Arthur rushed to my side, hurriedly pulling me into his arms, asking nervously: "Elena, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I turned back, still in a state of shock, to see a trail of blood winding behind me. Julian lay on the ground, blood continuously gushing from his mouth, yet as I looked over, he forced a stiff smile before slowly closing his eyes.

My eyes felt as though they were splitting; I let out a shrill scream: "Julian!"

My knees hit the ground so hard I couldn't stand, but I scrambled forward regardless, kneeling beside Julian, tears streaming down my face: "Julian! Wake up! Don't sleep, you can't be okay!"

Blood soaked my clothes, a sea of crimson in my vision.

Snowflakes drifted down, merging with the blood.

Julian did not respond to me again.

Chapter 30

Limping, and supported by Arthur, I sent Julian into the emergency room.

Even though I had arrived in the warm interior, I was shivering with cold. My body and face were stained with Julian’s blood, my hands were trembling uncontrollably, and tears rolled down my cheeks without end.

Arthur’s brows were furrowed tightly; he consoled me in a low voice: "Don't worry, Julian has been through the wringer in the military for so many years; what kind of danger hasn't he encountered? He will be fine."

My trembling gaze turned to him, and I was choking so hard I could barely speak.

"I... I’m afraid..."

My voice was incoherent, shattered and heartbreaking.

Arthur reached out to pull me into his embrace, his large hand pressed against the back of my head to help me slowly calm down.

"Don't be afraid, don't be scared. I'm here. You're hurt; I'm taking you to see a doctor."

With that, he stooped down, scooped me up by the backs of my knees, and carried me horizontally.

The pain of him tugging at my wound made me gasp for air, yet I couldn't help but look at the emergency room door.

This was the second time I had waited outside that door, waiting for someone whose life or death was unknown to come out.

"Don't worry, we'll go treat your wound first. Once it's treated, I’ll wait with you."

In the surgical clinic.

The doctor treated my wound with great care, but every touch sent an unbearable, stabbing pain through me.

Yet I clenched my teeth, not letting out a sound.

Arthur watched the cold sweat pouring down my forehead, his heart aching with waves of sympathy. He stood behind me, held me in his arms, and covered my eyes.

Threads of sobbing spilled from my throat.

Arthur’s heart twisted in pain, igniting a wave of fury. If it weren't for that madwoman, I wouldn't have to suffer like this.

"Endure it a little longer, it will be done soon."

The bone-deep pain caused me to feel dizzy and nauseous. I buried my head in Arthur’s waist, my tears smearing a dark, wet patch onto his sweater.

Finally, the wound was treated, and the doctor wrapped it in thick bandages.

Arthur let out a sigh of relief.

My body, which had been tense all over, finally relaxed, but it was followed by a heavy, draining sense of exhaustion.

My body went limp, leaning into Arthur’s embrace. My voice trembled as I asked: "Who was it, Brother Arthur? Who was the person driving?"

"A woman. She has already been sent to the police station."

"A woman..."

Almost instantly, a long-buried name surfaced in my mind—Xu Rou.

Just then, a comrade from the police station knocked on the clinic door.

"Is this Comrade Gu Elena? We need your cooperation with the investigation regarding today's case. Would it be convenient for you to come with us?"

Arthur supported my shoulders with his hands and answered for me: "She is not physically well; I will accompany her."

Half an hour later, Arthur pushed my wheelchair into the police station.

In the interrogation room.

A disheveled woman was handcuffed to a chair. The wound on her head had been simply bandaged, but half her face was twitching unnaturally.

The moment I pushed the door open, I was locked in her venomous gaze.

She roared at the top of her raspy lungs, struggling with her hands and feet to stand up, making the handcuffs clatter wildly. Her face was ferocious, as if she wanted to devour me alive.

"Gu—Elena—"

My guess was correct; the driver was indeed Xu Rou. But as she sat right in front of me, I almost didn't recognize her.

On such a cold day, Xu Rou was wearing a pair of old, hole-ridden cotton pants that were even too short.

Her ankles were blue and purple from the cold, and she was wearing a pair of ragged cloth shoes that exposed her toes. The men's jacket on her upper body was excessively wide, wrapping around her thin, gaunt frame in a way that looked exceptionally strange.

Moreover, her hair was a matted, tangled mess.

With her face covered in blood and grime, there was not a trace left of the vanity she once cherished.

Chapter 31

In my memory, Xu Rou had always lived a very happy life.

She was an orphan who lost both parents, yet she was adopted by the childless old village chief. The old man showered her with all his love; from childhood, she was the best-fed and best-dressed child in the village.

Even during those years when everyone went hungry, Xu Rou managed to have new clothes every year and meat at every meal.

Later, after Xu Rou and I were taken to the Cheng family, she received even more doting affection from the whole family. I couldn't fathom what could have possibly happened to turn her into this state.

Seeing that I remained silent, Xu Rou let out a sneer from her throat and roared at me viciously.

"You bitch! What are you looking at! It was your own luck that you weren't killed today!"

Her words instantly infuriated Arthur. He gave a stern warning: "Keep your mouth clean!"

But Xu Rou provocatively displayed her full set of yellow teeth and rolled her eyes at him.

"Brother Arthur, please step out first. I want to have a private chat with her."

I turned back and gave Arthur’s hand a reassuring pat. He nodded and walked out, but didn't forget to remind me before he left: "I'll be right outside. Call me if you need anything."

Clang.

The door of the interrogation room closed once again.

"You were supposed to be at the Cheng family’s. How did you end up like this?"

I looked at Xu Rou and finally asked the question that had puzzled me for so long.

But Xu Rou acted as if she had heard something ridiculous. She slapped the baffle of the interrogation chair, laughing until she swayed back and forth.

"Still at the Cheng family? Gu Elena, oh Gu Elena, are you truly ignorant or just pretending to be? Didn't Julian tell you? The moment you ran away, he sent me and that piece-of-trash stepfather of yours back to the village!"

"Do you know how I lived through those days? Huh?"

Xu Rou leaned forward, her eyes wide and round.

"You ran away, and no one was willing to marry that idiot. Wang Qiang, he tied me up! He locked me in the cellar and forced me to be with that idiot—forced me to be with that idiot!"

Listening to Xu Rou’s words, my heart sank to the bottom of a ravine.

I had experienced these things in my past life as well. The only difference was that I had no way to escape and chose to end my own life.

Otherwise, the humiliation Xu Rou had suffered was likely no less than mine.

Thinking of this, I looked at Xu Rou with a calm gaze and said: "Everything you encountered cannot be blamed on me. You knew full well what kind of person Wang Qiang was, yet you teamed up with him to frame me. That was no different from seeking skin from a tiger."

"If you hadn't framed me over and over again, we would still be under the care of the Cheng family. I wouldn't have been chased away, and you wouldn't have been sent back. So, Xu Rou, you wove your own cocoon; you have no one else to blame."

"Now that Julian’s life hangs in the balance, wait to face the judgment of the law."

My voice was exceptionally calm. I felt no panic, was not provoked, and—unlike in my past life—I did not endlessly blame myself because of someone else’s words.

Xu Rou looked at me and suddenly started cackling.

"You really are different now."

"Finished your college entrance exams, haven't you? Where did you apply? Is it the University of the Capital again? Gu Elena, why? Why should you get everything you want just by being reborn, petted like a princess!"

"And me? Not only do I have to suffer those humiliations, but I also had to die twice at the hands of Julian! Why! You tell me, why!"