I'm a member of a top-secret research unit. As per my superior's request, I am to deliver a file to Celeste Judd, my older sister.

The moment I step into my sister's office, an intern, Ethan Irwin, quickly moves to stand in my way.

"Are you the new assistant?"

He eyes me up and down, finally noticing the document envelope in my hand. Then, he chortles loudly.

"It's your first day on the job, and yet you're already trying to suck up to Ms. Judd! Why don't you take a look in the mirror and see how pathetic you are?"

Only then do I realize that Ethan has mistaken me as a love rival.

But the thing is, Celeste has never told me that she has a boyfriend. I'm about to explain the truth to Ethan when I feel his fist colliding with my face.

"I'm the only assistant Ms. Judd needs! You can forget about being her boyfriend!"

Ethan yanks me by the hair as he dumps scalding hot water onto my face. "To think that you're already planning on becoming a sugar baby and seducing rich women at such a young age! I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents!"

I can only curl into a small ball on the floor. Stubbornly, I use my body to protect the document envelope.

My actions infuriate Ethan to no end. He snatches the file away before ripping it into pieces in front of the entire company.

He even says fawningly to Celeste, "Ms. Judd, your new assistant sure is a bold one for trying to seduce you! But don't worry, for I've already taught him a lesson!"

"What a shameless, brazen man, daring to set his sights on Ms. Judd when Ethan's right there! He's about to regret it."

"I don't think he knows what's coming yet. Although Ethan might be an intern, his father is the company executive. Any man who tried to covet Ms. Judd all ended up on a gurney."

Whispers rippled endlessly through the surrounding employees. Ethan Irwin, the righteous intern-assistant, towered over me, his eyes brimming with barely contained contempt.

The next second, he grabbed my hair and lifted me off the ground. A searing pain exploded across my scalp, causing my legs to nearly give out. I let out a muffled groan, only to get punched in the face before I could take my next breath.

"You're a man—why are you moaning like that? Who are you trying to seduce here? I'm telling you. Ms. Judd is out for a meeting and won't be in the office today. You'd better forget those dirty thoughts of yours. Otherwise, I'll make you regret ever setting foot in here."

I suppressed the raging fury inside me. As I prepared to explain myself, my phone, which had fallen to the floor at one point, started ringing. I fixed my gaze on the screen, and it was Daniel Wilson, my supervisor, calling.

I reached out to grab the phone, but Ethan was a step ahead of me and snatched it away. In front of all the employees, he put the call on speaker.

Daniel's voice rang out, "Hey, Ozzy. Are you there yet? Have you seen Cece?"

Hearing the nickname of my older sister, Celeste Judd, Ethan instantly exploded. He screamed hysterically into the phone, "You stupid, dead broke geezer! How dare you let your son think he can hit on Ms. Judd? That nickname's not for losers like you two!"

The groundless lashing took Daniel aback. He was just about to refute, but Ethan hung up without a second thought.

"What are you waiting for, Ethan? Just get rid of him! Look at how calculating he looks. Maybe some broke father heard Ms. Judd was hiring for an assistant, and he wanted his son to take the chance and marry into her family!"

Ethan's lackey stood at the side, hands on his hips as he sized me up and down with unmasked mockery. I gritted my teeth and, ignoring the pain from my scalp, tremblingly explained, "I'm not here… for the assistant—"

Before I could finish my sentence, a piping hot drink came splashing all over my face. At that moment, that same searing pain from earlier—only now ten times worse—bloomed across my entire body.

I collapsed to the floor, rolling around and clutching my head. By then, countless blisters of all sizes had formed on my exposed skin.

None of these absurd turns of events prompted the bystanders to take any action. Instead, they stood and laughed.

"Ethan, you shouldn't have done that! A sugar-baby-wannabe like him might play the victim in front of Ms. Judd later!"

"Geez! Have the security guards at Judd Group always been slacking off like this? Why did they let just anyone in?"

I had lost all strength in my body, curling into a tight ball on the floor, but I held on to the file in my arms, as if my life depended on it.

After seven years at the top-secret research unit, the project was finally approaching its conclusion. Celeste was once Daniel's student. He made a point of stressing that I had to deliver the file into her hands intact.

However, it was precisely because of my action that Ethan immediately noticed the document envelope in my arms. He raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity amid his hostile gaze. Immediately, I read his mind and eagerly shook my head.

"Look at him, Ethan. After everything, he's still clinging to that stupid envelope. Who knows? Maybe there's a love letter to Ms. Judd in there. I heard all these newbies want to take the shady route nowadays.

"I even saw online how some interns tried to seduce their bosses, swapping out their résumés for racy photos…"

Those words were nothing short of a spark, igniting the full fury in Ethan's heart. He gritted his teeth, his gaze cold and murderous as he advanced step by step.

"You filthy, broke loser. Trying to seduce rich women, huh? I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget today. From now on, you'll think twice before you even look at a woman!"

Suddenly, an unnatural strength pulled me off the ground. They each grabbed an arm, hoisting me into midair. Amid the chaos, I saw Ethan rummaging through the drawer.

In the end, he walked toward me, his smile sinister, a blade in his hand.

"N-No!" I yelled. "This is all a misunderstanding! I didn't come here to seduce anyone!"

No sooner had the words left my mouth than Ethan lifted his leg and drove his pointed leather shoe into my stomach. I yelped, the pain so sudden that I felt my vision going black.

Cold sweat drenched my back as if I had been dipped into the pool. The next second, a rush of blood filled my throat, and my stomach rebelled. I threw up violently.

"Ew! That's disgusting!"

The two lackeys who had hoisted me immediately jumped away, while I collapsed to the floor like a beaten-up pillow. I was in so much pain that I couldn't utter a word.

Yet, this was far from Ethan's satisfaction. He crashed down on top of me, straddling me.

"You shameless sugar baby. You should've spent your youth doing something good instead of going after rich women! I'm going to be the son-in-law of the Judd family, while you? You're nothing to me!"

He leaned in, threading his fingers through my hair before tightening his grip and forcing my head up. Laughing softly, he casually drew the blade across my face.

"Your eyebrows will be the only casualty today. Try to make a fool of yourself again, and I'll shave off every last bit of hair on your head."

Of course, he wasn't going easy on me. The blade dragged across my skin, leaving behind plenty of cuts with fresh blood oozing out. By then, I had already been tortured to the point of losing consciousness, barely keeping track of what he was doing to me.

An employee guffawed. "Oh, my gosh—look at him without eyebrows! He looks like a freak!"

"Serves him right. We should strip him naked, take photos of him, and paste them on the walls of our lobby. That way, anyone who tries to hit on Ms. Judd will automatically back off!"

Soon, one of them righteously pulled out their phone and aimed the camera at me.

Ignoring my humble pleas, Ethan ripped open my shirt, borrowed a lipstick from a female colleague, and wrote plenty of profane words on my body.

The employees around me murmured in sympathy, and some even turned on their flashlights to capture my current state.

"Go to hell! I've had enough of shameless sugar babies like you!"

"As long as Ethan's here, no man can meet Ms. Judd in one piece."

Ethan unlocked my phone and opened my contacts. At the top were my parents' numbers, as well as Celeste's. Furious, he grabbed a fountain pen from the desk and stabbed it into the back of my hand.

The sharp nib of the fountain pen easily penetrated through my palm. Ruby-red blood gushed out from the puncture. I screamed in agony, my face twisting grotesquely. I could vividly feel the tendons in my hand being crushed and torn apart.

Ethan picked up the file and, without hesitation, tore it into pieces, hurling the shreds of paper into my face. "You imbecile. I'll teach you what your useless father failed to educate you—keep your hands and eyes off what's not yours!"

With that, his lackeys hoisted me into the air again.

The kick had left my body drenched in cold sweat. I hung my head, nearly dying, thinking Ethan would let it end here, only to hear him command that I be carried into the company's lobby.

…

The front desk staff and passersby outside gawked at the scene. A few curious onlookers, clueless about what was happening, asked what had occurred.

Ethan merely snorted, his cold gaze sweeping over me from head to toe. "Just a new assistant who doesn't know his place. He tried to hit on his boss on his first day, so I'm just giving him a lesson."

Some of the bystanders couldn't just watch. They criticized me for my underhanded methods but, at the same time, tried to reason with Ethan kindly.

"That's enough! People might think you're beating up your wife's lover! You guys are all coworkers, and look at what you've done! This is way over the line!"

To their surprise, Ethan merely laughed, as if the others were blind.

"Do you even know who I am?" he questioned. "My dad's an executive in this company, and I'm the only man worthy of Ms. Judd! Me marrying her is basically a done deal, so yeah, I am punishing him for my future wife!"

No one dared to say another word. After all, the Judd family was practically untouchable in the entire city. Meanwhile, Celeste was now the one in charge of the family.

Unbeknownst to many, the Judds also had a son who never appeared in public. Back then, Dad had intended to pass the Judd Group inheritance to me, but I didn't want it.

Instead, I threw myself into research, serving the country. That was why, for seven whole years, no media ever revealed that the Judd family had more than one child.

Ethan obviously had no idea. Seeing the increasing number of onlookers surrounding us, he only looked more smug. "I'm just saying, I'm not the only one who despises people like you—Ms. Judd does, too. Try hitting on my fiancee, and you're done for!"

In the middle of the commotion, Ethan's father, Simon Irwin, caught wind of the situation and hurried down to the lobby. Seeing me kneeling outside the company entrance, my clothes torn and disheveled, he didn't get angry.

Instead, he smiled and praised, "Not bad, Ethan. You're already clearing the way for yourself before even becoming part of the Judd family! Once you marry Ms. Judd, I'll finally get to share in the glory, too!"

I glared at this father-and-son pair, a cold smile twitching at the corner of my lips. Summoning every ounce of strength, I managed to pipe up, "In your dreams! After everything you've done to me today, don't even think about having anything to do with the Judds!"

Hearing that, Simon was so enraged that he kicked me to the ground. The fat, bloated hands kept punching my face again and again. I was beaten until my eardrum burst, and the corners of my mouth split open.

By the time their voices faded, all that remained in my ears was a sharp, ringing buzz.

"How dare you speak to me with that tone! Now, you're just asking for death!"

Simon lifted his arm, ready to continue his bashing, but a few men in workwear emerged from the crowd and stopped him. "Ozzy!"

With great effort, I forced my eyelids open and glanced around, only to see Daniel approaching with several colleagues in tow.