The Lancaster villa!

Smack!

A stack of filthy, hard-to-look-at photos slammed straight into the girl curled up in the corner.

"You little slut, you've made the whole Lancaster family a joke! Explain this. What the hell are these pictures?"

Harlan Lancaster was raging. His face was dark with fury as he lifted his leg and kicked Amelia Lancaster's frail body without holding back.

"Don't hit Qianqian... Qianqian will be good... please... wuwu..."

Amelia clutched her head and shrank tighter into the corner. She stammered through her tears, and those dull, unfocused eyes were full of panic, like a scared animal with nowhere to run.

Seeing the family's "little fool" getting beaten, Faye Lancaster walked over with a smile that practically screamed fake. She hooked her arm around Harlan's and said in a soft, sugary voice, "Dad, don't be too hard on my sister. She's just... like this. What would a fool even understand? She was obviously tricked by some man. But now that these photos are out, the Lockwood family is definitely going to call off the engagement. Right now, the most important thing is figuring out how to smooth things over with them. Our company still depends on the Lockwoods, remember?"

Mrs. Lancaster, who had been standing nearby watching the whole thing, immediately chimed in, "Master, Faye is right. The engagement with the Lockwood family matters most. She's just a fool. So what if she got played? Worst case, we dump her in the countryside later and be done with it."

The second he thought about the Lockwoods backing out of the marriage, Harlan's face turned even uglier. He shot another savage glare at Amelia, who was still trembling in the corner.

"The Lockwoods already disliked her for being stupid. Now this happened? Of course they're going to break off the engagement. I'll bring gifts over there myself right now and apologize. Maybe, for the sake of our years of connection, they'll still keep working with us."

"Dad, actually... I have an idea."

Faye looked at Amelia in the corner, and a vicious little gleam flashed through her eyes before disappearing just as fast.

"What idea could you possibly have?"

Harlan frowned and turned to look at the daughter he was most proud of.

Faye lowered her head shyly and smiled. "Well... Yale Lockwood has always liked me. He just never said anything because he had that engagement with my sister hanging over his head. But now that this mess has blown up, there's no way he can still marry her."

She paused, then said sweetly, "So why not switch the engagement to me? I'm pretty sure Yale would agree."

"And there's something else." Her voice got lighter, but the calculation in her eyes got colder. "I heard the Fitzgerald family is looking for a fiancée for that young master they've been keeping in the private estate. They already said it themselves—if the girl doesn't mind that Mr. Fitzgerald is disabled, they're willing to pay a hundred million just to marry her into the family."

“The Lancaster family and the Fitzgerald family are on pretty good terms. If Dad’s willing, we can talk to the Lockwoods and have my sister married into the Fitzgeralds. That hundred million can be split between both families too.”

“One hundred million?”

Harlan Lancaster turned to look at Amelia Lancaster in the corner again. The way he stared, it was like he wasn’t looking at a person at all, but at stacks of cash piled right there. The fury in his eyes vanished in a second.

“It’s just...” Harlan hesitated, still a little wary. “Even if the Lockwoods are willing to help, will the Fitzgerald family agree?”

After all, Amelia was a fool.

“The Fitzgeralds probably can’t wait for Dominic Fitzgerald to die. Why would they say no?”

What better chance was there to humiliate Dominic Fitzgerald? No way the Fitzgerald family would pass that up.

“Exactly!”

Faye Lancaster smiled sweetly, her voice light and eager. “The Fitzgerald family is desperate to find a bride for Young Master Fitzgerald. As long as you say yes, Dad, Sister can be married off tomorrow.”

What she didn’t say out loud was this: that Young Master Fitzgerald wasn’t just crippled. Rumor had it he had some terrible hidden illness too. When an episode hit, he lost his mind and stopped caring who anyone was. People even said he’d tormented six fiancées to death.

That was why the marriage had been dragging on all this time.

And now word was that Old Mr. Fitzgerald was almost at death’s door. Before he died, he had only one last wish—to find a wife for the youngest son he doted on most.

That was why the Fitzgerald family had made the announcement to the outside world: whoever was willing to marry their daughter to Dominic Fitzgerald would get one hundred million.

“If that’s the case, then go make the arrangements.”

Harlan spoke flatly, as if he were assigning some trivial errand. He had raised a fool for more than twenty years. Being able to sell her for a hundred million was, in his eyes, already giving her value.

“I knew Dad cared about Sister and would definitely agree. I’ll go talk it over with Yale right now.”

Not wanting to spare Amelia even one more glance, Harlan wrapped an arm around his wife and walked out with her.

Amelia watched the group leave. A trace of mockery flashed through her glass-clear eyes. The fear and dullness on her face from earlier had disappeared completely, wiped clean.

So this was her wonderful father.

He knew perfectly well that Dominic Fitzgerald was a lunatic with a cruel streak, a man with some hidden disorder who liked tormenting people, and he still wanted to sell her into the Fitzgerald family for money.

But honestly, this worked out fine too.

She had endured and stayed in the Lancaster family all this time for one reason only: so her grandmother, who was recovering in the hospital, could focus on treatment without worry. Now, with this marriage to Dominic Fitzgerald, she could use the chance to cut herself free from the Lancasters once and for all. Besides, she’d heard Dominic was already at death’s door and probably wouldn’t live much longer.

When the time came and she became a widow, she’d be completely free.

And the only person who had ever truly loved her—her grandmother—would finally be able to rest easy.

Limping and putting on that silly, vacant act all the way back, Amelia Lancaster had barely stepped into her room when a cold weapon shoved her hard against the wall.

"Don't make a sound!"

In the dark, the man's voice came low and rough, wrapped in a thick smell of blood. Amelia's whole body stiffened on the spot.

How was there a man in her room?

Before she could sort it out, her clothes were suddenly yanked by a strong hand.

"Help me. I'll take responsibility."

The man lowered his head. His cold lips brushed against Amelia's pale, slender neck. She didn't move at all. A faint sweet scent drifted from her, like an apple just turning ripe, fresh and soft with a little sweetness hidden in it. It made Dominic Fitzgerald's throat bob.

"Uwaa..."

The quiet girl suddenly started crying the next second.

"Don't hit Qianqian... Qianqian will listen...

Uwaa... Qianqian is good, don't hit Qianqian..."

Those silly, childlike words kept tumbling out of her mouth, mixed with a sobbing tone so innocent it sounded almost pitiful. Dominic's movements froze at once.

"A fool?"

"Qianqian isn't stupid. Qianqian is super smart. Qianqian can wash her own clothes, can eat by herself, and can also..."

Amelia counted on her fingers as she spoke. Her body, trembling like she was terrified out of her mind, slowly slid downward, carefully opening up some distance from the dagger that could end her life at any second.

"Enough!"

Dominic rubbed his forehead, seriously done with this. He had not expected that the room he'd hidden in would belong to an idiot.

"Uwaa... don't hit Qianqian!"

Amelia crouched on the floor, her thin body shaking nonstop, looking every bit like she was scared out of her wits.

The Lancaster family villa compound had top-tier security. No random man could just stroll into her room. Which meant this guy was probably another setup sent by Faye Lancaster and Yale Lockwood to screw her over.

She had to get rid of this trouble without giving herself away.

"Where is this?"

Dominic Fitzgerald turned his head and looked at Amelia Lancaster, who was curled up on the floor. The girl had shrunk into a tiny ball, trembling so hard she looked like a piece of meat tossed onto a chopping board—helpless, soft, and weirdly tempting.

"This is Qianqian's room, you..."

Amelia lifted her head and met the man's scarlet eyes. Her heart dropped with a hard thud.

She wasn't really stupid. She knew exactly what that look meant.

"B-Big brother... are you here to play hide-and-seek with Qianqian?"

she asked in a small, careful voice.

Danger.

Those blood-red eyes were locked on her, the way a beast stared at its prey, sending out one warning after another.

The night was long...

Only then did Amelia finally realize that a man this dangerous could never have been sent by those two trashy schemers, Faye Lancaster and Yale Lockwood.