“By the way, do you have a place to stay? Want me to arrange one for you?”

"Willow Street, No. 18, Emerald District. That’s where I lived before going to prison."

Frank grunted in acknowledgment, hit the gas and dropped me off at my doorstep.

After he left, I fumbled in my bag for the keys to unlock the door, only to hear a familiar voice from behind.

"It's only been a short time since we separated and you're so self-indulgent that you're here? Interesting."

I turned around and saw Zamari walking over with Caleb, her arm draped around his shoulder, eyes full of mockery.

I sneered inwardly. Did Caleb really think I couldn't live without him?

“Are you kidding me? This is my house. What does me coming here have to do with you?”

Zamari stepped in front of me, put out her cigarette and blew the last puff of smoke right into my face.

"I remind you, this is now the love nest of me and Caleb; it no longer belongs to you." Zamari's gloating expression ignited a surge of anger within me.

"What did you say? This is clearly the house my parents left for me. How can you two occupy it?"

Indeed, this house was once the home I shared with Caleb.

I never expected that while I was in prison, he would occupy my home and move in with Zamari.

Caleb looked at me with indifference and spoke dismissively. "This courtyard is something Zamari likes. Didn’t I give you three thousand dollars? Just consider it as buying this courtyard."

"Three thousand dollars ... can I buy back my hand that you made me cut off and the five years I spent in prison with that money?” I let out a cold laugh, my sharp gaze piercing like two daggers, fixed on Caleb.

"I don't want to waste my breath with you. If you still think about me, I don’t mind you moving in here to live with me and Zamari," Caleb said.

I really didn't expect Caleb to say such shameless words. What on earth happened over the years!

"Caleb, listen well! I will never think about you again in this lifetime. If I knew you were still living here, I wouldn't even walk down this street! Just wait! One day, I will take my home back and make you two scoundrels roll out!" I stared at Caleb with red eyes, hatefully saying these words.

He let out a cold laugh. "Just you? A person with nothing and a criminal record? Look at you now. What do you have to fight against me and Zamari?"

Caleb, this scumbag, knew exactly where to hurt me the most.

"You beast! You know better than anyone why I ended up in prison! If it weren't for you, it would be you in my position!"

Caleb was provoked by my words, his forehead bulging with veins. "Shut up! I gave you compensation; stop clinging to the past!"

He thought that two million was enough to buy off my entire life. I thought my numb heart wouldn’t hurt anymore, but Caleb's words still pierced through me like a thousand wounds.

Finally unable to endure it any longer, I gritted my teeth and raised my hand, slapping Caleb hard across the face. "Take back your two million and go cut off your own hand and sit in prison for five years!"

"Ah—how dare you hit my man, you filthy bitch!"

Seeing her beloved man get hit, Zamari angrily swung a baseball bat at my head.

After a loud thud, the anticipated pain did not land my heart.

I turned to take a look and a strong arm tightly grabbed the baseball bat.

Frank forcefully yanked the baseball bat from Zamari’s hand and threw it to the ground with a bang.

This action was clean and decisive, making Frank appear cool and handsome, completely changing my perception of him as a spoiled rich kid.

When Zamari saw that Frank was protecting me, her expression changed slightly, showing a bit of trepidation.

“Mr. Tydor, I didn’t expect to run into you here. What a coincidence.”

Frank snorted dismissively, not even glancing at Zamari, but looked at me with concern.

“Little beauty, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, thank you for saving me.”

Frank finally let out a sigh of relief, raised his eyebrows at me and with his hands in his pockets, he looked at Caleb with a rebellious air.

Caleb's expression was clearly a bit unnatural; he didn’t even dare to meet Frank’s gaze.

Frank sneered, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Caleb, saying disdainfully, “Wow, so this is the deadbeat guy who you gave a hand for and served five years in prison? What kind of eye do you have? This loser is way worse than me; he doesn’t even deserve to carry my shoes!”

Frank's irritating attitude, if I had seen it in the past, would have made me dislike him to the core.

But at this moment, I suddenly found him incredibly handsome, almost to the point of overshadowing everything else.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Frank had a solid foundation; it was just that his overly styled hair and makeup were somewhat off-putting.

If he tidied up his hair and refined his appearance a bit more seriously, he would indeed look several degrees more attractive than Caleb.

I almost couldn't help but chuckle and ended up nodding at Frank.

"We should go; just looking at those two losers makes me feel disgusted."

Frank graciously extended his arm, signaling for me to link mine with his as we walked out together.

Unexpectedly, Zamari, still unwilling to back down, called out from behind. "Mr. Tydor, Athena is no good. She nearly cut my throat and almost killed me before she ended up in jail. You must be careful keeping someone like her around!"

Frank frowned in disdain, not bothering to turn around, while Zamari shouted at me again.

"Athena! Do you really think someone like Mr. Tydor would be interested in you? Stop dreaming! You wouldn't even be worthy to hold his shoes!"

This remark finally angered Frank. He suddenly stopped, turning with a glare filled with menace and threw a cold statement at Zamari.

"You mean to say that you're worthy to hold my shoes, right? Fine, but first, break one of your own hands!"

Upon hearing this, Zamari's face instantly turned pale and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

I thought she understood better than I did what the Tydor Family represented in Maple City and just what kind of ruthless person Frank truly was, despite his seemingly frivolous demeanor.

Seeing that Zamari no longer dared to speak, Caleb stepped forward, gritting his teeth as he said to me, "Athena! Even if you don't know what you are, do you really not understand what the Tydor Family represents? Be careful; you might end up being toyed with by them and you won't even know how you died!"

I let out a cold laugh, looking at Caleb's self-satisfied face with a mocking expression. "If you had cared about me even a little five years ago, I wouldn't have ended up losing a hand and spending five years in prison! Caleb, back then I was just foolish; I almost died without a burial place because of you. Now you're here pretending to be some kind of good person?”

Caleb's face was taut with unwillingness.

"Those things have already happened and I can't change them, but I truly don't want to see you just out of prison go and throw your life away again!"

I raised my hand and slapped Caleb's face again with a loud smack. "Excuse me, who are you? Why are you so eager to care about me? You think you deserve it? I remind you, I'm no longer that foolish Athena from five years ago! You and I are sworn enemies!"

My slap left Caleb momentarily stunned; he blinked before roaring back, "I had my reasons for what happened back then! If I hadn't said that, my only relative in this world would have died. Do you understand?"

I was slightly taken aback; it seemed he was forced to reveal this inner truth.

But so what? A severed hand and five years in prison—was that really what I deserved after loving him for so many years?

Moreover, after my release, he was with our former enemy and even occupied my house.

No matter how much he tried to justify himself, I couldn't forgive him for everything he had done to me.

I let out a cold laugh, looking at Caleb as I gritted my teeth and said, "While I was gone for those five years, you were with Zamari. You even humiliated me together when I was released, then you occupied the home my parents left me. Was it her who forced your only relative to death? Is your only family member a resilient Barbie that can't be killed?"

My words left Caleb's face pale with anger. He stammered for a long time but couldn't find the words to respond.

I poked Frank’s arm, signaling him to keep moving forward, but Caleb said one more thing. “Just don’t regret leaving me. The Tydor Family is powerful, but they might not be able to protect you!”

Frank raised an eyebrow and looked at me. “That dog’s barking is really annoying. Should I go back and break one of his hands? Maybe cut out that annoying tongue while I’m at it?”

I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. “What are you talking about? I’m not a psycho killer; I’m not going to bother with a dog.”

Frank chuckled, shrugging it off as he linked his arm with mine and continued walking.

Yet, I could clearly see the cold glint of murderous intent in his narrowed eyes