Selena was about to refuse when she suddenly thought of something.

Fishing out her phone, she sent a message. A second later, Liam's phone chimed with an incoming message.

"If you don't want to disappoint her, transfer the five billion to my account right now."

This five billion was originally supposed to be her dowry for when she married Michael, but Selena couldn't wait any longer. With how the situation was progressing, she was worried something unexpected might happen.

When Liam didn't move to take out his phone, Selena thoughtfully reminded, "Dad, your phone rang with a notification. Aren't you going to check it?"

The moment Liam saw the contents of the message, his expression changed.

After a very brief moment of hesitation, he texted back succinctly, "Fine."

Selena knew Liam was the sort of person who kept his word. Upon receiving a reply from him, she smiled at Lucine. "I'll go."

After all the commotion, Selena had lost the mood to go ahead with the photo shoot.

She led Vivian out of the studio, tossing all frustration and annoyances to the back of her mind.

Once Selena got home, she fell into a deep sleep and started dreaming of her memories with Zachary.

The piano piece he played for her during her birthday, waltzing together on the dance floor… All these images slowly dissipated, as if they were blown away by the wind.

Through the haze of sleep, she thought she heard some shuffling sounds and assumed it was her dream.

However, when she opened her eyes, she realized Zachary had returned home at some point.

He was carefully placing a takeout container on the table, his movements slow and gentle.

As their eyes locked, he jerked slightly in surprise, causing scalding hot beef stew to splash onto his hand.

Hastily wiping his hand clean, he shot a smile at Selena. "You're awake? Come eat. I guessed you likely hadn't eaten yet today, so I went to the east side of the city to buy that beef stew you love."

Since Selena was indeed hungry, she didn't refuse him. "Okay."

Halfway through the meal, Zachary spoke up again.

"Earlier at the studio, the air between you and Mr. Yane seemed rather off. Did something happen between you two?"

"No," Selena answered shortly, not saying even one more word than necessary.

Sighing softly, Zachary reached out to wipe Selena's mouth, where a tiny chunk of carrot had stuck to her lip. However, she avoided him.

His hand hung in mid-air as he debated what to do. Several seconds later, he stiffly put his hand down.

"Selena, I know you're still angry at me. But like I said, I'm only doing all this to compensate Lucy on your behalf. That's all. She's going to marry into the Chiton family soon, so all everyone wants to do is make it up to her before that."

Selena interrupted, "So you think Mom and Dad's favoritism toward Lucine is because they're compensating her for having to marry into the Chiton family?"

Stunned by the question, Zachary instinctively replied, "Isn't that it?"

Selena didn't respond, though she scoffed inwardly.

She was suddenly curious about what Zachary's reaction would be when he finally learned that she was marrying into the Chiton family instead, not Lucine.

"Alright, don't stir up any more trouble for the next few days. Once Lucy is married off to the Chiton family, everything will be over."

Selena remained silent, merely staring out the window at the withered leaves drifting to the ground.

He was right. Everything was going to be over soon.

The next day, Zachary woke up early. Previously, he would drive the car over whenever they went out together and stop right in front of the villa's front door. This was because he didn't want Selena to walk any further than she had to.

However, this time, Selena stepped out of the villa, only to see Lucine sitting in the front passenger seat.

Lucine shot her an innocent smile. "Selena, I get carsick easily, so I hope you won't mind me taking the front seat."

"I don't mind."

Selena's response surprised both Zachary and Lucine.

Zachary had thought he would need to spare some effort explaining things to Selena. Unexpectedly, she was quick to agree. His lips quirked into a delighted smile, thinking that his words last night must have gotten through to her.

Meanwhile, Lucine was frowning slightly. She kept shooting glances at Selena through the rearview mirror, assessing the latter with her gaze.

When Selena, Lucine, and Zachary reached the camping site, Martha and Liam still hadn't arrived yet.

Selena, not wanting to stay with Lucine and Zachary, headed for the forest alone.

Seeing Selena leave, Lucine shot Zachary a charming smile. "Zach, how about you stay here and set up the tents? I'll go keep Selena company."

Zachary nodded in approval. "You're so considerate, Lucy."

Half an hour later, Martha and Liam arrived. After glancing around, they asked, "Where's Lucine?"

"She entered the forest, saying she would keep Selena company. They should be back soon."

Upon hearing that, Martha couldn't help but shake her head. "Lucine is such a sweet child. Even though Selena is always picking on her, she still treats Selena like her older sister."

At that moment, Selena stepped out of the forest. When Martha saw no one behind her, she hurried forward.

"Why are you alone? Where's Lucine?"

Confused, Selena responded, "How would I know where she is?"

Zachary instantly leaped to his feet and strode toward Selena. "Lucy said she would keep you company on your walk. Didn't you see her?"

Not liking the interrogative tone in his voice, Selena answered coldly, "No."

This answer caused Martha to break down once again.

She seized Selena's shoulder tightly, tears spilling down her cheeks as she cried, "Selena Yane, just what are you doing? You've already lost your sister once, so how could you lose her again? You just can't stand seeing her live well, can you?"

Those words immediately infuriated Selena. "I've already told you, I didn't see her! She's an adult now, so am I still supposed to be responsible if she gets lost?"

She had barely finished speaking when a hard slap landed on her left cheek. It was the first time in her 26 years of life that Martha had struck her.

Martha's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise as she stared at her right hand. "Selena, I… I didn't mean to. I…"

Zachary stepped forward and urged, "Come on, the most important thing right now is to find Lucy. We can talk about the rest later."

He patted Selena's shoulder in a pitiful imitation of consolation, not offering her any true comfort.

Nonetheless, Selena was used to it by now and didn't harbor many expectations for them.

To prove her innocence, Selena followed them into the forest. She wanted to confront Lucine face-to-face.

The forest was dense and thick with vegetation, so Selena was soon separated from the group.

Strangely enough, not even five minutes had passed since Selena lost sight of them when Lucine appeared before her.

Selena frowned, but after a few seconds, she understood.

"You did this on purpose?"

Lucine laughed and answered, "It seems you aren't that stupid after all. But then, what does it matter if you know? Not like you can do anything about it.

"20 years ago, you lost me. 20 years later, you deliberately left me in the woods. What would Mom and Dad think of you, I wonder? Do you think they'd be more inclined to believe me or you?

"I heard about the situation. Since you're going to marry into the Chiton family soon and will no longer have anything to do with the Yane family, I won't hide certain things from you any longer. Think of the truth as your younger sister's wedding gift to you."

With that, Lucine leaned forward to whisper into Selena's ear.

Selena's eyes widened in surprise, disbelief written all over her face. "Is that all true?"

Lucine twirled her hair playfully, her voice amused as she said, "Is there a need for me to lie?"

The forest was silent, with only the whispering of the leaves brushing against each other as a gentle breeze blew past.

Selena tightened her hands into fists, not expecting the truth of Lucine's disappearance 20 years ago to be this inconceivable.

Just then, the sound of footsteps and voices shouting rang out from somewhere close by.

Lucine's expression changed as she swiftly picked up a rock at her feet, bringing it up to slash at her face.

"Dad, Mom, Zach, I'm here!"

When the three rushed over, the first thing they saw was Lucine collapsed on the floor with blood covering her face.

Nearby, Selena stood rooted to the spot, a cold look on her face.

At last, Zachary couldn't stand it anymore. He seized Selena's wrist in a vice grip, his eyes burning with rage.

"Selena Yane! Just what do you want? Haven't I explained things last time? Can you live with yourself while tormenting Lucy like this?"

Martha crouched anxiously beside Lucine, crying as she wiped the blood on Lucine's face away.

"Lucine, what on earth happened to you? Tell me what happened!"

"Mom, I'm so tired. I've been trying so hard to get along with Selena, so why did she still have to do this to me?

"I finally found a way out of the trees and only just stepped out when I bumped into Selena. She used a rock to slash my face, saying there was no way I could use my looks to seduce Zach after this.

"Since my return is causing everyone so much trouble, I might as well just die."

Upon hearing Lucine's words, Martha was heartbroken. She blamed herself for not being able to protect her daughter.

By the time the commotion was over, it was already getting dark.

Liam and Martha departed with Lucine first, leaving Selena and Zachary behind.

Zachary led Selena to his car, not saying a word at all. Likewise, Selena remained silent.

The car crept along slowly, and 20 minutes later, Selena finally realized something was wrong.

Furrowing her brow, she said, "This isn't the way home. Where are you taking me?"

However, instead of answering, Zachary parked the car by the roadside before yanking Selena out of the vehicle.

"I'm letting you have a taste of what it feels like to be abandoned. Otherwise, you'll never learn and change your ways. I'm doing all this for your own good."

Before Selena could say anything, Zachary had already sped off, leaving her to inhale the thick fumes of his car exhaust.

Since this was the middle of nowhere, Selena failed to see even a single car despite walking laboriously for several miles.

The early autumn night breeze was chilly. Dressed only in a dress, Selena was so cold that she was shivering.

The eerie cries of wild animals frightened her terribly, causing her to speed up. However, in a moment of carelessness, she accidentally stepped on a rock and twisted her ankle.

Before she could get up, she spotted something approaching her from afar. Whatever it was had glowing green eyes.

A beat later, she realized what it was—a pack of wolves!

Selena's breathing sped up as she turned to run in a blind panic. Unexpectedly, she lost her footing and tumbled off a cliff.

The wind roared past her ears as she fell. Selena was filled with indignant regret. She hadn't yet gotten to live her own life, so she couldn't accept that she would die just like this.

Yet, as she fell further and further, the speed of her descent increasing, she could only accept her fate and close her eyes.

If she could have a second chance at life, she didn't want to be a daughter born to the Yane family, nor did she want to meet Zachary again.

When Selena opened her eyes, the familiar surroundings caused her to lapse into dazed confusion.

Hadn't she fallen off a cliff? How was she in her room right now?

It wasn't until her forehead throbbed with pain that she realized she wasn't dead.

Sitting up with much difficulty, she heard Zachary talking on the balcony. He was on a phone call.

He wasn't speaking loudly, so all Selena could hear was Lucine being mentioned now and then.

Not wanting to hear about anything to do with them, Selena put on her earphones. That was when she received a message from an unfamiliar number.

"Have you finished packing up? I'll personally come to fetch you on that day."

Puzzled, she texted back, "Who are you?"

The person swiftly replied, "Selena Yane's fiance."

Upon seeing the word "fiance", Selena surprisingly felt her face flush.

She didn't know how Michael had gotten her phone number, but it likely hadn't been hard for him. After all, finding out a phone number was child's play with the Chiton family's influence.

Since Selena was wearing earphones, she didn't hear Zachary's footsteps at all.

Only when Zachary plucked out her earphones did Selena snap back to reality. She instantly turned off her phone screen.

Naturally, this didn't escape Zachary's notice.

"Selena, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, just chatting with a friend."

Zachary narrowed his eyes at her, knowing she was lying. Nevertheless, he didn't expose her.

"You've been unconscious for four days. How do you feel now?"

Hearing that, Selena was stunned. She snapped her head around to look at the calendar on the wall. Seeing what date it was, she let out a long sigh of relief.