Chloe took a small step back, clearly startled, biting down hard on her bottom lip. Her big eyes welled up with tears, shimmering with silent frustration and helplessness.

Alan was sitting on her bed. He reached out with one arm and pulled her close, his palm gently brushing over the cheek she'd struck herself. His deep eyes carried a stormy chill, unreadable and intense.

"Chloe, you're the one I want to marry. Whatever happens to Jessica, it doesn't matter to us," he said firmly. No matter what Chloe had done, she was the only one he recognized as his bride.

She stared at him in shock, barely believing her ears. "Alan... you're not mad at me? But she... she almost died."

"Why would I blame you?" he asked, brows slightly furrowed. "You must've had your reasons. If anything happens to her, it's on her. Just remember - I like my girl to keep her hands clean. If you want something done, tell me. I'll take care of it."

His gaze lingered on her, calm and focused.

Chloe's heart pounded. She'd never imagined that Alan loved her this much - more than she ever guessed.

She threw her arms around him, guilt crowding her chest. How could she have almost let herself get messy for this?

"Alan, I promise, I won't lose it again. I'll stay clean and wait to become your wife," she said. But her confident tone wavered a bit at the end.

Alan patted her back gently. "Go check if the clothes I ordered are here. Bring them in."

"Okay, I'll go," she replied, voice full of warmth. Just as she reached the door, she paused and glanced back at him.

That's when she noticed something - why did he have such large burn scars on both legs? She frowned. He'd only been injured once in the past four years - during that shootout with the kidnappers. But that was a gun wound... So where did these burns come from?

Still trying to make sense of it, she almost bumped straight into Paul.

Paul was carrying an armful of clothes. Were those for Jessica? The thought popped into her head and distracted her from the burn scars completely.

"Paul, did Alan's clothes get delivered?" she asked.

"Yeah, the store rep is in the living room waiting for your signature," he replied. Two sets had arrived - one for him and one for Chloe.

Chloe nodded with satisfaction. Since she was the one signing for Alan's, Paul's must be something else. No way they'd have two people signing for the same stuff.

Paul headed upstairs with the clothes. "Jess! Can I come in? I brought you some clothes."

But the silence that met him made his heart skip a beat. Something felt off, so he pushed the door open.The girl curled up under the covers, only revealing her small face. Her eyes looked hollow and lost, like a stray kitten nobody wanted.

"Jessica, are you okay?" Paul quickly walked over, reaching out to gently stroke her hair.

In a flash, the light in Jessica's eyes turned firm again. "I'm fine. Still alive, aren't I?"

Well, that's already more than enough. Everything that happened before-she'd leave it behind. Nothing could shake her again. She was living now only for revenge, for her parents, and for herself.

Her words made Paul's heart tighten. "I brought you some clothes. Here, put them on."

He set the clothes beside her pillow and suddenly realized-she hadn't been wearing anything underneath. His ears went red in an instant. Avoiding her gaze, he stammered, "Uh... you go ahead and change, I'll wait outside!"

He practically bolted out the door.

Jessica reached out and touched the clothes. They were neatly arranged and included everything-from undergarments to outerwear. Weirdly enough, everything fit her perfectly.

Alan had no reason to buy these, not with how much he hated her. But how did Paul even know her size? Her cheeks flushed pink at the thought.

After changing, she opened the door and let Paul back in. "Thanks."

The sunlight poured in behind her, giving her a soft halo. A pastel pink sweater with sky-blue jeans, her pale skin glowing-she looked like a doll, too perfect to be real.

Paul couldn't peel his eyes away. It wasn't until Jessica looked shyly away that he realized he might've been staring a bit too long.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, don't mention it." He just brought her clothes, nothing major. But in the next second, he seemed to get it-maybe she misunderstood his intentions.

"Actually, Jessica, tomorrow I'll take you to the mall and we'll grab some more clothes. I noticed there isn't much here for you."

So what if she misunderstood? He could just get her more stuff anyway.

"No need, I've got some at the apartment I rented, just didn't bring them today."

"Still, you can never have too many clothes! It's settled then! By the way, dinner's ready, let's head down!" Paul finished it all in one breath, not leaving her any room to say no.

"Oh, good! I'm honestly starving. Let's go." Jessica quickly moved on, skipping over everything else he'd said. After everything today, her stomach was more than ready for food.

They walked down the stairs side by side.

From the couch, Alan's eyes darkened. Somehow, this clean, innocent schoolgirl look she had going on... made her even more tempting. He rubbed his aching temples. No matter what she wore, she still managed to turn heads.

Chloe strolled over gracefully. "Alan, dinner's ready."

"Okay." Alan nodded, got up, and took Chloe's hand as they headed to the dining room.

The four of them sat face to face as dinner was brought out by the servers.

Chloe eyed Jessica across the table, her eyes carrying a smug glint. "Jessica, your maid asked me earlier what you liked to eat, so I told them! I made sure they served your favorite-crab legs! Eat up!"

Everyone at the table knew Jessica loved crab, but unless Alan cracked the shells and pulled out the meat for her, she wouldn't even bother. That used to be his thing-pampering her like a queen. But now? No one was stepping up for her.

This was Chloe's moment. She wanted to stab at Jessica's pride, poke right where it hurt. After all, Alan had confessed his feelings to her. She was the one he'd marry. With that in mind, she no longer had to hold back.

Suddenly, it all clicked-why Jessica had always been so spoiled and arrogant growing up. Being adored like that by a man? It felt amazing.

Jessica instantly caught on to Chloe's petty mind games, but her lashes dropped slightly in indifference. She'd already made peace with her past. Chloe's words? Couldn't even ruffle her mood.

She calmly reached out to pick up another dish, when-surprise-a chunk of warm, glistening crab meat landed on her plate, perfectly pulled from the shell and drizzled with garlic butter.

"Jessica, this one's for you. I cracked it," Paul said with a warm smile, gentle like a spring breeze.

"Thanks," Jessica replied with a soft curve in her brows, lips tugging up in a lovely arc. Without hesitation, she picked up the tender crab meat and popped it into her mouth.

Her smile was beautiful-gone was the immaturity of youth. Now she had this subtle, delicate charm, like a half-ripe apple: just the right mix of sweet and tangy.

Paul couldn't take his eyes off her. Only now did he really get why Alan had spent so many years doing this for her. Watching her eat like that, so satisfied, smiling... it was enough to warm anyone's heart.

Alan, on the other hand, was seething with jealousy. His hand clenched around his fork so hard, veins popped on his knuckles.

Chloe's anger flared too. She never thought Paul-who avoided shellfish like the plague-would crack crab legs for Jessica.

She sneaked a glance at Alan, silently hoping he'd treat her the way he used to with Jessica. But judging by the stormy look on his face, she knew that hope was dead.

Squashing her disappointment and irritation, she reminded herself-she'd fought for four years to get close to this man. She'd won his heart step by step, doing what she believed worked: acting gentle and sweet, everything Jessica wasn't.

So she leaned over, picked up a crab claw, and carefully cracked it open with the nutcracker, placing the intact meat into Alan's small plate, her smile soft and graceful.

"Alan, let me get this for you! Here, try it," Chloe's voice was soft enough to melt, practically dripping with sweetness.

Jessica shot her a glance-seriously, the perfect domestic goddess vibe. No wonder Alan had a thing for her. Guess serving someone feels pretty different from being on the receiving end.

"Ow!" Paul winced. Honestly, he had no clue how to crack crab legs properly. That's why he never bothered eating them-way too much work.

"Oh no, you're bleeding!" Jessica immediately grabbed Paul's hand. A tiny bead of blood was forming, and without thinking, she brought his finger to her lips and gently sucked the blood off.

Paul's face turned beet red. He wasn't used to girls treating him like this.

Alan slammed his fork down. "Paul, seriously? She's not a kid anymore. You doing all that for her?"

"In my eyes, she'll always be one," Paul replied coolly, ignoring the flash of cold warning in Alan's eyes.

Jessica held Paul's hand carefully. "Does it still hurt?"

She remembered getting pinched by a crab claw as a kid-it stung like hell. She cried her eyes out in someone's arms that time. From then on, she swore off cracking crab herself.

Paul slowly pulled his hand back and ruffled her hair with a warm smile. "Nah, it's fine. Just a tiny pinch. Look at you, fussing over it. I'll keep cracking, don't worry!"

"No, you don't have to-I'm done with crab," Jessica quickly stopped him.

"That won't do. It's your first night home for dinner, no way I'm letting you miss out on your favorite dish. Just a small poke, nothing serious. I'm a guy, not made of glass! And hey, didn't you used to love rearranging the empty shells into whole crabs? Just wait-I'll get them ready."

Paul grabbed another crab leg.

"Hold on!" Jessica grabbed his hand and turned to Grace. "Take a few crab legs downstairs and ask someone to pull the meat out. Oh, and if anyone can reassemble the shells to look like a perfect crab, give 'em a hundred bucks!"

Grace quickly carried the tray off to the kitchen.

Not long after, she returned carrying two plates-one stacked with crab meat, the other with a few neatly reassembled empty shells.

Jessica smiled. "Paul, see? When the help can do it, why should we? Tsk, tsk... so rebuilding a crab shell only costs a hundred bucks! They even did more than one! With money, you really can make anything happen. Man, if I'd said fifty, someone probably would've still done it!"

Paul kept nodding along, chuckling with Jessica as the two of them dug in and shared laughs.

Across the table, Alan looked stormy, while Chloe's face had gone ghost-white.

Jessica always had a way with words-sharp enough to sting without ever being crude. Wasn't that just calling Chloe a maid in disguise? Chloe's fingers quietly swept aside the crab shell she'd been working on. She was gonna pass it to Alan, but after Jessica's comment made it sound like cheap takeout, she didn't even want him to see it anymore.

Right then, Alan gently took Chloe's hand, pulled out a wet wipe, and started cleaning her fingers one by one with surprising care. His tone was warm, his eyes full of spoil, "Don't do this stuff anymore, alright? You're with me now. Just enjoy life-I'll take care of the rest."

Chloe's face lit up with joy, and she shot a glance at Jessica loaded with challenge. This kind of guy? Totally worth going all in. Jessica might've lost him, but she was going to hang on to her own happiness no matter what.

Jessica chewed slowly, swallowed, and kept that cool-as-ink-painting expression on her face-like she hadn't even heard the jab.

Across from them, Paul didn't spare the other two a single look. His eyes had been locked on Jessica the whole time. Ever since deciding to chase her, he'd found himself getting pretty into it. He kept piling food into her bowl, unconsciously doing the same sweet little things Alan used to do for her.

The meal wrapped up with everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Later that night, Chloe dragged herself back to her room after reluctantly seeing Alan off. But the second she walked in, her eyes went wide in shock-someone was half-lounging on her bed like some ghost out of nowhere!

Panicked, she slammed the door shut and stammered, "W-what are you doing here? I told you-I'm getting married! You can't be showing up like this!"

William Knight let out a low, eerie chuckle, his whole vibe straight-up icy. "Married? But you're not yet, right? What, you gonna pretend I'm not your future little brother-in-law already?"

"William! Aren't you scared Alan's gonna find out?"

"He just left, didn't he? Looks like you really don't want him to go. If you're that hung up on him, why didn't you ask him to stay?" He gave her a twisted grin. "Or... maybe you did, and he just wasn't having it?"

That last line hit Chloe hard-like he'd jabbed a stick straight through her chest. Yeah, she'd dropped hints to Alan more than once, but no matter how sweet he acted, it had never felt like love.

"Hurry up and say what you came to say! All the staff's under Jessica's thumb now. If they catch you here, you and your plan are both toast. I hope you know that!"

William stayed reclined, one hand reaching out. "Come here."

Chloe stepped closer, but before she could even find her footing, his hand yanked her onto him. She tried to scramble off, but he held her down, strong and unyielding."Well, look at that! You actually remembered what we talked about. I almost thought you'd fallen for Alan." William lifted Chloe's chin with one slender finger, a smile playing at his lips, though his tone was cold enough to send chills down her spine.

Chloe stiffened. She knew that kind of smile. It meant trouble-big trouble. She'd once seen him grin like that right before casually snapping someone's neck.

"Of course not. How could I fall for him?" Her voice trembled slightly, whether from nerves or guilt, even she wasn't sure.

William's smile deepened, his sickly pale face twisted with a dark amusement. His narrow eyes burned with something cruel and twisted. "You better not. But even if you did, doesn't matter much. I've got plenty of ways to make sure you stay put with me."

Chloe's pulse raced. The man had enough dirt on her to destroy her ten times over.

William's fingers toyed with the button on her blouse, his movements slow and deliberate. "Didn't you say Alan's in love with you? Then why hasn't he even tried touching you?"

Chloe slapped his hand away and gritted her teeth. "You know how he is. He's like... super restrained. He never touched his ex-fiancée, either."

But in that second, her mind betrayed her-with an image of Alan pinning Jessica beneath him burning straight through.

"There are only two reasons a man doesn't touch a woman. One, he literally can't-which I doubt applies to Alan-or two, his heart's already taken and no one else can match up to her. Now, be honest... who do you think he's still hung up on?"

That hit Chloe right in the gut. "You mean... he still can't forget his ex?"

"His ex? Come on, you just said he never even laid a hand on her."

"That makes Jessica even less likely! I mean, back then she literally climbed into his bed, and he still didn't budge. Not to mention the whole blood-feud thing between him and Richard. How could he be in love with her?"

"Thing is... I know for a fact he's been secretly trying to find Jessica all these years. She was declared dead in that bombing incident, but he never stopped looking. Don't you think that's a little weird? What's even weirder is-she actually came back alive. So tell me, how would he have known she survived? Unless... he knew all along the explosion wouldn't kill her."

"But if he was the one who saved her, how could he not know where she went? Why would he search for her for years?" Chloe instinctively rejected the idea.

William's eyes darkened further. "That part, I don't get either. But whatever. Doesn't really matter who Alan's heart belongs to. What matters is this-Richard and Alan are ready to rip each other apart. And Jessica? She's right in the middle of it. If she suddenly dies... or just disappears from the picture... what do you think Richard will do to Alan then?"