I slammed the black card onto the counter. “First come, first served, Eliana doesn’t even understand the most basic rule?”

Eliana’s hand shot out, yanking my wrist, her nails almost digging into my skin. “Louis, must you go against me on everything?”

Her voice dropped, sharp and cold. “The more you act like this, the more ridiculous you look. If you want to marry me, just say it. Why bother with these games?”

I pulled my hand free with force. “You think far too highly of yourself.”

Turning to the shop assistant, I said evenly, “Please wrap it up for me now.”

The shop assistant took my card with visible unease, while Eliana’s face darkened into something dangerous.

Seeing her expression, Jovan quickly clung to her arm. “Eliana, forget it. I don’t want it anymore…”

“No.” Eliana snatched the shoe box straight from the assistant’s hands. “In Roseville, there’s nothing I can’t get.”

With that, she dragged Jovan away without a single glance back.

The next morning, an ornate gift box appeared on my office desk.

As soon as I untied the ribbon, a foul metallic scent hit me. Inside was a pair of black leather shoes, stained with something ominous, with strands of hair tangled around the heel.

My phone vibrated, Jovan’s name flashed on the screen.

“Louis, I thought it over and realized I shouldn’t keep what’s yours. Sending your shoes back. I wore them while dancing with Eliana last night, but… I may have gotten them dirty.”

Swallowing back my revulsion, I hurled the shoes into the trash without a second glance.

Then another message arrived, this time from my mother. [Louis, the Ramsey family’s dowry list is unbelievable!]

I opened it and was stunned; the marital endowments alone could purchase three Briones Corporations.

The Ramsey family had always been cloaked in mystery and known for their restraint, yet for me, they had cast aside that reserve, displaying a sincerity that could not be mistaken. Even the rare treasures they offered were enough to leave anyone speechless.

At the annual Sierra Vista business banquet, I was enjoying light conversation with a few friends when the doors to the hall slammed open.

Jovan sauntered in, draped in a garish sequin suit and diamond cufflinks that screamed excess.

The whispers started almost instantly.

“Goodness, why is he dressed like that? It’s so tacky…”

“I heard he used to be nothing more than a servant in the Anderson family. Somehow, he climbed his way up to be Eliana’s assistant.”

“Men like him? Ambition and greed, through and through.”

Jovan’s face betrayed nothing as he strode directly toward me.

“Louis,” he thundered, making sure everyone heard, “why aren’t you wearing those limited-edition shoes?”

I took a measured sip of wine, my voice calm and almost lazy. “They were touched by something filthy, so I threw them away.”

For a split second, his composure slipped before he gave a cold, sharp laugh. “Louis, mark my words, you’ll never be a match for me.”

Before his words had even faded, Jovan suddenly toppled backward with a heavy crash, sending the champagne tower collapsing in a glittering cascade. Glass shattered in every direction.

“Ah!” His scream cut through the air, instantly drawing every gaze in the room.

Before I could move, Eliana was already at his side, her hand shoved me hard, and I staggered backward, my palm pressing down on jagged shards. Blood welled instantly, warm and slick.

“Louis!” Eliana’s arm supported the trembling Jovan. “What are you doing?”

Leaning against her, Jovan’s voice quivered. “It’s all my fault… I shouldn’t have appeared before Louis and offended his eyes.”

“He… he said I’m lowborn…”

“Apologize.” Eliana’s tone was cold, the command in her voice brooking no refusal.

I clenched my bleeding hand. “Why should I?”

In an instant, she snatched the diamond pendant from my neck, the only keepsake my grandmother had left me.

“No!” I lunged forward, desperate to grab it.

The pendant struck the floor, splintering into pieces before my eyes.

“Next time,” she said, helping Jovan to his feet and looking down at me from above, “it won’t be this simple.”

I clenched my fists.

For the next week, the entertainment headlines were flooded with photos of Eliana shopping arm in arm with Jovan.

I acted as though I had never seen them.

Late one night, as I worked overtime in my office, the door suddenly burst open with a violent kick.

Before I could lift my head, an icy hand clamped tightly around my throat.

With a heavy thud, Jovan dropped to his knees, his voice shaking with barely contained sobs.

“Louis, my parents are just ordinary workers! Please, I’m begging you, let them go!”

He raised his phone, and on the screen, a middle-aged couple’s faces were smeared with blood as they bowed toward the camera.

“Louis! Please, have mercy. Our son will never dare to compete with you for Eliana again!”

Eliana wrenched the phone away, her eyes burning with rage.

“Louis! Have you lost your mind? You actually sent people to hurt Jovan’s parents?”

“I don’t even know them.” My tone was cold as I met Jovan’s gaze. “Great acting.”

“You’re still denying it!” Eliana slammed the phone down in front of me.

On the screen, the couple struck their own faces in desperation.

“They’re calling you by name, begging you!”

I inhaled slowly. “I didn’t do it.”

Jovan lunged forward, clutching my wrist.

“Louis, my parents are still lying in the hospital! They’ve lived honest lives, they would never….”

“Enough!” I yanked my hand free. “If you’re going to frame me, at least make it believable.”

“Louis, you make me sick.” Eliana’s voice was frigid, her eyes colder still.

“If you intend to marry me, you shouldn’t be doing something so mindless.”

“Take him away!”

Four bodyguards stepped in at once, their grip brutal as they wrenched my arms behind me.

They shoved me forward, and behind us, Jovan sniffled softly. “Eliana, my parents…”

I was slammed down onto the cold tiles of the ancestral hall, pain shooting up my legs as my knees bruised instantly.

Eliana tossed a share transfer agreement in front of me.

“Sign it. Transfer eighty percent of your shares to Jovan.”

“Don’t even think about it,” I ground out through clenched teeth.

Jovan’s voice turned falsely humble. “Eliana, Louis looks down on people like me… maybe just forget…”

Eliana forced me down harder. “Weren’t you so high and mighty when you were beating other people’s parents?”

She shoved my fingers into the red ink.

“Today, you’ll sign it, whether you want to or not.”

I was left locked inside the ancestral hall.

Three days later, the doors finally opened.

I thought I was about to be freed, until I saw Jovan walk in alone.

“Eliana said you can go now.” His voice rang sharp in the emptiness of the hall.

With effort, I lifted my head, meeting the venom in his eyes.

He loosened my ropes slowly, then, without warning, shoved me hard to the ground.

The acrid stench of gasoline hit me instantly.

“What are you doing?!” My gaze locked on the lighter flickering in his hand, my voice trembling.

A cold laugh slipped from his lips. “Louis should just disappear, right? Let me make it quick for you, save you from haunting Eliana every day.”

The moment the lighter struck the floor, flames erupted with a deafening roar.

A scream tore from my throat, raw and desperate, piercing through the air and startling Eliana outside.

“What’s going on?!” She rushed in, her eyes widening at the sight of the blazing inferno.

Jovan acted fast. “Eliana! Louis said if he can’t have you, he’ll destroy you! He threatened to burn down the ancestral hall!”

Her furious voice cut through the crackling flames. “Put out the fire! What are you all standing there for?!”

But the flames only raged higher, the scorching heat twisting the air around us.

At that moment, the Anderson gates were torn open by several armored vehicles, the roar of engines shaking the ground beneath us.

Through the haze of flames, a woman strode forward, her fiery red trench coat sweeping past the blaze.

Behind her, two rows of fully armed bodyguards moved in, seizing control of everyone in the courtyard with swift precision.

Her expression was cold, her voice sharp. “Where is Louis?”

Eliana’s face paled. “Why is it you?”

Without so much as a glance at her, the woman plunged into the inferno.

The people she brought worked fast, subduing the flames in moments.

She emerged carrying me in her arms. Blood had seeped into her expensive clothes, yet she held me as though I were the most fragile treasure in the world.