He knelt on the ground, carefully piecing them together—all dignity and cold composure of the usual Mr. Yan were gone.

The last digit was smudged and illegible.

He hastily pulled out his phone and tried every digit one by one.

Call after call connected, and he roared: "Flora! Is that you?"

The person on the other end cursed him for being a lunatic, and he hung up impatiently, continuing to dial.

On the verge of a breakdown, finally, the last number connected.

His breathing grew shallow:

"Flora... is that you?"

20

Flora recognized his voice almost instantly.

She replied with a cold tone: "Julian, what kind of madness are you in now? Where did you get this number?"

Julian leaned against the trash bin, out of his mind, his voice choked with sobs:

"Flora, I miss you."

"I miss you so much, so much, so much."

"Every day that you aren't here, I’ve been burned alive. I thought I could hold back; I thought I was just getting used to not having you, I thought I just missed the way you used to be." He gave a bitter laugh. "I was wrong. The moment I saw you with another man, I almost went insane."

"I’ve never loved anyone; I wasn't used to intimacy, and I didn't understand what liking someone meant. When you got close to me, I wasn't used to those feelings, so I deliberately acted cold, distancing myself, making you stay away."

"Later, you changed; you weren't the same as you were before."

"I felt some regret, but I didn't want to admit it, so I found Summer and had her play the part of you. But even though she looked exactly like you, why didn't it feel the same?" He closed his eyes, his expression full of pain. "She actually wasn't like you at all. What I wanted most, was to go back to the past..."

The other end of the line was silent for a long time, then a man’s light chuckle came through:

"Mr. Yan, is your brain okay? Playing out a soap opera in the middle of the night."

Julian snapped back to reality.

His face twisted, gnashing his teeth:

"Leo, why are you still with Flora at this hour?! Where is Flora? Let her answer the phone!"

Leo laughed and hung up the phone directly.

He tossed the phone aside, wrapped his arms around the slim waist of the person beside him, and buried his head in her neck:

"Sister, what a moving confession. I was almost moved myself."

Hearing this meat-crawling, strange voice, Flora knew instantly that he was jealous.

She turned her head helplessly and tapped his forehead with her finger: "What are you getting jealous over for some irrelevant person?"

Leo chuckled, lowered his head to kiss her, and they spent another long while in a sticky embrace.

The intimacy grew, and he lifted her up, pulling her back into bed.

Flora felt a bit dizzy, thinking distractedly that being young was truly wonderful—having endless energy every single day.

What a bland, flavorless life she had lived before.

But soon, she had no time to let her mind wander.

Another several rounds of passionate battle ensued.

Flora was completely drained, her body still covered in the red flushes and hickeys of unspent passion, as she was gently pulled into the man's embrace and fed water.

There was a frantic knocking at the door downstairs.

She lazily pushed herself up, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and went to open the door.

When the door opened, Julian was standing outside.

Flora froze: "Julian, how did you..."

Seeing the marks on her neck, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

He lunged forward like a madman, only to be pinned down by the bodyguards downstairs.

Julian roared like a demon:

"Flora! How could you treat me like this? How could you be so desperate to jump into bed with another man? You’re acting, right?"

"Tell me! Say something!"

Flora looked coldly at his wine-soaked, deranged appearance: "Julian, you’re drunk. Go home and drink some hangover soup; don't come here and go crazy."

"I’m not crazy; I’m very sober." He knelt, reaching out to grab Flora’s sleeve. His usual haughty manner was gone, humbled into the dust, and tears were threatening to fall:

"Flora, please, tell me it’s fake—that you and he aren't real."

"Stop the games, I can’t take it. I was wrong in the past; I know the truth about the photos now. I’ve punished Summer. I had her take the place of the person in the photos; no one will talk behind your back. You like red dresses; I bought you your favorite red dress and put it in your wardrobe. Anything you want, I can give you."

"I beg you, Flora."

He tilted his head back, looking up at Flora with pleading eyes.

Flora simply stared at him coldly, remaining silent.

He lowered his head, his voice trembling:

"And the child—our child—I know everything now."

"I’ve chosen the best burial ground for him; he will come back. We can start over; he will come back to us and be our child again..."

At the mention of the child, Flora’s eyes erupted with unprecedented hatred.

She raised her foot and kicked him away:

"Julian, he is never coming back!"

"You were the one who crushed him with your own hands!"

"I want nothing. And I don't want you."

She turned and walked straight back into the room.

There was one thing she left unsaid.

She wanted his life to be buried with her child.

Downstairs, Leo stood with his arms crossed, blocking the door.

Julian narrowed his eyes: "No wonder the Xu Group suddenly expanded its business to Hong Kong and reached into industries they had never touched. Leo, you’re with Flora—are you after her, or are you after the Yan Corporation information she carries?"

Leo looked at him, curling his lips in a mocking grin:

"Mr. Yan, I’m just an idle rich kid; I don't understand these things you’re talking about. I only know that whatever she does, I will support her."

"I will stay by her side, become her husband, her lover, accompany her through this journey, and be buried in the same grave when we die."

"The prefix to my name will always be 'Flora’s husband.'"

"I’ve liked her longer than you’ve known her. My only fault is being too young."

Julian’s eyes reddened: "A piece-of-trash rich kid like you—you’re not worthy of her!"

Leo laughed sarcastically: "Mr. Yan, you were so clever, scheming all the way, and yet, didn't you still lose your wife?"

Julian was infuriated, and Leo slammed the door shut.

The assistant called in a panic: "Mr. Yan, something has happened to the company!"

21

The Xu Group’s initial proposal had been nothing more than a hazy concept, a smokescreen from the very beginning.

Without that new business line, they remained one of the top leading enterprises in Los Angeles, their core foundation unshaken.

Yet, the Yan Corporation had taken the bait. Driven by a desire for quick success to compete with the Xu Group, they spared no expense, crazily upgrading technology and iterating products, only to see meager results.

Their newly launched products boasted loud reputations, but failed to achieve the expected impact. The consumer market didn't buy in, and the performance dipped after a strong start, making even the recovery of capital a problem.

The assistant stood before the office desk: "Mr. Yan, what should we do? We can barely contain the public opinion anymore."

Julian looked weary: "What does the PR department say?"

The assistant’s eyes revealed despair: "The PR director ran off yesterday. We can't reach them, and the entire PR department is paralyzed."

"The bank just notified us they are calling in our loans. Our cash flow is low, and we are highly likely to face a rupture in our capital chain."

Julian closed his eyes: "Mortgage the villa under my name. Negotiate with the banks calling in the loans, and urgently reorganize the PR department. Ensure the public narrative is stabilized at all costs."

Before he could finish, the office door was thrown open. A group of people in formal attire stormed in, shoving identification in his face:

"Hello, we are court officials. The Yan Corporation has been issued a property preservation order at the request of the venture capital firm. Operations are suspended."

Julian stood up abruptly: "What did you say!"

...

In the conference room, Julian and the venture capital team sat down at the negotiation table.

He scrutinized the blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigner across from him:

"The current crisis our group is facing is merely a minor one. If your company only considers short-term gains, you will only end up with an empty shell awaiting bankruptcy liquidation. But if you can continue to support us and postpone the liquidation, I guarantee I will fulfill the valuation adjustment agreement."

The foreigner shook his head: "Mr. Yan, your promises are nothing but words. There is no way to guarantee actual results. In fact, I have a better suggestion."