He still forced himself to instruct his assistant, "Go and investigate all of Claire's movements during this period, the people she contacted, the things that happened. Investigate everything, no matter how small, and make it clear to me."

He didn't believe she would commit suicide for no reason.

The assistant received the instructions and mobilized every resource available. Soon, report after report was delivered to Julian.

As he read through them, Julian’s expression grew increasingly dark, and his breathing became faster and shallower.

The reports didn't find the reason for Claire's suicide, but they did uncover the things that had happened to her during this period that he hadn't known about.

He learned that the sudden appearance of Claire’s father on the day of the charity donation had been plotted by Sylvia behind the scenes, and that all that public opinion had also been fueled by her in the dark.

Even the incident of sending Claire to the mental hospital had been the work of Sylvia and Claire's father, in order to threaten and blackmail him for money.

And everything recorded in the mental hospital's surveillance footage.

In the footage, Claire was bound to the hospital bed, and Sylvia pulled out her phone to play an audio clip.

It was his voice, edited and synthesized.

He suddenly remembered that night in the hospital room when Claire asked him if it was his idea to send her to the mental hospital.

At that time, though he didn't understand why she asked, to make her give up on him, he had admitted it himself.

It was him.

He was the one who personally handed the knife to Sylvia, letting her stab it into Claire’s most vulnerable place.

Enormous regret, like a poisonous vine, coiled around Julian’s heart, tightening more and more, almost suffocating him.

"Ah!"

Julian let out an extremely painful roar and punched the hard marble wall with all his might.

The back of his hand instantly split open and bled profusely, but he couldn't feel the pain.

The sharp pain in his heart had long since drowned out everything else.

"Go and make an appointment with Sylvia."

After a long while, once he had calmed down, he commanded his assistant coldly.

Sylvia felt smug upon receiving Julian’s invitation. She had thought that after Claire’s death, Julian had finally seen the reality and had a change of heart.

She dressed carefully and went to the appointment, but the moment she stepped into the private room of the clubhouse, her hands were twisted behind her back by two emotionless bodyguards, and she was roughly tied to a chair.

"What are you doing!"

Chapter 11

Sylvia’s face changed drastically, and she shouted in panic.

"Where is he? Where is he? I want to see him!"

After she struggled and screamed for a long time, Julian finally emerged from the room next door.

There was no expression on his face as he slammed stacks of photos and documents in front of her.

Sylvia’s entire body went rigid.

Looking at them, she understood instantly that Julian knew everything she had done.

"Julian, listen to me, let me explain. These are all misunderstandings; I didn't do these things." Her voice was sharp as she tried to defend herself. "This was all her father's doing! He was the one who approached me and asked me to cooperate with him; it wasn't me..."

"Shut up!"

Julian abruptly gripped her throat, cutting off her unfinished words.

He leaned close to her, his gaze sinister and terrifying, a torrential rage churning in the depths of his eyes. "We have reached this point, and you still dare to lie!"

His fingers tightened. He looked at Sylvia’s flushed face without a hint of pity, only cold, murderous intent.

"It seems that if I don't teach you a lesson, you won't tell the truth."

He suddenly let go, tossing her back onto the chair like trash, and gave a cold order to his bodyguards.

"Do it."

Before Sylvia could react, the bodyguards stepped forward.

One held a specially made leather whip soaked in chili water, which he then lashed toward Sylvia.

The first lash landed, and the excruciating pain made Sylvia let out a shrill scream.

She couldn't believe Julian would actually dare to use corporal punishment on her.

However, before she could recover, another lash followed.

It accompanied Julian’s voice: "Still refusing to admit it?"

Sylvia bit her teeth hard, unable to hold back any longer at this moment.

"Julian, you dare to lay a hand on me! I am the daughter of the Song family; if you treat me this way, my parents won't let you off!"

She threatened him viciously.

Julian was indifferent, sneering coldly. "The Song family?"

He curled his lips, laughing cruelly. "Thank you for reminding me. Aside from you, the entire Song family is responsible for what happened to Claire. If you hadn't used them, you wouldn't have been able to do those things."

"Since that’s the case, I won't let any of you off."

His voice was grim, his demeanor bordering on paranoid madness.

Sylvia had never seen him like this. She was stunned at first, then suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"Julian, the person you should never let off is yourself!"

"What use is this pretense of deep affection now? Don't forget that it was you who came to me and asked me to act out this play! If it weren't for you, I would have had no opportunity to hurt Claire at all. You are clearly the culprit! The harm you caused her is no less than mine!"

"Claire dying is something you caused with your own hands. You cannot blame anyone else!"

She screamed shrilly, each word piercing Julian’s heart like the sharpest blade.

It drove him to the brink of collapse.

"You are right; it was I who killed her."

Julian gave a desolate smile, his throat filled with bitterness. "Once I am done dealing with you, I will naturally use my own life to atone for my sins to her."

He paused, staring into the void with hollow eyes, his voice so light it sounded like he was talking to himself.

Sylvia was completely stunned, her eyes widening in disbelief, as if she were truly seeing the person before her for the first time.

"Julian, have you gone mad? For the sake of one Claire, you’re even throwing your own life away. What is so good about her?!"

"You will never understand." Julian shook his head, looking at her with a tenderness Sylvia had never seen before. "She is my life, even more important than my life. If I could, I would rather give up everything I have to exchange for her to be alive."

"She is the one who should have been alive..."

Before he could finish the last sentence, his voice choked up.

It was as if his throat were blocked by something, leaving him unable to say another word.

After a long while, Julian waved his hand, no longer looking at Sylvia’s face, which was twisted with fear and jealousy. He ordered the bodyguards in a chilling tone, "Clean it up."

"Julian, what are you doing..."

Sylvia screamed in terror, but before she could finish, her mouth was gagged.

The whip fell upon her like a dense rain of lashes.

Until, finally, Sylvia passed out completely.

...

After dealing with Sylvia, Julian returned to the villa like a walking corpse.

The vast room was empty, without a trace of anyone.

Yet in every corner, Claire’s scent seemed to linger, pushing him to the brink of suffocation.

Julian clutched his chest, gasping for air, but still feeling unable to breathe.

Just then, a servant approached cautiously.

"Sir, a lawyer is here to see you. He says... it was something the madam entrusted to him."

Julian’s dead-still heart gave a sudden tremor.

Entrusted by Claire?

Could it be that she left something for him?

He walked quickly toward the living room. A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood up immediately and handed him a sealed kraft paper envelope.

"Mr. Julian, I am Ms. Claire’s attorney. This was entrusted to me by Ms. Claire during her lifetime to be passed on to you."

Julian tore open the seal impatiently, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

What could it be that Claire left for him?

With trembling hands, he took out the documents inside. When he saw the large characters on the cover, he felt as though he had been instantly frozen, standing rigid in his tracks.

It was a divorce agreement.

Claire had already signed the final page, and the date was unmistakably the day she went to Hong Kong.

January 17th.

Chapter 12

All the blood in his body seemed to congeal at that moment. He flipped through the document in disbelief, confirming that Claire’s own signature was on it.

Previously, no matter how he pressured, humiliated, or used every means at his disposal, Claire had stubbornly refused to sign the divorce agreement.