Chapter 3

I stared at Scarlett, utterly disbelieving.

It was *her* who had muscled in on someone else's territory, leading to our child and her being ambushed. I had stormed into enemy territory, disregarding all danger, to take down their leader, saving her but losing our child in the process.

It was *her* who, afterwards, knelt before me, slapping herself 99 times, crying and kowtowing.

"Adrian!"

Her face was swollen from the blows, blood mixed with nosebleed smeared all over, her voice thick with sobs.

"If I, Scarlett, ever betray you in this life! May I be struck down by lightning!"

"I, Scarlett!"

"Will be Adrian's loyal dog!"

Scarlett's vows still echoed in my ears. She had ordered all news to be suppressed, forbidding anyone from discussing our child, understanding it was my forbidden topic. We had a silent agreement, yet we both still prayed for the child.

And now.

I looked at Scarlett's face, released Leo, and watched as she visibly relaxed, her tone softening slightly.

"Adrian, your temper is—"

I plunged a dagger into Scarlett's brow bone, and smiled.

"Scarlett, those who betray a true heart must swallow a thousand needles. This is the first!"

The dagger pierced her flesh, then pulled free.

Blood splattered across my face. I watched the medal on Scarlett's brow vanish, replaced by raw, gruesome flesh. I curved a mocking smile, but Leo violently shoved me.

I staggered backward. When I looked up, I met Leo's hateful eyes.

"How dare you hurt her?"

The next second.

I walked toward Leo, raised my hand, and punched him squarely in the face. "If you actually had any guts, you wouldn't just be a kept man."

"Either impress me," I grabbed Leo's hair, kicking him in the knee until he dropped to his knees, looking up at me, "and make Scarlett divorce me, then become her next husband."

"Or," I bent down, leaning close to Leo, a smile spreading across my face, "just wait for the day I destroy you."

Leo's eyes were red from crying, his body trembling like a cornered rabbit, but his gaze remained defiant.

"If you've got the guts, just kill me!"

"If you don't kill me, I'll never leave Scarlett!" Leo's tears caught the light of the setting sun. "I'll be with Scarlett forever."

I froze.

I remembered that year, when I was sixteen, my father was ambushed and fell into the sea. My mother gave her life to protect me, pushing me to shore. The sunset was stained crimson with blood. It was Scarlett who waited on the shore, with the fearless courage of a young girl, forging a path through hell for me to survive.

It was Scarlett, with the scar above her brow a badge of courage, and the gruesome wound on her back, who had crashed directly into my heart, shouting:

"Young Master!"

"Run!"

I was terrified, but I still rushed headfirst into that sea of blood, fighting alongside Scarlett until today.

Scarlett shoved me away with force. Blood still streamed from her brow, running down her eyelashes like tears of blood, dripping onto my heart.

"Adrian," Scarlett winced, closing one eye. "You truly disappoint me."

"I'm not divorcing you because of love."

Scarlett pulled Leo into her arms.

"It's only because," Scarlett said, "your parents were kind to me, and we've shared life-or-death moments. Don't push my patience any further, or you *will* regret it!"

Leo sobbed in her arms, crying out, "Scarlett! I don't want to live here! I don't!"

"I'm scared!" Leo cried, clutching her shirt, his voice hysterical. "I don't want to live with this lunatic! He's going to kill me, he's going to kill me!"