The scholar in the long gown was overcome with shame and said, “I... I may not have any possessions, but I truly admire Miss. If I could have Miss by my side, I would give everything I have to provide for Miss!”

The Maid raised her eyebrows and snorted, mocking bluntly, “Give everything you have? What do you have—these rags you’re wearing? Or just your little life!”

Standing nearby, the Miss in white finally couldn’t hold back. She stopped her loyal Maid from saying more, glanced at the scholar, and spoke, half shy, half affectionate: “The scholar has a sincere heart. That alone is worth more than countless silks, gold, and jewels.”

The Maid stomped her feet in anger, shouting repeatedly, “Miss Miss! Oh, my Miss! You’ve been bewitched by this scholar!”

—Who knows what play this is, the cliché story of a wealthy Miss falling for a poor scholar. No matter how the loyal Maid tries to stop her, she can’t prevent Miss from marrying down. What a pity.

Ethan Clark stood behind the flower shop owner, holding a pot of flowers, and watched this short segment of TV with her. An ad interrupted midway, and the chubby owner, still engrossed, turned to find a customer in the shop, waiting behind her with a pot of flowers. She quickly smiled to greet them.

This flower shop was at the end of an old street near a small market. The space was cramped, with many flowerpots cluttered and crowded outside the shop. If people were packed in like this, it would be uncomfortable, but flowers don’t need big rooms—they just need sunlight, soil, and a bit of nourishment to thrive. In this tiny, cramped place, the flowers bloomed brilliantly and exuberantly.

Ethan Clark was shopping nearby and happened to pass by. She caught sight of a single-petal red camellia among the piles of flowerpots and was drawn over almost involuntarily.

A small pot of camellia, with two red-petaled, golden-stamened flowers nestled among the leaves. Ethan Clark bought it, and as she carried the pot back to her temporary rental, she couldn’t help but drift off, thinking of that old mansion and the clan god.

Looking back on those five months felt like a dream—unreal and hazy.

She had left the old mansion several days ago. That day, a car took her to Yubei District—right next to Yulin District, where she used to live. Since she was officially recorded as an executed death row inmate, the man who picked her up thoughtfully prepared a new ID and a sum of money for her.

In the car, the man kept trying to figure out her identity, wanting to know what she had done in the Qin family’s old house, and what had happened between her and their legendary clan god.

He was a shrewd man. Just from the clan woman’s words—“You have desecrated our god”—he imagined all sorts of things, convinced that Ethan Clark was no ordinary person. If she had really done something blasphemous, could she have left safely? With a bit of calculation, he thought befriending her might bring good fortune, so he prepared a very proper identity for her and gave her a generous sum of money. Ethan Clark felt a bit guilty accepting it, but she still took it—she couldn’t get back what she’d lost, and she really needed these things now.

However, because of the clan woman’s obvious dislike for her, the man didn’t dare interact with her much, afraid of angering those two high-ranking Qin clan women.

After that day, Ethan Clark was completely severed from the Qin family. Alone, with a new identity, she found a place to stay temporarily and began to do something she hadn’t had time for before.

She wanted to kill someone.

That person’s name was Henry Cooper, a lawyer.

Ethan Clark carried a bag of instant food and the flower back to her small rented room. The room was tiny and bare, with only a bed and a table—no other furniture. Her bedding and clothes were neatly folded to one side, and she had very few daily necessities.

She sat on the only chair, facing the window, with the newly bought flower on the table in front of her. Ethan Clark watered it, then tore open a package of bread to eat.

Her phone suddenly lit up with a new email from an “information consulting” company. Information consulting companies are basically private detectives—they take on all sorts of not-so-aboveboard private investigation jobs. Most of the money Ethan Clark had was spent here; she’d hired them to track Henry Cooper’s whereabouts and other information.

After Henry Cooper’s three friends were killed—even though the murderer, Ethan Clark, had been caught—Henry Cooper quickly left his old home and settled in Yubei District. It was a kind of fate: Ethan Clark didn’t have to risk being recognized by returning to Yulin District, which saved her a lot of trouble.

She opened the email. It listed Henry Cooper’s schedule: today he went out for work, had a meal with a client from one of his cases, and then went to a club to work out.

Before this, Henry Cooper had withdrawn from social life for a long time, barely leaving his house—probably scared out of his wits by the brutal deaths of his three friends. Even though the killer had been caught, he’d done plenty of shady things himself. Who knew if there’d be a second or third lunatic like that? People with guilty consciences are always anxious and afraid.

But his fear only lasted a few months. Now, he had clearly moved on and resumed his old life.

But she hadn’t moved on from that shadow—and never would, for the rest of her life.