Cold water crashed down on her face again.
Lucian's voice sliced through the sound, sharp and merciless.
"Do you still want it?"
"I do…" she gasped.
"What about now?"
It felt like a cruel contest—neither of them willing to surrender.
She coughed, choking on air and tears, and screamed through the pain,
"I do! I do! I do! I just want you!"
Her voice trembled but didn't break.
"Lucian, drown me if you want! You can pour until I die, but it won't matter. You can't stop what I feel!"
The defiance in her cry made his entire body go rigid.
For one brief second, he froze.
And in that single heartbeat, Elena moved.
She didn't even know where the strength came from—
She pushed herself up from the tub, her bound hands looped around his neck, and yanked him down with her.
A loud splash echoed through the bathroom.
Water exploded around them as they both fell into the tub.
Before he could recover, she tilted forward and caught his lips again.
They were warm, soft, too close.
His voice came out low and dangerous.
"Elena, have you had enough of this?"
No.
She hadn't.
Let him be furious. Let him hate her.
She just wanted to feel him—wanted to know she could still reach him, even if it killed her.
So she kept kissing him, desperate and clumsy, like a small animal trying to leave a mark.
He tried to shove her off, again and again, but she clung to him,
arms tight, body trembling, refusing to let go.
And then—
he stopped fighting.
For the first time, he didn't push her away.
Something inside her loosened. A small, broken laugh slipped from her lips, tangled with a sob.
"Lucian… Lucian…" she whispered between tears and kisses.
Suddenly, his hand slid to the back of her head.
He pulled her in—and this time, he kissed her back.
Her heart stuttered.
The world fell silent except for the rush of water and the sound of their breathing.
He tasted like cold mint and smoke—bitterness and temptation twisted together.
Too much, too sharp, too Lucian.
Then her phone rang.
Lucian froze.
In a blink, he tore her arms from around his neck, grabbed the phone, and when his eyes landed on the screen, his expression twisted with disgust.
Without hesitation, he hurled it across the room.
Elena flinched. "That's my phone! I just bought it—Lucian, don't break it!"
He ignored her.
He rose, dripping, and headed for the door.
"Lucian!" she cried, panicking. She tried to climb out of the tub, but her wrists were still tied.
Her legs slipped; she fell back into the freezing water, gasping.
"Lucian, don't go! Don't leave me!"
He turned once, just once.
The bathroom light cut across his face—cold, perfect, merciless.
And in that light, she saw it: the contempt. The disgust.
It hit her harder than the water.
Then he was gone.
The door slammed shut, the sound echoing long after his footsteps faded.
She didn't know how long she stayed there.
The water grew colder, her skin numb, her lips blue.
The fire from the drug was gone—what remained was only the ache and the emptiness.
Her body shook violently. She tried to climb out, to untie the knot at her wrists, but she had no strength left.
She screamed for help. No one came.
The room felt endless and hollow.
Her eyelids drooped; her head felt too heavy to hold up.
"Lucian…" she whispered weakly.
Only the echo answered her.
Fear crept in.
The Lucian she once knew would never have left her like this—
He would've wrapped her in a towel, scolded her, held her until she stopped crying.
But that Lucian was gone.
He'd died the day he chose Lydia.
The man standing in front of her now was just his shadow—cold, sharp, unrecognizable.
She curled into herself and sobbed, the sound raw and broken.
Her tears mixed with the icy water, her body trembling until exhaustion pulled her under.
When she finally opened her eyes again, it was afternoon.
Sunlight filtered through heavy curtains, and her head pounded as if she'd been hit by a train.
Every inch of her body ached.
She forced herself upright, rubbing her temples—and froze.
The room was unfamiliar.
She looked down. She was wearing clean clothes—a man's shirt, soft cotton, too big for her.
Her memory stuttered back in fragments.
The party. Mrs. Cheng. The drugged wine. Sophia. Max.
The trap.
If Lucian hadn't shown up… she didn't dare imagine what would have happened.
Her stomach twisted.
She saw it all so clearly—the humiliation, the headlines, the shame.
Mrs. Cheng's smug face. Sophia's satisfaction.
Her fingers clenched in the sheets, nails digging deep.
"Permanent solution," she muttered bitterly.
That's what Mrs. Cheng had wanted—to destroy her completely.
But Lucian had stopped it.
Lucian…
Her breath caught. The memories of the night before crashed over her.
The pleading. The kisses. The way she'd clung to him like she'd lost her mind.
"Oh God," she groaned, mortified.
She slapped herself—once, twice—until her cheeks burned.
What had she done?
That was Lucian. The man who despised her. The man who wouldn't touch her even if she begged on her knees.
And last night, he hadn't.
No matter how she pushed, no matter how she cried, he never took her.
He just poured cold water on her, left her shaking and broken—and walked out.
The humiliation settled deep in her bones.
She pulled the blanket over her head like a coward, curling into the sheets.
For a moment, she thought maybe it would be easier just to suffocate there.
After suffocating under the blanket for half an hour, Elena finally sat up and took a deep breath of fresh air.
Forget it. Even if she suffocated herself, what was done was done — nothing could change that now.
Resigned to reality, she got out of bed. That was when her gaze caught the phone on the nightstand.
Wait — wasn't that the phone Lucian had thrown away last night? How did it end up here?
Puzzled, she picked it up and unlocked it, only to find the phone had powered off. She pressed the power button and waited as the screen lit up again.
The moment it did, the phone started to buzz nonstop — vibrating in her hand for nearly a full minute before finally quieting down.
Eighty-six missed calls.
Forty-three text messages.
Over ninety-nine unread WeChat notifications.
Elena stared blankly at the screen, completely dazed.
What on earth happened? Why was everyone calling her like this?
Could it be… something from last night?
But nothing had actually happened last night — at least, not anything public. It couldn't be that serious… right?
Before she could open the call log, the phone lit up again.
Vivian's name flashed on the screen.
Elena swiped to answer. "Hello—"
There was a brief silence, then Vivian's voice exploded through the speaker.
"Elena! You finally answered! Why have you been turning off your phone lately? You nearly scared me to death!"
Elena, flustered, quickly apologized. "Sorry, Vivian. I must've turned it off by accident while I was sleeping. I didn't mean to — please don't worry."
"How can I not worry? After that news broke last night, your phone went straight to voicemail! Anyone would be panicking. I thought you might've done something stupid—"
"Something stupid?" Elena echoed, confused.
Vivian sighed, her tone softening. "Elena, listen… don't let this get to you. There are plenty of good men out there — you don't need Felix. That jerk doesn't deserve you, okay? You're gorgeous, smart, and funny. You'll find someone way better. Felix is trash. Right?"
Elena finally understood.
So the engagement between Felix and Sophia had been announced last night — and Vivian was just trying to console her.
Elena already knew about it. It wasn't news to her. So she smiled faintly. "You're right, Vivian."
Vivian froze on the other end. "Elena… are you okay?"
"The best revenge," Elena said lightly, "is to move on."
Vivian hesitated, suspicious. "You're sure you're okay? You're not pretending to be calm because you're heartbroken?"
Elena chuckled. "What's wrong with letting go when it's time?"
Vivian paused, then nodded. "That's the spirit. Honestly, it's karma — those three shameless dogs finally got what they deserved. After what happened last night, I doubt they can even show their faces in Southville again!"
Elena blinked. "Wait— karma? What do you mean?"
Vivian sounded stunned. "Don't tell me… you haven't seen the Southville News?"
Elena, even more confused, said, "???"
Vivian groaned. "Go look right now! It's all over the city. I swear, it's insane."
Elena hung up immediately, muttering, "Love you, bye," before diving into the news app.
The top story was pinned front and center:
[MUST SEE: The Scandal That Rocked the Cheng Family Banquet]
The title alone screamed drama. She clicked it instinctively.
And the next second—her eyes widened in disbelief.
It was a video.
A very explicit video — featuring Felix, Sophia… and Julia.
Even though the footage had been blurred, it was still unmistakably them.
And utterly revolting.
Three words came to mind: utter chaos.
Elena watched in stunned silence, nausea churning in her stomach.
Felix and Sophia were bad enough — but Julia, too? When had that started? How long had they been fooling around behind everyone's backs?
By the time the clip ended, she was trembling — not from anger, but from the sheer horror of what could have happened.
If Lucian hadn't appeared last night…
If he hadn't pulled her out of that nightmare…
Then she would've been the one on that screen.
Her name, her reputation — her entire life would've been destroyed.
Heart pounding, she quickly exited the story and tapped the next trending article.
It was a video clip from inside the Cheng Family banquet itself — the very moment the scandal broke.
The footage showed the grand ballroom. The crowd was elegant, the lights glittering — until the massive LED screen behind the stage flickered to life, revealing the shocking video for all to see.
Gasps rippled through the crowd like thunder.
Someone screamed.
"Isn't that Young Master Felix from the Cheng family?!"
The entire room erupted into chaos.
Another guest pointed. "And those two women — they're the Song sisters! The second daughter and her cousin!"
"Oh my God," someone whispered. "At this kind of event? What were they thinking?!"
"Mr. Cheng invited all the city's elites tonight — and his own grandson just humiliated him in public! How will the Cheng family recover from this?"
People tried to keep their voices down out of respect for the elder Cheng, but the disgust was too strong to contain.
"Shameless!" a woman suddenly shouted. "Absolute filth!"
Her outburst opened the floodgates.
"Unbelievable — they pretend to be respectable, but look at them! Disgusting hypocrites!"
"That Song girl always acted so pure and sweet. Turns out she's been around more than anyone knew."
"And Felix—ugh. He's no better. They deserve each other."
Meanwhile, at the Cheng family's table, Mrs. Cheng, Derek, and Lynn sat frozen.
They had been so sure the video would expose Elena — that she and Max would be the ones disgraced beyond repair.
They'd planned it meticulously.
But when the screen lit up… it wasn't Elena at all.
Their smug smiles crumbled instantly.
Derek's eyes bulged as he shouted, as if possessed—
"Impossible! How could this be?!"