"That's what you get for infuriating me! I'm going to ruin you right this instant! No matter what I do, Mr. Hunter will always cover for me!" Celia sneered.

Stab!

The skewer drove into Lumina's scalp. It was so painful that Lumina shuddered—she almost cried. Anger flared up inside her. She grabbed a skewer from the table, raising it to strike Celia's face in retaliation.

Right before the skewer could hit Celia's face, however, Jackson caught her wrist.

His grip was tight, his tone cold as he said, "Miss Price didn't do anything to you. Why are you hurting her?"

Lumina looked up at the uncaring man, blood streaming down her face. Her voice trembled as she said indignantly, "She didn't do anything to me? Look at my face and my head! Who do you think did this?"

Jackson paused, frowning slightly. "It's just a couple of scratches. Put a bandage on it and you'll be fine. She has Mr. Hunt's protection. If you hurt her on purpose, you'll be the one to suffer in the end. I'm stopping you for your good."

Lumina was stunned at first. She looked at the man she had loved for three years with red eyes. A wave of mixed emotions crashed over her.

Celia sneered in satisfaction. "Tsk, you really have no idea what's good for you. At least your bartender boyfriend sure knows which way the wind blows!"

Lumina wiped the blood from her face and turned to look at Celia, who was still gloating.

While Jackson was still distracted, Lumina's hand shot out. She grabbed a freshly grilled skewer of meat from the next table and flung it in Celia's face.

Smack!

Celia howled in pain as the hot food burned her, her fair cheek instantly turning red.

Jackson's face turned cold; he ran over to Celia, shoving Lumina away.

Lumina stumbled and fell to the ground, thrown off balance. Her ankle twisted. Worse, she landed on her injured right cheek. Blood gushed from the wound, and she quickly lost consciousness.

Just before she fainted, she heard Celia's furious screech.

"How dare you burn me? I'll make Mr. Hunter avenge me! I want you to suffer a hundred times worse!"

-

When Lumina opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was the face of a middle-aged nurse. Seeing her wake up, the nurse sighed.

"Look at you! You're so pretty, but you're nearly disfigured. What a pity. Now that you're awake, don't forget to pay your hospital bill later."

Pain shot through Lumina's head and face. Her eyes red, she asked, "The man who brought me here… Didn't he pay the bill?"

The nurse looked at Lumina and sighed several times before saying kindly, "Someone called an ambulance for you. No man sent you here. If the department head hadn't covered your expenses, you'd still be bleeding. Anyone can see you've been victimized. You youngsters need to be careful about who you date."

Lumina's nose stung, her eyes welling with tears. The nurse shook her head and left the room.

Soon after, hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway. A group of men in black burst in, slamming the door behind them.

Lumina noticed the words "CG" embroidered on their uniforms, and her heart sank.

It was said that the heir of the Hunter family had assembled a special team, the "Celia Guards", to clean up after Celia and keep her happy.

No wonder Celia was so untouchable. The stories were all true.

The men in black roughly dragged Lumina out of bed, pinning her limbs to the ground. In the darkness, burning hot torture tools pressed down again and again on her bare arms, legs, and face.

Lumina screamed in agony, her whole body seized by fear.

"Let me go… Ngh…!"

Just as she tried to cry for help, someone shoved a cloth into her mouth, and more torture tools scorched her body. She writhed uncontrollably, her hands clawing at the floor, tears rolling down her face from the pain.

The five men became crueler as they saw her suffer.

"That's ninety times now! Ten more to go. Mr. Hunter said you must pay her back a hundredfold, just as Miss Price demanded!"

"Everyone in Arriva City knows Miss Price is Mr. Hunter's favorite, but you burned her with a skewer of barbecued meat! No wonder he sent us to teach you a lesson!"

"If you know what's good for you, apologize to her on camera right now!"

The leader of the "Celia Guard" held up his phone and started filming Lumina. Lying on the floor, covered in burns and stripped of all dignity, Lumina stared at the group with bloodshot eyes. Even as she longed to kill herself from the overwhelming pain, she remained defiant.

"I'll never apologize! Tell your Mr. Hunter that I never provoked Celia! She abused me for nine years straight! She's the one who owes me an apology!" she insisted, her voice ragged.

The leader paused, disappointed by the footage he had gotten.

"Mr. Hunter said it himself. You made Miss Price cry for so many nights and visited more than a hundred psychologists! Do you think he's accusing you falsely?"

"He'll know the truth in six days!" Lumina snarled.

As soon as Lumina finished speaking, she was met with a savage barrage of punches and kicks. Her body was already quite frail; before long, she collapsed on the ground and lost consciousness completely.

When she woke up again, she found herself back in the hospital bed, though she didn't know who had moved her there.

Jackson sat beside her, his expression cold. "I told you not to mess with Celia. She's got someone to protect her. Now that her guardian has taught you a lesson, have you finally learned from your mistake?"

Lumina was stunned for a moment, then suddenly started laughing through her tears.

She had nothing but hate.

She hated that she had loved the wrong person, hated that she devoted everything to her first relationship. In the end, she didn't meet someone worthy at all!

Jackson watched Lumina sob quietly. For some reason, he felt a twinge of regret.

But Lumina had nearly destroyed Celia's family in the past years. How could he feel any sympathy for a woman so brutal?

Lumina stared at Jackson. She hesitated for a few seconds, then tried to tell him the truth.

"I never bullied Celia. It was always she who…"

Before she could finish, Jackson's phone rang. It was the leader of the Celia Guards.

"Sir, Miss Price just contacted me and asked me to thank you on her behalf, but… Well, she…"

When it came to Celia, Jackson couldn't care less what Lumina was saying. He rushed out of the room. "What happened to her?"

"Miss Price just broke down crying. She said that Lumina sent her a provocative text this morning, saying that if she'd known, she'd let Miss Price die three years ago. Miss Price is upset and wants us to put ants on Lumina's wounds to teach her a lesson."

Jackson's gaze turned cold. "Lumina really is vicious. Do as she said. Make sure Celia feels better."

"Understood."

An hour later, the Celia Guards barged into the hospital room again. Lumina saw the group of men and understood instantly.

The phone call Jackson had just answered… It was about Celia. There was no way Celia would let her off that easily.

The man in charge took out four ropes and tied Lumina to the bed, her arms and legs spread wide. The others immediately poured syrup onto her burned arms and legs, then released jars full of live ants onto her wounds.

Countless ants crawled up Lumina's limbs, feeding on the syrup from her burns. The combination of pain and itching was unbearable… This cruel torture made her convulse, her limbs twitching as she let out a scream of despair.

Yet, they still didn't let her go.

They recorded everything on their phones, only leaving after Lumina finally passed out from the pain. She didn't know how long she had been out.

When Lumina finally came to, she was slapped awake…hard.

Celia stood by the bed, slowly withdrawing her hand, her face twisted with contempt.

"Oh, how Mr. Hunter spoils me! Whenever I'm upset, he'll protect me no matter what. Oh, and Lumina… I heard from him that you stripped down to your underwear at a bar for some guy! How pathetic can you get? By the way, I sent your striptease video and the footage of you screaming like a banshee just now to the university group chat. Guess what your classmates said? They said you're such a tart! They're wondering just how wild you get under a man, how hard can you cry?"

Celia laughed maniacally and ground her cigarette butt into one of Lumina's burn wounds, leaving a black hole in Lumina's wrist.

"Are you finally getting it, Lumina? If you know what's good for you, keep your mouth shut about me and get out of Arriva City. Never show your face to me again! Word is, Mr. Hunter is going to confess to me on my birthday. Soon, I'll be Mrs. Hunter. We'll always be worlds apart!"

Lumina stared at the hospital ceiling, her eyes dull and lifeless.

She would leave.

She would go to Crown City soon and marry the person she was supposed to marry…

Three days later, Jackson came to take Lumina home from the hospital. She stared out the window, lips pressed tight all the way. Her face was expressionless, like a lifeless doll.

Jackson noticed her mood and deliberately went out of his way to buy her favorite peach strudel. When they got home, Lumina frowned slightly at the three wedding dresses hanging in the living room.

Jackson walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. "Lumi, I picked out the wedding dresses myself. We'll get married in three days."

Lumina pushed his hands away, her voice trembling. "Does it have to be in three days?"

Jackson paused, then reached up to ruffle her hair. "Didn't we already agree to it? That's the best day. Besides the wedding, I have an extra surprise for you."

Lumina looked at the man who breathed lies so easily and forced a smile. "What a coincidence. I have a surprise for you that day, too."

"What kind of surprise?" Jackson asked, curious.

Lumina opened his laptop and smiled faintly. "It's a secret…but for now, I'll need to use your computer."

Jackson thought Lumina was still head over heels for him, so he let down his guard and typed in his password.

Jackson went into the living room and messaged his secretary, Ashley.

"She agreed. Decorate the wedding venue in the next two days."

While Jackson was away, Lumina quickly found her nude videos on his computer. With trembling hands, she deleted them and replaced them with evidence she had gathered over the years—proof of Celia's bullying of her and the truth behind the rooftop fall.

Finally, she renamed the new file to match the original nude videos.

Just as she finished, she received a call from a courier. He said her package was at the door.

After Lumina opened the door, someone struck her hard on the shoulder, and she instantly blacked out. In the darkness, two men dragged her away.

An hour later, in an abandoned factory…

When Lumina came to, she found herself hanging five meters above the ground. The floor beneath her was covered in a dense layer of sharp, broken glass. Three thugs stood on the ground below.

Suspended next to her was Celia, who burst into terrified tears when she saw the glass beneath them.

"Who are you people?! Let me down! I don't want to die!"

Lumina gripped the rope tightly, her face pale. She wondered, who would plan to kidnap both her and Celia at the same time?

The ringleader looked up and said coldly, "We're going to play a game. Whose man brings a million dollars to save you first gets to go free. The other one will get her rope cut!"

He paused, then dramatically gestured downward. "Smack! Fall! Ground into mince!"

Celia's face went completely white with fear; she immediately called Jackson, her voice shrill and panicked. "Mr. Hunter! Help me! I've been kidnapped! The thugs say you need to bring a million! You have to get here before Lumina's boyfriend, or they won't let me go!"

On the other end, Jackson's eyes turned cold and sinister. "Wait for me. I'm bringing the money now!"

The thugs looked up at Lumina, who hadn't moved, and barked impatiently, "Aren't you going to make a call?"

Lumina gripped her phone so hard, her knuckles turned white. Jackson had never loved her. He would probably show up as Mr. Hunter to save Celia instead.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Celia Guards was already reporting back to Jackson.

"Sir, we checked… Those three thugs contacted Lumina two days ago!"

Jackson's grip tightened, his expression darkened.

So, Lumina…

She had teamed up with the kidnappers to set Celia up!

No wonder the ransom was a million! It was all just a ploy to make him pay off the loan!

"Lumina, you really are getting more and more malicious!"

Just then, Lumina's call came in. Jackson rejected it, his face stone-cold.

Back in the factory, Lumina stared at her phone in disbelief. Why wouldn't Jackson answer?

Suddenly, Celia's phone rang, and she accidentally put it on speaker. In the quiet, abandoned warehouse, Jackson's angry voice came through, loud and clear.

"Celia, I'll get there before Lumina's boyfriend! Tell the thugs to just cut Lumina's rope! If they're willing to punish her, I'll give each of them an extra hundred thousand!"

All of Lumina's hope shattered in that instant. She forced a smile. Jackson didn't just refuse to save her… He actually wanted her dead.

He hated her to the bone.

No love… He had absolutely no love for her!

Twenty minutes later, Jackson stormed into the warehouse wearing a black mask and sunglasses. He carefully rescued Celia, holding her in his arms, then shot a look of utter disdain at Lumina, who was still hanging in the air.

His icy eyes were filled with loathing. Before leaving, he kicked the box of cash he had brought over and turned to the thugs.

"Like I said—if you mess Lumina up as badly as possible, I'll pay each of you a hundred thousand extra!"

Lumina's gaze followed them as they left, her fingers trembling. The warehouse soon fell silent again. The thugs cut her rope, and Lumina plunged five meters down.

Crash!

She landed on her back. Sharp shards of glass stabbed into her skin, making her scream in agony as tears streamed down her face. She staggered to her feet, blood soaking her white T-shirt as it dripped steadily to the floor.

Drip…

Just as she tried to step off the bed of glass, the thugs blocked her way.

Lumina frowned, her voice cold. "Celia got what she wanted. You have your money. Why won't you let me go?"

Exposed, the thug sneered. "You're smart, but your love life's a total mess! You almost died, but the guy didn't even answer your call. He treats you worse than a stranger! Now, I'm short a million because of you!"

"Finished insulting me?" Lumina kept her expression blank and tried to leave, but was blocked again.

"Who said you could leave? Sure, our deal with Miss Price is done, but we're not going to let Mr. Hunter's money go to waste."

The three thugs exchanged glances. Then, one tied Lumina up while another forced a burning cigarette butt into her mouth.

Lumina was forced to look up as she let out an agonized scream. She trembled from the pain, tears and sweat pouring down her face.

The thugs grew even more excited as they watched her suffer.

"Miss Price told us that three years ago, she fell by accident because she was trying to force you to swallow a cigarette for a photo and you refused. That's why she fell from the rooftop. Now, she wants us to help her get closure after she gets her money. Time for you to relive your experience of getting bullied all over again!"

"Look at you cry! Haha! Swallow it!"

"Hey, we're running out of cigarettes. How about some sand next?"

The two men pried Lumina's mouth open and shoved in burning cigarette butts and cup after cup of fine sand, forcing her to swallow them all with her eyes red.

As the thugs' mocking laughter echoed through the warehouse, Lumina's tears streamed down her face and fell onto the blood-stained glass beneath her.

She didn't know how much time had passed before the three finally let her go.

Lumina got up, her body still shaking. After only a few steps, her vision blurred, and she slowly lost consciousness.