A pond full of blooming flowers, an ultimate addiction.

Chi Ruiche stayed with Jiang Yi until she fell asleep, and after making sure she was sound asleep, he left the room, instructed Aunt Wang to stand guard outside the door, checked his watch, and hurriedly left the villa.

"Mr. Chi, Young Master Jiang is already inside." A bodyguard in a black suit stood guard at the warehouse entrance.

The place where Jiang Yi was originally bound is now occupied by Jiang Xue lying on the ground with disheveled hair, her pink clothes stained with dust and blood, and her exposed skin covered with knife marks.

Jiang Xue's delicate face was covered in bruises. She was too weak to shout, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, her body enduring immense pain.

"The bullet has been removed. No anesthesia was used, but a stimulant was given to force her to wake up."

Chi Ruiche strode forward. Jiang Yang wasn't surprised that Chi Ruiche had appeared in the middle of the night. "Asleep?"

"Ah."

The brief exchange between the two left Jiang Xue with a cold glint in her eyes and a forced smile on her lips. "You'd better kill me, or Jiang Yi will be the one to die."

"Do you think you can get out of here alive?" Jiang Yang glared at him with disgust.

"The only reason you haven't killed me yet is because I'm still useful to you."

At this moment, Jiang Xue was unaware that Zhou Guangzhen had fallen from power and naively believed that she still had bargaining chips.

“As long as you behave yourself, the Jiang family will not mind supporting you and your mother. But you harbor evil intentions and dare to try to replace Xiao Yi.”

Jiang Yang spoke coldly, his fists clenched as if he wanted to smash the person in front of him to pieces.

Jiang Xue took a deep breath, her body trembling violently as if all the blood in her body was gushing out, her eyes wide open.

“She’s just a useless person. I’m better than her in every way. I’m also Miss Jiang. Why can’t I marry into the Chi family?”

"You self-righteous people can change my life with just a word. You're just giving me some things you don't want. Do you expect me to be grateful?"

"Jiang Yang, the things I want to protect, I will destroy. First Jiang Yi, and then the entire Jiang family."

Jiang Xue's face became even more distorted with anger, and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

"Then go to hell."

Chi Ruiche's icy voice was like a demon crawling out of hell, ruthless and merciless.

"Do it!" Jiang Xue growled in a hoarse voice, her gaze fixed on Chi Ruiche.

Chi Ruiche pulled a gun from his pocket, and the sound of the pistol being pulled was particularly loud in the quiet night.

"Don't you want to know who helped me plan this whole thing? And who my allies are?"

Jiang Xue dismissed their bluff as mere posturing and scoffed.

"boom-"

"boom-"

Two gunshots rang out, and Jiang Xue felt her body jolted violently. She only had time to scream before the enormous impact entered her body. Pain surged through her lower limbs like a tidal wave, and a gush of hot blood spurted from her knees.

Jiang Xue groaned in pain, curling up to hug herself, trying to ease the pain.

"Ah, you..." The pain prevented her from uttering a complete sentence.

"I forgot to tell you, Zhou Guangzhen suffered a sudden heart attack and was hospitalized." Jiang Yang's tone returned to calm.

Blood dripped from the wound, making a clear ticking sound as it hit the ground, like the tolling of a countdown clock, announcing the end of life.

"Your mother's fake medical record is now on someone's desk. It's time for this charade between you and your mother to come to an end."

"Haha, do you think Dad would believe that?"

Jiang Xue's voice and body were trembling, her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with fear and panic.

Jiang Yang crouched down to look her in the eye, his gaze sharp, like a hurricane tearing everything apart. "Once the seed of doubt is planted, it will sprout and grow."

"I'm telling you, let me go. Brother, brother, I'm your sister."

Jiang Xue realized it was too late, and she reached out her blood-soaked hand to grab Jiang Yang's trouser leg.

"When your mother persuaded your father to inject Jiang Yi with typhoid fever, why didn't she think of her as your sister? When you were about to push her downstairs and hurt her, why didn't you think of yourself as the older sister?"

"Brother, brother, I was just momentarily blinded by greed. I was wrong, I was wrong."

Jiang Xue's face turned ashen, and she pulled at the object in even more panic.

"If you hurt her, you should think about the consequences."

"No, Che, I really love you, I really want to marry you. Don't you remember me?" Jiang Xue seized the last opportunity.

Chi Ruiche watched everything coldly, without any sign of pity or tenderness.

"Two years ago at the Yu family ball, I was the one wearing a mask and embracing you, and I was the one watching the moon with you under the tree. You said you liked me."

Jiang Xue anxiously revealed the secret she had been keeping hidden all along: that night was so real and beautiful, and he was so gentle; one look from him was enough to make her fall for him.

"Did you forget it?"

Chi Ruiche smiled, seemingly unmoved by her pain.

"That day, it was just that her eyes, which were partially visible under the mask, resembled hers by a third, so that having you by her side could ward off those shady people; as for liking you, that's just your imagination."

Chi Ruiche's expression was cold and expressionless.

"No, you said it yourself, why won't you admit it? That night, when you were almost knocked down by a bottle, it was me who pushed you away."

Jiang Xue stubbornly believes that it is Chi Ruiche.

"Che, don't you remember me? Che, you said you would marry me as long as I killed Jiang Yi, Che..." Jiang Xue cried out, unable to hold back her tears any longer.

"It seems you do possess some useful information."

"What are you going to do... what are you going to do..."

Jiang Xue screamed frantically, her voice hoarse. A sudden surge of strength forced her to try to escape, but the bodyguards held her firmly to the ground.

Jiang Xue watched their departing figures with despair and helplessness, showing no mercy, as the light before her eyes slowly faded away.