"The car accident was never an accident," Ethan’s voice pierced my heart, and the sharp vines of pain grew in my chest, twisting with every word: "It was just Sophie’s way of teaching you a lesson, but she didn’t expect your brother would risk his life for you."
"Who’s to blame?"
"Blame yourself."
I went mad, trying to rush off the plane, wanting to return to Seaside City, but I realized the cabin was already filled with Sophie’s eyes watching me.
I couldn't escape the plane, I couldn't return to Seaside City.
I spent five years abroad.
Five long years.
I watched those vines grow into a towering tree, and with every breath I took, the pain nearly suffocated me. I didn’t expect the signature to be a lie as well. I wanted to rush at Sophie James, but I was pinned to the ground by bodyguards, helplessly watching as Sophie hugged Ethan King and left.
I screamed in madness.
"Sophie!"
"I’ll make you pay!"
"Sophie! I will kill you!"
"I will kill you!"
Countless bystanders laughed and mocked: "He’s just a madman! Who doesn’t know that in Seaside City, Miss James calls the shots!"
"I heard about that incident," one person whispered. "They say Miss James took care of Liam Carter’s brother in the harshest way—grinding him to dust after he crossed her. Ethan even did a live stream about it."
My head rang with a buzz.
I heard someone say,
"Wow, grinding him to dust? So ruthless?"
"Otherwise, what? Miss James said, whoever made Ethan unhappy, she’d make them a hundred times more miserable, even if it’s her own husband."
"But Miss James made her fortune thanks to her ex-husband, didn’t she?"
The voices grew fainter.
Heavy rain poured down.
I was drenched in the downpour, as though the world itself had turned into a storm. The mocking words—grinding to dust, the live stream—looped in my phone, and Ethan's voice from five years ago echoed.
"I don’t want Sophie to love me this much, but Sophie said, anyone who crosses her will pay ten times more."
The box with my brother’s ashes was easily opened.
I hoarsely screamed, "No!"
But no one heard.
I had no choice but to watch as the box was cruelly opened, and Sophie James tossed a handful of ashes into the air. It felt like my brother’s warmth, the warmth replacing the cold rain, giving me a painful sense of warmth.
"No!"
I screamed, madly, "Please, don’t do this to my brother!"
The ringtone yanked me back to reality, and through my tears, I cried to the person on the other end, "I will have my revenge! I will make Sophie pay! I want Ethan dead! I want them both dead!"
Ethan, however, wasn’t really badly hurt. He was just pretending to be weak, wanting Sophie’s attention. He looked at her, not caring about his own wounds, just to stay with her, and smiled.
"Sophie."
"After this is over, let’s get married, okay?"
Even after five years.
Sophie lavished him with all her love, but she wouldn’t give him a formal title. No matter how much he begged, he could never get that recognition.
He held Sophie’s hand.
"I don’t want to miss this."
"Sophie," Ethan’s voice cracked, "I just want the right to stand by your side officially."
Ethan acted like a bird in her arms, softening Sophie’s heart. Before she could reply, I kicked open the hospital room door.
Covered in blood, dirt staining my clothes, and the knife in my hand, I met Sophie’s stunned face as I heard her speak.
"You really won’t die—"
My heart couldn’t finish speaking.
