Kianna gave a scornful laugh, as if amused that I was still putting on a show.

While she continued her interview, Carlos suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Diego, I heard Sonia's ex-boyfriend of six years is here tonight. Do you know who he is?"

I couldn't be bothered to guess the truth hidden in his words. I pulled my hand back and carefully wiped it with a handkerchief.

"Sorry. I have a cleanliness issue."

Carlos ducked his head, embarrassed.

Across from me, Natalia sneered.

"Still pretending, Diego? You've been a fraud since college. Two years later and you're still the same fake."

"Natalia, don't say that," Carlos protested. "Mr. Reynolds doesn't seem like that kind of person."

"You're fooled because you've only met him once. I've known him for six years. If it weren't for him, my sister would never have gone bankrupt!" she seethed.

"What do you mean?" Carlos frowned.

"Big brother, you still don't get it? He's my sister's scumbag first love."

Natalia spat her gum in my direction, eyes full of provocation.

I flicked my lighter up to block it, then stood and slammed it against her face.

"Diego! What the hell are you doing? You think I'm the same as you? I'm the Crawford family's second daughter! Who the hell do you think you are, daring to touch me? Believe it or not, my sister will chop your fingers off!"

"Your Crawford family?" I scoffed. "I don't give a damn. I ruined her once—I could ruin her a second time."

The sudden clash disrupted the entire interview.

Kianna came rushing back.

I glanced at the white lighter in my hand, now smeared with gum. My stomach turned. It's my damn obsession with cleanliness again.

I held the lighter out. "One hundred thousand."

Natalia snorted. "You've got some nerve asking my sister for that pocket change. It's on purpose, right? From the looks of it, you've been doing pretty poorly these two years. But your talent for seducing women seems to be thriving."

I raised the lighter again, ready to throw it at her, but Kianna caught my wrist, looking at me sharply.

"What did you just say?"

"One hundred thousand." I frowned.

"No—the sentence before that."

I thought for a moment, then repeated evenly. "I ruined you once. I can ruin you a second time."

For the first time that evening, Kianna laughed—truly laughed.

"You know, I actually prefer you when you drop the act."

I yanked my hand free, but she deliberately leaned closer, her cheek brushing against my palm.

"If this slap lands," she whispered, "I'll make sure your mother loses what little movement she has left."

I hadn't intended to hit her. But the moment those words left her mouth, my hand came down hard across her face.

"Are you insane?!" Natalia shrieked, lunging at me. She clawed at my neck; I yanked her hair in return.

The transparent glass stool beside us shattered against her, blood streaking down her forehead.

I snatched up a shard and slashed at Kianna's arm.

She barely flinched. Two of her bodyguards grabbed me with overwhelming force and shoved me straight into the pool.

She stood above me, elegant even in fury.

"Two years of caring for your crippled mother must have been exhausting. Why not let me arrange a little ‘accident' for you? That way, you'll never have to suffer again."

Her smile deepened. "And your eyes—they're so beautiful. I'll dig them out and use them for my engagement to Carlos. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

I wasn't the type to talk. My gaze locked on her chest. Without hesitation, I drove the shard forward in a vicious thrust.

I wanted to see her bravado crack—to watch her tremble, beg, break.

But that moment never came.

Because Carlos stepped in front of her.

Blood bloomed across his white shirt like ink in water.

"Are you insane?!" Kianna's voice rang with fury. "If you want to vent your madness, come at me. Why him? Do you even realize—he was born with a condition? He can't stop the bleeding!"

My grip twisted tighter, forcing him down. "Now you understand."

"Diego! Don't drag an innocent family into this!" Kianna shrieked.

"Oh? Then my mother deserved to be paralyzed, is that it?" I spat sarcastically.

Without a shred of mercy, I shoved Carlos into the pool. Blood from the knife smeared across Kianna's dress.

The sudden chaos left everyone frozen, too afraid to intervene.

She called me a lunatic, but behind her fury, those eyes... trembled with something else.

"Crazy?" I sneered. "Isn't this exactly what you've been pushing me toward?"

From the moment I stepped into this gathering, she had been provoking me.

I had fought against Kianna for so long that I could barely remember what it felt like when we once loved each other.

On the day she proposed to me, I sold her company's confidential documents.

On the day I agreed to marry her, she hired someone to pull the oxygen tube from my mother's mouth.

When I was in a car accident and sent abroad for treatment, hooked up to countless tubes, she came. She lifted my oxygen mask herself, bit down on the corner of my lips, and whispered:

“Diego, if you die... in the next life, marry me. Let’s stop tormenting each other, okay?”

My body almost collapsed from lack of oxygen, but her eyes searched mine, full of pleading.

I shook my head. "There is no next life for us."

At the hospital, she rolled up her sleeve.

"We're the same blood type. Take mine. If it's not enough, take it all."

When she finally staggered out of the blood-draw room, she was barely standing. She grabbed my shoulder, as if to force her sincerity into me.

"Diego, did you see? I know how to love now."

"Sis, you gave too much blood. You're not thinking clearly. Let me help you." Natalia reached out, but Kianna shoved her aside.

"Get lost! I'm not delirious."

She turned to me again, eyes blazing. "Did you see? I know how to love! I can pick anyone at random and love them with all I have! Don't you get it yet?"

...

Red and blue police lights flashed against our faces.

I pushed her toward Natalia, brushing at my shoulder where she'd touched me. My damn obsession with cleanliness was acting up again.

"The police are here. Go give your statement. His medical bills—I'll cover them."

Her voice softened, almost pleading. "Diego, I'll beg this once—let's let each other go."

I didn't answer.

Actually, I had already let her go, two years ago.

At the station, they separated us into two interrogation rooms.

After finishing my statement, I sat silently, listening to the muffled voices from the next room.

"Sis, you can fool others, but not me. This is just another trick, isn't it? You know he'll never marry you, so you chose to marry Carlos instead—just to disgust him."

"What about Carlos then? Oh right, Carlos is so obedient. Even if you made him the side piece, he'd still agree."

"I'm serious. But until he accepts me, I won't cut ties with Carlos. He's young. If I suddenly pushed him away, he wouldn't be able to take it."

"Sis... do you think Diego might overhear?"

Silence stretched for a long while before Kianna finally answered.

"If he heard us, he'd storm in and slap us both across the face. The fact that he hasn't come means he didn't hear a thing."

I lowered my head, lips curving in amusement, and made a call.

"Come pick me up."

Ten minutes later, a police officer opened the door.

"Diego, your family is here to take you home."

"Thank you." I nodded.

"Just sign here and you're free to go."

On my way out, I passed by their room.

"Family?" Natalia scoffed. "Isn't his only family a paralyzed mother? What, she miraculously cured now?"

"Probably a friend," she replied.

Natalia couldn't resist. She laughed, pushed open the door, and called out sweetly, "Officer, who came to pick up Diego just now?"