Chapter 1

The scenery along the way was both strange and familiar. Icy rain, like beans, fell from the sky, blurring the car window. Vanessa Brooks looked out, both apprehensive and curious.

So much had changed, including her.

Three years had passed. The face reflected in the car window was no longer full and round. The baby fat was gone, and coupled with years of barely surviving, Vanessa didn't have an ounce of extra flesh on her face. Her face was a slender, delicate oval, her eyebrows thin and curved. Years of malnutrition had given her skin a sallow complexion, and her nose was dotted with freckles.

"How have you been these past few years?" The man in the seat beside her was shrouded in shadow, gently stroking the button on his shirt, his tone more like that of an interrogator questioning a prisoner.

Vanessa's dry, yellowed hair, the frostbite on her earlobes, and her cheap clothing all testified to how badly she had fared.

Her hand fell, picking at the small fuzz balls on the cuff of her old sweater. Hesitantly, she said, "Fine."

"I suppose," Adrian Voss sighed, "You're still alive, after all. Some people died because of you."

"...I'm sorry."

If those people saw her miserable state now, they would probably secretly think she deserved it, that she had brought it upon herself. She should have known better than to provoke that vengeful man.

She had also caused the death of the woman he loved most. Otherwise, why would she have been banished and fallen into such a wretched state?

The car stopped outside the Voss family's old mansion.

The driver held up an umbrella and opened the door, escorting Vanessa under its shelter. Adrian walked ahead, one hand buried in his pants pocket, striding directly into the Voss family's gate.

Vanessa followed Adrian cautiously. She was familiar with the air, the bricks and tiles, the flowers and plants here. This was the place where she had lived for nineteen years. Walking in again felt like a lifetime ago.

The rain continued, drumming noisily on the umbrella, mingled with the heavy sound of footsteps.

Vanessa kept her head down, unaware.

Suddenly, Adrian stopped ahead. "Julian."

Julian Frost held a black umbrella. His smile was there, but his eyes were indifferent and distant. Since the incident three years ago, he had become so taciturn. He simply "Mmm"ed, his gaze passing over Adrian.

Hearing this name again, Vanessa thought she would be agitated, eager to catch a glimpse of him. But none of that happened.

Not even a hint of nervousness surfaced.

So this was what it was like after your heart had turned to ashes, so calm. Her mind had already relaxed, but then she was swept by that almost imperceptible cold gaze.

It was Julian.

In the misty rain, one was refined and noble, the other handsome and somber. In terms of family background, appearance, talent, and character, they were evenly matched. Since childhood, they had been close friends, and wherever they went, they were like a striking painting.

In the past, one was her brother, the other was the man she was obsessed with.

Now, they were both her enemies.

Her hand weakened, and the umbrella tilted slightly. Hidden beneath it, Vanessa, out of politeness, still addressed him, "Mr. Frost."

When she was surnamed Voss, she would never have called Julian that. "Mr. Frost" created a distance of a thousand mountains and rivers, no longer the sweet "Julian" she had once called him, one after another.

"When did you come back?" Julian's question was devoid of warmth, mixed with the rain, chilling to the bone.

Adrian said with some amusement, "The family heard that her biological father had accidentally fallen into the river and died, so they brought her back. What a disaster to bring back. I wonder who else she'll kill this time to be satisfied."

He glanced at Julian and laughed, "You have to be careful, be careful not to get entangled again."

In the past, Vanessa had indeed pursued Julian relentlessly, finding out his preferences, collecting the cigarettes he had touched, creating countless opportunities for chance encounters, all in order to get closer to him.

Everyone in the circle knew that she liked Julian, and they also knew that Julian loathed her.

Otherwise, after her background was exposed, he wouldn't have only refused to help her but also used various means to almost kill her.

If Adrian was the second person who hated her the most, Julian was the first. His sinister gaze was as sharp as a knife, piercing through the umbrella, as if to flay Vanessa alive. "Really? She dares?"