As I stared at the blatant threat in Ciara's eyes, I found the entire situation laughable. She was the woman I'd loved and cherished with all my heart for three years—a woman who'd use our marriage to coerce me for the sake of Carl, her adopted brother, whose sole desire was to sleep with her.

"So?" I questioned. "Are you now begging me to help him?"

"Why, you!"

Ciara was shaking with rage, but after thinking of something, she said with a sneer, "Don't think I don't know what's going through your head, Julian. You're just acting like this to make me beg you, right? Fine, then. I'm begging you. Happy now?

"Go out there and bring him back right this minute!"

After a pause, she added fiercely, "Otherwise, even if we get married tomorrow, I won't ever let you touch me! Once we're married, I'll get an IUD—I'll even tie my tubes to see to it that the Spencer family bloodline ends with you!"

Staring at her vengeful expression, I let out an abrupt chuckle.

She wanted to end my family bloodline, huh? She sure thought highly of herself.

Just as I turned to leave, however, I noticed that the keys to my limited-edition Maybach were now missing from the counter in the hallway.

Carl must've stolen them.

Noticing that I'd paused, Ciara realized what had happened, and her face took on a look of triumphant smugness.

"If I recall correctly, you can track the GPS location of that car, right? Even if you don't care about Carl, you should think about that precious car of yours, the one you spent over six months waiting for."

My heart clenched. In all honesty, no matter how expensive a car was, it was nothing more than a car to me. However, the emerald locket that my deceased grandmother gave me was hanging in that car. It was the last token of hers I had to remember her by.

"Why are you still standing there?" Ciara snapped impatiently. "I'm warning you. If Carl does anything rash—"

"Shut up."

Cutting her off, I called up my assistant, Henry Verne. "Bring over a car for me, and send me the location of my car."

I turned back around and eyed Ciara coldly. "Stop bothering me with asinine threats."

…

When Henry brought the car over, I got in, buckled my seatbelt, and drove straight to the GPS location of my car.

My phone started ringing. I wanted to reject the call, but after seeing who the caller was, I took a deep breath and answered it.

Serena Langston's voice was as crisp as ever. "Julian, about tomorrow, are you sure this decision you've made isn't just a whim of yours in the heat of the moment?"

Rubbing my forehead, I replied, "Do I look like the type of person who'd be this impulsive with a marriage alliance?"

"Nope," Serena admitted with a laugh. "But you do look like a fool who's lost his mind because of another woman."

"That's why I need a partner who's clear-headed," I replied.

I checked the location of the Maybach. It was racing toward a mountainous area on the outskirts of the city.

Frowning, I continued, "Langston Group wants to claim the renewable energy market in Eudorea, and my family's business channels are your easiest way in. Our marriage will be a mutually beneficial one."

After a moment of silence, Serena said, "But I won't want to marry a man who's in love with another woman."

"From tonight onward, that's no longer the case," I said, still staring at the GPS tracker on my screen. "See you at the wedding ceremony tomorrow."

I ended the call and floored the accelerator. At the end of the mountain road, I finally spotted the familiar car. However, it suddenly turned around and sped straight toward me.

The headlights blinded me. I couldn't react in time.

The impact of the crash made me lose control of the car. My forehead bashed against the steering wheel, and blood immediately trickled down my face.

As the pain ripped through my body, my vision began to dim. Through the shattered window, I saw the door of the Maybach opening.

Carl stumbled out of the car, clutching a glinting item in his hand—the emerald locket Grandma left to me!

"This is probably worth quite a bit of money, huh?"

I tried my best to crawl toward him, but a few of my ribs seemed to have broken. Even the slightest movement made me tremble from the pain.

"Let go of it…"

"Let go of it, you say?" Carl repeated as he kicked my car door aside. "You've been pestering Ciara for years now! I don't see you doing me a favor and letting her go."

Carl raised his hand and flung the emerald locket heavily onto the ground. Even though it cracked with a crisp sound, it wasn't enough for him. He even stomped on it for good measure.

"Carl!" I bellowed, my throat raw. "That belonged to my grandma!"

"Who the hell cares about your grandma!" Carl roared back at me before clutching me by my bloodied shirt and dragging me out of the car.

Pointing at the hickeys on his neck, he declared, "Ciara gave these to me. I'm the only one who gets to touch her. Do you think she actually likes you? She simply treats you like a personal ATM!"

The more he spoke, the more exhilarated he became.

"As for all the properties, shares, and sports car she demands from you, haven't they all been for me?"

Carl stared at me for a moment before letting out a maniacal laugh, saying, "You think you're so great, don't you, Julian? Since you stole Ciara from me, I'm going to kill you for it!"

With that, he grabbed my collar and started hauling me toward the cliff.

Headlights flashed in the distance.

Ciara scrambled out of the car, panic flooding her face. "Carl! Are you okay?"

She threw herself at him, frantically checking him from head to toe. When she finally confirmed he had nothing more than a few scrapes, she sighed in relief.

But when she turned her head and caught sight of the blood streaming down my forehead, she instinctively looked away.

How could Carl be anything other than fine? I'd gotten that Maybach custom-fitted with the best safety features. Only the bumper was a little dented right now.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you, Julian? Carl's my brother! How could you be vicious enough to try and kill him by crashing into his car!" Ciara shrieked.

Snorting, I retorted, "Anyone with a pair of working eyes can see that he's the one who crashed into me, Ciara."

Pointing at the crushed emerald locket on the floor, I said sharply, "He destroyed the last keepsake my late grandma left to me!"

Ciara was startled when she saw the locket, but she soon let out a scoff. "It's just a broken piece of jewelry. Don't tell me you Spencers care about something like that. I'll just give you an even better one tomorrow. That should be enough for you, no?"

Staring at her, I started laughing until my tears blurred my vision.

Her response shouldn't come as a surprise to me. In her eyes, everything had a price tag attached to it. Everything from Grandma's last keepsake to my years of devotion was nothing compared to a fleeting moment of happiness for Carl, that insane brother of hers.

Alas, after being on her high horse for so long, she'd slowly forgotten that all of the money she could spend as she pleased came from me.

Hiding behind Ciara, Carl mouthed toward me, "You lost."

The pain made my vision darken, but I pulled out my phone with my violently shaking hands. It took a great deal of effort for me to call Henry.

"Tomorrow… the wedding will proceed as planned."

Carl immediately cackled. "Look at him, Ciara. Even though he's on the verge of dying, he doesn't even call an ambulance for himself. He's still so desperately keen to marry you."

Ciara crouched in front of me and asked, "Do you really want to marry me?"

Before I could say anything, she raised three fingers and carried on saying, "If you want to marry me, you'll have to agree to three terms of mine.

"First of all, you need to start a gaming company under Carl's name and invest a billion dollars into the company. Secondly, you need to give him that seaside villa of yours in Ausania. And thirdly, give him 30% of the shares in all of your companies."

Staring at my bloodied face, she continued, "Cash is too basic. I want to ensure that Carl never wants for anything in his life."

I simply stared at the unabashed greed in her eyes before wordlessly looking away. Once I heard the siren of the ambulance, I finally lost consciousness.

…

I opened my eyes to the blinding lights of the hospital. The doctor said I'd broken three ribs and a bone in my left leg. I also needed 15 stitches on my forehead.

On the side, Henry asked hesitantly, "Mr. Spencer, are you sure you want to marry Ms. Langston?"

I closed my eyes. "I've never been one to renege on any decision I make."

…

Ciara sat in the living room the entire night. Her phone screen remained lit up as it sat on the coffee table, but even until dawn, she didn't get a message from me.

Biting her lip, she kept trying to reassure herself, telling herself that I'd been too heavily injured. I was probably still unconscious. That had to be the only reason why I didn't get in touch with her.

Considering how badly I wanted to marry her, even if the wedding ceremony had to be delayed a few days, she had no problems waiting a little longer.

Beyond the window, the sky was slowly brightening. Carl, who was holding Ciara, slept soundly, but she didn't feel the urge to sleep at all.

At noon, the news of the extravagant wedding held by my family, the Spencers, went viral online. There was a photo of the church, with a red carpet running down the aisle. The bride's name was also given.

Her name was Serena Langston.