I was halfway through giving my statement when the landlord arrived, alerted by the commotion. He took one look at the destruction, and his face turned grim. "I'm refunding your rent," he said flatly. "You can't lease here anymore." The tears I had just managed to stop started flowing again. I opened my mouth to protest, but in the end, I could only nod in weary agreement. He had a point. I couldn't guarantee this wouldn't happen again. If my restaurant became a target, the property would get a bad reputation. It would be impossible for him to rent it out after I left, or at least not for a good price. It was better to just cut his losses. The police mediated, and the landlord agreed to give me a few days to clean up. After he left, one of the officers asked again, "Are you sure you have no idea who might have a motive to do this?" I knew. But I couldn't say Camilla's name. The Rhodes family was powerful. Putting aside whether Donovan would defend her, I couldn't afford to make an enemy of them. Besides, I hadn't even seen Camilla in this life. If I accused her, she could easily sue me for slander. All I could do was swallow the injustice and pray the police could find the people she hired from the security footage. Maybe I could recover some of my losses. Not long after the police left, Arthur arrived. He'd been stopping. by the restaurant periodically, likely under Donovan's orders to keep an eye on things and help me out. Seeing the wreckage inside, where it was hard to even find a place to stand, his brow furrowed. "Ms. Lee, did you call the police? What did they say?" What could they say? If the cameras didn't catch anything, I was just out of luck. I had to eat the loss. 'Mr. Black's phone got water damage," Arthur explained. "He saw you called several times this morning and asked me to come check on things. I never imagined... this." Hearing his excuse, I felt nothing. I had regretted calling Donovan the second I did it. What could he have done anyway? And even if his phone really was broken, couldn't he have borrowed someone else's to call me back? The truth was simple: I wasn't worth the effort. I told Arthur about the landlord's demand to restore the property as much as possible. "Could you find a professional cleaning crew for me? Just get it back to a state where he can't complain." I had worked all day yesterday and gotten no sleep last night. Now, I felt dizzy and lightheaded. Every word felt like it took all my strength. After giving Arthur the final instructions, I walked away from the place that had held all my hopes without a single look back. I wandered the streets aimlessly. I saw the gates of a nearby university, swarming with young, energetic faces, their expressions untouched by the brutalities of life. And suddenly, I remembered a past I had locked away in the deepest corner of my mind. Before Donovan, I was just an ordinary community college student. Unlike my classmates, who were there 4/12 13:54 13:54 Chapter 2 because they'd slacked off in high school or choked on their exams, getting into college at all was the best possible outcome I could have carved out for myself after a childhood spent in hell. I was born in a poor, rural village. I was the eldest. Our house was at the southernmost edge of the village, with a small creek in front of it. So my father named me Li Nanxi. Nán Xi. South Creek. But after me, my mother gave birth to three more daughters in a row. The other villagers started to joke. Nár Xi, they'd say, sounds like nán xi. A scarcity of boys. My father began to believe my name was a curse, that my very existence was preventing him from having a son. From the age of five, I never ate a full meal again. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!