Chapter 5

He didn't even get his hands dirty. He just tilted his head and gave the order to his men.

"Teach her what happens when you hurt someone on Falcone turf."

Two massive mobsters instantly stepped up and kicked me brutally in the stomach!

Thud!

My back slammed hard against the red brick wall. The air was knocked out of my lungs, and I tasted copper.

I slid limply to the ground, coldly watching the man I had dedicated my youth and life to grieving.

He was tenderly using a handkerchief to wipe away Scarlett's non-existent tears, as if I were nothing but a worthless pile of mud.

"Just don't kill her."

Julian's voice had zero warmth. The gentleness that once belonged only to me was now a knife slicing me apart.

I lay paralyzed in the dirty puddles, staring at those ice-cold eyes.

For a moment, the blood-soaked boy who desperately pushed me out of harm's way overlapped with the man in front of me.

A sharp pain pierced my heart.

High heels clicked closer through the puddles.

Scarlett's eyes were red, but a cruel smile hung on her lips.

She walked past the thugs and slapped me as hard as she could, twice across the face.

My head snapped to the side, my ears ringing.

She still wasn't done. That hand wearing a heavy diamond ring swung high again, aiming right for my eyes!

Enough.

I jerked my head up and grabbed her wrist mid-air.

"Ah! Let go of me!" Scarlett screamed.

I didn't give her a chance to break free. I punched her right in the stomach as hard as I could!

Thud!

"Ahhh—" Scarlett let out a shrill scream, curling up on the ground in pain, dry-heaving while clutching her stomach.

"Aurora! Do you have a death wish?!"

Julian exploded in fury.

He marched over, his whole body giving off an oppressive aura. He raised his massive hand, seemingly finally losing patience and ready to teach me a lesson himself.

I didn't dodge.

I stood up straight against his pressure and stared right into his pupils with my bloodshot eyes.

"Hit me!" I roared. "I dare you!"

The eyes that once loved me so deeply clashed violently with his bloodshot stare.

Right at that second.

Julian's raised hand froze in the air.

He flinched violently, his face draining of color. He stared at my eyes, his breathing suddenly turning rapid and painful.

His hand seemed to be held back by invisible chains; it just couldn't fall.

A sudden jolt of pain in his chest made him stumble back half a step.

I sneered, ignored the stunned thugs, and slapped his hand away.

Without another look at those two bastards, I turned around and stumbled out of the alley, dragging my broken body.

I used my last bit of energy to grab my cash for the day.

By the time I got back to my drafty apartment, I didn't even make it to the bed. I crashed onto the floor and passed out cold.

A high fever swallowed me like fire.

My dreams were full of the suffocation of drowning in the icy river, and the coldness on Julian's face when he threw my bags out the window.

A loud email notification ripped me out of my nightmare.

I was dripping in cold sweat, my whole body aching like it had been dismantled.

I grabbed my hot phone by the pillow. It was an urgent email from my law professor.

I opened the attachment.

It was a security video. But it had been maliciously edited. The start and end were cut. No footage of Scarlett burning me with her cigarette. No footage of the mobsters beating me up.

The video only showed me looking like a monster, grabbing Scarlett's wrist, and punching her hard in the gut, dropping her to the floor.

"Aurora! Columbia Law's ethics committee just got this anonymous tip!" My professor's message was frantic and helpless. "There's solid proof of you committing assault. The committee thinks you have severe violent tendencies and fail the Character and Fitness evaluation for future lawyers. They're reviewing your admission!"

"Go apologize! Do whatever it takes, beg Julian to drop the report! Or your future is over!"

The phone slipped from my hand.

Extreme humiliation and rage gnawed at my heart like venomous snakes.

I had finally clawed back my life.

And now I was being dragged through the mud again because of this dirty trick.

I bit the inside of my cheek and swallowed the metallic taste of blood.

I forced myself off the floor, washed my face with cold water, and left the apartment.

Julian's heavily guarded penthouse downtown wasn't completely shut.

I pushed the door open.

On the living room couch, Julian was holding an ice pack, applying it impossibly gently to Scarlett's completely uninjured face.

Hearing footsteps, they both looked up.

"You have the nerve to show up here?" Julian's eyes turned icy, like he was looking at an irredeemable criminal.

I didn't argue. I didn't defend myself. I walked right up to them.

My knees didn't bend; I just looked down at him coldly.

"Drop the report," I said, my voice dead.

The air went dead silent.

Julian's pupils shrank, and his hand holding the ice froze mid-air.

Looking at my pale face, his Adam's apple bobbed hard.

But in the end, he gripped Scarlett's hand back.

"You're finally willing to put away your jealousy and admit you were wrong?" He looked up at me arrogantly. "You bleed until she's satisfied. That's how our world works. As long as she's happy, I'll let you off."

A stone-cold deal.

It completely severed the last ounce of my delusional hope for him.

He didn't deserve my dignity, but he had to give me back my future.

I raised my hand without hesitation.

Slap!

I used all my strength. The cut on my mouth tore open, and blood spilled out.

Slap!

Another hit. My face quickly swelled up, my ears ringing sharply, but I didn't even flinch.

I slapped myself again and again. Blood dripped down my chin.

Julian's breathing got heavier and heavier. He stared hard at those drops of bright red blood.

His chest he heave violently. A panic and agony he didn't even understand boiled in his eyes.

When my hand swung high for the fourth time...

"Enough!"

With an out-of-control roar, Julian lunged forward and grabbed my hand.