The sea wind cut across Nina's face like blades.

She hung beneath the steel cables of the bridge, her hands bound behind her back, with thirty meters of black seawater beneath her feet.

Night fog drifted across the water, and the distant horn of a cargo ship echoed like a funeral bell.

Footsteps approached through the mist.

Julian walked toward her in a black cashmere coat, his expression calm as ever, as if he had just stepped out of a board meeting.

Behind him stood six bodyguards in black, each resting a hand on the grip of a gun.

"Let me down," Nina said, her voice trembling despite her effort to stay calm.

Julian stood at the edge of the bridge, looking down at her. "Why did you humiliate Aria at the banquet?" he asked calmly.

"She provoked me first!" Nina said urgently. "I only told the truth!"

"Enough." Julian's eyes turned icy. "Aria lost her parents and spent ten years alone overseas. She's suffered more than enough. What right do you have to question her?"

Nina's voice broke. "What about me? I was the one beside you for ten years. Now that she's back, I'm nothing to you?"

Julian fell silent for a moment, then gave a faint laugh. "Nina, have you forgotten who I am?"

He removed his glasses, revealing eyes devoid of warmth. "For ten years I tolerated you because you knew your place. Now I see that you don't."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping low. "You and Aria have never carried the same weight in my heart."

Nina felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss.

"So now that Aria is back, you don't need me anymore?" Nina let out a bitter laugh.

Julian turned and gave an order to the bodyguards. "Hang her there for an hour. Let her remember that the Blackwell family's rules are not something she can challenge."

"Julian!" Nina screamed. "You can't do this to me!"

Julian didn't stop walking. "I protected you before because you stayed in your place. Now that you've crossed the line, you deserve punishment."

The bodyguards obeyed and tightened the rope.

Nina was hoisted higher. The freezing wind cut through her, and her wrists felt as if they might dislocate.

Watching his retreating figure, she suddenly remembered something from five years ago.

An enemy family had planted a bomb in her car. He dismantled it with his bare hands and told her then, "As long as I'm here, no one will touch you."

Now the person hurting her the most was him.

"Julian! Please… I'm afraid of heights!" she cried. "Let me down!"

No one responded.

The waves slammed against the bridge pillars like a beast growling in the dark.

She struggled violently as the rope tore into her skin, blood running down her arms.

For ten years he had kept her in a sheltered world, making her forget that he was, at his core, a ruthless mafia leader who devoured people without mercy.

Second by second, time passed.

Her consciousness began to blur as countless memories flashed before her eyes. He had taken drinks for her, killed for her, stayed up through the night with her during long shifts…

All of it was a lie. All of it had been manipulation.

Suddenly, a sharp crack sounded above her head.

The rope snapped.

"Ah!" Nina plunged into the freezing seawater.

Saltwater flooded her mouth and nose. She struggled desperately, but she sank deeper and deeper.

In the final moment before darkness claimed her, she saw the distant headlights of Julian's car fading away above the water like a dying star.

When she woke again, the sharp smell of disinfectant filled her nose.

She was lying in a VIP room at a private hospital, her wrists wrapped in bandages, her whole body aching.

One of Julian's bodyguards stood beside the bed. "Dr. Avery, you're awake?"

"Did he send you to save me?" Nina asked hoarsely.

The bodyguard nodded, then lowered his voice. "This was a warning. Don't provoke Miss Monroe again, and don't go near Mr. Blackwell."

Nina closed her eyes as tears slid down her face.

Her phone vibrated beside the pillow.

She opened it, and a news notification appeared on the screen.

"Blackwell heir Julian Blackwell makes romantic declaration to his fiancée!"

The photo showed hundreds of drones lighting up the night sky, forming the words, "Marry Me, Aria!"

Aria leaned against Julian's chest, looking up at the sky with a radiant smile.

It was the same wish Nina had once mentioned carefully.

On her birthday three years ago, she had casually said, "I heard people overseas use drones for proposals. It sounds romantic."

Julian had only replied coldly, "Childish."

Now he had filled the entire sky with lights for Aria.

Nina threw the phone to the floor, curled into herself, and finally broke down in tears.

On the third day after Nina left the hospital, Julian's order arrived.

"Seven tonight. Warehouse No. 7 at the docks. You're coming with me to a negotiation."

The note was delivered by one of Julian's bodyguards, his tone leaving no room for refusal. "Mr. Blackwell said you understand his injuries better than anyone. If anything happens, it's safest to have you there."

She had wanted to refuse.

But the contract had not yet expired. She was still his "concierge doctor." She had no choice.

Under the night sky, the salty scent of the sea filled Nina's lungs.

Nina wore a black turtleneck sweater, her long hair tied back. As she had done countless times before, she stood half a step behind Julian.

At his side, Aria held his arm, dressed in an elegant suit, her makeup flawless and her smile bright.

The leader across from them puffed on a cigar, his gaze moving between the three of them before he sneered. "You really know how to live. A woman on each arm. Aren't you worried that might cause a little trouble at home?"

Julian's expression didn't change. "Aria is my fiancée. Dr. Avery is my concierge doctor. If gossip is all you have to offer, we might as well move straight to the terms."

"Oh?" He narrowed his eyes. "I heard this doctor has been by your side for ten years. Even the honey trap your uncle sent lost her hands because of you. What happened? Change of taste?"

The entire warehouse fell silent.

Nina lowered her eyes, her nails digging into her palm.

She should have known. In their eyes, she was nothing more than a high-class mistress.

Julian suddenly spoke, his voice sharp and clear. "My heart has never changed. The one it belonged to ten years ago is still the same today."

Aria's eyes reddened instantly as she clung tightly to his arm.

Nina felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Hearing those words felt like a giant hand closing around Nina's heart, squeezing until it bled, until she could barely breathe.

Five years ago, he had carried her through a hail of bullets, both of them soaked in blood. Through clenched teeth he had said, "Hold on, Nina. I'm taking you home."

Back then, she believed she had a place in that home.

Now she knew the home in his heart had always been waiting for only one person.

The negotiation collapsed without warning.

The opposing leader slammed the table. "Julian! You swallowed three of my docks. If you don't give them back tonight, you're not leaving here alive!"

Men rushed out of the shadows, and gunfire exploded through the warehouse.

In the chaos, Nina instinctively lunged toward Julian. "Watch out!"

But he had already pulled Aria behind him while drawing his gun to fire back.

He didn't even look at Nina.

The enemy had prepared an ambush. More than a dozen gunmen poured out from the shadows.

Amid the firefight, two masked men rushed forward. One grabbed Aria. The other seized Nina.

"Julian! Choose one!" the man shouted. "Or they both die!"

Time seemed to freeze.

Nina looked at Julian, a faint spark of hope still lingering in her eyes.

Maybe… maybe he would hesitate. After all, she had saved his life three times and stayed with him through his darkest nights.

But Julian's eyes held no hesitation.

He raised his gun and shot the man holding Aria, then rushed forward to catch her as she stumbled.

Meanwhile, the man holding Nina dragged her toward the warehouse's back door.

Julian's bodyguards started to chase after them.

"Leave her!" Julian shouted, tightening his hold on the trembling Aria. "Get Aria to the car first!"

Leave her.

At the moment between life and death, Julian had abandoned the woman who had stood beside him for ten years without hesitation.

As she was dragged away, Nina's back slammed into a metal rack, forcing a sharp breath from her lips.

She looked back and saw Julian checking Aria for injuries, his movements gentle as if she were a priceless treasure.

The thug shoved her into a van and kicked her hard in the stomach.

Nina curled up, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

So this was her ending. A discarded pawn thrown into the dark.

After an unknown amount of time, she was dumped at an abandoned shipyard.

The thug grabbed a steel pipe with a vicious grin. "If Mr. Blackwell doesn't want you, we'll cripple you and make him regret it for the rest of his life!"

As the pipe swung down, Nina closed her eyes.

She didn't try to dodge.

Her heart had already gone numb. What did a little physical pain matter anymore?

Just as the pipe came down, a gunshot rang out. Julian burst in with his men.

In the chaos, Nina felt a sharp explosion of pain in her abdomen.

She had been shot.

Nina lay in an ICU bed. Beneath the oxygen mask, every breath felt like knives cutting through her lungs.

She had barely crawled back from the brink of death. The doctors had said that if she had arrived two hours later, no one could have saved her.

But the moment she regained consciousness, she heard Aria's weak sobbing from the next room. "Julian… I'm so cold… Am I going to die?"

Julian's voice was low but firm. "You won't. Hang on. I'll get someone to transfuse blood for you right away."

"But… the blood bank is running low," the nurse said anxiously.

Julian's tone left no room for argument. "Nina and Aria have the same blood type. Take hers."

Nina's entire body froze.

In that moment, it felt as if her soul had been torn apart.

He had once taken a bullet for her. Now he was willing to drain her blood to save another woman.

The attending doctor immediately protested. "Mr. Blackwell! Dr. Avery just suffered massive blood loss. Her hemoglobin is only sixty. If we draw more blood, she could die!"

"She won't die." Julian's eyes were cold. "She's tough. Aria has lost too much blood. We can't wait."

The doctor's voice trembled. "This really isn't possible!"

"I said take her blood." Julian spoke each word slowly, carrying the unmistakable pressure of a mafia heir. "If something happens, I'll take responsibility."

When the needle pierced her vein, Nina didn't resist.

She simply stared at the ceiling, letting the warm blood flow drop by drop into the transfusion tube.

So in his eyes, her life was nothing more than a resource that could be measured and sacrificed.

The transfusion lasted forty minutes.

Nina's blood pressure suddenly plummeted, and the heart monitor shrieked with a sharp alarm.

The nurse screamed. "The patient is going into shock!"

Julian only glanced over coldly. "Stabilize her. How is Aria doing?"

"Miss Monroe is out of danger."

"Good." He turned and walked away without looking back.

As Nina drifted toward unconsciousness, she heard those words. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye into her hair.

It took an entire day and night before she woke again.

Her body felt as if it had been crushed and stitched back together. She was too weak to even lift a hand.

The hospital door opened. Aria walked in wearing a patient's gown, her complexion rosy and her smile bright.

"Nina, thank you for saving me." She sat beside the bed, her voice syrupy sweet. "Julian said your blood worked perfectly. I felt better almost immediately."

Nina closed her eyes and ignored her.

Aria leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Do you know what you are? Just a tool. I'm the rose he keeps in the palm of his hand."

Nina suddenly opened her eyes, her voice hoarse. "Get out."

"Oh, angry?" Aria sneered. "What do you think you are?"

Nina stared at her. "At least I didn't fake an illness to get sympathy."

Aria's expression changed. Suddenly she grabbed the glass from the bedside table and smashed it against her own forehead.

"Ah!" she screamed as she collapsed, blood instantly pouring down her face.

Julian rushed in at the sound. Seeing Aria covered in blood, he immediately picked her up. "Aria! Who did this?"

Aria pointed at Nina through tear-filled eyes. "She… she yelled at me… and hit me…"

"I didn't!" Nina protested urgently. "She did it to herself!"

Julian didn't even look at her. "Lock her up," he ordered the bodyguards. "No one sees her without my permission."

"Julian!" Nina screamed. "You believe her? Are you blind?"

Julian finally turned back, his eyes icy. "Nina, I've already shown you more mercy than you deserve. Don't force me to make you disappear."

He carried Aria away without hesitation.

Nina collapsed back onto the bed as silent tears slipped down her face.

This time, even anger was gone.

All that remained was a barren silence.

The next day, she checked herself out of the hospital.

As she stepped out of the hospital entrance, a black Maybach pulled up in front of her.

The window rolled down. It was the butler from the Blackwell family's estate.

"Ms. Avery, Mr. Blackwell would like you to come to the estate."

Nina felt a slight tremor run through her body. A bad feeling crept over her.

The car drove toward the century-old estate outside the city, the true center of Blackwell power.

The iron gates slowly opened, revealing rows of guards in black standing on both sides.

Edmund sat at the head seat, his expression grave.

Julian stood by the window, the gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses impossible to read.