In the corner, Vivienne Ashford, all skin and bones, clutched a phone with a shattered screen.
Her right hand still covered her hugely swollen belly on instinct, not daring to move away for even a second.
The ringtone had been turned down to almost nothing. Vivienne was terrified of alerting the thugs switching shifts by the door.
At last, the call connected. That familiar cold male voice came through, sharp and distant.
"Vivienne Ashford, what stunt are you pulling this time?"
"Nathaniel, don't hang up! Please, save me. Serena Ashford had people kidnap me!"
Vivienne didn't even want to think about what the last three days in this place had been like.
They hit her whenever they felt like it, cursed at her like she was dirt, threw her leftovers and sour soup to eat, and even forced her to bark and crawl like a dog just to entertain those sick monsters.
And every bit of it was thanks to her half-sister, Serena Ashford.
Even the engagement she once had with Nathaniel Blackwell had already been called off by him, just like that, without giving her any choice at all...
There was a brief silence on the other end, then Nathaniel let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Vivienne Ashford, your lies are getting worse and worse."
The tears in Vivienne's eyes froze. She looked stunned.
He didn't believe her?
"If you were really kidnapped, then why are you calling me on your own phone?"
"Why don't you take a photo of yourself being kidnapped right now? Just like those photos you used back then to humiliate Serena. Prove it to me."
"Using the same cheap trick you pulled on Serena to frame her now? You really are unbelievably stupid."
Vivienne opened her mouth, but all she felt was bitterness choking her chest. She didn't even know where to begin.
"Nathaniel... I wasn't the one who caused your father's death. It was Serena Ashford. Why won't you believe me just once?"
"Even if you hate me, even if you don't want to hear a single word of explanation, at least... at least for the sake of the baby I'm carrying, your child... save me, okay?"
Vivienne kept one eye on the half-closed door, panic flooding her whole body. Her voice was so low it was almost a whisper, trembling so badly it barely sounded human.
But Nathaniel Blackwell cut her off, his voice full of disgust.
"At a time like this, you're still trying to pin this on Serena?"
"You really think I don't know who the bastard in your belly belongs to?"
"Vivienne Ashford, even if you were actually kidnapped, I still wouldn't save you. Hell, I'd rather you just die!"
Before Vivienne could squeeze out another word, Nathaniel had already ended the call.
Standing nearby the whole time, Serena Ashford's eyes flashed with even deeper smugness, dark and poisonous.
But in the next second, she wiped that look away and put on a worried face.
"Nathaniel, is my sister really okay? Maybe... maybe we should still send someone to check on her?"
Nathaniel frowned, impatience written all over his face. "No need. I've had enough of this kind of act."
Again and again, he'd given her chances. He had hoped she would finally change.
But Vivienne's cruelty had gone way beyond anything he could imagine.
This woman had caused his father's death, smeared mud all over her own half-sister, and had even hired a bunch of thugs trying to ruin Serena's innocence.
If Serena hadn't told him herself that the child in Vivienne's womb was the result of her messing around outside with some random man, he would still be kept in the dark even now.
It was unforgivable. Straight-up beyond saving.
The corners of Serena's lips lifted slightly, but her tone stayed soft and worried.
"Alright then... I just hope my sister is okay..."
On the other side, Vivienne broke down in despair, tears sliding nonstop down her face.
Her phone had already died completely after draining the last bit of battery. The one tiny thread of hope she had for staying alive was gone too.
Then, all of a sudden, screams burst out from outside the door—sharp, miserable cries from the kidnappers.
Vivienne froze, startled.
She had just tried to find somewhere to hide when a stabbing pain ripped through her abdomen without warning.
Oh no.
The baby's coming.
Through the haze of pain, Vivienne Ashford saw a blurry figure at the doorway, rushing toward her in a panic.
But she had no strength left at all. Her whole body went limp, and she blacked out on the spot.
Five years later—
Nanfeng Cemetery, Kyoto.
It was early autumn. A bleak, chilly wind swept through the grounds, stirring fallen leaves into the air.
A woman in a dark custom-made trench coat took off her sunglasses and stopped in front of a gravestone. A trace of grief settled over her face.
Her features were soft and beautiful. On her pale wrist sat a tiny crimson beauty mark. She lifted a hand, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a pair of striking chestnut eyes that could make anyone pause.
She bent slightly and placed a bouquet of daisies before the tombstone. Her gaze stayed fixed on it. In the black-and-white photo, the middle-aged man smiled gently, kind as ever.
"Uncle Blackwell, I’m sorry. I should’ve come back to see you sooner."
Five years ago, she had been toyed with by her own half-sister, framed for crimes she never committed, locked up, beaten, and trampled on until she lived worse than an animal.
She had begged Nathaniel Blackwell so desperately to save her. If not her, then at least their child.
But in the end… the one who showed up and rescued her and her child was a complete stranger.
And even then, they still wouldn’t let her go. They still took one of her children. They still tried to finish her off.
If not for that mysterious person protecting them, they never would have made it through these five years in one piece.
Vivienne curled her lips, and a cold, breathtaking smile bloomed across her face.
"How ridiculous. Serena Ashford got you killed, ruined the Blackwell family, then dumped every bit of the blame on me. And now she still dreams of marrying Nathaniel Blackwell? Not happening. No way I’m letting her have that."
A sharp frost flashed across her eyes.
Back in that dark, damp basement, when she was covered in wounds and barely clinging to life, she had already sworn it.
As long as she still had one breath left, she would never let Serena Ashford, that murderer, live easy.
Every bit of injustice she had suffered, every ounce of humiliation forced on her—she would return it all to Serena a hundredfold.
"Ms. Ashford, they’ll be here any minute."
The assistant behind her spoke in a careful, respectful tone. Nathaniel Blackwell’s car had already reached the foot of the mountain.
Vivienne Ashford slowly lifted her gaze back to the black-and-white photo on the tombstone. The chill in her expression softened a little. "I’m sorry, Uncle Blackwell. I have to go first. Next time I come, I’ll stay and keep you company properly."
She lowered her eyes, put on her sunglasses, then turned and walked away from the graveyard step by step in her thin high heels. "Is everything set?"
"Just like you ordered, Serena Ashford has been put on the blacklist for the Global Charity Banquet with no explanation given. She’s done so much charity work in the name of Nathaniel Blackwell’s fiancée, but now she won’t even be able to get through the door. People are definitely going to start wondering what’s really going on. No matter the reason, this is more than enough to make her lose face."
Vivienne’s lips curved with quiet satisfaction. "Good. You handled that well. And keep an eye on Felix Ashford too. Don’t let that little brat sneak back into the country and mess things up for me."
That little troublemaker had been clever and restless since he was small. Not one single day had he ever let her relax.
"Yes, ma’am. Everything’s being handled exactly as instructed."
Vivienne lifted her brows and looked ahead, only to freeze for half a beat when she saw the group walking straight toward her, the very people she least wanted to run into.
The man at the center was strikingly handsome, but cold to the bone, surrounded on both sides by bodyguards dressed head to toe in black.
His deep, shadowed eyes carried a glacial pride. The nobility in his bones felt natural, untouchable, and the pressure rolling off him was intense enough to make people instinctively hold their breath.
Five whole years had passed, and somehow he looked even colder than before, even more arrogant, with that unmistakable keep-your-distance aura.
The Blackwell family crisis from back then had long become old news. Under his control, the family had already risen into a sprawling business empire with roots everywhere. Its market value had multiplied so many times over that no one could even count it clearly anymore. Across the world, very few could stand on equal ground with it.
And following just half a step behind him was Serena Ashford, whom she also hadn’t seen in five years.
The black slip dress made Serena’s skin look almost unnaturally pale. Her eyes were faintly red, and she trailed after Nathaniel in silence, looking heartbroken, fragile, and pitiful, like some soft little white rabbit that could be crushed by the wind.
