When I first met Thomas Hilton, he was still a street punk covered in blood.

The only good thing about him was the clumsy sincerity when he tattooed my name on his chest.

Later, when he rose to power, with a wave of his hand, he gave me half of Bronze Bay as a wedding gift.

Everyone in Harborwood knew that I, Jessica Shaw, was more important to him than his own life.

That was until today, when the celebrity Thomas kept finally walked into our house.

With a big belly, she said to me with a smile, "Ms. Shaw, are you going to leave with dignity now, or wait until my son grows up and throws you out of this place?"

I just raised my hand and ordered a subordinate to help her "give birth".

When Thomas saw the pool of blood beneath her, he flew into a rage.

He pressed a knife to my neck and said, "Jessica, you should know when to be satisfied!"

I laughed softly and pressed the muzzle of a gun against his heart.

"You really had a change of heart. Good thing my heart didn't change. My truest self is my ambition."

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

The one who fell was the cripple, Luke, who had always followed Thomas.

"Do you really like her that much? Figures. That celebrity was carefully trained by Luke and sent to your side. Being able to make you lose your temper with me like this meant she had some skill."

My gaze lowered, landing on the silver blade across my neck.

I snorted and said, "Aren't you going to make your move? Thomas, you weren't this hesitant before. Why is your hand shaking when you're holding the knife?"

The mocking look in my eyes made Thomas' heart ache.

In the silent standoff, it was he who had lost in the end.

He threw the knife aside and sat back down on the sofa.

"Luke had been my subordinate for 10 years. What you did was too ruthless."

I smiled faintly and had someone drag Luke away.

"He's not you. I'm only soft-hearted towards you."

Thomas looked at me, his expression complicated.

"I want to keep Vivian around. This life is full of violence and bloodshed. I'm exhausted. Vivian is like a window to me, allowing me to get some fresh air amongst all this bloodshed. She makes me feel that I can just be a normal man sometimes and live a normal life."

I didn't rush to respond.

I set the gun aside and lit a cigarette.

I said after a short pause, "Normal? Thomas, have you ever told her about all the blood on your hands, the dirty money in your accounts, and your enemies coming at you during the night? If you put a normal person like her in your world, that's no different from getting her killed."

Thomas frowned, displeased by my rebuttal.

"Jessica, I wasn't asking for your permission. I was informing you."

He stood up and went into the inner room, lifting Vivian Sugden—whose bleeding had stopped—into his arms.

The girl's pale, unconscious face rested against his chest.

In the flickering light, she actually resembled my younger self quite a lot.

"Jessica, just focus on being the lady of the house. This is your last warning. If you ever lay a finger on Vivian again, I won't let you off so easily."

Thomas left with his men.

The wind that blew in from the door that was left open extinguished the cigarette in my hand.

John Moore walked up to me from behind to relight the cigarette in my hand.

He then asked, "The muzzle wasn't aimed at his heart. Did you have second thoughts?"

White smoke rose from the lit cigarette.

I replied in a disdainful voice, "Second thoughts? I never planned on killing him. A bullet is enough to end Thomas' life. What I really want is the PIN to his Swelia Bank's account, the ledger to all his dirty deals, and all of the legal businesses under his name. There's no way I'll let him die that easily."

John, who was disappointed because he thought I had second thoughts about killing Thomas, became a little overjoyed and asked quite a stupid question. "Do you not love him?"

Countless memories flickered through my gaze, until only the faintest shadow remained—something akin to weariness, or perhaps nostalgia.

"Of course, I love him. Otherwise, why would I remain by his side over the past 10 years? We've practically been through hell together. But love and power are completely two different things. Love can ease the pain in life, but power helps you to survive. One can live without love, but will die without power."

As soon as I finished speaking, the digital voice of the clock in the living room sounded.

John also looked at the message that popped up on his phone and said, "Just received news. The leader of Neworld, Calum Shaw, suddenly passed away. It was said that he died from a heart attack."

"Okay," I said almost indifferently.

John couldn't help but take a step forward. He felt confused. "Aren't you... surprised? After all, he is your father."

The corners of my lips twitched a little. It looked like I just smiled. "Why should I be surprised? I did it."

John's eyes widened in shock. He was dumbfounded. His face was instantly drained of all color.

I looked at John's pale face and said calmly, as if talking about the weather, "I've always taken care of people who got in my way, no matter who they are. Even if it's my father."

I extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, then looked at John. "Any other questions?"

John lowered his head and didn't ask any more questions.

I stood up, picked up the gun on the table, and pointed to a room. "Didn't Thomas want to keep Vivian? Then I'll let him have his way. It's just one more show to enjoy."

Footsteps sounded from the foyer.

Vivian's coquettish voice could be heard as she ordered Thomas' subordinates to move her luggage. "Be careful! Thomas bought these for me at an auction! I don't want you breaking any of it!"

She stood in the luxurious villa and looked around. The greed and provocation were evident in her eyes. She then saw me sitting on the sofa, going through a file with my back to her.

She walked over and said, "Jessica, Thomas said that this place has a better environment and told me to move in so we could connect more. You won't mind, right?"

I kept my head down and turned the page for the financial report in my hands. My voice was indifferent. "I do mind."

Vivian didn't expect me to be so straightforward and wasn't even willing to put on an act.

She was taken aback at first, but then smiled even more arrogantly. "It doesn't really matter. These are Thomas' orders. He said that after I learn business management, I'll be the real lady of the house in the future."

With that said, she walked towards the wine cabinet.

She picked up one of the crystal wine glasses I had and said, "This glass looks nice. I'll use it as my drinking glass."

Seeing that I was still ignoring her, Vivian sat down by my side and took the file from my hand.

"What are you looking at? You're not allowed to look at these documents in the future! Only I can read these reports in the future!"

The A4 paper was pulled out of my hand. The sharp edges gave me papercuts.

Only then did I raise my head and look at Vivian.

The way I looked at her was cold and indifferent, as if I was looking at a pile of rubbish.

To be honest, it had been a long time since I had seen someone with a death wish.

"Who said you could come in here?"

"Thomas, of course! Who do you think..."

I interrupted her calmly, but my voice was somehow domineering. "There's only one lady of the house, and that's me."

Vivian was a little stunned by my domineering aura, but she quickly stood up and puffed her chest as she looked down on me.

"You dare lay a finger on me? Thomas said that yesterday was the last time that he was going to let you off. If you dare do anything to me again, he'll just kick you out of the house!"

I smiled softly.

My smile was cold and gave Vivian the shivers.

I stood and pulled out the gun, which was at my waist, and loaded it in front of Vivian.

"Lay a finger on you? That's a waste of my time!"

I suddenly raised my hand.

This caused her to scream and squat down with her hands on her head.

What she thought was the end wasn't.

My gun wasn't aimed at her; it was aimed at the wine cabinet behind her.

The next second, there was a loud bang.

The sound of glasses shattering echoed in the room. The flying shards had even cut Vivian's waist, leaving a deep blood trail.

Vivian was dumbfounded. Her face was pale, and she was too stunned to even make any noise.

"The cabinet's got dirt on it. Get someone to clean it up."

John immediately nodded.

I looked at the trembling Vivian, squatted down, and warned, "The last person who dared to act so arrogantly in front of me was a person called Luke. I've already sent him to the underworld yesterday. I don't mind sending you down to the underworld to keep him company if you don't believe me."

With that, I stood up, took out my phone, and dialed Thomas' number.

I put the call on the loudspeaker.

"I'll give you 20 minutes to clean out your woman and all her rubbish. If she doesn't leave within that time, you can just prepare for her funeral."

12 minutes later, the sound of tyres screeching sounded outside the villa.

Thomas rushed into the house with his most trusted subordinate, Bradley. His face was dark.

He immediately saw Vivian, who was sitting on the floor. There was blood on her legs, and she was full of tears. There was also a giant hole in the wine cabinet behind her.

Such a sight immediately infuriated him.

As soon as Vivian saw Thomas, she looked like she had seen her savior. She quickly stood up and threw herself into his arms.

She cried even louder. "Thomas, she... she wants to throw me out of the house! She even wanted to shoot me! I'm so scared..."

Thomas lowered his voice and comforted her. He then turned to me and started accusing me. "What's the meaning of this, Jessica? I only just gave you a warning yesterday! Vivian just had a miscarriage yesterday, she's still weak!"

I sat on the sofa and didn't even move. I just raised my head and looked straight into Thomas' angry eyes.

I was terrifyingly calm. "What's the meaning of this? Haven't I made myself clear on the phone?"

Seeing how indifferent I was, Thomas became even more infuriated. "This is my house, Jessica! I make all the decisions! You don't get to make the calls!"

I smiled bitterly.

I recalled the first time Thomas brought me to this place.

His face was red as he led me around this newly built house excitedly.

"Jessica, this is the place that we'll be living in after we get married. You can choose the style for this place to be renovated! You can do whatever you want in this place! You'll be the lady of this house!"

But now, he was looking at me and expecting me to allow a mistress to move into this place.

I stood up and asked, "Your house? I think there's something you forgot, Thomas. Whose name is on the deed of this house? And who's the legal representative of your legal business?"

Thomas was dumbfounded.

But when he looked at Vivian, who was in his arms, he still wanted to stand up for her.

"You..."

I glanced at Vivian, who was still pretending to be pitiful in Thomas' arms.

"Are you really going to fall out with me for a woman who you've only known for seven months and was trained to fit your taste? Are you sure about that?"

Thomas' anger suddenly dissipated a little.

I smiled and walked closer to him.

I lowered my voice and said cunningly, "Guess what would happen if I gave Neworld the ledgers in your safe? I've heard that their leader has just passed away and they're busy looking for the person responsible for it. Or if I give the ledgers to Officer Martinez in the Financial Crimes Section? Let's see if you'll still be able to show up in front of me with your mistress then."

Thomas didn't say anything else.

Even Bradley, who was standing behind him, lowered his head when I looked at him.

No one dared to say anything.

I looked at John, who was standing beside me, and nodded.

John immediately got what I meant and showed Thomas the way out.

"Mr. Hilton, your car's already waiting outside."

Thomas held Vivian in his arms and turned to leave with a dark expression on his face.

"Ms. Shaw, you've just revealed all your trump cards. Thomas will definitely take action soon. Are you..."

I shook my head with a smile.

"How are those trump cards? I was just being soft-hearted and giving him one last chance. If he dares to take action, then he'll definitely lose."