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!”

Clarissa’s mind we]nt blank as she felt her world collapsed. She quickly opened her computer and saw that the Rockwell Family was trending online.

Her expression turned cold at once. She immediately ordered people to remove the trending topic. But it was as if someone was working against her. Every time it was taken down, it appeared again shortly after.

At the same time, Clarissa received a video from Patrick. Her eyelid twitched and a bad feeling rose in her heart.

In the video, many reporters surrounded Grandpa Darius’s hospital room. Their microphones almost hit his face.

“Sir Darius, were you aware that a pharmaceutical factory under the Rockwell Group had caused a death?”

Darius’s lips trembled as he tried to speak, but another reporter interrupted.

“Did your company intentionally cause this death? If the problem is confirmed, Ms. Clarissa Rockwell could go to prison.”

Hearing this, Darius became emotional. “Risa would never do such a thing! The investigation isn’t finished yet. Please be careful with your words.”

The reporters continued spreading rumors about Clarissa.

At the end of the video, Darius fell ill again from anger.

Bang.

Clarissa dropped her phone to the ground. Her heart felt ice-cold. Her thoughts were in chaos.

With trembling hands, she picked up her phone and typed: [Patrick, what exactly are you trying to do?]

His reply was immediate: [Clarissa, Vicky is young and doesn’t understand things well. Nothing serious happened that night. It was a small matter. I want you to withdraw the report.]

So in his eyes, what Clarissa went through right now was just a small matter?

Clarissa clenched her fingers, forcing herself to stay calm. [So you intentionally switched the medicine? Do you know someone died because of that?]

He replied: [Clarissa, that has nothing to do with me.]

At that moment, Clarissa hated Patrick deeply.

Her teeth trembled with anger. In the end, she closed her eyes and made the call to withdraw the case.

She thought the situation would calm down. But the next day, things became even worse. Clarissa was taken away by the police for investigation.

She tightly held her phone and called Patrick. “Patrick, I already agreed to withdraw the case. Why aren't you holding the end of your promise?”

Her eyes turned red, almost bleeding with tears.

Patrick’s voice was cold on the other end. “I told the reporters to leave. That doesn’t mean I’m helping you solve your problems.”

Clarissa felt it was absurd. Before she could say anything more, the call was already disconnected.

Soon after, she was taken away for questioning. The company fell into chaos and endless rumors. Clarissa was cursed and blamed by countless people. On the street, people threw vegetable leaves and eggs at her.

During the many days of investigation, she was constantly insulted and barely given food.

When Clarissa angrily questioned them, someone replied with a malicious smile, “Director Clarissa, you offended someone you shouldn’t have. Ms. Rockwell told us to take special care of you.”

Ms. Rockwell? Almost instantly, one name came to her mind. Victoria.

When Clarissa was starving, Victoria appeared, shaking a lunch box in front of her.

She smiled sweetly. “Sister, if you crawl under my legs, I’ll give you food.”

The smell of food made Clarissa’s stomach ache. She rushed forward desperately—but Victoria stepped aside easily.

Clarissa fell to the ground helplessly.

Victoria smiled, her eyes full of cruelty and lifted Clarissa’s chin. “Clarissa, do you know who caused all of this?”

She played a recording. Patrick’s voice came from the phone: [Let her stay in there for a while. It’ll teach her a lesson.]

Victoria smiled even more. “It was Patty. If you hadn’t called the police, you wouldn’t be in this situation. I really pity you.”

Clarissa’s face turned pale. She nearly fainted. Her nails dug into her palms until they bled.

So this was how much Patrick hated her.

Victoria looked down at her and threw her chin away coldly. “Clarissa, don’t even think that you can get out of this mess...”