Chapter 4

Early in the morning, Chase got up to head to the office. As he passed the guest room next door, he noticed the door wasn't fully closed and heard Serena's drowsy murmur. "Chase..." He instinctively pushed the door open and saw her lying on the guest room bed, calling his name in a daze. Serena's health had been poor ever since she'd worn herself down searching for Lucian. She got sick easily now. Chase stepped forward and felt her forehead—she definitely had a fever. He frowned and was about to get some medicine when Serena suddenly snapped awake the moment he pulled his hand back. "Chase, what do you think you're doing?" The wariness and suspicion in her eyes pierced through his heart like a blade. At that moment, he hated himself. Why did his heart still race uncontrollably when he heard her call his name? He had given his heart away, so having it torn apart and trampled was his own fault. He closed his eyes briefly and said calmly, "You have a fever. Remember to take some medicine." He turned and walked out of the guest room, leaving the house as quickly as possible, and drove to the office. On his way there, Serena called him. "Chase, where'd you go? I don't even know where you keep the medicine, and you just left me like that?" Chase replied flatly, "The medicine is in the medical kit in the first-floor storage room. I have work to handle. Besides, having Lucian care for you should be much more satisfying than having me do it." Serena laughed coldly. "Are you trying to threaten me with that? Even if Lucian weren't here, our housekeeper would take better care of me than you ever could!" "You're absolutely right," Chase said calmly and hung up. Chase spent a busy day at the office. After finishing a meeting, he noticed his secretary, Sasha Montez, wanted to say something but was hesitating. "What is it?" Sasha looked uncomfortable as she began, "Mr. Hutchinson, while you were in your meeting, Ms. Arden and Mr. Cole attended an auction. She bought an extremely expensive gemstone called 'Heart of Devotion' and gave it to Mr. Cole on the spot. "It's trending online, and the publicity isn't good for you or the company. You always said that anything involving Ms. Arden should be handled by you personally..." Even though Chase had already given up hope, he still felt a dull ache in his chest. After a moment of silence, he said, "From now on, have the marketing department handle situations like this." After a flash of surprise, Sasha's eyes briefly showed a hint of sympathy. She gave a short acknowledgment and went to notify the marketing team. With only two weeks left before his departure, Chase wanted to get all company matters properly arranged. Gloria had been good to him, and no matter what, he needed to leave the Arden Group in good hands. He worked late into the night. When he finally returned home, he ran into Harrison Knight. The moment Harrison saw Chase, he burst into laughter. "Well, well, if it isn't the unwanted baggage! Did you see the news? "Serena gave Lucian a gemstone symbolizing true love today. You're about to get dumped! How does it feel to be a pathetic lapdog who ends up with nothing?" Chase honestly didn't understand it. After he and his mother joined the Knight family, Kendall went to great lengths to hide his existence. She even arranged for him to board at school and never mentioned him in front of the Knights. He was invisible in the Knight household. He posed no threat to Harrison and Eloise Knight, and he had never harbored any fantasies about gaining anything from the Knight family. So why were they so hostile toward him? It had been the same from day one—first the bullying and humiliation, now outright malice. He had tried to fight back before. All he got was a slap from Kendall and her disappointed look. "Don't you know how difficult this is for me, having brought you into this marriage? How could you hit Harrison?" So he learned that as someone living under another's roof, he didn't even have the right to fight back. He had endured it for over ten years. Now that he was about to leave, he suddenly didn't want to tolerate it anymore. Chase said coldly, "Did you win over the Jenkins family's daughter yet?" Harrison's eyes flashed dangerously. "You're asking for it!" He threw a punch aimed at Chase's face. Chase sidestepped and caught Harrison's wrist firmly, then landed a solid punch to his face. Harrison flew into a rage. "You bastard, how dare you hit me?" He launched into a flurry of punches and kicks at Chase. But Harrison was nothing more than a spoiled rich young man who spent his days drinking and partying. Chase, on the other hand, had been disciplined since childhood and made time for the gym no matter how busy work got. When Chase got serious, Harrison was quickly beaten into submission and reduced to a cowering and crying mess. Chase was about to strike again when headlights suddenly swept across them from behind. Serena and Lucian had returned. "What's going on?" Serena asked. Harrison scrambled to his feet and pointed to the swelling on his face for Serena to see. "I came home late tonight and ran into Chase. I just mentioned that Lucian was back, and he suddenly went into a rage and started hitting me!" Chase was about to defend himself when he felt a sharp pain across his face. Serena's hand was still raised as she looked at him with disappointment. "Chase, you know I despise men who resort to violence."