Nolan, Conrad, and Liam's expressions faltered slightly, but soon, the tender look returned to their faces. 

"Anna, you've misunderstood. We really didn't know."

Adrianna didn't want to hear another word. She turned and walked away. 

On the night before her birthday, the three men showed up at her doorstep again.   

Leaning against the door frame, Nolan asked with burning intensity, "Anna, you're going to choose James tomorrow, aren't you?"

Adrianna looked at them with a stony expression. "I already told you. I won't choose him."

"There's no need to be like this." Conrad sighed. "It's okay if James turns you down. You still have us."

"That's right." Liam stepped forward before continuing with a low, deep voice, "We love you so much. Why are you only fixated on James? Why won't you look at us at all?"

Adrianna found their act laughable. What made them think she would even consider

The entire ballroom erupted in shock.

Everyone knew that Adrianna and Derick had been at odds since childhood. Whenever they crossed paths, it would either end in a shouting match or a full-on fight. No one could have expected that Derick was the one she was waiting for.

James was livid. He strode over to Adrianna and demanded, "Adrianna, what is the meaning of this?"

Adrianna ignored him, keeping her gaze fixed on Derick. 

Derick stood a few steps away from her, with his hands tucked into his pockets. He appeared indifferent, but Adrianna caught the way his eyes flickered briefly between James and her. 

"I told you. I'm choosing him." She raised her hand, pointing a slender finger straight at Derick.  

Her words landed like a bomb, setting off another frenzied discussion among the guests in the ballroom. 

"What? She chose Derick?"

"Aren't they sworn enemies?"

"God, look at Jame

The bodyguards stormed in, wrecking everything in their path loudly. 

An expensive antique vase was shattered into shards, fine red wine bled across the floor, and pieces of custom-made furniture lay splintered and strewn about. 

In just a few minutes, the villa was reduced to ruins.  

Adrianna stood in the middle of the wreckage, watching it all unfold with a stony expression. Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she felt no pain. 

Everything that had been destroyed was impossible to piece back together, just like her dignity.   

"Found it!" a bodyguard shouted, holding a gilded trophy as he ran down from the second floor. 

James took the trophy with a satisfied smile, then left hand in hand with Cecilia. As they left, Cecilia looked back at Adrianna and gave her a victorious smile. 
 
"Don't be sad, Anna." Nolan stepped forward and comforted her." Later on, we'll build you an identical villa."

"Yeah, we'll get you new stuff to replace everything that was broken," Conrad and Liam added. 

Adrianna looked at them and suddenly laughed. But there was something bitter and cutting behind that laugh. "Aren't you three tired of pretending yet?"

The three men froze. "What?"

Adrianna turned to leave without explaining. 

After that day, she moved into a new villa on the outskirts of the city and kept to herself, rarely stepping outside. All she did was wait for Derick to return to the country. 

It wasn't until the day before her birthday that she finally left the house to visit the most exclusive boutique in the city and pick out a gown. 

But the moment she walked in, she ran into Cecila. And as fate would have it, they both had their eyes on the same dress.

"I'll be taking this one," Adrianna said coolly. 

The store attendant immediately recognized her and fawned with a flattering smile. "You have such exquisite taste, Ms. Quinnen! This gown is a limited-edition piece. Only someone of your status could truly do it justice!" 

As she spoke, she shot Cecila a disdainful glance. "As for certain others, it'd be best to take a look at something else. Designer fashion like this isn't made for the average person." 

Cecilia's eyes reddened, and she immediately pulled out her phone to make a call. "James, come quick… I'm being bullied."

Adrianna's chest tightened, and she was hit with a bad feeling. She didn't even have time to change out of her gown—she turned and ran out. 

But the moment she reached the parking lot, a loud bang echoed. She felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness completely.

When her senses gradually returned, she found herself hanging from the outer wall of Quinnen Tower. As she hung there 69 floors above ground, the cold wind slashed at her skin like knives. 

She looked down and realized she was dressed in nothing but thin underwear, with her exposed skin turning blue in the freezing air. She was nearly numb from the cold. 

"You're awake?" She heard James' icy voice from above her. 

Adrianna struggled to lift her head. Meeting the almond-shaped eyes she had once adored, she now found them frozen over with nothing but cold. 
   
It was James… He was the one who stripped her bare and hung her from this tower.

Adrianna's pupils constricted, and it felt as though an invisible hand had a deathly grip on her heart.

Before she could even demand an explanation, James leaned down and gripped her chin with his long fingers. 

"Don't you like stealing from Ceci, Adrianna? Then remember today's lesson well. The next time you try to take something from her, think carefully about whether you can handle the consequences."

With that, he let go and turned away, not sparing her so much as an extra glance. 

Adrianna heard footsteps moving away from her, followed by a faint murmur of voices coming from the corridor. 

"How dare she steal from Ceci? We need to make sure she suffers for it." Nolan's icy voice dripped with cruelty. 

"Let's save her an hour later?" Conrad adjusted his glasses, speaking so lightly it was as if he were commenting on the day's weather. 

"Why don't we leave her hanging for the whole day? It's not like she'll die," Liam suggested with a smile. "We can use this time to pick out a new gown for Ceci."

Their footsteps gradually faded into silence, leaving Adrianna suspended high above the ground on the 69th floor, all alone. 

The wind was bone-chilling. She trembled uncontrollably, and her lips turned a frightening shade of purple. She gritted her teeth, yet tears spilled down anyway. 

Why… Why would they do this to her? 

She once believed that, even if they didn't love her, there was still a trace of the childhood bond they shared. But now, it was clear she meant less to them than a stranger. 

By early the next morning, commuters on their way to work stopped in their tracks, pointing and whispering at the sight of Adrianna hanging mid-air. 

"Oh my god! Isn't that the Quinnen family's eldest daughter?"

"Why is she hanging up there? And… dressed like that?"

"Tsk, how humiliating…"

Adrianna looked down, where the crowd below appeared no bigger than ants. Shame and fury burned through her. She wanted nothing more than to loosen the rope and end it all right there. 

Right then, Nolan and the guys finally arrived.

"Anna, we're so sorry!" Nolan rushed forward in feigned panic. "We just found out James tied you up here!"

Conrad quickly shrugged off his coat and draped it over her trembling figure. "You don't have to be afraid now. We'll take you home."

Liam crouched down beside her and spoke gently, "Sorry. We promise we'll never let you suffer like this again."

Adrianna slowly looked up at them. She took in their false expressions, and suddenly, she smiled. It was a desolate smile that was utterly heartbreaking. 

"Get lost."

The three of them froze. "Anna?"

"I said, get lost!" She shoved them away and forced herself to stand. "Wasn't it you three who caused all this in the first place?"

Nolan, Conrad, and Liam's expressions faltered slightly, but soon, the tender look returned to their faces. 

"Anna, you've misunderstood. We really didn't know."

Adrianna didn't want to hear another word. She turned and walked away. 

On the night before her birthday, the three men showed up at her doorstep again.   

Leaning against the door frame, Nolan asked with burning intensity, "Anna, you're going to choose James tomorrow, aren't you?"

Adrianna looked at them with a stony expression. "I already told you. I won't choose him."

"There's no need to be like this." Conrad sighed. "It's okay if James turns you down. You still have us."

"That's right." Liam stepped forward before continuing with a low, deep voice, "We love you so much. Why are you only fixated on James? Why won't you look at us at all?"

Adrianna found their act laughable. What made them think she would even consider them?
  
She turned around, her expression calm. "Don't worry. I'm not choosing any of you."

The t

Chapter 9