It was raining outside. A slender figure in red stood waiting at the law firm's entrance, holding an umbrella.

The cold wind blew against her red skirt. The thin, tight slip dress made her shiver, and she crumpled the paper in her hand.

The words on it read: [Idiopathic Pulmonary Hypertension].

The girl, wearing dramatic makeup, looked at the report in her hand with a blank expression.

The next moment, she shoved it straight into the nearby trash can.

She pulled a piece of candy from her bag and popped it into her mouth, pushing down the bitter taste.

A cloyingly sweet fruit flavor filled her mouth. A group of men in suits walked out of the high-end law firm not far away, and she spotted Julian Croft in the crowd at a glance.

"Uncle!"

With just one look, Chloe Evans's face lit up with a smile. She hurried over, holding the umbrella.

The lawyers with him teased, "Julian, your little niece is here to pick you up again. She really comes rain or shine."

Julian's face darkened at their words, a hint of displeasure in his expression.

"Uncle Julian, my performance is over, so I can come pick you up from work every day now."

Chloe reached him, still holding the umbrella, the smile on her face unwavering. She held up the gift box in her hand as if seeking praise.

"Your birthday is coming up, so I had a pair of cufflinks custom-made for you. They just arrived today, so I brought them over."

The cufflinks, made from deep sapphire-blue diamonds, would suit Julian perfectly.

The moment Chloe saw them, she gritted her teeth and bought them anyway.

Julian just glanced at them and said coldly, "No, thanks."

After speaking, he turned and walked away.

Chloe didn't seem to mind, carefully protecting the gift box in her arms as she hurried after him.

Julian was just about to start the car when Chloe pulled open the passenger door.

She buckled her seatbelt while saying, "Uncle, I waited for you downstairs at your firm for so long. You can't be so heartless as to just leave me here alone."

"I didn't force you to wait."

Julian's tone was cold. Chloe opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.

She could only give an awkward laugh. "Uncle Julian, you really lives up to being a lawyer. I can't win an argument with you."

Julian's brows furrowed. He wanted to kick her out of the car, but seeing that she was slightly damp from the rain, he turned on the heat with a displeased look.

Chloe watched his action and couldn't help but smile. The cold in her body seemed to vanish.

She knew Julian couldn't be truly heartless. After all, he had always been like this, his bark worse than his bite.

The car slowly pulled away. Chloe looked at Julian's side profile, thinking of the diagnosis report. Several times she wanted to tell him about her illness.

But in the end, she swallowed her words.

Julian wasn't a doctor. Telling him would only cause him more worry.

In the past, Chloe would always be chattering away in Julian's ear the whole ride.

But this time, she was quieter than ever before.

Julian was driving. He glanced at Chloe in the rearview mirror and saw that her face was very pale.

He looked away and stopped the car in front of the Evans' house. His voice was indifferent. "Get out. And don't come to the firm anymore."

Hearing this, Chloe stubbornly stayed in her seat, refusing to leave. "Why?"

Julian met her determined, clingy expression and lost his patience.

He got out of the car, strode to the passenger side, yanked open the door, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her right out.

Chloe tried to get back in, but Julian's next words froze her in place.

"This looks bad. I can't afford the embarrassment."

Chloe stood there, stunned. By the time she came to her senses, Julian's car was already out of sight.

She slowly lowered her head, the smile finally fading from her face.

After standing in the rain for a long time, she finally stepped into the house that was supposed to be her home.

The moment she walked in the door, Diana Wallace slapped Chloe hard across the face.

"Where have you been messing around!

I see you think you're too big for your britches now!"

Chloe didn't say a word. Her long bangs hid her eyes, concealing whatever she was thinking.

Diana, still not letting up, shoved her to the ground.

As Chloe tried to get up, a wedding invitation scraped across her face.

The corner of the invitation left a cut on Chloe's face, but she felt that pain was nothing compared to the sting of the invitation.

"Don't think I don't know your filthy ideas. Save your energy. Julian is about to get engaged to your sister."

In the pitch-black room, Chloe clutched the invitation tightly in her hand.

Her face stung with a burning pain.

It might be hard to believe that a mother would treat her own daughter this way.

Her parents divorced when she was very young. She lived with her father until he died in a car accident.

After that, she only had her grandmother.

Her mother remarried and had another daughter, three years younger than her.

Today, Diana had called her back just to tell her the news of Julian and Amanda Cameron's engagement.

She curled up in a corner of the storage room, her eyes turning red as she stared at the invitation in her hand.

She had fallen for Julian when she first met him at fifteen, and now seven years had passed.

To Chloe, Julian was a sudden ray of light shining into her gloomy life.

And now, that light seemed about to disappear.

The first time she saw Julian, he was only twenty-two, and the white shirt suited him well.

Back then, Diana was berating her as usual, even pushing and shoving her.

He had watched Chloe get hit and stand punished in a corner, then reached out to wipe her tears and handed her a piece of candy.

Then he said, "Here, little girl, have a piece of candy. It won't hurt anymore."

Chloe had always kept those words in her heart, and she always carried a few pieces of candy in her pocket.

But now, no matter how many pieces of candy she put in her mouth, her heart still ached.

Chloe's vision blurred. She buried her face in her bruised arms, and tears streamed down her face.

Late at night.

She gazed at the dark sky outside the window, silently left the cold, large house, and stumbled her way to Julian's doorstep.

The knocking woke Julian from his sleep.

He opened the door impatiently, only to see Chloe standing outside, looking disheveled with bruises on her face. His brow furrowed instinctively.

"What happened to you?

Did you get into a fight?"

His voice was cold and deep, the disgust in his eyes unmistakable.

But Chloe didn't care. She moved a little closer to him. "Uncle Julian, are you getting married?"

Julian's expression changed slightly at her words, not understanding why she would run over at midnight to ask such a question.

His silence made Chloe's sense of security begin to fade. She asked again in a hoarse voice, "Can I still pick you up from work then?"

Annoyed by her question, Julian started to close the door. "Get out."

But Chloe suddenly threw herself into his arms, holding him tightly.

"Uncle Julian, I... I'll work hard in the future, and I'll be well-behaved. Don't marry Amanda, okay?"

She spoke in an almost pleading tone.

Julian frowned, yanked Chloe off him, and pushed her away. "What nonsense are you talking about?

This isn't a place for you to act wild."

With a slam, Chloe was shut outside.

As the door slammed shut decisively, Chloe slowly squatted down, holding back for a long time.

The pain in her chest forced her to gasp for air, and the dizziness nearly made her collapse.

She tremblingly took out a piece of candy, hoping it would ease the pain.

But just then, a sports car sped by, splashing puddle water all over her.

A few rich guys who lived nearby saw her in the car, turned around, and came back, laughing mockingly.

"Well, isn't this Chloe, the lead dancer from the nightclub?

Don't company your sugar daddy, here to be a nanny for Julian instead?"

"You really think a big-shot lawyer like Julian would be into you?

Give it up!

Even if you ripped your heart out for him, he'd think it was filthy!"

Chloe flinched, as if they'd struck a raw nerve. She clutched the candy tightly, picked up a rock from the side of the road, and hurled it at the sports car.

Instantly, the car's horn blared endlessly.

Inside, Julian heard the noise and came downstairs again.

He opened the door and saw Chloe fighting with a few rich brats!

"Chloe!

What are you doing!

How long are you going to keep making a scene!?

?"

he said in a deep voice.

Chloe froze the moment she heard Julian's voice.

And when those rich brats saw Julian, they quickly jumped into their car and sped off, leaving Chloe covered in mud and bruises.

Chloe looked at Julian helplessly, suppressing the pain in her chest, and explained, "They said I didn't deserve you, and they also said..."

Before she could finish, Julian cut her off coldly, "They weren't wrong."

Chloe didn't know how she left Julian's house.

She was covered in filthy, muddy water, and the bruises, big and small, on her body were hard to look at.

The words Julian had said kept echoing in her mind: "They weren't wrong."

Did Julian also think she didn't deserve him?

She stared at the faintly lit sky for a while before lifting her stiff legs and stumbling into a run-down neighborhood.

As she reached an asbestos-tiled house with its door wide open, a slightly stooped figure was inside, wiping a table.

Chloe's gaze softened, and she slowly walked in, calling out softly, "Grandma."

Eleanor Hayes looked up, and when she saw it was Chloe, her cloudy eyes filled with surprise.

But when she saw her covered in mud, she quickly grabbed a nearby towel to wipe her off, asking with concern, "Chloe, you're back. What happened?"

Chloe held her hand, which felt like dry bark, not wanting to show a hint of her grievance, "I accidentally fell on my way here."

"Have a seat."

Eleanor pulled her down to sit, lovingly stroking her slightly pale face. "You've lost so much weight."

Chloe didn't reply, staring blankly at the photo of her grandma and grandpa on the wall.

"Grandma, does all love have to be weighed and measured? Can love turn into dislike?"

Hearing this, her grandma seemed to know what was on her mind, gently pulling her into a hug and patting her back.

"Chloe, love is actually very simple, because it's supposed to be pure."

"As long as you're happy, that's all that matters. Grandma believes you're a good kid."

After hearing that, Chloe rubbed her sore eyes and nodded.

She stayed at her grandma's for a long time before leaving.

As she was leaving the neighborhood, by a newsstand, an interview magazine with Julian on the cover caught Chloe's eye.

Chloe bought it and flipped through it carefully.

When she saw the section on his ideal partner, the answer immediately captured her heart.

"Gentle and understanding, someone I can share things with in both work and life..."

...

That evening, at the law firm.

Julian had been busy all day and was about to go home when a figure in white blocked his path.

"Julian!"

Chloe stood awkwardly in front of him in a white dress, not knowing what to do with her hands.

"Uncle Julian, I signed up for a training course. They say it teaches you everything."

Julian looked at Chloe's smooth, black hair that flowed like a waterfall, and her pretty, makeup-free face.

A flash of admiration crossed his eyes, but he just said coldly, "That has nothing to do with me. You should wear less of that makeup in the future. It doesn't suit you."

Chloe couldn't hide the joy in her heart and, like when she was a child, couldn't resist taking his arm.

"When I finish the course, will I deserve you then?"

Julian looked at her still-frivolous demeanor and pried her hand away. "A leopard can't change its spots."

With that, he turned and left.

In an instant, the smile in Chloe's eyes froze.

She looked down at her empty hands, a bitter feeling in her heart.

Watching Julian's back get further and further away, she mustered her courage and shouted at him, "Julian Croft!

I like you! Can you be with me?

!"

As her words fell, everyone around turned to look their way.

But she didn't care at all. After saying what was on her mind, she felt completely relieved.

Julian's eyes were icy cold. He strode back and yanked Chloe into the car.

"Are you crazy? Do you still think you're a three-year-old kid?"

Chloe was caught off guard as she was thrown into the car, and something warm and sticky suddenly trickled from her nose.

Bright red blood streamed down, making her eyes sting and ache. She knew her illness was flaring up.

Julian stared at her in shock. "What's wrong with you?"

"Idiopathic pulmonary hypertension."

Chloe fought back the sudden pain in her chest and wiped the blood from above her lip.

Her quick action gave Julian no reason to believe she was actually sick.

"The doctor said I only have six months to live. Uncle Julian, date me. Just for six months."

As she spoke, her clear eyes were fixed on him, afraid he would refuse.

But Julian just scoffed, his eyes holding no trust at all. "When did you become like this?

You can even lie with a straight face now."

Chloe's long lashes trembled. Seeing the contempt in Julian's gaze, the pain in her heart intensified tenfold.

The car stopped in front of Chloe's apartment building.

Julian dragged Chloe out of the car and said, "This is the last time I'm driving you. We shouldn't see each other again."

Chloe's throat felt tight, as if a needle was stuck in it. She reached for Julian's hand, but the man instantly pulled away.

Her hand froze in mid-air. After a long moment, she forced a bitter smile.

"Uncle Julian, I wish we could go back to when we were little. You used to hold my hand and buy me candy..."

Julian heard her muttering to herself and lost his patience.

He just said, "That was when you were a kid. You're grown up now."

Then, he got in the car and drove away.

Chloe watched his car disappear and couldn't stop herself from running after it. "Uncle Julian... I'm not lying, I really..."

She never got the words "am sick" out.

Behind her, a burly, middle-aged man held a thick wooden club, glaring at her menacingly.

"You damn brat, always hanging around my daughter's fiancé. See if I don't beat you to death!"

"Thud!"

It sounded like a loud door slam. Julian instinctively glanced in his rearview mirror.

The road was empty. Only the faint sound of a club hitting flesh came through the crack in the door...

Chloe lay on the floor, curled up in a ball of pain as the stick came down on her again and again.

David Cameron's curses rang in her ears, but her hazy eyes just stared at the door.

But the door stayed shut, right up until she started to lose consciousness.

Click. The main door opened.

Chloe gasped for air and looked up, her eyes brightening. Was it Julian?

"Dav-David... something's happened to the old hag..."

Diana's eyes were frantic, and her white shirt was spotted with blood.

It wasn't Julian. Chloe was about to close her eyes in disappointment when Diana's words, "the old hag," made her tense up.

"What happened?"

David put down the stick and asked impatiently.

Chloe struggled to her feet, coughed up some blood, and stumbled out the door.

"You damn girl!

Get back here!"

Chloe clutched her throbbing shoulder as she ran down the path. The pain from her illness felt like a rock in her way, tripping her and sending her crashing to the ground.

"Grandma..." she whimpered, forcing herself to get up.

She couldn't let anything happen to her grandma. She just couldn't.

When she got to her grandma's place, she froze.

Her grandma, who had been comforting her just hours ago, was now lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

All of Chloe's pain seemed to vanish at the sight. Her eyes turned red as she lunged forward. "Grandma—"

A neighbor heard Chloe's cries for help and called 911.

The ambulance siren wailed as it sped by. Chloe held her grandma's hand tightly, tears streaming down her face.

She didn't have to let go of her hand until they were about to enter the emergency room.

Chloe leaned against the wall and slowly slid down into a squat, her face covered in tears.

Her grandma was the only family she had left. Without her, she'd be a true orphan.

Two whole hours passed before the doctor came out.

"The old lady's liver was injured, and she lost a lot of blood. We saved her, but she'll need to be observed in the ICU for a few days."

Watching her unconscious grandma being wheeled into the ICU, Chloe's heart ached uncontrollably.

She could accept Diana hitting her, but her grandma was almost eighty. How could she do it!

A look of hatred slowly crept into her eyes, and her fists gradually clenched.

The next evening.

Julian was coming home from the law firm, feeling relieved that Chloe hadn't been waiting for him there, when he saw her outside his house.

The cruel words he was about to say got stuck in his throat when he saw Chloe's bruised and battered face.

Julian frowned. After a moment, he said, "What are you doing here again?"

Chloe walked up to him, her eyes pleading. "Uncle Julian, help me. Please?"

She had thought about it for a long time before deciding to come to Julian. He was a lawyer, and even if he didn't like her, they had known each other for over ten years. He couldn't just leave her to fend for herself.

"What for?"

Julian's voice was cold.

"Help me with a lawsuit."

Chloe looked at his indifferent expression, her confidence wavering.

Julian looked her over and scoffed. "Did you get into another brawl with some thug, or did you mess up so bad someone's suing you?"

Chloe's eyes widened. "I..."

"Besides, do you have the money to hire me as your defense attorney?"

Julian's refusal was obvious.

Chloe clutched her empty pockets, a wave of despair washing over her.

Julian's words were like David's cane, but this blow struck her heart, and with even greater force.

"If I really have to go to jail, will you defend me?"

For some reason, Chloe suddenly asked.

Julian looked at her sorrowful gaze, annoyed. "No, because you're not worth it!"

Those few words were like a boulder crushing Chloe, nearly making her collapse in front of Julian.

After a long moment, Chloe lowered her head and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Is that so?"

She backed away from Julian, then looked up and forced a smile. "Uncle Julian, I guess I won't be coming over to clean your place for a few days then."

With that, she turned away, biting her lip hard to keep from crying.

Watching her trembling back, the irritation in Julian's heart flared up.

His face dark, he loosened his tie and went inside.

The house was neat and tidy; Chloe used to come clean it every three days.

He never thought it was necessary, but Chloe seemed to enjoy it.

On the coffee table were stomach medicine and vitamins, all left by her.

Julian sat on the sofa, leaning back to rest for a moment, his mind filled with the image of Chloe's departing back.

With a clatter, Julian suddenly swept all the medicine into a drawer, then tilted his head back and drank some water, his expression complicated.

Why wouldn't she just give up? He didn't understand how Chloe could hold on for so long.

The living room, bathed in the afterglow of sunset, was exceptionally quiet. Julian stared blankly in the direction Chloe had left.

Meanwhile, Chloe, with barely any savings left, found herself in a huge predicament.

First, her grandmother's massive medical bills, and second, the legal fees for a lawyer. She couldn't afford either.

Out of desperation, she started working as a hostess at a high-end Hostess Club.

For a whole week, Chloe wore heavy makeup, a tight miniskirt, and black stockings, watching one pot-bellied middle-aged man after another force drinks on her, going from resistance to numbness.

Julian hated the sleazy atmosphere of hostess clubs, but he had to step into this booze-filled private room for work.

A middle-aged man, completely wasted, greeted Julian, then yelled to Chloe, who was leaning to one side, "Chloe, come toast the great lawyer!"

Chloe drunkenly straightened up, holding her glass toward Julian with a smile. "Hi. I'll toast you. Will you handle my case...?"

That voice was like a bomb going off in Julian's head!

Julian looked up and saw the gaudily dressed Chloe. His face darkened as he grabbed her swaying form, using the light from the big screen to get a clear look at her flushed face.

A fire of rage flared in his chest. Julian gripped her arm tightly, dragging her out of the private room and into an empty hallway.

"Chloe, are you crazy?!

Have you really sunk this low!

?"

Julian glared at her. He knew Chloe used to like going to nightclubs to dance.

But he never imagined she would actually end up working as a hostess.

Looking at her in that tight black dress, with her black wavy hair, and thinking of those men in the private room just now, Julian wanted to slap her awake.

Chloe squinted, seeming to recognize him.

"Un-Uncle."

She giggled and leaned toward him, her high heels and drunkenness making it hard to stand steady. "Are you here to take me home?"

Julian pushed her away, saying through gritted teeth, "Chloe, have you no shame?"

Chloe stumbled a few steps, steadying herself with a hand on the wall, her eyes unfocused. "Shame?"

She suddenly laughed, pointing a slender, pale finger at her chest. "I just want to live... I just want to live a good life with my grandma. What did I do wrong?"

Even though she was drunk, she could still feel a dull ache in her heart.

Julian just thought she was talking nonsense because of the alcohol, his face filled with disgust. "You're really hopeless."

He turned around, unwilling to look at Chloe for another second.

Chloe gasped, looking at his familiar back, then suddenly lunged forward and held on to him tightly, crying out, "Uncle Julian... Julian... don't go, don't leave me..."

Julian froze. Chloe had never pleaded him like that before. Her soft, mournful pleas made him forget to break free for a moment.

Until a colleague who was with him saw them and teased, "No wonder Julian is still single. So you've been hiding your little lover here."

That sentence made Julian flush with shame and anger. He pried Chloe's hands off and shoved her away.

He straightened his clothes, didn't even glance at Chloe who had fallen to the ground, and turned and left without any mercy.

"Julian..." Chloe sobbed on the ground, her messy black hair sticking to her tear-streaked face.

Two days later.

Chloe, looking haggard, walked into a law firm that wasn't Julian's, carrying a bag on her back.

She took a stack of cash out of her bag and placed it in front of the lawyer, her voice tired but firm. "Please help me with a lawsuit."

The information Chloe provided had no witnesses, and the victim was still in a coma.

Aiden Clark said the chances of successfully suing Diana weren't high, unless Grandma woke up and testified against her herself.

Even so, Chloe still signed a contract with Aiden to have him take the case.

Outside Julian's house.

Chloe hesitated for a moment before carefully lifting the doormat.

A key lay shining on the ground; Julian hadn't taken it, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

It's half past six in the evening.

Julian came home exhausted, and the smell of food that hit him made him freeze on the spot.

"Come out."

His voice was soft, but it carried a pressure that was hard to resist.

Chloe, wearing an apron, poked her head out of the kitchen with a grin, her voice bright, "You're back. Dinner's almost ready."

Julian was taken aback.

Her black hair was loosely tied back, and she was in a simple shirt and jeans, looking so sweet and domestic. She was like a completely different person.

Glancing at the stomach medicine that had reappeared on the coffee table, Julian's expression was complicated. "I told you not to come here anymore."

Chloe put the dishes on the table with a defiant look. "I never agreed to that."

Julian frowned, took off his tie, and went straight to the bedroom.

When he came out again, he had changed into casual clothes and, ignoring her, poured a cup of tea and sat on the balcony to read.

Chloe stood by the dining table as the steaming hot dishes, like her heart, gradually grew cold.

Fighting back the ache in her heart, she quickly ate a few mouthfuls of rice and then cleared the dishes.

The sounds of clinking dishes and running water filled the otherwise quiet house, and Julian's absentminded gaze drifted to the kitchen doorway.

His vacant gaze seemed to take him back more than ten years.

The first time he met Chloe, she was just a child in her early teens.

The fear in her eyes seemed innate, as if she trembled before everyone she met...

A "clang" startled Julian back to the present. He quickly dropped his book and rushed to the kitchen, only to stop at the doorway.

Hearing the soft clatter of porcelain shards from inside, he asked coolly, "What's wrong?"

Chloe came out with her hands behind her back, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Sorry, Uncle Julian, my hand slipped."

Julian glanced at her hidden hands, then turned and went back to the balcony, continuing to read as if nothing had happened.

But his tightly furrowed brow never relaxed.

"Uncle."

Chloe picked up her bag, her eyes showing a hint of reluctance to leave. "If I were gone, would you miss me?"

"No."

Julian answered dismissively.

Chloe had expected his answer, but she couldn't help feeling hurt. She turned and left, her eyes brimming with tears.

The house returned to silence.

Julian stared at the stomach medicine on the table, lost in thought again.

Would he miss Chloe? He honestly didn't know.

He, who had always been so eloquent, couldn't find the words to describe how he felt at that moment.

In the following days, Julian didn't see Chloe, but he knew she was still coming to his house.

Because every time he came home, he would see a glass of water and a box of medicine neatly placed on the coffee table.

Until one stormy day, Julian was lying in bed, feeling weak all over.

The tedious work, combined with getting caught in the rain on his way back, had made him sick.

His head felt impossibly heavy, and as Julian struggled to rub his temples, his vision began to blur.

The door clicked open, and just before he lost consciousness, he heard a panicked cry.

"Uncle!"

Seeing that Julian had a fever, Chloe quickly helped him lie down on the sofa and gently placed a damp towel on his forehead.

The drowsy Julian lost some of his usual sharpness, and his pale face made him look a bit softer.

Chloe hadn't seen Julian smile in a very long time.

She raised her hand, her fingertips tracing the outline of Julian's face. For some reason, her eyes suddenly misted over, blurring her vision.

"Uncle Julian, why has everything changed?"

Her voice was soft, but the choke in it was unmistakable. "If I died, would you go back to being happy like before?"

"I didn't lie to you, Uncle Julian. I really can't bear to leave you, but I have no choice..."

"I really, really like you, Julian, do you know that?"

As she spoke, tears were already streaming down her face, covering the back of her hand.

Chloe leaned over gently and placed a kiss as light as a feather on the edge of Julian's tense lips.

She smiled through her tears, her heart filled with the sorrow and helplessness of a love she could never have in this lifetime.

The next morning.

Julian supported his still-dizzy head as he staggered out of the room.

The living room was filled with the aroma of rice. He blinked his dry eyes, his gaze falling on a bowl of steaming rice congee on the dining table.

He thought he had heard Chloe's voice yesterday. Did she come to take care of him?

Then again, who else would come besides her?

The rice congee seemed to stir Julian's appetite. He sat at the table, eating the bland congee spoonful by spoonful, a complex look in his eyes...

That evening, Julian took a call, got dressed, and drove to the Hostess Club where Chloe worked.

By then, Chloe had her makeup on and was heading to entertain an executive as her manager had instructed.

As she turned a corner, she bumped into a tall figure and instinctively said, "Excuse me."

"Chloe!"

She was so startled her heart seemed to stop. She looked up at the furious Julian before her, unable to escape.

"Are you really going to keep working here?

Aren't you dancing anymore?

Why can't you find a decent job?"

Julian's tone was laced with hatred, as if forced through clenched teeth.

Chloe couldn't explain her difficulties. If she didn't work as a hostess here, how could she afford her grandmother's expensive medical bills?

"Uncle Julian, I..." She trailed off, wanting to explain but not knowing where to start.

"When did you sink so low?

Is it fun making this dirty money?"

Chloe froze completely. She stared at Julian, stung by the look of disgust in his eyes.

Julian scoffed coldly and turned to leave, his back looking even colder and more resolute than before.

Chloe reached out to grab his hand but caught only air, watching him walk away through her tear-blurred vision.

For the next few days, Julian was so agitated that he even started losing focus at work, occasionally pushing aside the files in front of him and pinching the bridge of his nose with a cold expression.

"Julian, I have a case here for you to take on."

A colleague placed a file on his desk.

Julian glanced at it, his tone sharp. "Plaintiff or defendant?"

"The defendant. But the plaintiff doesn't have much of a chance to win."

The colleague explained the case, and Julian got the gist of it. He focused his attention on the case, temporarily escaping the strange emotions Chloe had stirred in him.

On the day of the trial, Chloe stepped into the courtroom, her face haggard from two sleepless nights.

But the moment she locked eyes with the defense attorney at the defendant's table, she froze on the spot like a statue.

Julian, in the defendant's seat, also stared at Chloe with shock in the plaintiff's seat.

The moment Chloe saw Julian, she knew she was going to lose the case.

Diana didn't appear in court. Julian was handling everything as her sole representative.

For a full forty-five minutes, Chloe just leaned back wearily in her chair.

She listened as her own lawyer's voice grew quieter and quieter, while Julian eloquently dismantled her evidence, piece by piece...

During the fifteen-minute recess, Julian kept a tense face, rubbing the documents in his hand with his thumb, but in the end, he didn't say a single word to Chloe.

"Due to insufficient evidence, the plaintiff's claim is dismissed."

As the judge announced the verdict and the gavel fell, the lawsuit was over, and Chloe silently accepted the outcome.

It wasn't until she was out of the courthouse that she squatted by the roadside, slowly sinking down with her hands buried in her black hair.

Her suppressed sobs made passersby turn and look.

A low rumble of thunder grew closer from the horizon, and a light rain began to fall.

"This is a courthouse. If you're going to cry, go home and do it."

Julian's cold voice came from behind Chloe.

Chloe slowly lowered her hands, her hoarse voice wretched, "I lost."

Julian stood behind her, feeling a pang of regret for the first time.

He knew Diana was Chloe's stepmother, but he didn't know Chloe also had a grandmother.

Could it be that she was working at the Hostess Club to afford a lawyer and save her grandmother?

A metallic, salty taste, along with a sharp pain in her chest, rose up in Chloe's throat.

She pushed herself up heavily, using a lamppost for support, and forced the metallic taste back down. "Uncle Julian, you really are a brilliant lawyer."

The thunder grew louder, and as Julian watched her much thinner back, his heart tightened.

"You should appeal."

"Appeal?

What's the use?

Just to stand on the opposite side from you, get refuted by you again and again, and have you ultimately overturn every piece of evidence I have, forcing me to grovel before Diana like a dog?"

"Or are you saying you could be my lawyer?

I'm not rich like Diana. I have nothing left."

Chloe's words were sharp, but Julian had no rebuttal.

He tugged at his tie, agitated, and asked somewhat unnaturally, "How's your grandmother?"

The doctor's words were still ringing in her ears: "The old lady's liver was damaged, and she has a heart condition. I'm afraid it will be very difficult for her to survive the post-operative complications. You should prepare for the worst."

Chloe gave a bitter smile and didn't answer.

"I will never forgive that woman."

She slowly turned around, her feet feeling as if they were filled with lead. Her pale face and lips made Julian feel even worse.

Julian took a step forward and then stopped. He could see the hatred in Chloe's eyes clearly, which only added to his guilt.

"Uncle Julian, when the law can't solve a problem, is the last resort the only option?"

There was a hint of confusion and restraint in Chloe's tone as she casually asked the chilling question.

Thinking back on all the years of abandonment, torment, and humiliation from Diana, she had thought of killing her more than once.

But she still had her grandmother, and she had Julian. They were like her moral compass.

Every time she struggled on the edge of good and evil, they pulled her back to the side of good.

Julian's brow furrowed, thinking she was just speaking out of anger: "Don't be impulsive. If you try to fight violence with violence, you'll be the only one who gets hurt."

Chloe swallowed again, her breathing so heavy it started to tremble, and she struggled to pull at the corners of her mouth: "I know. But if I wasn't up against Julian, I probably wouldn't be in such bad shape."

Her tone had a hint of flippancy, and what Julian disliked most was this attitude she had toward everything.

"You'd better not try anything stupid."

Julian dropped that line, then turned and walked away.

Watching Julian leave, Chloe's convulsing body suddenly collapsed to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Drops of blood stained her white clothes, like red plum blossoms.

She gasped for breath, and it took her a long moment to find the strength to pick up her phone, which had been ringing for a while.

"Hello?"

"Miss Evans, your grandmother... she just passed away from complications..."

Chloe's phone slowly fell to the ground, and the gloomy sky before her seemed to instantly turn black.

She didn't get to see her grandmother one last time, and even the money she had prepared for treatment ended up paying for a grave.

After handling everything, Chloe returned to her grandmother's old house, only to find an unwelcome guest inside: Diana.

Diana lunged at her, grabbing and twisting her arm, and started cursing, "You little bitch, you dare to sue me!"

Chloe struggled and pushed her away, glaring at her.

"Diana, you have the nerve to show up here?

If you have a problem, take it out on me. My grandmother was innocent!

How could you be so cruel!"

"Ha!"

Diana just sneered and grabbed a handful of Chloe's hair.

"You and your grandmother are broke and powerless. You got sent right back, didn't you? As long as I have money, you can't do a thing to me!"

Then her eyes turned vicious, and she tightened her grip, "If you think you can take that old hag's inheritance for yourself, you've got another thing coming!"

Inheritance?

If my grandmother had any money at all, she wouldn't have been living in a dump like this.

Chloe glared at her, furious, "Back then, you took advantage of my dad's death, took all the urban redevelopment compensation, and didn't leave a single penny. And you have the nerve to ask about Grandma's inheritance?"

Diana pushed her away, then grabbed Eleanor's portrait from the table and smashed it on the floor, sending glass shards everywhere.

"The urban redevelopment compensation was five million, but that old hag only took out three million. If you're not trying to keep it for yourself, what are you doing?"

"Diana!"

Chloe's bloodshot eyes were fixed on her, her body trembling with rage.

She lunged forward, grabbed Diana by the throat, and started shoving her out, "Get out!"

"You, you little brat..."

Diana's eyes rolled back as she was being choked, and she instinctively kicked Chloe in the stomach.

The kick sent Chloe falling to the ground, and a shard of glass dug deep into her cheek.

With a dull thud, she painfully lifted her bloody face, and her pupils contracted when she saw the scene outside the door.

Diana was lying unconscious on the ground, blood steadily flowing from the back of her head. A corner of the nearby stone mortar and pestle was covered in blood.

The sound of ambulances and police cars shattered the quiet of the neighborhood.

After being taken to the hospital to have her wound bandaged, Chloe was taken to the police station by a police officer.

Diana had suffered a severe head injury and lost a lot of blood; she would very likely end up in a vegetative state.

Her injury report and the choke marks on her neck meant Chloe was about to be charged with intentional assault.

In the holding cell, Chloe leaned against the wall, staring blankly at the cold handcuffs on her wrists.

The last time she was in a police station was because of her father's car accident. She never thought this time it would be because of her mother.

"Chloe, you have a visitor."

In the visiting room.

Chloe saw Julian sitting at the table, his face grim.

She walked over slowly and sat down, but before she could ask anything, Julian's angry voice cut her off.

"Did you really intentionally harm your mother?"

Chloe's eyes darkened, and a sense of sorrow welled up inside her.

Julian slammed his clenched fist on the table, looking at her resentfully, "Do you know your impulsiveness has ruined your life!

?"

Chloe suddenly let out a strange laugh.

She thought that, besides her grandmother, Julian was the person who understood her best. But it seemed that was just what she thought.

If Julian had even asked "what really happened," she would have had a glimmer of hope.

But he questioned if she did it on purpose!

"Chloe!"

Julian growled, his eyes cold, "Tell me, did you do it on purpose?"

He didn't believe Chloe did it on purpose, but her nonchalant attitude was making him furious.

If she had said she didn't mean to hurt Diana, he would have helped her no matter what.

"Yes, I wanted to kill her."

Chloe's voice was unusually calm, as if she were talking about something trivial.

"You!"

She looked at Julian's shocked and furious eyes and said, word by word, "I wish I could have her tortured to death."