Lucien's hand froze midair.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered eight years ago in the hospital, when the first thing she said after waking up was, "Why did you save me?"

Back then, her gaze had been stubborn, yet beautiful.

But now, there was nothing left in those eyes, only a hollow emptiness that unsettled him.

He abruptly let go and stood up as if he had been burned. It felt as if something had been torn open in his chest, the pain so sharp he could barely breathe.

"Useless." He gritted his teeth, unsure whether he was cursing her or himself.

He turned and strode toward the door, but paused with his hand on the handle. His back stiffened as he said in a voice barely audible, "Don't even think about running again. If I catch you next time, I will kill you."

The door slammed shut.

Mira collapsed onto the bed, curling into herself and burying her face in her knees as her shoulders trembled silently.

After an unknown amount of time, footsteps and voices sounded outside the door.

"Lucien, don't be angry anymore," Selena said, "she isn't worth it. If I hadn't discovered it in time five years ago, the entire family would have been destroyed."

Lucien remained silent.

Selena let out a soft laugh and said, "That night, you were drunk and held me, saying 'thank God I have you,' from that moment on, I knew there was a place for me in your heart."

Lucien still said nothing, but he didn't deny it either.

"Stop thinking about her," Selena said in a coaxing tone, "come with me tomorrow to try on dresses, I've already booked the church in Silvera."

"Mm." Lucien finally responded, his voice tired yet gentle.

In the darkness, Mira's eyes widened.

Five years ago.

He had been drunk… holding Selena and saying, "thank God I have you"…

So he had already found someone new.

So when he said, "when you come back, we'll go to Silvera," it had never been meant for Mira.

So she had truly been nothing more than a tool to strike at the Winslow family.

Her tears stopped falling.

Her heart stopped hurting.

When pain reached its limit, only numbness remained.

The next day, the church in Silvera hosted the mafia's annual gala, which also happened to be Selena's birthday.

Lucien used this occasion to connect with business partners from around the world and expand his empire's reach.

He stood beside the fountain, with Selena leaning against him.

This birthday celebration had been carefully planned by her, ostensibly a party, but in truth a declaration to the four great families that she was Lucien's future wife.

"Lucien, the bishop will be blessing us later." Selena said softly as her fingers brushed lightly against his cufflink.

Lucien didn't respond, his gaze fixed on the distant blue sea, yet it felt as though something inside him had been hollowed out.

For three days, Mira had remained silent in the estate, like a lifeless porcelain doll.

Late at night, he stood outside her door, hearing only her suppressed sobs.

One of his men rushed through the crowd and said in a low voice, "Mr. Yates, a man has broken into the estate and is in Ms. Winslow's room."

Lucien's pupils shrank.

The next second, he slammed his champagne glass onto the table, the sharp sound echoing as the amber liquid spilled across the surface.

Amid the guests' startled cries, he strode toward the helipad.

Selena's face turned ashen as her nails dug into her palm.

Mira again.

The helicopter landed on the estate lawn, and Lucien rushed into the main building, heading straight for the third-floor bedroom.

The door was ajar, and he kicked it open.

Julian stood by the bed, speaking softly to Mira curled in the corner, "Come with me, I'll take you out of here."

Mira looked up, and the moment she saw Lucien, her face turned deathly ashen.

She instinctively moved behind Julian, clutching tightly at the hem of his clothes.

Lucien's gaze darkened, like a predator locking onto its prey.

"Julian." He said in a low voice, "Trespassing on private property, even if I execute you right now, it would still be justified."

Julian turned slowly, not backing down, "I'm a police investigator with a warrant. You are illegally detaining Mira. This is a crime. Release her immediately."

"A warrant?" Lucien sneered, "Do you really think you matter that much?"

He said nothing, yet two bodyguards immediately stepped out from the hallway with guns raised, their dark barrels aimed straight at Julian's forehead.

"Right now, I could kill you with a single shot," Lucien said as he stepped closer, his eyes cold, "and no one would come after me. This is Silvera, not a Northhaven police station."

Julian didn't move, he simply shifted to shield Mira completely behind him. "As long as I die here today, Interpol will freeze all your global assets tomorrow. Can you afford to take that risk?"

The air froze.

Lucien stared at the way Julian shielded Mira, a storm of fury surging in his chest.

"Fine." He suddenly smiled and ordered the guards behind him, "Don't hurt Mira, as for this man, shoot him…"

Before he finished speaking, Mira stepped forward and spread her arms to shield Julian, "No, Lucien, don't hurt him!"

Julian pulled her back behind him and said firmly, "Mira, stay behind me."

Their bodies pressed close together, as if bound by life and death.

The last trace of reason in Lucien's eyes snapped.

She was protecting him.

Using her life to protect another man.

"Pull her away!" he roared.

The bodyguards stepped forward and dragged Mira away.

She struggled desperately and cried out, "Julian, go, don't worry about me!"

Julian didn't move at all and met Lucien's gaze, "You can't cage her heart, she hates you."

Lucien burst into laughter, almost unhinged, "Then let her hate me. As long as she's alive under my watch, hatred is fine."

Lucien snatched the gun from a guard and aimed it directly at Julian's heart.

Mira suddenly broke free from the guards with unexpected strength and lunged at Lucien, her beautiful face streaked with tears.

"Lucien… I won't run anymore… I'll never run again, don't kill him, please don't kill him…"

Lucien's heart exploded with sharp pain the moment he heard her broken words.

He looked at Mira as she clung tightly to the arm holding the gun, as if terrified that Julian might be harmed in any way.

He remembered so many things.

He remembered Mira's bright smile from before.

He remembered the times he nearly died in gang conflicts, and how Mira had stood in front of him without regard for her own life.

He remembered their countless intimate moments, her shining eyes, and the words, "I want to marry you."

All of it was a lie.

Every bit of it.

Lucien suddenly seemed to lose all strength, his heart convulsing with pain as the urge to kill Mira consumed his thoughts.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Lucien stared at Mira's tear-streaked face and said word by word, "If I see you have any contact with him again, I'll have him sunk into the sea."

The moment Mira heard the words "sunk into the sea," her blood seemed to freeze.

The world in front of her twisted instantly.

Dark seawater, a cold iron anchor, Selena's mocking smile…

She curled on the ground, trembling violently as tears streamed uncontrollably, "No… don't…"

A sharp pain struck Lucien's chest as he almost bent down to help her.

But the next second, he saw her tear-filled eyes turn toward Julian, as if seeking protection.

She was crying for him.

Hatred overwhelmed the fleeting concern.

Lucien ordered coldly, "Throw Julian out."

The guards dragged Julian away as he struggled and shouted back, "Mira, wait for me, I'll come back for you!"

Mira tried to speak, but Lucien hoisted her over his shoulder.

Lucien strode to the bedroom and threw her heavily onto the bed. He leaned over her, bracing his hands beside her head, his eyes bloodshot like a beast as he said, "Listen carefully, if I ever see you have any contact with him again, I'll throw him into the sea and feed him to the sharks."

Tears slid silently down Mira's face as she said, "Lucien… I hate you…"

There were countless cruel words in the world, yet none hurt as much as those three words, "I hate you," leaving Lucien on the verge of tears.

He suddenly stood up and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

In the hallway, he leaned against the wall and punched it hard, his knuckles beginning to bleed.

Outside, Selena stood in the darkness, almost consumed by jealousy, watching Lucien compromise for Mira again and again felt worse than death to her.

She had already turned Mira into a "traitor," yet Lucien still couldn't bring himself to kill her.

Selena let out a vicious smile and dialed the core members of the council, saying, "Mira must die."

Rain poured down in sheets as Selena stepped into the center of the family council chamber.

"Mira belongs to the Winslow family, and she betrayed Lucien five years ago, now she's even colluding with outsiders and sneaking into the estate. Leaving her alive for one more day is like planting a ticking bomb in the heart of this family!"

The elders fell silent for a long while.

Someone objected, "If Lucien finds out about this, he'll never agree to it."

Selena curled her lips into a cold smile, "Kill her first, and if Lucien asks, we'll say she jumped into the sea out of guilt."

The order was issued quickly behind Lucien's back.

Selena had Mira seized and taken out to open water.

When Mira stood on the deck once again and felt chains wrap around her ankles, she let out a soft laugh and said, "This time too, was it Lucien's order?"

Selena looked down at her and said, "He said it himself, a traitor like you is better off dead."

Mira said nothing.

She remembered eight years ago, when she had been cornered by a rival gang in an abandoned warehouse during a family operation.

With a blade pressed to her throat, she had been certain she was going to die.

But in the next second, gunfire exploded, and Lucien appeared like a phantom.

Later, when she woke in the hospital, the first person she saw was him waiting at her bedside.

That was when he had said, "From now on, your life belongs to me."

And now, for the second time, Lucien had let others chain her to an anchor and throw her into the sea.

The moment freezing seawater rushed into her nose and mouth, Mira stopped struggling.

Maybe death was better, maybe that would end everything, and everything between her and Lucien could finally be erased with it.

Just as her consciousness was about to fade, a dark figure cut through the water.

It was Lucien.

He dove beneath the surface, pulled her into his arms, tore away the chains, and surfaced with her as fast as he could.

On deck, Selena's face turned deathly ashen as she said, "Lucien, how could you..."

Lucien ignored her, laid Mira flat on the deck, forced open her clenched jaw, and bent down to give her air.

Warm breath rushed into her lungs, and Mira coughed violently before slowly opening her eyes.

The first thing she saw was Lucien's drenched face, his eyes churning with emotions she could not understand: pain, fury, fear, and a trace of something that looked like heartache.

Mira stared blankly ahead and murmured softly, "I don't want to die again... the sea is so dark, I don't want to be thrown in there again..."

Lucien's pupils shrank sharply. What did she mean by die again?

But before he could ask, Mira lost consciousness.

Lucien scooped her into his arms and barked at the guards, "Everyone involved in this tonight will be severely punished."

Back at the estate, Mira lay on the soft bed staring at the ceiling, her body mostly unharmed, but her heart felt as though it had been crushed over and over again.

The next morning, the butler brought in breakfast, hesitated for a moment, and said quietly, "Miss Hawthorne was released last night, Mr. Yates said she has stayed by his side for ten years. So this time he's letting it go."

Mira's hand shook, and the coffee cup slipped to the floor, shattering into pieces.

Letting it go?

Mira lowered her eyes, hiding the storm inside them, and said, "Alright, I understand."

She suddenly remembered one birthday when she had casually mentioned wanting a strawberry cake from Escye, and Lucien had immediately sent a private jet for it, then brought it to her bedside himself at three in the morning.

She had laughed and called him ridiculous, but he had answered with complete seriousness, "If you want it, I'd even bring down the stars for you."

Back then, she had believed him.

But now, when it came to the person who wanted her dead, he let it go.

Liar.

Lucien was a liar.

Mira leaned against the window and cried without a sound. From beginning to end, she had been the only one who ever gave her heart.

The next day, the family convened an emergency council meeting.

Someone still insisted, "Lucien, Mira must die, she's a ticking bomb."

Others quickly agreed, "Selena is right, deal with her now before she causes bigger trouble later."

"Anyone who brings up killing her again," Lucien said, his gaze sweeping across the room, his voice calm yet soaked in bloodshed, "I'll kill them instead."

The entire room erupted in shock.

Standing in the corner, Selena dug her nails into her palm so hard they nearly drew blood.

For the sake of a traitor, Lucien had threatened the entire family.

In that moment, Selena finally understood that no matter what Mira had done—betrayal, escape, any of it—Lucien's heart had never truly left her.

Selena had lost completely, and as she turned away, she sent a message to one of the Yates Group's deadliest rivals.

"I have the security layout of Lucien's private estate, let's make a deal."