Clara could hardly believe what she was hearing. Never had she imagined Adrian would use Eleanor to threaten her at a moment when life and death hung in the balance.

She turned to Sienna at once. For the first time, desperation showed on her face as she pleaded hoarsely, "She's your grandmother. Her condition can't wait. I'm begging you... please sign now, okay?"

Sienna pretended to shrink back and said softly, "I think Adrian's right. Go clear things up first. Once you do, I'll definitely sign and save Grandma."

The doctor urged them impatiently, "The patient is in very bad condition right now. Which one of you is family? If this gets delayed any longer, we may not be able to save her."

Those words hit Clara like a crushing weight straight to the chest.

Eleanor had been the one who loved her most. She could not let anything happen to her.

Clara bit down on her lower lip until she tasted blood. At last, she closed her eyes and nodded.

"I'll do the clarification. Sign now, immediately."

"How do I know you won't go back on your word later?" A malicious smile curled across Sienna's lips. "Go livestream yourself at the hospital entrance and shout that you're a slut. Say it three times, then do the clarification. The second you're done, I'll sign."

It was humiliating beyond words. Adrian frowned, instinctively about to stop her.

But Sienna suddenly leaned into his arms and gave him a pitiful smile. "Adrian, am I being too much? But there are so many people online calling me a slut and telling me to die. What did I do wrong?"

In an instant, pity won out.

Adrian looked at Clara. "Babe, do what Sienna says. Haven't you always wanted to marry me? Once this is over, we'll get married and go spend our honeymoon in Valoire, your favorite place."

It was poison wrapped in candy, but she no longer wanted it.

A mocking curve tugged at Clara's lips. Limping badly, she made her way to the hospital entrance and started a livestream.

"I'm a slut. I'm a slut. I'm a slut..."

More and more people gathered around her, pointing and whispering, their eyes full of contempt.

For a moment, Clara felt as though she had been stripped naked and slapped in public.

Forcing herself to endure the humiliation, she spoke to the camera in a numb voice. "It was all me. I seduced Adrian. I interfered in the relationship between Adrian and Sienna, and I deliberately framed Sienna..."

The moment the words left her mouth, the livestream exploded with abuse.

Clara shut it off with trembling hands. Like an empty shell with her soul torn out, she turned and walked back in a daze.

But when she returned, Adrian and Sienna were already gone. Only the surgeon remained outside the operating room.

When he saw her come back, he shook his head in silence.

"My condolences. Miss Mercer never signed. We had no authority to operate. Because surgery was not performed in time, the patient has passed away."

All the blood in Clara's body seemed to freeze. She nearly lost her balance.

She was on the verge of breaking down as she screamed, "Didn't Sienna say she'd sign? Why didn't she sign? Why?"

The doctor looked troubled. "I'm sorry. Miss Mercer fainted before she agreed to sign. We had no authority to intervene. I'm sorry."

Clara could not hear another word after that. She ran like a madwoman to Sienna's hospital room, only to find her casually eating a banana while scrolling on her phone.

The last thread of Clara's reason snapped in an instant. She lunged forward. "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You never intended to save Grandma from the start! She was so good to you. She was your own grandmother. Why would you do this? I won't let you get away with it. I'll make you pay for this."

"Clara, have you lost your mind?" Adrian dragged her back and said darkly, "Sienna fainted earlier. She just woke up. She's upset about Eleanor too. Can you stop being so cruel? If we're really assigning blame, aren't you the one who killed Eleanor?"

Adrian's voice was low and cold. "If you hadn't insisted on putting out that slide deck to hurt Sienna, those videos of you never would've been leaked, and Eleanor never would've seen them and collapsed. If you hadn't kept targeting Sienna and gotten her harassed online, she wouldn't have fainted when it was time to sign. This is all because of you. If you want someone to hate, hate yourself."

With that, Adrian did not wait for her reply. He scooped Sienna up and carried her off to the VIP room.

A doctor stepped in and said hesitantly, "Someone needs to handle the arrangements for the deceased. If no one claims responsibility, we'll proceed according to hospital protocol."

Tears slid down Clara's face without restraint. She slowly rose to her feet, her voice hoarse as though scraped raw by sand.

"Leave her to me."

No matter what, she had to see Eleanor off one last time.

As she took the urn, her phone suddenly rang.

It was her mother. "So you finally decided to answer. Look at the mess you've made. The Whitmore family has almost lost all its dignity because of you. Let me make this clear. If this marriage falls through, get out of the Whitmore family. The flight has already been arranged. Someone will take you to Kingshaven tomorrow. And don't you ever come back."

Clara thought she would cry. But when she reached up on instinct to wipe away tears, she realized there were none left.

Inside the funeral hall, Clara knelt motionless before the memorial portrait, like a statue weathered by time.

Sienna walked in and looked down at her from above, every word steeped in malice.

"Clara, how does it feel to watch someone you love die right in front of you? How does it feel to watch everything you care about slip away from you, one by one?"

"You were the one who leaked that slide deck, weren't you?" Clara spoke suddenly, her voice calm. "A lot of what was in there... only Adrian and you would have known."

"So what if I was?" Sienna did not deny it. "I wanted you to know what it feels like to lose everything. I'm the one who should've been the Whitmore family's daughter. Everything you have should've been mine. But because of you, none of it is. Why are you still alive?"

The more she spoke, the more excited she became. Then a smug smile spread across her face. "But it doesn't matter anymore. The man you care about most is already mine. Want to see who Adrian would choose... you or me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she grabbed one of the candles at the altar and set the curtains on fire.

Flames spread through the room in an instant. Clara immediately struggled to breathe. She tried to stand, but after kneeling for so long, her legs would not hold her.

Sienna had to be insane. She was gambling with her life.

"Help... help..." Clara tried with all her strength, but no sound came out.

The blaze alarmed the people outside, and Sienna screamed, "Help! Adrian, save me! I'm so scared!"

The moment Adrian heard her voice, his face turned ashen. "It's Sienna. Sienna's trapped inside."

Without another thought, he rushed in and ran straight to her.

"Adrian... I thought I was never going to see you again."

"Don't be scared, Sienna. I won't let anything happen to you."

Watching that scene, Clara was suddenly dragged back to the fire years ago, when Adrian had rushed in just like this and carried her out. Only this time, the person he had come for was Sienna.

As he helped Sienna to her feet and turned around, his pupils contracted sharply when he saw Clara in the corner.

Sienna clung to him and said weakly, "Adrian, I feel awful... am I dying?"

Without hesitating again, Adrian caught her by the wrist and ran out with her.

The flames grew fiercer and fiercer, and Clara knew she was about to die.

She had long expected Adrian would choose someone else, but when that moment truly came, it still felt unbearably cruel.

The man who had once charged into a sea of fire for her without caring whether he lived or died was truly gone.

The love he had once given her had been real. So had the betrayal that came after.

In the final second before she lost consciousness, regret hit her with crushing force.

She regretted ever loving Adrian. She regretted giving so much to a love that had almost cost her everything.

If there was another life, she would only wish that she had never met Adrian at all.

When Clara opened her eyes again, Adrian was sitting by her bedside.

The fire had been put out in time. Aside from burns on her arm, she was otherwise unharmed.

"Babe, you're finally awake." Adrian's eyes were bloodshot. The second she woke up, he let out a heavy breath of relief. "Do you have any idea how scared I was just now? I..."

"Done with the act yet?" Everything about him felt grotesquely ridiculous to Clara. "Adrian, I already told you. We're over."

Adrian froze. Maybe out of guilt, he lowered his voice and explained, "I know you're angry, but Sienna has never been through something like this before. She was terrified. You're different. You've been through it before, and you made it out safely this time too."

It was precisely because of what had happened before that she feared fire more than anyone.

But Clara said nothing. Her eyes fixed on the scar on Adrian's arm, the one he had gotten saving her all those years ago. At some point, it had been covered with a beautiful rose tattoo.

The mark he had once carried for her had been erased by his own hand.

Clara's voice was hoarse. "Get out."

Silence fell around them. Adrian pressed his lips together. "Be good. Once you're discharged, I'll go home with you and talk about the wedding."

A wedding?

Once, that might have made her jump for joy. Now, it only made her sick.

There would be no wedding. Never again.

After Adrian left, a group of bodyguards entered the room.

"Miss Whitmore, the plane to Kingshaven is ready."

Clara nodded. She took nothing with her, only her identification, and boarded the plane to Kingshaven.

Even with an uncertain future ahead, she still hoped that, for all eternity, she and Adrian would never cross paths again.

In the lab, Adrian carried out his experiment as usual, but his mind kept drifting.

Ever since he had left the hospital, something had felt off, like a piece of him was missing. The unease lingered, making it hard for him to focus.

At this hour, Clara should still have been recovering in the hospital. He wondered if she was still angry.

He took out his phone, about to check on her, when Sienna suddenly threw herself into his arms.

"Adrian, what are you doing here? I woke up and couldn't find you. I was so scared." She clung tightly to him and whispered, "There's no one around right now… don't you miss me? Wouldn't it be exciting if we stayed here a little longer…?"

Something flickered in Adrian's eyes. He set aside the vial and lifted her onto the table, pulling her close without hesitation.

Over the next week, they kept sneaking into the lab whenever it was empty, unable to keep their hands off each other.

Sometimes, they stood by the one-way glass, reckless and daring, with people working just beyond the other side.

The hallway, the lab, even the rooftop balcony all bore witness to their entanglement.

That day, after yet another intense encounter, Adrian lit a cigarette, an unexpected emptiness settling in.

He had grown up restrained and disciplined. It was Sienna who had brought chaos and indulgence into his life.

But this time, when it was over, the thrill faded quickly. Without meaning to, his thoughts drifted back to Clara.

He glanced at his phone and suddenly realized a full week had passed.

She must have been worried sick, unable to reach him for so long.

As long as she stopped being so petty and learned to overlook things between him and Sienna, he could go back to treating her the way he used to.

With that thought, Adrian opened his phone expectantly, only to find no messages from Clara at all.

He frowned and opened her chat window, staring at it for a long time. There was nothing new. Their last message was from half a month ago.

She hadn't contacted him for this long? Was she still sulking? Since when had she become this petty?

That hollow feeling returned, sharper this time. Frowning, Adrian finally dialed Clara's number.

After two rings, a mechanical female voice answered.

"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later."

He called again. And again.

Each time, the same cold message repeated.

Adrian's expression darkened instantly. He got into his car and drove straight to the hospital.

But when he arrived, the room was already empty.

"Where is the patient who was staying here?"

"You mean Miss Whitmore?" the nurse replied. "She was discharged by her family nearly a week ago."

She had gone home?

That made sense. As the Whitmore family's daughter, she would have better care with concierge doctors.

She was probably just ignoring him out of spite.

With that thought, Adrian relaxed slightly and returned to the lab.

Over the next few days, he continued seeing Sienna in secret, waiting for Clara to calm down and reach out first.

One day, a colleague from the institute joined them for a meal.

At the table, he suddenly asked, "Adrian, don't you know the Whitmore family's daughter? The Whitmore family and the Sinclair family in Kingshaven are about to form a marriage alliance. Did she tell you about it?"