After a long while, Patrick finally replied: [The medicine I made for Grandpa is in the cabinet at home. Go look for it.]

Clarissa immediately drove home. But when she arrived, she found that all the medicine was already gone.

At the same time, the doctor sent a critical notice about Darius: [Ms. Rockwell, the patient has fallen into a coma. He is very old. Please be mentally prepared.]

A deep feeling of helplessness rushed over Clarissa. She quickly made a call and the other side answered almost at once.

“Patrick, where are you? The medicine is gone. Grandpa needs you now.”

“Clarissa, I’m abroad. I can’t just come back whenever you ask me!” His cold, emotionless voice felt like a knife cutting into her heart.

Before she could say anything, a familiar female voice came through the phone. “Patty, who are you talking to?”

Clarissa felt as if a hand had tightly gripped her heart, making it hard to breathe.

That was Victoria's voice. So when he said he was abroad, he was actually with her cousin.

Clarissa snapped back to her senses and tried to speak again, but Patrick had already hung up.

Soon after, Clarissa saw a new post on Victoria’s social media: [Some people always laugh at me for not having a boyfriend. Well, now I do.]

Below the text was a photo. In the sunlight, Victoria’s slender hand was tightly held by a man’s muscular hand. On that man’s finger was the wedding ring Clarissa had given Patrick.

Even worse, the location showed a luxury apartment in Alkaid City. Patrick was not abroad at all. He was just making an excuse to avoid coming.

With red eyes, Clarissa called her mother. “Mom, please take care of Grandpa for a bit. I will bring Patrick back.”

After hanging up, she rushed to the apartment immediately. But before she could reach the building, a group of thugs dragged her into a nearby alley.

The leader rubbed his hands while chuckling. “Hey, pretty lady, come have some fun with us!”

“We heard that a young lady from the Rockwells’ would pass by here. Didn’t expect it to be true!”

Clarissa’s pupils shrank. She turned to run, but one of the men grabbed her hair hard.

The pain from her scalp made her scream. She was then thrown heavily to the ground. Her vision spun. She tightly held her phone as the men walked closer to her.

Holding back her fear, Clarissa dialed Patrick’s number. She thought it would take a long time to connect, but surprisingly, he answered quickly.

Her eyes turned red as she said slowly, “Patrick, I’m at Star Apartment. Some thugs were after me. Please come save me!”

There was a long silence on the other end.

After a while, Patrick’s tired voice finally came through, filled with impatience. “Clarissa, I saw you from upstairs. Those people weren't hurting you. Why do you need to put on a show in front of me?”

Clarissa’s heart turned completely cold. She slowly lifted her head and saw him! On the rooftop above, Patrick stood against the wall, watching her suffer.

Beside him, Victoria leaned casually against the wall, smiling as she looked down at Clarissa.

With a loud bang, Clarissa’s mind went blank. It felt like the world had collapsed.

So Patrick had been watching the whole time. And he truly was with Victoria.

The thugs had been a little worried about being seen. But when they noticed the people above did nothing, they moved closer.

Fear filled Clarissa’s heart. She struggled to her feet and ran backward, but there was only a wall behind her. She was trapped!

She cried out desperately, “Patrick, I’m not acting! I don’t know these people! Please save me!”

The next second, one of the men covered her mouth. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t make a sound anymore.

She thought Patrick would react when he saw this. But he only lowered his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he coldly looked away, turned around and left.

At that moment, Clarissa got dragged away. Her eyes were fixed on his back. Her heart had turned completely cold.

Smack!

One of the men slapped her hard. “Why are you all silent? Go on, shout! Ask for help or something!”

Clarissa screamed in pain. Her pale cheek quickly swelled.

Another man stopped him. “Boss, don’t ruin such a pretty face.”

“Hmph! This woman just doesn’t behave.”

As he spoke, the thug boss tore her clothes. Clarissa struggled with all her strength, but she couldn’t escape.

Her head buzzed. She couldn’t hear anything anymore. Her vision went white. Soon, despair swallowed her completely.

Then suddenly, screams came from a distance.

Patrick grabbed one of the men with his bare hands and punched him hard to the ground. The man couldn’t get up. One by one, the other thug rushed forward.

But Patrick fought calmly. His punches were heavy and precise, knocking the men down until they were bleeding.

When Clarissa saw him, a spark of hope rose in her heart. But the next second, that hope sank.

Patrick walked toward her from above. He bent slightly, lifted her chin and stared coldly into her frightened eyes.

Grinding his teeth, he said, “Clarissa, is this really necessary? Putting on such a show, even hurting yourself like this... I truly admire your efforts.”

He released her with disgust, straightened up and walked away without looking back.

“No… I didn’t… it’s not like that…” Clarissa tried to explain.

But her vision went dark and she eventually lost consciousness completely.

When she woke up, she was in the hospital. The thugs were gone. Clarissa was shocked and terrified. If Patrick hadn’t appeared, she might have died.

Just as she felt a moment of gratitude, Patrick’s deep voice came from the bed behind the curtain. “Vicky, you hired those thugs?”

“What? Are you feeling sorry for her now?" Victoria’s voice was sharp and angry.

Patrick was silent for a few seconds before speaking, “Vicky, I was worried something might happen to you.”

Clarissa had almost been harmed. Yet Patrick was still protecting Victoria. A deep chill spread through Clarissa’s body.

Victoria, however, was in a very good mood. She hugged Patrick and smiled. “Patty, I knew you cared about me the most.”

After Victoria left, Patrick glanced at Clarissa’s bed. A rare trace of guilt appeared on his face.

“Clarissa, I’ll make it up to you.” His voice was uneasy. In the end, he turned and left.

Once he was gone, Clarissa slowly opened her eyes. Pain flickered through them.

Why did he always hurt her most when she just got moved of his actions?

"Patrick, there is nothing left between us." Clarissa swallowed her emotions and made a call to the company. “By today, remove Patrick from the company.”

This time, she would completely erase him from her world with her own hands.

On the day Patrick was forced to leave the company, Darius woke up from his coma.

Alberta was moved to tears because of that.

“Risa, this time it was all thanks to Patty. If he hadn’t arrived in time, your grandpa might have…” Her eyes turned red, almost tearing up.

Clarissa lowered her gaze and smiled faintly. “Yes. It was thanks to him.”

Then she turned to Patrick. “I want to further develop the medicine you created, so more people with the same illness could be cured.”

“How much money do you want for it? As long as it’s within my ability.”

Patrick was stunned. Clarissa had always taken what she wanted directly.

Since when did she start talking about money so clearly? Was the divorce not a joke after all?

After thinking for a moment, he spoke slowly. “Clarissa, do you want to develop the medicine to help more people, or are you afraid I won’t give it to you?”

Clarissa was silent for a moment. “If you agree, I can help develop it. If you’re worried I’ll steal your credit, we can sign a contract. All profits from the medicine will be yours.”

She only wanted her grandpa to be healed.

Hearing that, anger flashed across Patrick’s face. “Clarissa, is that how you truly see me?”

Clarissa didn’t answer.

Patrick laughed bitterly. “Clarissa, you’ve changed.”

Between the two of them, who had actually changed? Clarissa fell into brief silence.

Patrick turned to leave. Clarissa reached out and stopped him, a cold light flashing in her eyes.

“I already reported what happened last night to the police.”

The air froze instantly.

Patrick looked at her sharply. “I’ll investigate this myself. You don’t need to interfere.”

They parted on bad terms. But Clarissa still investigated in secret.

What she found shocked her. All the surveillance footage she had gathered had been deleted. Even the backups were gone.

The men who hurt her had all gone abroad. But she checked that their finances showed they couldn’t afford to leave the country. What made it worse was that the incident happened in property owned by her own family.

Her face turned cold as she demanded, “Who ordered you to delete the surveillance?”

The manager’s face went pale. “D-director Clarissa… it was Mr. Tanker who told us to.”

Clarissa froze.

Patrick. Why did everything always lead back to him? A trace of sadness passed through her eyes.

Then Victoria’s voice came from behind. “Clarissa, why are you here?”

Clarissa turned around.

Patrick stood beside Victoria like a knight in shining armor. His guarded expression made it seem as if Clarissa might hurt Victoria at any moment.

Victoria deliberately changed into her sweet voice. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I could’ve welcomed you.”

Clarissa said calmly, “I ran into some trouble last night. I already called the police.”

She had also asked the hospital to keep all evidence. She was determined to make those people pay.

Victoria’s eyes flashed with panic. Clarissa ignored her, walked past them and left.

***

That night, Victoria sent her a message: [Clarissa, you did this on purpose, didn’t you? But even so, Patty still won’t look at you.]

Clarissa replied: [Victoria, I don’t think I’ve ever wronged you. Why do you want to hurt me?]

Honestly, she didn’t understand where Victoria’s hatred came from.

Victoria sent a voice message: [I should be the one asking you! Why did you steal what belongs to me?]

[I met Patrick first. He loves me. But because of you, I couldn’t be with him.]

Clarissa froze. None of that was her fault!

Before she could reply, another message arrived: [Clarissa, you will regret this.]

Not long after, a company employee called in panic. “Director Clarissa, something terrible has happened!”

“Our pharmacy partner reported us for selling fake medicine. Someone died after taking it. It’s already trending online. Please check immediately!”