4
Ethan’s arrival meant that my five-year-long nightmare was finally over.
“Young miss?” Lucas, still sprawled on the ground clutching his chest, his expression morphing from shock to a ridiculous sneer.
“What did you call her? Young miss? She’s nothing but a stray I picked up from the
streets…”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence.
Ethan slowly stood up. He didn’t even glance at Lucas, just coldly uttered one word to the bodyguards behind him: “Leg.”
Two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, lifting Lucas as easily as if he were a
chicken.
One of them grabbed the foot he had used to step on me and twisted it hard.
Crack!
A crisp sound of bone breaking, accompanied by Lucas’s pig-like shriek, echoed through the entire mansion’s courtyard.
“Ahh-! My leg! My leg is broken!”
Yvette was scared out of her wits. She screamed and collapsed to the ground, trying to crawl away, but was blocked by another bodyguard.
<
Only then did Ethan turn his gaze to Lucas, looking at him as if he were a dead object.
“The heiress of the Ruan family isn’t something trash like you can touch.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a chilling authority. “This is just a small interest
payment.”
“Lucas Lin, five years ago, you fraudulently took the amnesiac Ruan heiress from the hospital after her car accident and forged her identity information.”
“You illegally confined her here for five years. During this time, you took advantage of her trust to transfer assets under her name, totaling…”
“1
The astronomical figure Ethan quoted made Lucas’s breath catch in his throat.
“You… you’re talking nonsense! I don’t know anything about any Ruan family!” His voice trembled, his face as pale as paper.
“You don’t know?” The pressure around Ethan intensified.
“The Ruan family of Cloud City, as wealthy as a small country.”
“Lucas Lin, didn’t you meticulously plan to get close to the young miss just to take revenge on Chairman Ruan for sending your fraudster father to prison years ago?”
This last sentence was like a bomb, exploding in Lucas’s mind.
He stared in utter disbelief.
I slowly stood up, leaning on Ethan’s hand.
The suit jacket he had draped over me, with its clean, pleasant scent and comforting warmth, shielded me from this dirty world.
I walked step by step to stand in front of Lucas.
Looking at his lost, bloodless face, I felt no satisfaction, only endless coldness.
11:24 Thu, 10 Jul
<
“Lucas Lin,” I spoke, my voice terrifyingly calm, “Didn’t you ask who would be nothing
without whom?”
“Now, I’ll give you the answer.”
“I’ll make you beg for life but not get it, and beg for death but not find it.”
With that, I no longer paid any attention to Lucas wailing on the ground, allowing Ethan to
bend down and lift me into his arms.
His embrace was warm and solid, shutting out all the filth and clamor of the outside
world.
“Young miss, let’s go home.” He looked down at me, his voice so gentle it could melt.
I leaned against his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat. All the grievances, pain, and
resentment of these five years finally found an outlet at this moment.
I closed my eyes, letting my tears fall silently.
Returning to the familiar Ruan family estate, lights blazed everywhere.
My parents were already waiting at the door.
Seeing me carried out of the car, my mother, Sophia Ye, could no longer hold back. She
rushed over and hugged me tightly, crying uncontrollably.
“My Aria… my daughter… you’re finally back… Mom looked for you so desperately…”
Although my father, Richard Ruan, was trying to hold it together, his red-rimmed eyes and trembling hands betrayed his inner turmoil.
