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.

The secret auction site is hidden in an ancient building in the shadow of the city.

Evan walked in front, arm in arm with Lilith, who was dressed in a dazzling gown. Lilith turned back from time to time to cast provocative glances at me. I followed behind, like a silent ghost.

Watching Evan take pictures of Lilith's ancient jewelry, each one imbued with dark power, my heart was broken.

"The next lot is the painter Lin H-sheng's last work, 'Returning Home on a Moonlit Night,' with a starting price of 500,000 yuan."

The oil painting on the stage slowly unfolded, depicting an ancient castle under the moonlight, the shadows of bats, and a dark path. The brushstrokes were extremely delicate. It was my father's last work.

Back then, Evan was injured by a silver bullet and hunted by his enemies. He urgently needed 300,000 yuan to buy a secret elixir to remove the seal of divine power. With nowhere else to turn, I had no choice but to sell this painting. I once cried to him, "Someday, I will redeem it." He hugged me, wiped my tears with his fingertips, and promised, "Elaine, I will remember this in my heart. I will find this painting for you one day."

"Five hundred thousand." I held up my number plate. This was the money I'd saved from secretly designing rune manuscripts for others over the Evanars.

Lilith's face darkened instantly. She leaned close to Evan and whispered something, then raised her sign: "800,000."

"Ms. Lilith, this painting means a lot to me." I turned to her, my tone filled with a final plea. The 100 million in the overseas account couldn't be used immediately, and even if it could, it couldn't compete with Evan's wealth.

Lilith chuckled, her fingers tracing Evan's arm in an ambiguous manner. "Sister Elaine, if you like, then it's fair game. Master Evan said that whatever I want, he will grant it to me."

"One million." I raised the sign again.

"One million and a half." Lilith immediately raised the price and leaned closer to Evan. "Master Evan, I love this painting too. Would you mind buying it for me?"

Evan's eEvans fell on the painting, then glanced at me with a slight hesitation in his eEvans. Perhaps he remembered the ancient promise.

After a moment, he raised his sign and said in a calm and cold voice, "Two million."

A faint hope flashed through my mind, perhaps he had not completely forgotten the past.

But the next second, Evan took the painting from the waiter and put it in Lilith's arms: "As you wish, Lilith."

Lilith hugged the picture frame in surprise, then suddenly looked at me with a malicious smile on her lips.

In front of all the attendees, she pretended to lose her balance and slammed into me, but she grabbed both sides of the frame with both hands and tore it apart!

Swish——!

The canvas split in half, and the scene of the Moonlight Castle was ruthlessly torn apart.

"Oh!" Lilith immediately became panicked, tears filling her eEvans. "Sister Elaine, I...I didn't mean to do that!"

"Lilith!" I rushed forward, trying to snatch the damaged painting, but Evan grabbed me. His grip was so strong that it hurt my wrist, and his eEvans burned with cold anger. "Elaine! Have you had enough of this? It's just a painting! Tear it up, tear it up! I'll find it again! You scared Lilith!"

"This is my father's last work! I sold it to save you!" I struggled desperately, tears dripping onto the back of his pale hand. "Evan! You promised me! You would get it back for me! Have you forgotten?!"

"We've made so many promises, how can I remember them all?" Evan pushed me away impatiently. I stumbled backward and bumped into a display stand of ancient porcelain. The porcelain fell to the ground and the fragments scratched my ankle, causing blood to ooze out.

Before I could stand firm, he suddenly raised his hand and slapped me in the face.

Burning pain spread across my cheeks. I looked at Evan's hand frozen in mid-air and Lilith's smug smile, and suddenly I smiled.

The last bit of regret for him was finally completely shattered along with the torn painting.

After the auction, I did not return to the castle with Evan.

Returning alone to the ward at the blood therapy center, I retrieved from the depths of my suitcase the recording device, the DNA test report on "canned pet food" (with Uncle Zhou's secret help), and the copy of the castle surveillance footage he had helped me obtain. I mailed them all to the lawEvanr who specializes in occult law.

Then I called Evan's nemesis, another powerful vampire prince, William.

"Sir William," I said, my voice as calm as a deep pool, "I'd like to make a deal with you. I think you'd be interested in the inside information about the Tremere family."

After ending the call, I picked up my brother's urn and rushed to the airport.

As the car drove out of the shadow of the city, I looked back at the ancient city shrouded in eternal moonlight.

My phone rang, and the screen displaEvand the name "Evan." I took a look, blacklisted it, and turned it off.

Achen, let’s go home.

As for Evan and Lilith, I will personally collect the blood debt they owe me, bit by bit, with interest.