Hearing Blaine’s words, Julie turned her head cautiously. She saw Megan standing by Lucian’s side, her lips moving as she murmured something. Lucian, visibly irritated, roughly pulled a cigarette from its pack, clamped it between his teeth, and lit it with a flick of his lighter. Julie frowned slightly and wondered what on earth Megan was telling Lucian.

The next moment, Lucian turned to leave, while Megan hurried to follow him. But she somehow twisted her ankle and fell toward Lucian’s arm. As she collapsed toward him, Megan glanced in Julie’s direction with a smug, provocative smile. Then, she withdrew her grin, putting on a solemn expression. “I think I’ve twisted my ankle, Lucian.”

Lucian recoiled as if he’d come into contact with filth and shoved her away forcefully. Taken aback by the push, Megan collapsed onto the ground and looked up at Lucian with teary, pitiful eyes. “Why’d you do that, Lucian? It hurts.” Lucian felt a wave of disgust sweep through him as he listened to Megan’s sickly voice. It felt as though a swarm of ants crawled all over his body. His face turned cold as he glared at Megan. “I’m warning you to stay away from me.”

His icy and unrelenting expression startled Megan, who shrank back in terror. She couldn’t understand why the tricks that had always worked weren’t. Unwilling to admit defeat, she struggled to her feet and stumbled a few steps toward Lucian. “Don’t get mad…”

She reached out to grab his arm, only to be met with an enraged Lucian, who threw her over his shoulder and flung her forcefully to the ground. With a resounding thud, Megan landed like a discarded rag doll beside the bin. She felt the world spinning around her. Her head buzzed with imaginary bees, and before she could process what had happened, Lucian grabbed her wrist. A chilling crack, accompanied by Megan’s blood-curdling scream, snapped her wrist in an instant.

In the car, Blaine cursed and quickly got out to rush toward Lucian. He noticed Lucian about to break Megan’s other arm and acted fast by grabbing his arm. “Luce! Calm down!” Before the words could leave his mouth, Blaine felt himself being lifted off the ground. The next thing he knew, Lucian had thrown him to the ground with all his might. Pain shot through his body as he grimaced and felt as if his internal organs had been restructured.

“Fuck! What the hell! He was just trying to help!” Barely regaining his composure, he noticed Lucian was intent on going after Megan, so he blurted out, “Julie is watching. Go ahead if you’re not afraid.”

As expected, Lucian froze mid-motion. He looked up and glanced toward Julie’s direction with sharp eyes. With their gazes met, the ferocity in Lucian’s expression softened significantly, but his face remained as cold as ever.

Lucian finally recovered and approached the trash bin to help Megan to her feet. He grumbled, “If you’re going to flirt with someone, pick anyone else. Why provoke me?”

Megan was sobbing uncontrollably. Her left wrist was fractured and numb from pain, and the misaligned bones looked terrifyingly out of place. She was no different from a broken puppet.

Blaine sighed deeply and pulled out his wallet. Then, he dumped all the cash he had into Megan’s pocket. Megan choked out through tears, “I… I don’t want money.”

Blaine snapped, “You don’t want money? Do you want another beating? Take the money, and go to the hospital before you’re in even worse shape.” Blaine left his business card behind and warned Megan sternly, “Call me if the money isn’t enough. Also, let me give you a piece of advice—Lucian has a temper like a powder keg, ready to blow at the slightest spark. You’d better not mess with him.” Hearing his words, Megan timidly glanced at Lucian.