Chapter 8

“Conan, don’t be like that. We’re here to give Miss Springs a proper farewell. How about I toast to her instead?

“Miss Springs, thanks for taking care of Conan and the company for all these years.”

Just as Rose was about to drink, Conan stopped her.

“Why are you trying to drink? You have a weak stomach. If your stomach starts hurting at night, you won’t be able to sleep, and what are you going to do then?”

“That’s more than seven years ago! You still remember? My stomach is fine now,” Rose said sweetly, and Conan booped her nose.

“Be good. If Ninian is not willing to drink, why are you trying to drink, then?”

Conan’s words cut into Ninian’s heart like a sharp knife.

He did not know that her stomach was weak, but he remembered that Rose had a weak stomach seven years ago.

She did not want to look at them anymore. Ninian opened a can of beer and started drinking while sulking.

She drank a few cans, and her stomach hurt, but it did not hurt as much as her heart did.

Conan sneered. “Look. You can drink, can’t you? Why were you unwilling to toast to Rose, then? Ninian, when did you become so petty?”

Her stomach churned, and Ninian wanted to puke.

She rushed out of the room and ran into the washroom before puking like her life depended on it.

After puking, a few burly men came in and blocked her way.

“Oh? To think there’s such a beautiful lady here!”

Ninian frowned and wanted to bypass them, but her path was blocked. “What’s this?”

“What’s this, you say? What do you think?”

The leader waved his hand, and the other men came over to pin her down.

Ninian started panicking. Just when she wanted to scream for help, Rose walked over.

She gave Ninian a confused look. Before she could say anything, the men grabbed her as well.

“Another one dropped by! We’re going to have fun tonight, boys! Bring them in!”

“No! Help me!” Rose screamed in panic. “Help! Don’t touch me! Conan, save me!”

“Rose!”

Conan charged in at the sound of Rose’s cries for help and punched one of the men. “How dare you touch my girlfriend?! I’ll kill you!”

He kicked the man, and he fell to his knees to beg for mercy.

Rose was so terrified that she buried her face in his embrace while she trembled. “Conan, I’m so scared!”

Conan held her tightly. “Don’t be. I’m right here.”

“What the hell?! Miss Springs, one of my men is injured! I want extra for this!”

In the chaos, Ninian managed to break free, and she was rubbing her red wrists when she heard this. In her confusion, she asked, “What extra?”

“You told us that you’d pay us if we kidnapped Rose Charlemagne! Are you trying to deny this now?!”

When Conan heard this, he became livid. “Ninian, how could you ask someone to kidnap Rose?! Have you lost your mind?!”

Ninian just stared at Conan and sneered. “Can’t you see that they also grabbed me? Also, am I that sort of person to you?”

“I don’t know whether you’d kidnap other people, but I do know that you’d kidnap Rose.”

Right after Conan finished speaking, Rose started crying. “Conan, why would Miss Springs do this to me?”

Only Ninian saw the glee and provocation that appeared briefly in Rose’s eyes.

And Ninian immediately understood that Rose was the one who hired these people.

“Rose, why would you set me up?! I don’t know these people at all!”

“That’s enough!” Conan furiously interrupted her. “Ninian, you’re hopeless!”

“Conan, my head hurts!”

In the next second, Rose fainted in his arms.

“Rose! I’ll take you to the hospital! Don’t worry!”

In his panic, Conan picked Rose up and left.

“Drag the woman in now! We have to finish this soon. We get money from this and even get to sleep with a beautiful woman. I suppose we can work with Miss Charlemagne next time as well.”

Miss Charlemagne?

Ninian almost laughed. She was right. Rose had indeed orchestrated this entire thing.

Her acting was horrible, but Conan would never see through it.

The men blocked Ninian’s path and wanted to drag her into a room. Ninian could only watch as Conan left and call out for help as she still refused to give up. But Conan was unmoved, and the last shred of hope in her heart died.

“Strip her naked! We need to have fun with such a beautiful woman!”

They charged over and tore Ninian’s clothes to shreds.

The light before her eyes grew dimmer. Ninian looked around and saw a bottle of beer on the table. Despair flickered in her eyes.

…

Despite being unconscious, Rose was still trapped in a nightmare.

“Ah! Don’t!”

At the sight of her panicking, Conan’s heart went out to her, and he held her.

“It’s okay, Rose. You’re fine now.”

“Conan, I’m so scared. Why would Ninian do this to me? Does she blame me for taking you from her?”

Conan’s expression turned cold. “She has no right to blame you. Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to make her apologize to you.”

Once he calmed Rose down, Conan stormed over to Ninian’s house.

But she was not there, so he called his assistant. “Find out where Ninian is.”

While he waited, Conan’s anger burned even greater.

How dare she stay out overnight?!

“Mr. Stone, Ninian is—”

“Is what? Tell her to come back right now! I want her to give me an explanation for what happened yesterday!”

“Mr. Stone, we found Ninian’s belongings in Crimson, but she’s nowhere to be found.

“There was also a fierce fight in Crimson yesterday. The police have come over and locked down the place for an investigation. They found blood all over the floor in a room. I heard that someone died.”

“What?” When he heard what his assistant said, Conan trembled. “Say that again.”

“The police said that it’s highly likely that the one who died from the altercation is Ninian.”