A certain part of his heart had been led astray by her, governed by her.

Even when he was with Sienna, Celine’s figure would involuntarily surface in his mind.

That clean, pure aura was like the clearest evening breeze in mid-summer, drilling into his heart bit by bit.

He began to crave every moment spent with her, crave the clean smile in her eyes, crave the faint orange blossom scent that was uniquely hers.

He began to notice everything about her, unable to control himself.

During one break between classes, Celine accidentally dropped a pure white eraser, which rolled to his feet.

It was the most ordinary thing, its edges worn smooth, with her faint pencil marks still on it. Yet, as if possessed, he bent down to pick it up and quietly tucked it into the deepest part of his pencil case.

Even though he had a hidden agenda for approaching her, he still couldn't control his own selfish desires.

However, all his hidden intentions were discovered by Sienna just before the entrance exams.

Sienna’s eyes instantly turned red. She clutched that eraser, her fingertips trembling slightly: "Julian, if I’m not mistaken, this eraser belongs to Celine."

"Tell me the truth—did you stop acting? Did you actually fall for her?"

Chapter 14

A strange look flashed in his eyes, and he instinctively denied it: "I was only approaching her according to our agreement, nothing more."

"I don't believe you!"

Sienna’s tone was agitated as she stared at him intently.

"Unless you do something during the exam to make her commit a violation and have her qualifications canceled, I won't believe you. As long as she is completely out of the picture, I'll believe you. Otherwise, you’re just protecting her!..."

His brow slowly furrowed: "Sienna, you know that extreme measures like this could very well ruin someone's life..."

"I don't care! I only know that if I don't beat Celine and get first place, my life is over!"

Sienna gripped his hand tightly, her eyes welling with tears.

"Julian, you know how strict my mother has always been. I must take first place, otherwise, I will be punished. I’ve already been punished so many times because of Celine; I really can't take it anymore..."

"Please, just help me one last time. For the sake of the fact that we grew up together, please? I’m begging you... I’ll kneel down and beg you..."

As she spoke, her knees began to bend, but he caught her.

"Fine. I promise you."

In the end, his heart had not been hard enough.

A single lapse in judgment led to total ruin.

Having promised this once, there was a next time.

He helped Sienna destroy evidence, even going so far as to personally send Celine to a detention center.

In the end, wanting to make amends, he arrived at Celine’s home before the start of the semester with an admission file from a second-tier college, only to be told that the entire family had moved away.

From then on, he lost all news of Celine.

It was as if she had completely vanished from his world.

As the memories faded, Julian’s fingers at his sides tightened, his knuckles turning pale.

Yet, five years later, just as he was about to forget, she had returned.

And those words she spoke...

"Julian, aren't you someone with all the power in the world? How could you have failed to check the surveillance footage from that time?"

"That’s because you aren't just as despicable as Sienna; you are also self-opinionated, forever believing only what you choose to see."

Julian looked up and saw himself in the mirror, his thin lips pressed tight.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he took out his phone and dialed his assistant’s number:

"Help me look into the surveillance footage from the intersection by the old residence of the Celine family from five years ago."

Julian paused, remembering the look Celine gave him five years ago when she was dragged into the restaurant’s cellar, and he ultimately added the name of that restaurant as well.

"Check everything thoroughly for me."

"Yes."

Not long after, the assistant sent the results of the investigation to Julian’s phone.

The moment he saw the screen showing Sienna falling to the ground on her own before Celine even drove up—

Crack—

The glass held in Julian’s hand shattered instantly.

Chapter 15

Cold glass shards pierced his palm, and beads of blood slowly rolled down between his fingers, dripping onto the clean marble tabletop. It was a jarring, shocking sight.

Yet, Julian was entirely oblivious to the pain in his palm. His blood seemed to have frozen solid at this moment, only to surge and flow backward in the next second.

The surveillance from inside the restaurant stripped away every last piece of the despicable ruse.

It turned out that Sienna had been the one to provoke and torment Celine in every way possible from the start.

When Celine demanded to check the security footage, Sienna had intentionally splashed hot soup onto the back of her own hand to flip the narrative.

And what had he done at the time?

He hadn't given Celine a single chance to defend herself and had his bodyguards drag her into the cellar.

Back then, Celine’s thin dress was covered in dust, her hair matted against her pale, haggard cheeks.

Surrounded by the schadenfreude of onlookers, countless stains and accusations were hurled at her, trapping her in a web from which there was no escape.

Forty-eight hours.

A sudden, sharp, and intense pain pierced his heart—a hundred times worse than the wound in his palm.

Julian’s chest heaved violently, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

It turned out that from beginning to end, the one who was wrong was him, and also...

"Sienna..."

He gritted his teeth and slammed his palm shut. The broken glass embedded itself deep into his flesh, fresh blood dripping everywhere, but he felt nothing. Only surging, violent rage remained in his eyes.

He could not stay for another second.

He shot to his feet, the chair sliding harshly across the floor with a screech.

His black luxury car sped off like an arrow released from a bow, racing toward Sienna’s apartment.

Julian pushed the door open, stepped out, and strode forward, the low pressure surrounding him nearly freezing the entire hallway.

Sienna had seen his car from upstairs and, thinking he had come to comfort her, immediately opened the door. She rushed forward in her slippers, her face full of grievance and reproach:

"Julian! You finally came to see me! Why didn't you help me at the press conference yesterday?"

"In the past, no matter what I did, you would always protect me and take my side. You never once made me feel embarrassed in public!..."

In the past.

These two words were like cold, poisonous thorns stabbing deep into Julian’s tense heart, stirring up all his pent-up fury.

He looked down at that hypocritical face and gave a cold laugh:

"What was I like in the past?"

"Was I someone who would take your side over and over without distinguishing right from wrong? Someone who would indulge your slandering over and over? Or someone who would help you suppress and criticize others without ever asking why?"

His tone became colder and heavier with every word.

"Sienna, tell me."

"Every time you begged me, saying you would definitely change next time—did you really change? Hmm?"

Sienna felt her scalp tingle under his icy, piercing gaze: "Ju, Julian, why are you suddenly asking me this..."

"Tell me!"

Chapter 16

The roar of his voice made Sienna’s scalp tingle.

She had never seen Julian so furious.

"Did someone say something to you?"

Sienna’s resentment deepened when she recalled the way Julian looked at Celine during the press conference.

"It was Celine, wasn't it? It must be that bitch! Have you forgotten how many times she hurt me? Why would you still believe her..."

"At a time like this, you still dare to shift the blame onto someone else!"

Julian threw the surveillance footage directly in front of her.

Sienna’s gaze hit the screen unexpectedly, and her pupils contracted sharply.

The face that had just been full of resentment turned as pale as paper in an instant.

"It’s not like that..."

Her voice was trembling uncontrollably.

"Julian, this is fake! Celine made this up on purpose to frame me! ...Look at it again carefully, trust me this once, just this once, okay..."

However, there wasn't a ripple of emotion on Julian’s face.

"Sienna."

The way he looked at her was as distant as if she were a stranger.

"From now on, I will not concern myself with any of your affairs. As for the wrongdoings you've committed, you will pay the price for all of them."

Sienna was shaken to her core, as if she had been dealt a heavy blow to the head: "No, you can't do this..."

She reached out with trembling hands, clutching Julian’s wrists tightly.