โจวเหวินซานแห่งหมู่บ้านต้าลี่

Her emaciated body was ruthlessly pinned to the ground, her hands stained with blood.

"Look at you," she heard a voice full of contempt say from above her. "The former most promising up-and-coming lawyer is now nothing but a worthless pile of dirt!"

Serenity Lewis raised her head with great effort and stared at the cold, exquisite face in front of her. Who would have thought that the most popular star in the entertainment industry who was as pure and innocent as white snow in the public's eye could be so vicious in real life?

"Jenny Hall," she spoke with a weak and trembling voice. "Why?"

"Why?" Jenny sneered. Her lips curled up in biting scorn as her sinister eyes glinted. "You killed my sister, and you dare to ask me why?!"

"It wasn't me!" Serenity denied, frantically shaking her head. "I was wrongly accused!"

She laboriously tried to get up on her feet, and her eyes were fixed on the man standing next to Jenny Hall.

That man... was her boyfriend! That was the man who had promised to protect her for the rest of her life!

In the past, he would get distressed for a whole day even when a needle merely pricked her finger, yet now, all he did was watch silently as another woman tortured her.

"Z-Zeke...!"

Serenity shouted with all her might and pleaded, "I beg you... Please believe me..."

Outwardly, he was exactly the same as he always was—dressed in a smart suit and a pair of leather shoes—yet his eyes were icy cold as he stared at her. Gone was all the warmth. The only thing left was cold indifference.

"Zeke," Jenny affectionately grabbed the man's arm. Her ruthless expression changed as she faced him, and she now turned into an innocent woman who had been wronged. "You're not feeling sorry for this woman, are you? I'm only doing this so my sister can rest in peace."

"She brought this upon herself," Zeke replied, gently stroking Jenny's smooth silky hair as he continued, "She's not worth any sympathy. Do whatever you like."

Serenity's eyes widened.

Brought this upon herself?! Ha! This man who used to treasure her as if she was the most precious thing in the world to him had nothing more to say but accuse her of bringing it all onto herself!

Serenity had no idea where she got the strength, but she suddenly broke free from the person pinning her down to the ground and crawled forward, doing anything she could to get closer to the man.

"Zeke, I don't know what actually happened in that car crash... but I wasn't drunk when I was driving, and it was definitely Mira Hall's car... that crashed into my car..."

Crush!

A foot stomped down on the back of her left hand. The pain pierced through her bones, but it was nothing compared to the agony that wrecked her heart.

She looked up strenuously and stared at Zeke, who had just stomped on her. She could never believe that he would ever do such a thing.

Serenity took a deep breath, her voice as raspy as if her throat was filled with sand as she asked, "Have you ever loved me?"

"The thing that I regret the most in my life," Zeke replied in the coldest voice, "is once having you as my girlfriend."

"Crush her hands!" Jenny interrupted. "Just destroy them, Zeke! Those are the hands that killed my sister!"

The next moment, Serenity heard the man's voice reply, "Okay!"

***

"Ah!" Serenity's eyes opened violently, realizing that she had just dreamt about the incident in prison again.

She looked down at her coarse calloused hands. After having spent three years in prison, her hands would never be as smooth and delicate as they used to be anymore. Although the nails on all of her ten fingers had grown back, there were still some lingering effects of the injury on her hands.

In that incident, they had broken all the bones in her fingers, but she was ultimately not crippled because the bones eventually healed. Unfortunately, her joints were now crooked, and she could no longer perform many fine movements very well.

In fact, on a particularly cold or damp day, her fingers would be in excruciating pain. Sometimes the pain was so unbearable that she wished she could cut off her hands just to get rid of the pain.

After that car crash, she had been accused of drunk driving and killing Mira Hall, who was not only the eldest daughter of the wealthy Hall family, but also the fiancee of Solaria's most powerful man, Jackson Valor.

Following that, Serenity's family turned their backs on her, and she had been kicked out of the house. She was then sentenced to three years in prison.

Serenity got up to her feet and picked up the cleaning tools that were lying beside her.

She was wearing fluorescent overalls, a sanitation worker's uniform. Her delicate face was flushed slightly red because of the cold weather. Beneath her almond-shaped eyes were a dainty nose and soft pink lips, and her hair was tied up in a high ponytail.

Based on her appearance alone, many would assume that she was a college student fresh out of high school, but there was no youthful vigor in her eyes like many young people had. Instead, her eyes were dull and grave.

She was supposed to be on the night shift that evening and had just taken a nap in the sanitation station, and she was just about to be late for work.

Just as she was about to leave, she overheard some colleagues scrolling through their phones, reading the news, and saying, "Guys, look! Zeke Shaw and Jenny Hall are getting engaged! What a lucky woman! She's a popular star, she's from a wealthy family, and now she's marrying into another wealthy family!"

Serenity shuddered before hurrying out of the room. Zeke Shaw and Jenny Hall... Those names were like scars of pain carved into her bones.

It was a cold January night, but Serenity still held firmly to the broom in her hands and swept the streets. The joints of her fingers throbbed in pain unceasingly because of the biting cold.

'Just bear with it a little longer and it will be over soon,' she told herself. For a sanitation worker like her, even painkillers had become a luxury now.

As she was working, a Ferrari suddenly came to a screeching halt in front of her, and out came a man and a woman. Serenity quickly paled as she recognized the man.

The man came from a rich family and had tried to molest her in the past, and Serenity had given him hell for it.

"Isn't that the great lawyer, Ms. Lewis?" Travis Dawn mockingly asked.

"What are you doing here sweeping the streets, Miss Hotshot?"

"It would be strange if she was still a lawyer!" said the woman beside him with a snigger.

"Don't you underestimate this lawyer!" replied Travis while leering at Serenity. "Back then, she used to be Zeke Shaw's girlfriend, you know!"

"Have you heard that your ex-boyfriend is going to get engaged with Jenny Hall? How about reconsidering my offer? You know you can get way more money than however much you get sweeping the streets!"

Serenity had no plans to just stand there and take it from him, so she desperately tried to slip away from the man, but Travis managed to grab her arm and pinned her against the wall in the alley.

Seeing that Travis was about to assault her, Serenity kicked him in his lower region and took the chance to slip away while he was still grunting in pain.

Travis was now so enraged that he saw blood. He would never let that woman go! He then got into his Ferrari and chased after her down the street.

By then Serenity had already escaped to the other side of the street, but what struck her as odd was how quiet it was. Usually, the street would be filled with cars and people at this time of day, but right now, there was not even a trace of a soul there.

It was as if... the street had been completely abandoned.

Soon, Serenity had been cornered by the Ferrari. Travis got out of the car and charged straight toward her, but just then, there was the sound of footsteps approaching.

The eerie silence of the night made the sound of the footsteps exceptionally clear.

Subsequently, Serenity saw a tall man approaching. His bangs covered up his eyes, so she could not see what he looked like, and he was wearing an old and shabby-looking shirt.

"Get out of my way!" Travis yelled at the man. "This doesn't concern you!"

The man glanced languidly at Travis. Oddly enough, it made Travis's hair stand on end. That cold icy gaze made Travis feel as if he was nothing but dead meat in the eyes of that man.

Travis spat and then raised his fist as he aimed it at the man's face.

However, the next thing he knew, he was trampled under the man's foot with one side of his face pressed against the pavement. He had ended up in an utterly helpless and incapacitated position.

After that, all Serenity could see was a one-sided attack, where it was obvious that one man had already claimed complete victory over the other.

Meanwhile, in a car that was parked in a hidden corner nearby, Connor Gunn watched on and murmured, "Please don't lose your mind, Mr. Valor!"

Every time Jackson lost control, only God could tell what might happen. There was a possibility that he might even end up killing someone. He remembered seeing Jackson lose control once, and after that... he never expected to see Jackson in that state ever again.

Strangely enough, although the streets had been blocked, somehow those people and that Ferrari had managed to slip through, thus disturbing Mr. Valor's peace.

In truth, Mr. Valor would always block the streets here every year on this day, and he would then put on a shabby old shirt and sit alone in silence. No one knew why he did this, and no one dared to ask, almost as if it was taboo to even bring up the subject. Even Connor, who had been working with Mr. Valor for so many years, had no clue as to why he would do such a thing.

When Connor noticed his boss pulling the slightly rotund man up from the ground and continuing to beat him up, he debated whether he should get out there and stop him.

Just then, he saw the woman who had almost gotten raped suddenly speak up, and he saw his boss... stop beating the man?!