Chapter 4

The room instantly erupted into chaos.

The reporters scrambled to chase the story. Grant and I fought like we wanted to kill each other. Ava, Nora, Damien, and several police officers rushed to pull us apart.

But before my hand could even reach Damien, he suddenly threw himself backward.

He slammed onto the floor, grabbed the back of his head, and began howling in pain.

Ava and Nora stopped struggling with Grant and immediately turned their attention to Damien.

Ava grabbed my arm and dragged me away.

“Ethan, you’ve completely lost your mind!”

“Have Nora and I spoiled you too much? Do you realize how many reporters are here? You disrupted the event, and now you attacked Damien! You think you can do whatever you want!”

My body was thrown backward.

The sharpest corner of the table struck my abdomen.

A violent pain tore through me. I clutched my stomach as my legs gave out beneath me.

But Ava, who used to panic whenever I even frowned, only looked at my pale face and sneered.

“Are you done pretending?”

“Nora and I already told you. Once we repay Damien, we’ll treat you the way we always did. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You keep causing trouble, and every time you do, we owe Damien even more.”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

A heavy, dull pain dragged through my lower abdomen.

“Ava… it hurts. Please…”

She assumed I was still putting on an act.

She didn’t even look at me. She only focused on comforting Damien.

I turned to Nora for help.

She was a doctor. Surely she could help me.

Instead, she grabbed my already agonized body and dragged me out of the way.

“The ambulance will be here soon. Don’t block the path.”

“Quickly, get Damien onto the stretcher!”

“Damien, does it hurt? Don’t be scared. I’m a doctor. Nothing will happen to you while I’m here.”

Nora held Damien’s hand as she walked away.

My abdomen felt as if it were being crushed beneath a thousand-pound stone. Sweat poured from my forehead.

I remembered her old promise to keep me safe and healthy for the rest of my life.

It was almost laughable.

Just as I was growing weaker, Grant charged toward me.

Smack!

A loud slap struck my face.

Grant sneered.

“You little punk. You’re just like your sister. You won’t appreciate kindness until you’re beaten into submission!”

“With Ava and Nora still grateful to my brother, what can you do to me? Even if I killed your sister, you’d still have to bow your head and call me a hero.”

“No one’s here to stop me now. I’ll beat you to death!”

He raised his hand again.

Fortunately, the police arrived in time and grabbed him.

Then someone in the crowd suddenly pointed at me and shouted.

“Blood!”

“He’s vomiting blood!”

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

The nurse told me that extreme emotional distress had caused internal bleeding.

I held my medical report and stared at it for a long time.

At some point, Damien came swaggering into my room.

“Well, well. Isn’t this Southport’s golden boy, Ethan Carter? How did you end up looking like this? That’s pathetic.”

“You should’ve left my brother alone. Since you refused, don’t blame me for coming after you!”

I turned away from him and pressed the call button, asking the nurse to remove him.

Before leaving, Damien leaned close and threatened me.

“Listen carefully. This is only the beginning. The Carter Group, your fiancée, your childhood friend—everything you’ve ever had will be mine. You’ll be the one watching me from the bottom now.”

I lowered my head and listened in silence.

I didn’t argue.

The nurse began to pity me. She was just about to comfort me when I spoke first.

“My phone is gone.”

“Could I borrow yours to make a call?”

The nurse didn’t suspect anything.

She immediately handed me her phone.

I entered the string of numbers tattooed on my sister’s body.

Beep. Beep.

The call was answered after only two rings.

A gentle male voice came through.

“Claire?”

Hearing someone say my sister’s name so affectionately made tears spill from my eyes.

Pain flooded through me. For a moment, I couldn’t speak. I could only cry.

The man seemed to realize something was wrong.

He asked cautiously, “Is that Ethan? Why are you calling me? Where’s Claire?”

“You sound like you’re crying. Your sister always said you were Southport’s untouchable rose. She called you the little king of Southport. Who would dare make our Ethan suffer?”

“I promise I’ll make them pay a hundred times over!”