Victoria did not arrive until nine.

After sitting down, she did not even take off her coat. The entire time, she was distracted, frowning, and checking her phone every thirty seconds.

I forced down the taste of blood rising in my throat and pushed the poured glass of red wine toward her.

"Victoria, have some. You used to love..."

Buzz.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

The moment she saw the caller ID, the perfunctory expression on Victoria's face disappeared. In its place was undisguised urgency.

She answered right in front of me without the slightest hesitation. Her voice was so gentle it sounded like a different person.

"Noah, what's wrong?"

From the other end, Noah's slightly rushed voice came through.

"Victoria, my assistant asked for leave. I'm alone at the hotel... I don't feel well. Can you come check on me?"

"Don't be scared. Stay right there. I'm coming now."

Victoria's face changed. She shot to her feet, grabbed her car keys, and headed for the door.

"Victoria Quinn!"

I calmly caught the sleeve of her coat.

My fingertips turned white from the force. My body even began to flicker faintly with a transparent outline because of the surge of emotion.

I stared at her and spoke in a steady voice filled with dead stillness.

"If you walk out that door today, then from now on... you will never see me again."

I was not lying.

The countdown had nearly reached its end.

If she left now, this would be goodbye forever.

Victoria stopped and looked down at me from above, her voice ice-cold.

"Noah is fragile. He's in danger right now."

She pried my fingers off one by one. Her eyes were so cold she looked at me as if I were an unreasonable lunatic.

Then Victoria threw down those cruel words, turned without hesitation, and strode out of the restaurant.

Her back was decisive and urgent.

From beginning to end, she never looked back once.

Late that night, I dragged my dying body back to the empty villa alone.

I did not turn on the lights. By moonlight, I found paper and a pen, then calmly began writing my farewell letter.

In the letter, I did not accuse her of anything. I only wrote in detail about the choice the system had given me seven years ago.

I wrote about how I had given up a billion-dollar cash reward, and how I had drained every last luck point from my own system account to exchange for the chance for her to stand again after the car accident that had paralyzed both her legs.

After finishing the letter, I packed all our old photos into a cardboard box and erased the last traces of my life in this house.

[Death countdown: 10, 9, 8...]

The countdown entered its final ten seconds.

I fell onto the carpet beside the sofa. It felt as though my organs were being shredded by countless blades.

My face remained cold as I endured the agony. I vomited mouthful after mouthful of black blood, instantly staining the pure white carpet Victoria loved most.

[3, 2, 1!]

[Erasure protocol complete!]

The instant the system's cold voice fell, an irresistible force violently ripped my soul out of my body.

After the pain, my consciousness sank into endless darkness and scattered completely.

All that remained was a lifeless shell, lying quietly in a pool of blood.

The next morning, Victoria pushed open the villa door.

There was still a trace of Noah's tobacco scent on her, and her expression carried the fatigue and irritation of a sleepless night.

"Julian, I'm back. Julian?"

As she took off her coat and changed her shoes, her eyes swept casually across the living room, then froze.

Beside the sofa, Julian Hayes lay quietly on the carpet, motionless.

Victoria frowned, disgust flashing through her eyes.

"You're a grown man. Why are you lying on the floor?"

"The floor is cold. Get up. Don't think this will make me soften."

The person on the floor did not react.

Victoria strode over and grabbed his shoulder.

"Are you still trying to argue with me..."

Before she could finish, her voice stopped abruptly.

What came through her palm was a piercing cold, like ice.

Stiff.

Dead.

Victoria froze. Then she turned Julian over.

What entered her sight was Julian's gray-white face, and the large patches of dried black blood at the corners of his mouth, on his chin, and across his collar.

The eyes that had once always looked at her gently were now tightly closed, never to open again.

"Julian... Julian?!"

Victoria's mind went blank. With shaking fingers, she reached under his nose.

There was nothing.

She stumbled backward in terror and kicked an envelope on the coffee table.

On the envelope were the words: [For Victoria Quinn.]

With trembling hands, she tore it open and scanned the letter.

When she saw the phrases "gave up one billion," "luck points exchanged for the recovery of your legs," and "betrayal triggers erasure," Victoria's pupils shook violently.

"No... impossible. This is impossible, Julian! You must be lying to me!"

Just as she screamed on the verge of collapse, a flat mechanical voice suddenly rang through the air above the villa.

[Detected: host has fully died. Erasure protocol complete.]

Victoria snapped her head up and looked around as if she had seen a ghost.

The cold voice continued to echo, like a death sentence being read aloud.

[Due to contract termination, the leg-healing reward previously granted to bound target Victoria Quinn will now be officially revoked.]

"What..."

Before Victoria could react, a tearing pain exploded through both of her knees.

"Ah!!!"