She hardly dared to look straight into those eyes, and murmured with downcast gaze, "I’m a bit thirsty, going to get some water." With those words, she quickly ran into the bathroom. Ning Qinghuan murmured, "Why is she acting so jittery." Ning Zihuan sat on the sofa on the balcony, flipping through a financial magazine, but his thoughts gradually drifted away. Looking up at the moon in the sky, he supported his cheek with one hand and sighed. Suddenly, he thought back to a time long, long ago, to those most difficult and desperate days, when he had become numb. It was the sudden arrival of that girl, like the sun, that lit up his gloomy world. He would always remember the warmth of her palm, her bright and warm eyes, and the curve of her smile when she called his name. Since then, she had taken root in the depths of his heart like a seed – slowly growing, sprouting, until it became a towering tree, dense and all-encompassing, blotting out the sky. He didn’t understand love, nor did he know how to chase a girl. All he wanted was to protect her in his own way, to protect the one glimmer of light in his dark life. He wouldn’t allow anyone to defile her, not even his own father. It was at this moment a piercing scream suddenly rang out, so sorrowful and desperate, that the entire villa heard it. His lips curled slightly as he stood up leisurely and walked toward the door. A few servants gathered at the entrance, none daring to enter, while the butler ran out from inside, covered in blood, yelling at one of them, "What are you standing there for? Call 120 immediately." "What happened?" Ning Zihuan walked over in a leisurely manner. The butler rushed to him as if seeing a savior and approached quickly to say, "Something terrible has happened to the Third Young Master, please go see for yourself, the old master, he..." he hesitated, then let out a long sigh. Ning Zihuan entered and saw the bed in disarray. Ning Qinghuan lay there completely naked, her body beneath already a bloodied mess, the sight of which made one’s lower body unconsciously turn cold. Curling into a ball, Ning Qinghuan was still screaming in pain, sweat dripping from her forehead, signaling her critical condition. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel✦fire.net Huang Yue kneeled on the ground, disheveled and in disarray, with a blood-covered dagger lying at her feet. Just then, Ning Qinghuan suddenly sprung up from the bed, leapt down, and lunged for Huang Yue’s throat with both hands, "You wretch, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you..." Caught off guard by her sudden attack, Huang Yue gasped for air as her hands and feet flailed in desperation. "No... it wasn’t me, it was..." Huang Yue’s gaze struggled to Ning Zihuan, and in that instant, she saw a deep and intense murderous intent in his eyes. The realization struck her like a jolt. If she spoke the truth, she probably would face an even more horrific death. In that moment of distraction, the butler quickly stepped in to separate them. Ning Qinghuan was about to curse when her eyes rolled back, and she fainted. "Third Young Master... please, save me," Huang Yue threw herself at Ning Zihuan’s legs, only to be kicked away by him, "Take her to the police station, deal with it as you should," Ning Zihuan instructed coldly. "You can’t do this to me, it was clearly you..." As Ning Zihuan’s freezing gaze silenced her, Huang Yue’s subsequent words choked in her throat. She fell to the floor, having provoked what kind of devil. She had a foreboding feeling – she was finished. The police and paramedics arrived simultaneously. Ning Qinghuan was taken away by the ambulance, and after police surveyed the scene and determined Huang Yue had intentionally caused harm, she was taken away as a criminal suspect. As Huang Yue was handcuffed and led away by the police, she glanced back at Ning Zihuan, her eyes clearly pleading for help. However, she soon despaired. In that moment, her heart filled with an anger of being deceived—after doing exactly as he demanded, why was he now abandoning her? Quickly, under his cold and warning gaze, she realized a grim fact: she had been used and cast aside without a second thought. If she revealed the truth, he would have countless ways to make her suffer even more. Why did she become infatuated with such a devil? Now full of regret but with no way to turn back, she faced the unsympathetic punishment of the law. Peace returned to the villa. The butler glanced at that tall silhouette and tentatively approached to ask, "Third Young Master..." "Clean up the room, and go to rest if you need to, it’s all over," he said. "But what about the old master..." The butler still appeared worried.