Adrian reached out, his dark eyes fixed on her with an unreadable intensity. "Give me the stone."

Evelyn’s hand trembled. The jagged rock was still slick with Seraphina’s blood.

He took it from her without a word. Knowing this was no place to linger, he gripped her wrist and pulled her away from the scene. Only after he had heaved the bloodied evidence into the deep pit behind a roadside latrine did he seek out an official—a man wearing the red armband of the neighborhood committee—directing him to check on a girl who had "tripped and fallen" in the alley.

Evelyn had gone cold. A numb silence settled over her as she followed Adrian through the winding streets of Clear Breeze Town. By the time they reached a gray, official-looking building, her mind was racing. Adrian wasn't just here. He was the newly appointed Town Governor.

In her previous life, she hadn't paid much attention to his exact posting, only that he had vanished into the rural districts of Qingping County. He had been offered a seat as a Deputy County Magistrate, but he had refused it, choosing instead to work at the grassroots level to truly understand the people's needs.

She had walked away from that thousand dollars for this very reason—to keep him in her debt, hoping for his protection once she moved to the country. But as they entered his office, a flicker of awe crossed her mind. She hadn't expected her luck to be this potent. He hadn't just come to the county; he had chosen her town.

Back in the city, she had lived in the shadow of Julian’s family, listening to Julian’s father speak of Adrian with a mixture of envy and resentment. Julian himself had treated his cousin with a reverence that bordered on fear. Now, fate had delivered this powerhouse directly to her. If she couldn't secure his favor now, it would be a failure of her own making.

"Sit," he commanded.

Evelyn took a seat across from his desk, her posture stiff and wary. Adrian poured a cup of hot tea and set it before her.

"Are you calm now?" his voice was low, resonating in the quiet room.

Evelyn bit her lip and gave a small, jerky nod.

"A person who cannot master their own impulses—who acts on raw emotion—cannot hope to win the support of others," Adrian said sternly. "In the end, such people find themselves standing alone."

The color drained from Evelyn’s face. Is he disappointed? Is he withdrawing his support because he saw the monster under the skin?

When Adrian first realized who Evelyn was, he had offered the money as a clean break—a way to settle the debt of the little girl who had once saved him. But she had rejected the payout, keeping the invisible thread between them intact. His decision to come to Clear Breeze Town had been made with her in mind; he intended to keep a distant, watchful eye on her.

But seeing her now, her head bowed so low her chin touched her chest, he saw the "little stray cat" of his memories again.

"Did you consider the consequences?" he asked.

Evelyn remained silent, but her mind raced. In her plan, Seraphina would have vanished into her "space." She could have scrubbed every trace of the woman from the earth. No body, no crime.

Adrian narrowed his eyes. His resentment toward Julian flared anew; his cousin’s fickleness had pushed this girl to the brink of a precipice. "She provoked you, so you tried to kill her. What about the next person? And the one after that? Will you simply slaughter everyone who crosses you?"

Evelyn’s head snapped up. "No!" she cried. "I’m not a murderer!"

"Once you cross the line from zero to one," Adrian said, his gaze piercing hers, "it becomes nearly impossible to stop. One leads to two, two to three, until you are entirely consumed by your own darkness. At that point, you cease to be a person. You become a hollow shell of your own desires."

Evelyn wanted to argue, but his words hollowed her out. If she had killed Seraphina and gotten away with it, what would stop her from doing the same to Mrs. Ward? Or Ward himself? Would she become a shadow in the night, ending every grudge with a blade?

"Then am I supposed to do nothing?" Her eyes burned with a sudden, fierce light—a fire that threatened to consume everything.

"I am not telling you to let go of your resentment," Adrian said, his tone softening slightly. "I am telling you to control it. Never act in a blind heat. Do you think I was the only person who could have turned onto that road?" He paused. "What if it hadn't been me? Would you have killed the witness, too?"

Evelyn’s face turned paper-white. The realization of how close she had come to a different kind of ruin made her breath hitch. Her instinctive trust in Adrian had saved her from herself, and that trust moved him more than he cared to admit. He blamed the mess on Julian’s infidelity and Seraphina’s betrayal of a "best friend."

"I sent the others away," Adrian added quietly.

The weight in Evelyn’s chest loosened, if only by a fraction.

"They aren't worth destroying your life over," he continued. "There are many ways to seek retribution that don't involve throwing your future into a pit. You are an intelligent girl, Evelyn. Use that intelligence."

Evelyn sat in silence for a long time. When she finally looked up, her eyes were swimming with unshed tears. "Brother Adrian... will you teach me?"

Her pale face, her reddened eyes, and the slight quiver of her nose made her look painfully vulnerable. Adrian sighed. Between his cousin’s sins and the debt he owed the little girl from his past, he couldn't walk away.

"You must learn the art of restraint," he said. "Control your emotions, your desires, and your judgment. Set a goal—decide what you want to achieve and move toward it with precision. Perhaps one day, when you are standing at the top, you will look back and thank that girl for showing you who you truly are. You might even thank Julian for the 'mercy' of not marrying you."

Adrian assumed her rage was born of a broken heart. He feared that by coming to the countryside, she was on a path to a narrow, bitter life. He decided then that he would have to keep her close, to prevent her from throwing her future away.

He kept her in his office for nearly an hour, talking her through her turmoil. Evelyn, sensing his concern, played her part perfectly, sending him vague signals that she was still "reeling" from Julian’s betrayal.

Meanwhile, Chief Barrett was waiting in the town hall for a meeting to begin. When he learned the session had been delayed, he settled in with the other village chiefs to swap gossip and speculate about the new Governor.

In the office, Adrian glanced at his watch. "You’re stationed in Red Wolf Valley, aren't you?"

Evelyn blinked. She hadn't mentioned her village. He already knew.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Do you have a bicycle?"

She shook her head. Now that Caleb was here, she couldn't just pull a bicycle out of thin air without raising questions.

"Your Chief, Barrett, is here for a meeting. I’ll speak with him. You’ll ride back with him this afternoon," Adrian arranged.

Evelyn gave a submissive, grateful nod. "Thank you, Brother Adrian."

"I have a meeting to attend. Wait here until I return."

As she watched him walk out the door, Evelyn’s heart hammered against her ribs. There was no way her old self could have known he was coming here. To him, her presence in Clear Breeze Town must seem like a cosmic coincidence.

But a secret, intoxicating thought took root in her mind: Did he choose this town because of the address I left in the letter?

She had never been the first choice for anyone. Not her parents, not her husband, not even her children in the life before. But as she sat in the quiet of his office, her eyes began to sparkle.

He came here for me.