Victoria jerked violently away. "Get away from me!"

But the drunk scion was strong, and it seemed he was about to overpower her. Suddenly, the venue plunged into darkness again. The next sound she heard was a heavy thud as the young man was sent sprawling by a kick.

Then, he was quickly and silently dragged away.

Victoria's heart slammed against her ribs. She recognized the man who had delivered that kick. He was one of Caden's personal bodyguards.

Her gaze flew instinctively to where Caden stood. In the darkness, his expression was unreadable. Only the outline of his figure holding Cassandra was visible.

When the lights returned, his composure was unshaken, as if the entire incident had nothing to do with him.

A wave of shock hit Victoria, followed by a torrent of bitter irony. What was the meaning of that? He was protecting his precious first love one moment, then coming to her rescue the next? Wasn't it laughable? But before she could untangle the thought, the auction commenced.

The first lot presented was the massive collection of Caden's gifts that Victoria had donated, with a starting bid set at one hundred million dollars.

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

Caden's gaze sharpened instantly. He narrowed his eyes, looking toward Victoria, clearly recognizing the origin of the items. Anyone who knew him could see through that calm facade and recognize it as the telltale sign of his rising anger.

But Victoria met his stare head-on, the corner of her mouth lifting in the faintest, most mocking curve.

As bids began to come in one after another, Cassandra tugged at Caden's sleeve, whispering, "Caden, that blue diamond necklace is exquisite. I love it!"

Caden was silent for a few long seconds. Then, he raised his paddle.

In the end, the entire collection was sold for a staggering one billion dollars, bought by Caden, and promptly presented to the beaming Cassandra beside him.

Victoria watched the exchange with irony. Wasn't this just another form of things returning to their rightful owner?

During the intermission, she went to the restroom to freshen up. As she stepped out, she saw Caden leaning against the corridor wall, a cigarette between his lips. The hazy smoke softened the hard lines of his features but did nothing to hide the heavy, unreadable weight of his gaze fixed on her.

Victoria kept her eyes forward, intending to walk straight past him. But her wrist was seized in a firm grip.

"Why did you auction those things?"

Instead of answering, she looked up and threw another question back at him, her tone biting. "Why did you have your bodyguard step in for me just now?"

Caden's brows furrowed slightly as he began to speak.

But Victoria cut him off, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Let me guess. You're going to say that you only did it because I'm Pam's best friend? Because she asked you to look out for me?"

She took a step closer, tilting her head back to meet his stern gaze, her lips curving into a cold smile. "Do you think she can also get you to look after my love life, Mr. Larkson?"

Caden pinched the bridge of his nose, a flicker of weariness crossing his features. In the end, he said, "Victoria, you're always like a hedgehog, all bristles and spikes. What good does that do you?"

Good? None at all. But if she hadn't learned to protect herself, the Calloway family, and his beloved Cassandra, would have already torn her to pieces and left nothing behind.

She was about to retort when Caden continued, "I was your last man. Your next one can't be worse than me. That trash from earlier isn't worthy of you. If you need a man, I can introduce you to someone suitable."

Victoria stared at him, stunned. Then, she laughed so hard it brought tears to her eyes. Who did he think he was? After driving a blade into the depths of her heart, he now felt entitled to comment on her standards? Was it possessiveness or merely concern that she might tarnish his image?

"Caden," she said, the laughter dying, her gaze ice-cold and shattered. "My life is none of your business, and you have no right to interfere."

Her tone turned deliberately flippant, laced with self-condescending scorn. "As for men? I can have as many as I want. It's not like I'll be around and let you see any of them anyway."

Caden latched onto the phrase, voice dropping dangerously low. "What do you mean you won't be around? Where are you going?"

Victoria said nothing. She wrenched her wrist free and walked away.

When she returned to her seat, all she wanted was to escape the upsetting place as soon as possible. But when the next item was brought out, her gaze froze.

It was a sapphire necklace, classic and elegant in design. It had been Eunice's most cherished possession.

Victoria's head snapped toward Cassandra, meeting her triumphant, gloating gaze. Understanding dawned instantly. Hugh must have secretly given Eunice's things to Cassandra, and Cassandra was now publicly auctioning them off.

Victoria forced herself back into her seat. She had no choice but to calm down and take part in the bidding. She couldn't just stand by and watch Eunice's most treasured possession fall into someone else's hands.

After several intense rounds of bidding, Victoria finally secured the necklace at a price several times its market value.

She let out a breath of relief and was about to go collect it when Cassandra suddenly stood up.

"Wait a moment." Cassandra's voice was gentle, yet laced with unmistakable malice.

"I apologize, sir. I seem to have made a mistake. I don't wish to auction this necklace. It's a personal keepsake of mine. I must have mixed it up by accident."

With that, she collected the necklace, flashed Victoria one last victorious smile, and turned to leave.

Victoria immediately chased after Cassandra and caught up to her on the compound of the club.

"Cassandra! Give me the necklace! I'll pay you any price!" Victoria said urgently.

Cassandra toyed with the chain, her smile turning openly vicious. "I'm not short of money."

She walked over to a man-made lake beside the club, looking at the murky water. Then, turning back to Victoria, she said, "You love beauty, elegance, and your pride the most, don't you? Well, if you want it so much, go get it yourself."

With a casual flick of her wrist, she tossed the necklace into the lake without the slightest hesitation.

Almost without a single thought, amid the astonished looks and gasps of the onlookers, Victoria plunged into the icy water. She groped frantically in the murky depths, the mud staining her expensive gown, ruining her meticulously applied makeup. But she paid no attention to any of that.

And that was the scene that greeted Caden when he stepped outside after finishing a cigarette.

Caden's brows furrowed deeply. He strode to the edge of the lake and reached out a hand to Victoria, his voice taut with suppressed anger. "Victoria! Get out of there!"

Victoria brushed his hand aside and continued her desperate search. Only when her fingertips brushed against something cold and solid did she finally clamber out, soaked to the bone, clutching her prize tightly in her fist.

It was only then that Caden got a clear look at the object she had risked her life for. It was a small gemstone necklace, appearing somewhat old-fashioned and worn.

A wave of inexplicable fury washed over him, and he grabbed her arm. "You donate items worth up to a hundred million dollars without a second thought, and you jump into a lake without a care for your own life for this… this trinket?"

Victoria wrenched herself free. She trembled violently from the cold and her overwhelming emotions.

"You know nothing! So don't stand there making flippant remarks! You said it yourself—we're over! So do me a favor and leave me alone! Stop paying me any attention, and stop initiating conversations—"

Then, she stared straight into his eyes, enunciating each word that followed with deliberate clarity, "My future brother-in-law."

The address hit Caden like a physical blow. He stiffened, his eyes widening.

Before he could respond, Cassandra approached, her voice sweetly innocent yet laced with triumph. "Thank you for retrieving my necklace, Vicky."

She reached out for the necklace clenched in Victoria's hand.

But Victoria held on, refusing to let go.

Cassandra turned to Caden with a wounded expression. "It's mine! Caden, Mom gave this to me…"

Caden's gaze shifted between Victoria's stubborn defiance and Cassandra's expectant look. His frown deepened. Finally, he reached out and seized Victoria's wrist in a vise-like grip.

"Let go," he said firmly.

"No!" Victoria glared at him with reddened eyes.

Caden pried her fingers open, one by one, with brute force.

A faint, sickening crack was heard before Victoria let out a choked gasp of agony. He had dislocated her wrist.

Excruciating pain radiated up her arm. Her face drained of color, sweat beading on her forehead as she stared in disbelief at the man who could be so brutally cold.

Cassandra seized the opportunity to snatch the necklace away, throwing a triumphant glance at Victoria before slipping her arm through Caden's. "Caden, let's get our coats and leave," she said softly.

Caden gave a stiff nod. His gaze lingered for a fraction of a second on Victoria, now curled in on herself with pain, before he turned to leave with Cassandra.

However, as they crossed the threshold of the club, a heavy wrought-iron light fixture suspended above them came loose somehow, plummeting straight down at Cassandra.

Caden reacted with lightning speed, shoving Cassandra out of the way, but the edge of the fixture still grazed the back of her head.

"Cassie!" Caden's face paled. He immediately scooped her up and rushed toward the parking lot, heading straight for the hospital.

Victoria, cradling her dislocated wrist, was in agony and on the verge of passing out herself. She was eventually taken to the same hospital by a kind stranger.

The doctor setting her bone couldn't help but comment, "Who on earth could be so cruel as to do this to a young woman?"

Victoria's face was ghostly pale, her lips trembling. The pain in her heart far eclipsed the physical torment.

The doctor informed her the injury was severe and required several days of observation, so Victoria ended up being admitted.

However, she had barely been settled into her room when Caden stormed in, bringing a wave of icy fury with him.

His expression was thunderous, his eyes boring into her as if he wanted to tear her apart. "Victoria, I reviewed the security footage. You bribed a staff member to loosen that light fixture, didn't you? You intended to kill Cassie."

Victoria found the accusation absurd. She met his gaze coldly. "I did not!"

"Who else would harbor such malice toward Cassie? Victoria, I've underestimated you. You truly believe you're above the law and are capable of anything!"

"I said I didn't do it! You have no right to accuse me!"

Caden's gaze turned glacial. "Accuse you? It seems you won't tell the truth without a lesson."

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number, his voice dropping to a chilling tone.

"Contact the police. Ms. Victoria Calloway is suspected of intentional assault. Send someone over. A few days in detention should help clear her mind."

"Caden Larkson!"

Victoria stared at him in horror, unable to believe he would use his influence to have her thrown into a detention center.

But no matter how desperately she struggled, explained, or cried out, it all proved futile.

Soon, uniformed officers arrived at the hospital room. They ignored the doctor's protests and Victoria's injured state, forcibly taking her away.

The next few days were pure hell for Victoria. The once-spoiled and flamboyant daughter of the Calloway family endured unimaginable torment in the detention center.

Her cellmates seemed to have received special instructions. They subjected her to relentless abuse—kicks, punches, and worst of all, the deliberate, brutal stomping on her already injured wrist. The fragile bones splintered further with each cruel impact.

When she was finally released several days later, she was barely recognizable, nothing but a broken, battered figure clinging to the last threads of life.

What dragged her out of that abyss was a single message on her phone. Her visa had finally been approved.

She hailed a taxi back to the Calloway residence, intending to grab her suitcase and head straight to the airport.

But the moment she stepped through the door, she ran straight into Pamela Larkson—her best friend, who had just returned from a whirlwind world trip and rushed over the second she heard everything.

Pamela took one look at Victoria's miserable state and burst into tears. She threw her arms around her, sobbing uncontrollably as she apologized profusely.

"Vicky! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! Back then, I hated Uncle Cade's ex. I only egged you on to get close to him on a whim because I knew that he was still hooked on her.

"I never imagined it would come to this. I didn't know his first love was Cassandra! If I had known, I never would have let you get near him…"

Victoria shook her head weakly, her voice a raw scrape. "It's not your fault. It's all in the past now. I've… I've let it all go. Pam, I'm leaving the country. I probably won't be coming back."

Pamela was stunned. "Vicky, don't go… Stay here. I'll take care of you. I'll protect you…"

"No," Victoria said softly. "There's nothing left here worth staying for."

Pamela cried harder, but seeing the deadened resolve in Victoria's eyes, she knew she couldn't change Victoria's mind. With red-rimmed eyes, she helped Victoria pack her final belongings.

Before leaving, Victoria took one last look at the house that held all her childhood memories, now defiled by her father, his mistress, and their illegitimate daughter.

She retrieved the gasoline she had prepared long ago and, ignoring the housekeepers' pleas, expressionlessly doused the building and set it alight. Flames roared skyward, consuming everything from the past.

Suitcase in hand, she turned away without a backward glance.

Pamela drove her to the airport, still apologizing profusely, offering her entire garage of luxury cars as compensation.

Victoria shook her head, leaning against the window, watching the scenery fly by.

"I don't need them," she whispered. "You have to say goodbye to the wrong things before you can meet the right ones."

She forced a smile, one tinged with the exhaustion and fragile peace of a survivor. "I'm beautiful. As long as I want to, the men in my future will only be better, richer, and more devoted than the one before."

Pamela hurriedly agreed, "Yes! You're the most beautiful woman out there, Vicky! You'll definitely meet someone who treasures you!"

At the airport, Pamela clung to her, sobbing uncontrollably. "Vicky, you have to live well, so very well, and make those people regret everything they ever did to you!"

Victoria returned the hug, patting her back gently before pulling away. With a final, carefree wave, she turned and walked toward the security checkpoint.

Pamela watched her figure disappear into the passageway, then finally crumpled to the floor, weeping. After what felt like an eternity, she mustered her anger and indignation and dialed Caden's number.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

"Uncle Cade!" Pamela exclaimed, her voice thick with tears and fury. "I know you love Cassandra, but Vicky was with you for three years! And she's leaving now! For good! Are you… Are you not even going to see her off?"

Dead silence answered her from the other end.

Several seconds later, Caden's voice came through, carrying a rare, almost imperceptible strain and hoarseness, "What? Who's leaving?"