An absolute, paralyzing chill invaded my entire body.

Under normal circumstances, Sera completely abstained from consuming alcoholic beverages.

Furthermore, provided she retained even a microscopic shred of conscious sobriety, she would flatly never permit Chloe to escort her anywhere solo.

I exerted a monumental amount of raw willpower to completely stabilize my visibly trembling fingers.

"Christian, if you still harbor even a shred of genuine regard for Sera as your sister, you will immediately place a call to Chloe's device this exact second. Maintain a perfectly serene, casual vocal register to inquire regarding their current location, and clarify if she has successfully delivered Sera to her destination."

"Commit this to memory: your vocal register must remain perfectly serene."

He presumably detected the underlying emergency laced through my directives.

"Clara, what on earth are you attempting to imply?"

I delivered a rapid, razor-sharp explanation:

"Chloe has possessed full knowledge regarding the reality that Lawrence is Sera's boyfriend for quite some time, yet she still maliciously manipulated your father into escorting her to attend a dinner alongside Director Lawrence and his son. Her ultimate agenda was to launch an assault to plunder Lawrence for herself."

"Yet Sera refused to yield even a single inch, choosing to march Lawrence straight back into the C family mansion to explicitly weaponize his identity in front of everyone."

"Chloe completely failed to secure her objective, and was subjected to Sera launching a head-on, merciless confrontation that stripped away every ounce of her face."

"Chloe is your biological sister; you comprehend her fundamental psychological profile better than anyone on this earth."

"Sera completely abstains from alcohol under normal circumstances, so why on earth would she suddenly consume it within your family household tonight? Why on earth would Chloe suddenly transform into a benevolent saint willing to escort her home when she blatantly loathes Sera's very existence?"

"If the catastrophic nightmare that materialized seven years ago at the Queen Lounge repeats itself this evening, Christian, you will be transformed into an absolute criminal right alongside her."

The speaker fell entirely silent, and the line was disconnected a moment later.

I lifted my personal smartphone back to my ear.

The continuous, roaring symphony of wind currents continued to leak through the speaker.

Chloe was presumably still actively operating the motor vehicle.

Suddenly, the vehicle's integrated speakerphone system chimed with an incoming digital link, causing my nerves to tighten to an absolute fracture point.

"Brother Zhou, I am currently navigating along Zhijiang Road, barely ten minutes removed from the entrance of the Sky Lounge. A brief moment from now, I will deposit this woman directly onto one of the private booth sofas. You are perfectly free to transport her upstairs to secure a hotel room, or simply utilize the restroom facilities."

"Ensure you capture detailed photographic evidence for my eyes—video footage would be even more magnificent. I harbor an intense desire to evaluate if Director Lawrence will still willingly accept such a thoroughly shameless, defiled individual as his future daughter-in-law after tonight concludes."

I clenched my fingers around the frame of my smartphone with white-knuckled intensity.

The current incarnation of Chloe, when evaluated against her framework from seven years ago, had degenerated into something completely brainless, monstrous, and utterly past the point of redemption.

Sky Lounge?

I spun around with explosive velocity, colliding head-on into Julian's chest.

"What on earth is unfolding?" Detecting the sheer, unadulterated panic anchoring my features, he instantly reached out to steady my form.

"Sera is in catastrophic danger. We must proceed to the Sky Lounge at breakneck speed."

35

Barely twenty minutes elapsed before Julian and I materialized within the borders of the lounge establishment.

Julian smoothly retrieved a massive stack of cold hard cash, instantly tracking down the active lounge manager.

The manager rapidly evaluated the facility's live surveillance feeds, swiftly securing the exact room designation where Sera was being held.

The exact instant the suite door was violently thrown open, a man was caught completely naked, actively calibrating a video recording lens.

Sera was splayed across the mattress, locked in an absolute state of unconsciousness.

"What the hell? Who the hell are you people? Who gave you permission to march in here? Get the hell out of my room!"

Catching sight of a massive cohort of individuals abruptly invading his space, the man frantically scrambled to wrap a bath towel around his frame, screaming at the top of his lungs.

I trained my eyes to evaluate the scrawny, dark, and emaciated male standing before my frame.

A sudden flash of memory pierced through my brain.

This exact individual was none other than that specific street thug from seven years ago.

36

Ultimately, the street thug was once more escorted away in handcuffs by the municipal police forces.

Sera was immediately transported to the hospital emergency wing.

Following a comprehensive series of medical evaluations conducted by the attending physicians, aside from a handful of minor contusions scattered across her arms and legs, there were zero anatomical indicators of sexual assault.

The primary catalyst forcing Sera into her prolonged state of unconsciousness was determined to be a significant dosage of a chemical sedative.

Absorbing the medical assessment, the crushing weight that had been pinning down my chest finally evaporated into thin air.

The hours ticked away until the deep twilight of early morning, right as the first rays of dawn were preparing to break.

I blinked my hazy, exhausted eyes open.

Only to discover that Sera had already regained consciousness.

She was currently leaning against her pillows, rapidly typing out digital text messages on her device.

"You're awake?"

Catching sight of my movement, a soft, comforting smile bloomed across Sera's lips.

"Yeah."

"How are you feeling inside? Do you perceive any physical discomfort anywhere?"

"The exact instant my consciousness returned, my head was spinning with mild vertigo, but the sensation has completely cleared up by now."

I let out a massive sigh of relief.

Sera smoothly pivoted the conversation to check on my condition instead:

"What about you? Is your stomach rumbling with hunger? Julian departed a short while ago to secure breakfast for us. Auntie Zhang prepared a pot of slow-simmered congee at home, alongside a fresh batch of steamed soup dumplings."

I shook my head, training a deeply worried, scanning gaze across her frame.

"I'm not hungry. Are you... truly holding up okay emotionally?"

Sera offered a gentle smile, extending a hand toward my position.

I glided over to the edge of the mattress.

She wrapped her arms securely around my waist, pulling my frame into a tight, unyielding embrace before lightly wrinkling her nose.

She murmured softly:

"What could possibly be wrong with me? The medical staff explicitly clarified that absolute thin air had occurred before your arrival. Your intervention alongside Julian materialized at the perfect second."

"Clara, thank you. You have stepped forward to preserve my existence yet again."

I returned her embrace, delivering a series of gentle, soothing pats against her back.

"Why on earth are you vocalizing such statements? The reality stems entirely from your own brilliant sharpness, knowing to initiate that digital call to my device. Otherwise..."

Both of us dissolved into a quiet, heavy silence, allowing our words to trail off.

A significant block of time drifted past.

"What do you intend to execute regarding the legal fallout moving forward? In regards to the street thug, Julian explicitly clarified that weaponizing our legal resources to have him locked behind bars for another solid two years will be completely effortless. As for Chloe..."

Sera's vocal register shifted into something remarkably relaxed, peaceful, and detached:

"Clara, I possess absolutely zero desire to pursue legal accountability targeting Chloe."

"Because even if I elect to initiate formal legal proceedings, my parents will inevitably march to my doorstep to beg and scream for mercy. Consequently, I simply refuse to waste a single ounce of mental energy navigating that circus."

"Navigating this entire catastrophe has completely burned away whatever microscopic shred of familial destiny I shared with the C family. From this milestone forward, the probability of me ever stepping foot inside that mansion again is virtually zero."

"I have completely figured things out now. The absolute premium methodology to exact revenge upon an individual is to systematically indulge and enable their fatal character flaws."

"With a psychological profile like Chloe's, it is merely a matter of time before she orchestrates an absolute, catastrophic disaster for her own head. There is completely zero requirement for me to soil my own hands."

Analyzing Sera's words, her logic appeared to hold a profound degree of validity.

Furthermore.

Every single individual possessed their own customized version of ideological truths, and external forces genuinely retained zero authority to interfere with those definitions.

By afternoon, following the successful completion of processing Sera's official hospital discharge documentation.

I returned to our residence to wash away the grime of the ordeal before collapsing onto my mattress, logging a massive, uninterrupted block of sleep that consumed the entire afternoon.

Right up until the sharp chime of an incoming call shattered the silence.