"Julian, I... I didn't mean to."

She instantly shifted her demeanor, her voice turning into a choked, pathetic wail. "I was bullied so terribly when I was a child, I just felt a fierce hatred whenever I saw Serena. As for Christian's side, I was just lacking a sense of security. I wanted to make you jealous, I just wanted you to care about me a little more!"

"Even at a time like this, you are still spinning lies."

Julian's voice was entirely filled with profound disgust.

"I have no interest in listening to your garbage excuses. Tell me, where exactly did Serena go?"

Mandy had not anticipated him suddenly pressing for this information. Realizing something in a flash, an ugly, unyielding resentment flared in her eyes.

She glared at Julian, her voice turning shrill. "Why are you asking about her? Now you suddenly think of looking for her?"

"I asked you where she is."

Julian's brow furrowed tightly, repeating his question with fading patience as the aura surrounding him grew increasingly hostile.

"No wonder you refuse to help me, it turns out you've actually fallen for that bitch." Mandy's features twisted with venomous jealousy. "Is your heart aching now that you see she was tormented by me and driven down a dead end by you? Julian, when you allied with me to deceive her back then, why didn't you consider this day?"

She screamed hysterically, "I will die before I ever tell you where she is!"

The last of Julian's patience was thoroughly incinerated, leaving nothing but a lethal, bone-deep frost in his eyes.

He pointed directly toward the entrance.

"Get out."

"I won't!" Mandy glared at him fixedly. "Who do you think you are to bark orders at me? Even if you go looking for her now, so what? She's already been brought to absolute ruin by you, she will never acknowledge you again!"

"Her address—even if you don't speak, I can dig it up myself."

Julian didn't care to waste another second entangled with her. Reaching out, he clamped his hand firmly around her arm and forcefully dragged her toward the door.

Mandy struggled with all her might, her shrieks piercingly sharp. "Let go of me! Everything I've become is because of that wretched bitch Serena, she deserves a horrific death!"

"Shut up."

Julian hurled her straight out into the hallway, slamming the heavy door shut with a resounding bang.

Mandy's violent weeping, screaming, and cursing erupted immediately from outside the apartment.

"Julian, I hate you! You will regret this! That whore Serena will get her karma sooner or later, none of you will have a good ending!"

The stream of filthy abuse poured in relentlessly through the door. Julian, his brow tightly knit, pulled out his phone and dialed the security office.

"Remove the woman causing a disturbance outside my door immediately, and ensure she is never allowed near this estate again."

Within a few moments, the security guards dragged Mandy away.

As her screeching faded into the distance, Julian, possessing no energy to give her another thought, immediately directed his people to trace Serena's location without a single moment's delay.

He remained awake through the entire night, keeping his eyes glued to his phone.

"Still no news?"

"Sir, we have located her border exit records, but her exact destination is still being verified."

Before the assistant could finish his sentence, a call from the police department suddenly broke through.

"Am I speaking with Mr. Julian Sterling? Ms. Mandy has identified you as her accomplice in using unlawful means to threaten the deceased. You are required to report to the station immediately to cooperate with the investigation."

Julian thinned his lips, feeling no surprise whatsoever in his heart.

He should have realized last night that given Mandy's nature, she would inevitably attempt to drag him down into hell alongside her.

Though this final action thoroughly obliterated the very last shred of history between them.

"Understood, I am on my way."

Hanging up the phone, he casually picked up his jacket from the sofa and drove straight toward the police station.

Inside the interrogation room, Mandy's gaze toward him was laced with lethal venom, looking as though she wished to slice him into pieces.

"If I am going down, you are coming with me!"

Julian's heart remained completely flat, devoid of any ripples, leaving nothing but endless exhaustion and profound regret.

Facing the questioning of the officers, he made no excuses whatsoever, confessing to everything transparently.

"I admit to my involvement in these actions, and I am willing to bear all legal consequences for my behavior."

His tone was entirely serene.

Seeing his cooperative attitude, and after cross-referencing Mandy's testimony with the digital evidence, the officers' expressions softened slightly.

Julian's status was prominent after all, and the Sterling family wielded significant influence within the city. Furthermore, the grandmother's direct cause of death was a myocardial infarction brought on by emotional collapse; the act of drawing blood itself had not caused immediate fatal harm. While the threatening behavior was illegal, the circumstances had not reached the threshold of extreme criminal severity.

Ultimately, he was sentenced to a one-week administrative detention.

Mandy, however, faced an entirely different fate.

Chapter 13

She had not only deliberately sent malicious messages that indirectly caused the elderly woman's death, but was also involved in multiple offenses including intentional harm and defamation. With the evidence absolute, she was ultimately sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.

On the day the final verdict was delivered, Arthur rushed frantically to the police station.

The moment he saw Mandy being led out by the officers, he swung his hand without a single word, striking her face with a violent slap.

Caught entirely off guard, a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Mandy's mouth, her cheek swelling rapidly.

"To think I raised such a monstrous creature!"

Arthur trembled all over with rage, pointing directly at her nose as he bellowed, "Your older sister has already made our family lose all face, and now you go and get involved in a fatal criminal case! What sin did my family commit to have raised two such embarrassing stains, what did we do to deserve this!"

Mandy was completely stunned by the blow, tears instantly flooding her eyes as she clutched her burning cheek and wailed.

"Dad! Save me! I don't want to go to prison! Think of something!"

Arthur turned his face away in profound disgust. "Save you? I don't possess that kind of power! I have already filed for divorce from your mother. From this day forth, neither of you is to ever step foot inside the estate again, stop bringing shame to my name!"

"Dad! Dad, you can't just abandon me!"

Mandy struggled frantically to rush toward him, but she was firmly restrained by the officers.

She snapped her head around to look at Julian, who was standing nearby, screaming desperately, "Julian, I know I was wrong! Help me, please, I will never dare to do it again!"

Julian looked at her utterly wretched state, his eyes completely devoid of any mercy.

"I will not only refuse to help you, but I will ensure you thoroughly enjoy every single bit of these ten years inside. Didn't you love climbing into wealthy circles? Once you come out, I’ll personally arrange a wonderful marriage for you. The groom is exceptionally wealthy—he's just a bit advanced in years, sixty years old exactly, a perfect match for you."

Mandy's wailing ground to a sudden halt, every drop of color draining entirely from her face.

Looking at the absolute finality in Julian's eyes, she knew that this time, she was completely and utterly finished.

During his week in detention, Julian ate very little, barely uttering a single word.

He spent every day sitting against the wall, meticulously retracing every memory regarding Serena.

He remembered the foot of the snow mountain, the way Serena had held him so tightly.

Back then, her entire body had been shivering violently, yet she had transferred every ounce of her warmth into his cold skin, her face pressed against his while her eyes overflowed with profound worry.

He had actually been conscious at the time, deliberately faking his swoon, thinking only that this pure, proud flower had finally been tamed by his hands.

And inside her study, the way she looked when he forced her into a kiss—clearly so defensive and rigid with shyness, yet still slightly tilting her head up to follow his movements, looking exactly like a startled little rabbit.

Previously, he had always assumed his fixation on Serena was merely his conquest drive at work, born of finding her amusing and uniquely special.

But now, all those details he had casually disregarded surged back with absolute clarity.

He would instinctively remember her aversion to cilantro; he would unconsciously soften his movements whenever she was reading; he would feel an inexplicable wave of chaotic irritation whenever Arthur berated her.

Upon seeing her reputation shattered after the avalanche, his immediate impulse to rush to her estate and kneel had not merely been for the execution of a strategy—even he himself hadn't understood why he had been so reckless.