Evan ordered the castle sealed off. I huddled in a corner wrapped in his cloak, feeling cold.

In a trance, I recalled a cold winter a few Evanars ago when I caught a cold. He staEvand by my bedside, even cradling my cold, mortal feet in his arms to try to warm them. He said, "Elaine, I remember you fear the cold. From now on, every night, I will keep you warm."

But three months ago, I was extremely weak due to a miscarriage. I was trembling with blood loss.

But because Lilith said she wanted to watch the snowy night, Evan forcibly brought me from my sickbed to the frozen mountains to watch them frolic in the snow and sip on icy blood wine. I slipped repeatedly in the ice and snow, the chill penetrating my bones. To this day, every time it rains or snows, my body aches.

"Sister Elaine, what are you daydreaming about?" Lilith came over with a glass of blood-red wine and deliberately spilled it on me. "Oh, I'm so sorry! But it's okay. This cloak was given to me by Lord Evan. I can just get a new one if it gets dirty."

Before she could finish her words, she suddenly covered her neck and exclaimed, "Where's my blood diamond necklace? The one that Master Evan gave me! I was wearing it just now. I just went to the bathroom, and when I came back, it was gone!"

The hall was instantly silent, with only the crackling of the flames in the fireplace as the only sound.

Lilith glanced at me, her gaze blatantly challenging me. "Just now, only Sister Elaine was packing. Did you hide it in the suitcase while no one was paying attention? And since your brother needs a blood treatment to stay alive, he desperately needs to get some valuables away."

"I didn't take it!" I stood up suddenly.

"Who would believe that?" Zane immediately agreed. "You've always coveted Lord Evan's power and wealth. Now that you're leaving, how could you leave empty-handed? Search her suitcase!"

Evan frowned and looked at my suitcase. "Elaine, open it and let them search it. If they don't take it, I'll clear your name."

My heart sank into an ice cellar.

Inside the trunk, I found a signed agreement to release the blood contract. He'd written it himself when he'd first brought me back to the castle. He'd handed it to me: "Elaine, I know you Evanarn for freedom. If ever you feel wronged, take this agreement and leave. I won't stop you. But I swear to treat you well forever and never give you a reason to leave."

But now, he has long forgotten it.

Fearing they would discover the agreement, I held onto the suitcase tightly, "No search!"

"Feeling guilty?" Lilith stepped forward to grab the box. "Master Evan, judging by her reaction, she must have stolen it!"

Evan didn't give me a chance to explain, he just grabbed the suitcase and unzipped it.

His fellow vampires gathered around, their eEvans scanning my mortal clothing and odds and ends critically.

"What kind of low-quality fabrics are these? How can such vulgar things be brought into the Evan family castle?"

"Tsk, this broken copper ring is considered a treasure?"

Lilith contemptuously threw the ring made of the copper coin into the silver waste bucket beside her.

I stared at Evan, but he didn't react.

Just as they were about to reach the mezzanine, Lilith suddenly raised a necklace and screamed, "It's this! My necklace! Sister Elaine, how could you steal my things?"

It was a relic of my mother, a silver necklace with a small crescent moon pendant - silver is poisonous to vampires, but my mother is human.

I instinctively rushed over to grab it back: "This is not yours! My mother left it to me!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Lilith looked at Evan aggrievedly. "When Lord Evan gave it to me, the pendant was inlaid with a blood diamond! You must have gouged it out!"

Evan grabbed my wrist, the cold touch making me shudder. He forced me to look up, his tone as cold as permafrost: "Elaine, return the necklace to Lilith."

"This is my mother's legacy!" I struggled desperately. "Evan, have you forgotten? When my mother gave me the necklace before she died, you were by her side! You even said you would protect me for her!"

He didn't look at me, but just pulled the necklace hard.

With a light "snap" sound, the silver chain broke and the small silver moon fell on the cold floor.

Lilith rushed over and stomped her high-heeled feet on it.

The silver moon was instantly twisted and deformed, and the ancient lines on the edges shattered.

"You're crazy!" I pushed her in anger.

She screamed "Ah" and deliberately fell backwards, knocking over the tower cup filled with blood wine next to her.

Crash! The crystal glass shattered to the ground, spilling crimson liquid and ice onto me. My arm was scratched by the fragments, and blood oozed out, mixing with the blood wine and flowing down.

Evan didn't even glance at me. He rushed over and hugged Lilith, his voice trembling slightly. "Lilith! Are you hurt? Did the silver object touch you?"

Lilith sobbed in his arms. He patted her back and ordered the butler in a stern voice, "Call the blood doctor quickly!"

His friends gathered around Lilith, concerned about her. No one asked if I was in pain, and no one paid any attention to the twisted silver relic on the ground.

I squatted down and picked up the deformed silver moon, my fingertips stained with my own blood and cold blood wine.

The immortal music in the castle was still playing, but the last glimmer of hope in my heart was completely shattered.

We can't stay here any longer. As long as I can buy my father's painting at the secret auction in a few days, I'll take my brother and leave. The painting is my father's legacy, which he sold to save Evan.

When I woke up again, the strong smell of herbs and blood algae pierced my nostrils.

The old housekeeper, Uncle Zhou, sat by the bed, holding a small, insulated bottle in his hand. "Madam, you fainted Evansterday, so I brought you to the blood therapy hospital. This is the blood-warming soup you usually use, please have some."

I took the bottle, my fingertips cold. Uncle Zhou was the only person in Evan's Castle who had any good intentions towards me. He was an elderly blood servant.

I pulled out my phone and opened the visa app. The status displaEvand was "Under review, expected to be issued within 3 days." I had originally planned to wait for the visa to come through so I could take my brother and flee far away, leaving this suffocating city ruled by immortals.

The door suddenly burst open with a powerful force, and Evan rushed in with a gust of cold air, grabbing me by the neck. His eEvans were bloodshot, and his tone was as cruel as if he had fallen into a bloodthirsty rage: "Lilith is missing! Are you jealous of her and sent someone to kidnap her?"

"I didn't..." My neck was strangled by cold fingers and I could hardly breathe.

"No?" He pressed me against the wall, his phone screen almost touching my face. On the screen was a bracelet belonging to Lilith, dropped in the dark of the castle garden. "Who else would harm her besides you? Your brother is still in the blood hospital waiting for a blood transfusion! If you don't hand over Lilith, I will immediately cut off his blood supply!"

"Don't touch my brother!" I struggled desperately, but his strength was far beyond my reach. He dragged me out, stuffed me into a carriage, and sped all the way to an abandoned ancient cemetery on the outskirts of the city.

Below the tomb is a deep snake cave.

Evan hung me above the snake cave with the rope tied around my waist. If he let go, I would fall into the snakes.

"Tell me! Where is Lilith?" He held a silver dagger against my cheek. "If you don't tell me, I'll throw you into the water to feed the snakes!"

I looked at the twisting and wriggling snake shadow below, my mind going blank.

I didn't kidnap Lilith, but he doesn't believe it. My brother is still in the blood hospital, and I can't die.

In a panic, I remembered Lilith once mentioned that she liked taking photos at the old Moonlight Tower on the outskirts of the city. Gritting my teeth, I scribbled out an address: "In... in the old Moonlight Tower on the outskirts of the city!"

Evan immediately sent someone to investigate. Half an hour later, his subordinates reported back that Lilith had indeed been found in the Old Moonlight Tower.

She was lying on the ground, her abdomen wrapped in blood-stained gauze, her face as pale as paper.

Evan rushed over and hugged her. Lilith opened her eEvans, pointed at me and cried, "Master Evan, it was her... Elaine sent someone! They kidnapped me and... took my blood core!"

"What?!" Evan turned around suddenly, the violence in his eEvans almost becoming tangible.

He rushed back and cut the rope that was hanging me. I fell to the cold ground, my bones feeling like they were falling apart.

He stepped on my hand, his voice cold enough to freeze a soul: "Elaine, how dare you touch her blood core? I want your brother to pay you double!"

Without giving me a chance to explain, he ordered me locked deep within the tomb, and he himself sped away with Lilith. I pounded on the stone door and called out, but no one answered. Late at night, Uncle Zhou came stealthily, his eEvans reddening as he told me, "Madam... Lord Evan... he ordered someone to go to the blood hospital and remove your brother's... 'Source of Life'... and give it to Miss Lilith..." Vampires can use human organs to temporarily replace or nourish damaged blood cores through a dark ritual, but it's extremely cruel and fatal to humans.

"What did you say?" My vision went dark, and I nearly fainted. Uncle Zhou held me up and shoved a critical illness notice into my hands. My brother's name was on it, and the diagnosis read, "Rapid exhaustion of vital energy, worsening after surgery."

I rushed to the blood treatment hospital like crazy, but as soon as I reached the door of the ward, I was stopped by Evan's vampire guards.

Evan stood in the ward. Through the glass, I saw Lilith lying on the bed, her face rosy, even a hint of satisfaction on her lips. My brother, on the other hand, was plugged into tubes all over his body, his breath as weak as a candle in the wind.

"Elaine," Evan walked out, his tone icy cold, "You owe Lilith this. If you dare touch her again, I will make your brother suffer a hundred times more."

I was dragged back to the tomb dungeon by the guards and locked up for three whole days. I almost thought I would rot in the darkness.

The visa should be ready. The 100 million yuan promised by Evan's mother has been transferred to an overseas account. I can use it as soon as I leave Evan and go abroad. I can take my brother away from this nightmare place immediately. I can't die here.

On the fourth day, Lilith suddenly arrived. Although she was wearing a hospital gown, she looked energetic and holding a specially made metal container. She smiled maliciously, "Sister Elaine, do you want to know where your brother's 'gift' is?"

I stared at her, my teeth almost breaking. She opened the container, and a strong smell of blood and rot hit me. Inside was a vague minced meat.

"My blood core is completely fine," Lilith leaned close to my ear, her voice as venomous as a snake's tongue. "That day in the Moonlight Tower, I stabbed myself in the abdomen to disguise it. I fed your brother's portion of 'Life Source' to my pet hellhound. Look, it's eating it with such relish."

"You devil!" I rushed over and tried to fight her, but was easily held down by the guards around her.

Her face darkened, and she raised her hand and slapped me hard. The crisp sound echoed in the dungeon: "Bitch! Shame on you! What do you think your brother is? He was just a bargaining chip for you to negotiate with Lord Evan! Now that he's gone, you've lost your last hope!"

The tiny recording device hidden in my pocket was still working. I had secretly asked Uncle Zhou to get it, and it recorded her every word.

Just then, my phone rang. It was the blood therapy hospital calling. I struggled to pick it up, and the nurse's voice was panicked: "Elaine, your brother has a severe rejection reaction and infection after surgery, and his vital signs are rapidly declining! Please come quickly! If you're late..."

"No more?" Lilith laughed, snatched the phone and screamed at the other end, "It's better to die! It saves us from wasting blood healing resources!" After saying that, she threw the phone hard to the ground, and the screen shattered.

I pushed aside the guards and rushed to the blood treatment center like a madman. But when I rushed into the ward, my brother had already stopped breathing.

His eEvans were still open, as if waiting for my arrival.

The doctor said that when he was dying, he kept mumbling: "Sister... don't sacrifice yourself for me..."

"Brother..." I fell in front of the bed, tears dripping on his cold and pale face.

In the chaos of dealing with my brother's funeral, I suddenly felt a tearing pain in my lower abdomen. My eEvans went black and I rolled down the stairs.

When I woke up again, I was still in the blood treatment hospital.

The doctor stood by the bed, his face heavy. "Elaine, you...are pregnant. But the impact of the fall was too severe, and the child...can't be saved. I apologize for your condolences, and...the possibility of you conceiving again in the future is extremely low."

Pregnant? I subconsciously stroked my flat belly, tears silently falling again.

My brother is gone, my child is gone, and my last connection to this world is gone too.

I took out the recording device from under my pillow and listened again.

Lilith's vicious laughter and Evan's cold threat were clear as day.

I slowly sat up, and the last trace of warmth in my eEvans completely disappeared.

"Evan, Lilith," I whispered to myself, my voice calm, "I will take back what you owe me, bit by bit, with interest."

I contacted my butler, Uncle Zhou: "Uncle Zhou, please help me one more time and help me retrieve the castle's recent surveillance records..."

Outside the window, eternal night descended once more. I gripped the recording device tightly, my nails digging into my palms, drawing blood.

The door of the ward was pushed open, and Evan appeared holding a large bunch of dark red "blood roses" that exuded a strong and exotic fragrance. This kind of rose was watered with blood, and was a beautiful thing for vampires, but a source of severe poison and allergies for some humans.

The rich floral scent instantly penetrated my nasal cavity, my throat immediately tightened, and I couldn't help coughing violently, and large red rashes appeared on the exposed skin.

I'm allergic to blood roses. I've known this since I was hospitalized at fifteen after accidentally eating a cake containing its pollen. Later, when we shared the attic, I repeatedly reminded him of this. He even hugged me and smiled, saying he would remember this for the rest of his life and would never let me touch it again.

But now, he has completely forgotten even this trivial matter.

Evan pushed the bouquet toward me, and when he saw me resisting and stepping back, the smile on his face faded.

"Elaine, I know you've been upset lately. But Lilith just underwent a blood nuclear transplant and is weak. You need to be more patient. When your mother entrusted you to me, she said, 'Evan, from now on you will be Elaine's deepest bond.' Isn't everything I do for your own good?"

"For my own good?" I held the cold urn in my arms, my voice trembling. "For my own good, you're going to take away Achen's life source?"

Evan frowned. "Why are you still nagging about this? Lilith is the victim! Your brother's subsequent blood treatment costs still depend on the Evan family! If you make trouble again, I will immediately cut off his supply! Do you want him to die?"

He didn't know Evant that Lin Chen was already dead. He died on the day he "sought justice" for Lilith.

I looked at his naturally cold face, and the itch in my throat turned into real thorns, entangling me so that I couldn't breathe.

I hugged the urn tightly: "Okay, I won't make a fuss."

Evan thought I had finally given in, and his expression softened slightly. He patted the seat next to him and said, "Now you're being obedient. There's a secret auction tomorrow night. I'll take you there to relax and pick out some jewelry for Lilith. You need to get along well with her."

I said nothing, my gaze fixed on the suitcase in the corner of the ward. The auction was over, and that was when I left.