When Vivienne Blackwood asked about Adrian Voss’s whereabouts, the room fell silent for a moment.
"He came. He’s still here. He’s talking with the director right now. He’ll be here later."
Oscar Jones’s reply was as stiff and cold as his icy blue eyes.
He didn’t seem particularly fond of Adrian.
Vivienne felt as though her heart had stopped beating for a second.
Adrian had really come.
Had he come for her?
No... impossible.
She had betrayed him.
Betrayed his trust. Betrayed his friendship.
Vivienne stared blankly into space for a long time, completely lost in thought and oblivious to the noise around her.
Until her trembling fingertips were gently enclosed within a warm palm.
The faint scent of bitter sandalwood drifted to her nose, silently and forcefully driving away the stench of despair that had surrounded her.
Vivienne Blackwood froze.
She turned her head in disbelief, tears instantly spilling down her cheeks and soaking the coat draped firmly over her shoulders.
As Adrian Voss bent down, picked up the oversized coat, and wrapped it around her once more, a bitter tear slipped from her eye.
Vivienne’s pupils trembled as she looked up and met the suffocating obsession burning within the man’s eyes. Instinctively, she took a step back.
His gray-blue eyes, illuminated by the light, blended shades of steel gray and icy blue like the frozen heart of the Arctic itself.
Cold.
Mercilessly cold.
"We need to talk," Adrian Voss said calmly. "Now."
"Hm...?" Vivienne murmured in confusion.
The next moment, her hand was seized firmly and she was dragged outside before she could react.
Then she felt another rough hand grab her free wrist.
Leo Thompson laughed angrily, blue veins bulging across his forehead as he looked at Adrian with a mocking smile.
"What is Vivienne to you? Family? Your girlfriend?"
When neither man answered, Leo raised his voice.
"Then take your hands off her. Now."
Vivienne slowed her breathing and struggled weakly between them.
"I... let go of me."
When both finally released her, she looked at Adrian.
"Let’s talk somewhere else."
The two of them left for another room, away from cameras and curious onlookers.
Vivienne carefully organized her emotions and thoughts. Her eyes gradually returned to their usual calm, indifferent steadiness.
Just as she turned around, ready to have a proper conversation with him—
She was suddenly thrown onto the bed.
Fear made her curl up instinctively, and she was about to speak when Adrian leaned over her.
His knee pressed between her legs, making it impossible for her to get up.
The abrupt turn of events left Vivienne completely stunned.
She couldn’t understand what he was trying to do.
Then Adrian suddenly reached out and began undoing the buttons of her clothes.
Vivienne’s pupils shrank.
"Adrian Voss, what are you doing?!"
His eyes turned even colder.
Ignoring her entirely, he flipped her onto her back and tore open the jacket she was wearing.
"No!"
Vivienne struggled instinctively.
A layer of mysterious black-violet mist swirled around her fingertips out of pure muscle memory, but she forcibly suppressed it to avoid hurting the man above her.
She could never use that terrifying power on him.
Not again.
Never again.
When her sleeves were rolled up, Vivienne abruptly stopped resisting.
She froze on the bed and didn’t dare move.
Cold fingertips lightly brushed over the ugly raised scars on her arms.
"One... two... three... four... five... twelve..."
After counting every scar, Adrian finally raised his head.
His expression remained unreadable.
"Who did this?"
he asked quietly.
The exposed skin of Vivienne’s arm felt unbearably cold.
She buried her face in the blankets, clutching her stomach tightly with one hand as her body shook uncontrollably.
Adrian’s gaze deepened.
Yet his expression remained unchanged.
"You’re afraid of pain. You couldn’t have cut this deep yourself."
"There are no medical records for you in any hospital in China, and no professional doctor would have stitched these wounds like this."
"You’re a medical student, but anesthetics are strictly regulated. There’s no evidence that you obtained any privately."
"If you’d stitched wounds this severe without anesthesia, you would’ve bled to death while passing in and out of consciousness."
"Vivienne Blackwood."
His voice turned colder.
"I’m giving you five minutes to tell me who did this."
"I don’t want to lose my temper with you."
Time passed second by second.
The countdown ended.
Vivienne turned her face away, not daring to look at him.
Her voice trembled.
"I said no."
"Please... please stop asking..."
The scars hadn’t disappeared yet because the System’s reward required time to take effect.
These injuries, illnesses, and damages had all originated from other worlds.
They had already begun fading significantly.
The strangulation marks on her neck had vanished.
The toxins in her body had diminished.
Fortunately, only a few external scars remained.
Otherwise, she truly wouldn’t have been able to explain anything.
But even now—
Even if she wanted to explain...
She couldn’t.
Her body was restrained by powerful arms as she was turned onto her back again.
Adrian pinched her cheeks and forced her to look up.
The moment her eyes met his blazing gaze, Vivienne’s eyelashes trembled violently.
She was terrified.
She wanted to explain.
Wanted to tell him everything that had happened to her.
...
But no sound emerged from her throat.
Looking at her expression, Adrian suddenly laughed.
A cold, chilling laugh.
"Vivienne Blackwood, you’re truly something else."
"Other than that old man Voss, nobody has ever driven me this close to madness."
After learning from books and the internet who the "old man Voss" was, Vivienne was so frightened that she didn’t dare speak.
She could only look at Adrian helplessly.
The old man.
Adrian’s father.
His greatest enemy.
The man Adrian had personally driven to his death.
The two stared at each other for a long time.
Finally, Adrian lowered his lashes slightly.
Then, without warning—
He let her go.
The man spoke calmly.
"Do you know that the car accident that led to his death was something I planned myself? Or rather... everything had been a carefully orchestrated act of revenge from the very beginning."
Vivienne Blackwood was stunned.
The color drained from her face as she struggled to believe what she had just heard.
Adrian Voss paid no attention to her reaction and continued speaking.
"The ironic part is that even after his death, he still had a few loyal rats willing to avenge him."
"That’s why the car accident involving my mother and me happened."
A faint, mocking smile appeared on his lips.
"What a fitting karma."
Adrian remained calm.
"Did you know that my father was in love with my aunt?"
"Unfortunately, my aunt was only my mother’s adoptive sister. When the marriage alliance was arranged, it naturally fell upon the biological daughter of the family."
The darkness in Adrian’s eyes deepened.
"Tell me, Vivienne... what kind of life do you think awaited the woman my father was forced to marry against his will?"
His voice remained eerily steady.
"Since I was a child, my father has tried to kill my mother and me more than thirty-five times."
Vivienne Blackwood’s breath caught in her throat.
Her pupils contracted instinctively.
Adrian ignored the shock written all over her face and continued unveiling the truth that had been buried beneath countless layers of lies.