Chapter 4

The cellar was cold and damp.

I was still recovering, and the wound in my back was bleeding.

After only three hours, I lost consciousness and fell into a feverish delirium.

In the haze, I was fifteen again.

My parents were dead, and my relatives were circling like vultures, trying to carve up my inheritance.

Then Hudson, twenty-three at the time, appeared like a god.

He stood in front of me, his voice steady and strong. "Don't be afraid. I'll always protect you."

Burning with fever, I mumbled in my sleep, "Liar... you lied. You don't protect me anymore..."

A cool hand gently wiped the tears from my eyes.

Hearing my words, the hand froze.

A heavy, suppressed sigh echoed in the darkness, and then the sound of footsteps faded away.

Two days later, I woke up in my own bed.

The blood-stained dress was gone, replaced with something clean and comfortable.

The wound on my back had been stitched up again, with no sign it had ever been torn open.

【Don't be sad, Liriel! Hudson cares about you! He canceled a hundred-million-dollar arms deal to rush back and be with you!】

【He hired the best surgeon in New York to give you the finest cosmetic stitches so you won't have a scar!】

I looked at the glowing words, a ridiculous flicker of hope in my heart.

Was it really him?

Just then, I heard a car engine cut out downstairs.

I threw off the covers and, despite my weakness, went downstairs.

I had to see him. I had to ask him if he finally believed I hadn't sent those women after Bianca.

But as I reached the living room, I was met with a pair of dark, furious eyes.

Hudson strode toward me and grabbed my arm.

The force was enough to crush bone.

"Liriel, how far are you going to take this madness?!" he demanded through gritted teeth.

I was stunned. "What are you talking about?"

"Still playing dumb?" Hudson sneered. "Don't lie to me. Did you use my name to get Bianca fired from her internship? You had her publicly humiliated, she had a breakdown, and she fell down a flight of stairs!"

My face went pale. I shook my head.

"I didn't! I don't even know where she works!"

"Who else hates her enough to do something like this?!" Hudson wouldn't listen.

The injustice of it all ignited my anger.

I lifted my chin defiantly, meeting his mocking gaze.

"Hudson, you underestimate me," I said, trembling with rage, my nails digging into my palms until they bled. "If I really wanted her gone, I would have run her out of New York so she could never come back. You think I'd waste my time with these childish games?!"

The raw determination in my eyes made him hesitate for a second.

Just then, his phone rang.

It was a voice message from Bianca.

He played it in the silent living room.

Bianca's weak, pitiful voice filled the air:

"Hudson, don't blame Liriel... She's young, she doesn't know better. I was just a little scared, it's not a big deal. It's my fault, really. If I had just agreed to leave when Liriel first told me to, she wouldn't have resorted to such extreme measures. It's all my fault..."

Her words sealed my "guilt."

Hudson's face turned to ice.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with nothing but cold disappointment.

"Liriel, you've disappointed me more than I can say. You have no remorse."

He let go of my arm, his authority as the Don returning.

"Since you used the Volkov family's power to ruin Bianca's job, I'm taking away your power to be reckless."

He turned to face all the men in the hall, his lips parting to deliver a cold, hard sentence: "Put the word out. From this day on, Liriel has nothing to do with the Volkov Family."