Claire frowned, feeling confused by these words.

"I don't know what kind of nonsense you are babbling about, but Julian and I are already divorced. From now on, who he is with has nothing to do with me; please do not disturb my life anymore."

"Divorced? You would divorce him?" Sylvia did not believe it at all and raised a sarcastic smile. "He treated you so badly before, and you were still like a stubborn plaster sticking to him and wouldn't let go. Now you say you are divorced; who would believe it!"

In the midst of their dispute, a figure rushed in.

It was Julian.

He had just stepped off the plane and rushed over as soon as he heard the news, and under his anxiety, his chest erupted in sharp pain.

But for the moment, he couldn't care about that.

He could not let Claire's misunderstanding of him deepen.

"Claire, don't listen to her nonsense. I have completely severed ties with Sylvia. I have already made her pay the price for the things she did to you. If you are still not satisfied, I will cooperate with whatever you want to do..."

Sylvia watched as Julian was so eager to draw a line between them in front of Claire.

Hearing those words, the hatred in her heart grew even stronger, and she shrieked at Julian.

"Julian, if you loved her so much, why did you come to me to perform this play in the first place? You were the one who approached me, and now that you've finished using me, you want to kick me aside. In your eyes, what am I anyway!"

Julian sneered, his eyes full of disgust.

"What are you? Do you need me to repeat everything you did one by one here?"

"Sylvia, I already let you off the hook back then; otherwise, based solely on what you did, I could have sent you to prison."

"Where do you find the audacity now to come here and cause trouble!"

Claire watched this farce coldly.

Their dispute filled her eardrums like noise, making her feel exhausted and annoyed.

"Are you finished? If you want to put on a show, find another place; do not affect my business here."

She ordered the bodyguards to drive them both out.

"Claire..."

Julian wanted to say something more.

He was interrupted by Claire: "Get out, I don't want to see you again".

In the end, he and Sylvia were kicked out together.

...

Only a few days remained until the one-month deadline agreed upon with Meng Po.

Julian looked at the calendar, feeling only a calm despair in his heart.

He already knew the ending.

Perhaps, as Meng Po said, their destiny was exhausted and they were destined to miss each other.

He stopped struggling, stopped forcing things, and calmly began to arrange his affairs.

He brought in Claire’s divorce lawyer, revised the terms in the divorce agreement, and transferred all the assets under his name to her.

Only then did he sign his name on the agreement.

"If she refuses to agree and refuses to take that money, then I will not agree to the divorce."

He was afraid she wouldn't even take his money.

So he could only leave those things to her in this way.

"If she asks for the reason, just say it's what I owe her; consider it as making amends to her."

Although he knew it might still be far from enough, this was all he could give her.

The lawyer looked at Julian’s pale, paper-like complexion and those dead eyes. He also felt a sigh of pity in his heart and finally nodded solemnly.

After handling all this, Julian went to the Candy House.

He only wanted to see her one last time in his final moments, even if it was just a glance from afar.

He stood in the shadows at the street corner opposite the Candy House, looking at the slender figure inside the glass window.

His gaze lingered greedily on her; he wanted to remember her appearance one last time and carve it into his heart.

By 10:00 PM, Claire closed up and left.

Julian was just about to follow when he saw a black van speed up in front of Claire.

Several men dressed like thugs jumped out of the car and directly dragged Claire toward the vehicle.

Julian’s pupils shrank, and he rushed forward, almost by instinct.

"Let her go!"

Chapter 19

But he was one step too late.

The car door closed before his eyes, and the vehicle sped away, leaving him behind in a cloud of dust.

Julian watched helplessly as Claire was taken into the van, his heart nearly stopping.

He clutched his chest, which throbbed with a tearing pain, forcefully suppressing the metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.

While calling the police, he rushed to the roadside and flagged down a car.

"Follow that black van in front, hurry!"

The vehicle finally drove into an abandoned factory, and Julian didn't dare to alert the enemy.

He had the car stop at a distance and snuck inside silently.

The interior of the factory was empty and dilapidated.

Claire was roughly thrown onto the cold concrete floor, the pain slowly bringing her consciousness back.

As she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a pair of high-heeled feet.

Looking up, she met Sylvia’s gaze.

"Sylvia, what on earth are you trying to do?!"

Claire shrank back instinctively, suppressing the fear in her heart to maintain a calm facade.

A strange arc formed on the corners of Sylvia’s lips.

"What am I trying to do? You ask me what I’m trying to do?" Her voice was sharp and piercing, her expression twisted with jealousy and hatred. "I want you to disappear! Why didn't you die back then? You didn't die after jumping into the sea; is your life really that hard to end! Not only did you not die, but you also drove a wedge between Julian and me, making him discard me like trash!"

"Do you know what he did to me after you left? He tied me up, whipped me repeatedly, and then threw me into the basement to fend for myself!"

"He even took those matters to my parents and used them to threaten them, forcing them to the brink of disowning me!"

"I ended up in this state because of you! If it weren't for you, he wouldn't have treated me like this!"

She roared hysterically, her eyes bloodshot and terrifying with fury.

Claire was stunned.

She had always thought Julian’s previous explanations were just excuses, but Sylvia’s hatred at this moment did not seem fake.

Could it be that Julian and Sylvia were really just acting?

But why would he do such a thing?

A vague thought flashed through her mind, but she couldn't grasp it no matter how hard she tried.

Her silence, however, was seen by Sylvia as mockery.

Completely enraged, Sylvia pointed at Claire and screamed sharply, "Since he cares about you so much, I will deliberately destroy you. I want him to taste what it feels like to lose the one he loves."

"If I can't have a good life, none of you will!"

Just as Sylvia was spiraling into madness, a loud collision sounded from outside the factory.

Sylvia was startled and immediately pointed to the thugs.

"Go out and see."

As soon as the thugs left, Sylvia prepared to bring the whip down on Claire.

Suddenly, someone slammed into her violently.

Before she could react, a steel pipe struck the back of her neck hard.

"Ah!"

Sylvia screamed and fell to the ground, finally recognizing the person.

It was Julian.

He rushed to Claire’s side, using a small knife he carried to cut the ropes on her hands and feet.

"Hurry, go."

He pulled her up, wanting to rush toward another exit.

However, it was already too late.

Hearing the commotion, the thugs quickly returned, surrounding them completely.

Sylvia crawled up from the ground, her eyes gleaming with madness as she pointed at them and shrieked.

"Grab them, kill that woman, kill her for me!"

The thugs moved at her command.

In the chaos, someone pulled out a dagger and stabbed straight toward the two of them.

"Be careful."

A blinding silver light flashed before their eyes; Julian, without a second thought, shielded Claire tightly in his arms, using his back to block the incoming blade.

"Ugh..."

The excruciating pain made him groan, his movements freezing.

And this pause gave the other thugs an opening.

Several more stabs plunged deeply into his body.

Warm blood sprayed out instantly, dyeing his clothes red and splashing onto Claire’s face.

"Julian!!"

Chapter 20

Claire screamed, her mind going completely blank.

She tried to push him away, but Julian held her tightly, refusing to let go.

"I am the one she wants to kill, don't worry about me!"

Claire cried out in a mental breakdown, but Julian acted as if he heard nothing, refusing to loosen his grip.