"I chose you, not because of guilt."

Her fingertips traced the old scar on his brow bone, left from when they fought at fifteen: "It’s because in this life, I finally saw clearly who was worth it."

The wine cellar fell into a deathly silence, with only the shallow breathing of two people rising and falling.

Julian’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

He wanted to push her away, but his fingers disobeyed, curling to trap her slender wrist in his palm.

"Zoe," he said in a low voice, "do you know why I never attend your birthday banquets?"

She shook her head.

"Because at twenty-two," his thumb rubbed the pulsing vein at her wrist, "I watched you walk toward Jasper and told myself—if this is what you want, if you can be happy, I am willing to let go."

Zoe’s tears suddenly tumbled down, landing on the back of his hand.

Julian seemed scorched, standing up abruptly, but he was pulled back by Zoe tugging at his hem.

"Julian," she asked through tears, "if I had chosen Jasper again in this life, what would you have done?"

His jawline was pulled tight, and it took a long time before a sentence was squeezed through his teeth: "...Continue watching."

"Until I died in front of you again?"

The sentence pierced the final barrier between them like a sword.

Julian suddenly bent down and swept her up horizontally, striding toward the stairs. Zoe struggled in his arms: "Put me down!"

"Shut up." He kicked the bedroom door open violently, but the action of throwing her onto the bed was gentle. "Your soles are covered in blood."

Only then did Zoe realize she had indeed stepped on glass shards in the cellar.

Julian returned, knelt on one knee, and picked the shards out of her soles bit by bit with tweezers. When the alcohol cotton swab brushed across the wounds, she flinched in pain.

"Serves you right." He cursed, but his touch was even lighter.

After wrapping the bandage, Julian started to stand, but was hugged from behind by Zoe.

"On the first day of my rebirth," her face pressed against his back, her voice muffled, "I went to buy a plane ticket to Switzerland."

Julian froze in place.

"I waited in the airport for a whole day, but due to the weather, it went from delayed to canceled." She tightened her arms: "That’s when I thought, then I’ll wait for you to come back. No matter what, in this life, I must catch you."

Moonlight seeped through the gauze, casting interlaced shadows on the floor.

Julian turned slowly and cradled her face. His thumb brushed past her moist eyes, his gaze complex.

"Zoe," he asked softly, "aren't you afraid... that in this life, we will still repeat the same mistakes?"

She stood on tiptoes and kissed the corner of his lips: "Then we’ll meet in the next life."

The kiss was light, yet it completely broke Julian’s defenses.

He gripped the back of her head to deepen the kiss, the scent of ambergris mixed with the aroma of whiskey taking over Zoe’s senses.

When the two finally separated, Zoe discovered her hand was interwoven with his, fingers locked.

And Julian’s palm was searingly hot.

When the morning light emerged, Zoe woke up in Julian’s arms.

He slept soundly, and the furrow between his brows finally smoothed out.

She quietly traced his silhouette with her fingers, from the sharp brow bone to the straight bridge of his nose.

The phone suddenly vibrated; a news push notification popped up on the screen.

《Breaking! Jasper Group Suspected of Financial Fraud, Share Price Plummets 50%》

In the boardroom on the top floor of the Jasper Group, the air pressure was suffocating.

Jasper smashed his tablet against the wall; the sound of the shattering screen made all the executives shrink back simultaneously.

"Three days! The market value evaporated by 50% in just three days!" He glared at everyone with bloodshot eyes. "Who leaked the news about the financial fraud?!"

The CFO spoke tremblingly: "President Jasper, the audit report shows that there is indeed eight billion in funds missing..."

"Shut up!" Jasper grabbed him by the tie. "Did I hire you to find problems for me?"

He turned to the legal team: "Immediately sue the Julian Group for commercial defamation!"

The head of legal wiped away sweat: "President Jasper, the chain of evidence released by Julian is too complete, it even includes our secret recordings with the bank..."

Jasper suddenly went quiet.

He let go and walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside was the most prosperous financial street in New York.

"Good, very good." He sneered and dialed a number. "Lucas, activate Plan B."

On the top floor of the Julian Building, Zoe was leaning against Julian’s desk flipping through documents.

"Jasper sold all his overseas assets," she pointed to a line of data with her fingertip. "It seems he is going all in."

Julian signed documents without looking up: "The Lucas and Hugo families terminated three cooperative projects with us this morning."

"Jude is even more ruthless," Zoe chuckled. "He actually wanted to poach our chip R&D team."

Julian finally looked up, a cold light flashing in his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses: "Let him poach."

Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"The core members of the team had long signed non-compete agreements," Julian took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. "Jude will have to pay at least two billion in liquidated damages."

Zoe suddenly leaned over, her fingertips brushing across the furrow on his brow: "President Julian looks quite sexy when he stays up late."

Julian grabbed her mischievous hand: "Miss Zoe, this is an office."

"So what?" She curled her red lips. "It's not like..."

Before she could finish, Lin Han suddenly knocked and entered: "President Julian, Jasper has united with the four major families and is shorting our new energy sector!"

Chapter 17

Zoe and Julian locked eyes, both curling the corners of their lips at the same time.

Over the following week, the business world staged a thrilling encirclement and counter-attack.

Jasper used all his connections to suppress the Julian Group's stock price, but Julian seized the opportunity to buy back at a low price;

Lucas tried to poach the core team but was instead dragged down by cash flow issues due to non-compete clauses;

Hugo spread rumors about product quality, but Zoe hit back by live-streaming their production lines;

Jude suffered the worst—the blockchain project he invested in was exposed as a Ponzi scheme, turning him into a laughingstock overnight.

"President Wen, President Julian. The latest news," Lin Han walked quickly into the CEO's office, "Jasper has mortgaged the Jasper family ancestral home."

Zoe was in the middle of tying Julian’s tie; her fingers paused at the words: "Is he crazy?"

Julian held her hand: "Just a cornered dog jumping over a wall."

Zoe laughed and fell into his arms.

Meanwhile, the Jasper Group was already in chaos.

"Trash! All of you are trash!" Jasper smashed his office into a mess. "What about the banks? Why won't they renew the loans?"

The secretary answered tremblingly: "Julian... convinced the central bank to intervene with supervision..."

Jasper froze abruptly. He grabbed his car keys and rushed out, only to be surrounded by reporters in the underground parking lot.

"President Jasper, what is your response to the embezzlement of employee pension funds?"

"President Jasper! Is it true that your father has stripped you of your inheritance rights?!"

"Miss Susan claims she is pregnant with your child, may I ask..."

Jasper scrambled into his car in a wretched state, only to find Susan already sitting in the passenger seat.

"Jasper," she said with red eyes, "I have a way for you to make a comeback..."

"Get lost!" Jasper pushed her away. "If you hadn't provoked Zoe, how would things have turned out like this!"

Susan was pushed against the car door, the tears in her eyes instantly turning into resentment.

Late at night, Zoe drove back to her apartment alone.

She had just parked the car when she heard rapid footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, a handkerchief soaked in ether covered her nose and mouth.

In her struggle, she caught a glimpse of Susan’s distorted face: "Eldest Miss, it’s time for you to pay your debt..."

At the last moment before her consciousness vanished, Zoe touched the phone in her pocket.

Julian was in a meeting when his phone suddenly vibrated. A location message popped up on the screen, followed by a red exclamation mark: [SOS Triggered]

Everyone watched in horror as their boss smashed his fist onto the table: "Get the car! Now!"

The abandoned chemical plant was filled with a pungent smell of chemical agents.

Zoe was tied to a rusted iron chair, her wrists already worn to bloody marks.

She stared at the manic Susan before her, her voice exceptionally calm: "You can't escape."

"Shut up!" Susan raised her hand, her nails leaving three bloody scratches on Zoe’s face. "Once Julian arrives, I’ll have you both die together!"