her quickly. After a commotion of shouts on the deck, a lifeboat was lowered.

Elena looked back at the two ships drifting further and further apart and smiled faintly.

Julian had a nightmare all night, where Elena was following closely behind him, just like the thousand-plus days before.

But suddenly, he felt a chill in his heart. He turned around, only to see emptiness.

Elena was nowhere to be seen.

Julian awoke with a start, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

He raced to Elena’s room and opened the door, desperate to catch a glimpse of her.

Then, Julian’s pupils contracted violently.

The bed was empty.

Chapter 9

Julian frantically searched every corner of the room, but there was no trace of Elena anywhere.

He ran outside, grabbing hold of every person he could see, demanding:

"Have you seen Elena?"

Seeing him with bloodshot eyes, desperately searching for a dead woman, people were terrified and shook their heads repeatedly.

Julian seemed tireless, asking again and again.

Yet, without exception, the answers were either "No" or "Isn't she dead?"

I don't know how much time passed before Julian stopped his footsteps, staring at the deck he had cleared out all by himself.

A meteor suddenly streaked across the sky. Julian’s eyes were unfocused, and he whispered softly:

"…Elena?"

Still, there was no reply.

Summer and Cole arrived at the sound of the commotion. She had changed out of her wedding gown, her features filled with grief:

"Julian... Sister Elena, she really is gone."

Julian violently brushed away her hand as she tried to support him:

"Get away! It’s all your fault! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ignored Elena, and Elena wouldn't have..."

Summer bit her lip, her eyes rimmed with red:

"Julian, you keep saying it’s my fault, so let me ask you, what did I do wrong?"

"Because of your so-called love, I had to carefully maintain my relationship with Cole. Every time Sister Elena suffered, it wasn't because I ordered it!"

Cole stood behind her, his brows knitting in displeasure as he watched her face twist slightly with grievance and pain.

It was already unlucky enough to have someone die at a wedding; Summer’s unyielding attitude only deepened his dissatisfaction.

【The male lead really just treats the female lead as an object, sigh.】

【Seeing the female lead cry so miserably, my heart aches so much.】

【If I remember correctly, after the wedding, the male lead locked the female lead at home and wouldn't let her work...】

Julian looked at Summer blankly, his shoulders dropping in defeat.

He buried his face in his palms, his voice hoarse:

"...I'm sorry. Please, help me bring Elena back."

Summer turned her head away, unable to bear it:

"Sister Elena has already left."

Julian took them to Elena’s room. Summer’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She rushed to interrogate the servants who had been there, only to be blocked by Cole:

"You only need to be my wife and concern yourself with my affairs. She was just a loyal dog of Julian’s, and a dead one at that—what is there to be concerned about?"

Julian’s eyes were filled with broken capillaries as he threw a punch directly at him.

Cole stumbled back, touched the side of his face, and waved at the bodyguards surrounding them.

A group of well-trained bodyguards instantly surrounded the swaying Julian. Summer hurriedly hugged Cole’s arm:

"Forget it, Cole. He’s just overcome with grief..."

Cole glanced at her and dragged her away by force.

Julian’s mental state was on the verge of collapse. Before long, he was pinned down by several men and beaten until he was bloodied.

He didn't know how long it was before he slowly crawled up, called his subordinates, and left the cruise ship.

He searched for a long time without eating, drinking, or sleeping, yet he never found a single trace of Elena.

His subordinates tried to persuade him several times; searching for a corpse in the vast ocean was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

But seeing Julian’s crazed eyes, they all swallowed their words.

Julian’s complexion grew paler, his frame gaunt.

Finally, three days later, Julian stared at the calm surface of the sea and fainted dead away.

When he woke up, he had returned to the villa.