He remembered the year he finally found her again; her fear was no less than his.

She was afraid his mother would drive her away again, afraid her parents' graves would truly be desecrated, afraid of losing him a second time.

She used to grip his hand tightly in her sleep, crying and begging him not to make her go.

But now, all of that felt like a lifetime ago.

Julian kept his head lowered as tears fell for a long time. When he finally looked up, he swallowed hard, his voice trembling with a sob he couldn't suppress.

"Can I... can I keep the ID without it being clipped? I want to take it home."

This man, who was a titan in the business world, was now begging a junior officer with a humble, broken voice.

When he left the station, he was still in a daze.

Just outside the gates, a friend stopped him.

"Julian, we collected a bit of ashes from the site. It’s only a little, but I thought I should give them to you."

Looking at the thin layer of ashes at the bottom of the sealed bag, Julian’s eyes, already raw from crying, burned again.

His Lydia—he had always wanted her to gain a little weight.

And now that she was gone, there was only this tiny bit of her left.

He took it with trembling hands and whispered a thank you. As he turned to leave, his friend called out again.

"I also found some other things. I didn't expect that even though you loved her so much, there would be... forget it. Take this and look for yourself. What you do next is up to you."

Chapter 14

Julian took the USB drive with a confused look, not understanding the implication.

Before he could ask, his friend was called away. He could only take the drive and get into the car.

As soon as he sat down, his phone rang. It was Sienna.

He answered with exhaustion. Sienna’s sugary voice came through the line.

"Julian, where are you? I woke up and didn't see you. You didn't reply to my messages. Do you really think I'm a burden? Or did Lydia say something about me again? I know I used to..."

"Enough," Julian interrupted coldly.

For some reason, the voice he used to find soothing now sounded like grating noise.

He felt, perhaps mistakenly, a hint of manipulation in her words.

But he dismissed it the next second. Sienna had always been innocent; she wouldn't do such things.

She didn't know Lydia was gone; bringing her up was likely just an unintentional mistake.

The other end went silent for a second before a few aggrieved sobs came through. "Fine, I understand."

Hearing her cry, Julian softened his tone slightly.

"Stop crying. I'll see you tomorrow."

He hung up before she could respond.

Back at home, Julian remained in a state of shock.

Seeing traces of Lydia everywhere in the house brought waves of bitter sorrow.

Everything was exactly as it had been the day he sent her to the Scarlet Club.

Julian slapped himself across the face, a sharp sound that immediately caused blood to well up in his mouth.

If he hadn't been so angry, if he hadn't sent her to that place, their last moment wouldn't have been in a hospital.

Even if she had hurt Sienna, couldn't he have just lectured her? Why did he have to send her away!

Julian would never forget the sight of Lydia being brought to the hospital, covered in blood.

That day, he thought he was going to lose her again, but luckily it only took a few stitches.

But now, she was truly, finally gone.

The police said the explosion was caused by a fuel leak—a freak accident.

That meant he didn't even have anyone to seek revenge against.

He lay on the bedroom bed, clutching the bag of ashes.

The sound of the explosion still echoed in his ears. He didn't dare imagine how much pain his Lydia must have been in.

She was so afraid of pain; she would shiver just getting an injection.

An explosion was a thousand, ten thousand times worse than a needle.

He could picture her despair and terror when the car overturned.

If he could, he would rather have died in her place.

"Lydia, should I come and be with you?"

The house that once felt too small now felt as vast and empty as the entire planet.

No one answered him; there was only the sound of his own labored breathing.

Julian felt mentally exhausted, yet he tossed and turned half the night without sleeping.

When he finally drifted off, he had a nightmare where Lydia was in his arms one moment and blown to pieces the next.

He jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

The ashes had slipped from his hand and lay cold beside him.

He scrambled to pick them up, cradling them to his chest as if they really were her.

He couldn't sleep anymore. He suddenly remembered the USB drive his friend had given him.

He hadn't understood the meaning last night, but perhaps watching it would explain.

But as he began to look through the files, he froze on the sofa like an ice sculpture.

His fingers trembled as he scrolled, his face darkening with every new piece of information.

By the time he reached the end, his eyes were full of rage and his hands were shaking violently.

After the last page, Julian collapsed, sinking powerlessly into the sofa.

She had known everything all along. She had suffered so much in the corners he hadn't seen.

He had wondered why she was on New Street Road when it was in the opposite direction of the house.

It turned out she went there to buy his favorite candied haws, wanting to cheer him up.

Who would have known she would end up in a leaking car? Even in her final moments, she only wanted him to stop being angry.

It was all his fault. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be dead!

Even when he first heard of her death, he hadn't felt this much agony.

He pressed his hands over his eyes, but the tears flowed relentlessly.

His body convulsed with a pain that reached his very marrow.

As the tears fell, he began to laugh like a madman.

Finally, he spat out two words through gritted teeth: "Sienna!"

Chapter 15

Last night, he hadn't understood what his friend had found that made him hesitate to speak.

He hadn't understood the deep, meaningful look in his friend's eyes.

Now, having seen the contents of the USB drive, he understood everything.

The second half of that unspoken sentence was about Sienna.

From the day he met her, Julian had heard her tell stories about how tragic her childhood was.

He had done everything he could to give her the best life.

He paid off her debts, signed her up for classes, and took on the responsibility of a father the moment she claimed she was pregnant.

But he never imagined that the person who acted like a kind, bright little sun in front of him was actually a rat in the gutter!

He had told her many times to behave and that Lydia was his wife for life.

He didn't expect that while she agreed to his face, she was sending intimate photos behind his back to provoke Lydia.

Lydia hadn't lied. She hadn't done those things, and she hadn't said those words.

The fireworks incident that day was staged by Sienna. She intentionally bought low-quality fireworks, knocked them over, and faked a faint.

Even the placement of the fireworks was carefully designed to target Lydia.

Yet that day, he only thought about getting Sienna out, leaving Lydia alone in the fire.

He was so blind he didn't see her injured eyes, leaving her to fall down the stairs alone while hurt.

And then he blamed her, saying she had changed.

He was the one who changed. He was the one who was blind, betraying all her sincerity!

The incident with Mr. Reynolds was also a self-directed play. Lydia was never so jealous that she would send her to another man's bed.

It was Sienna who approached him herself, and then conspired with him to frame Lydia.

She and Reynolds had been involved in secret for a long time; only Julian was stupid enough to think she had been victimized.

And to "avenge" her, he had sent Lydia to the Scarlet Club!

He remembered that he had clearly instructed the people at the Scarlet Club not to mistreat her.

He only wanted them to give her poor food and clothes to scare her into behaving.

But when Lydia was brought to the hospital, she was covered in wounds, and the scar on her collarbone was hauntingly visible.

When he questioned the manager of the club, the answer he got was: