He Let Me Drown, Another Man Taught Me Love

The sea wind cut across Nina's face like blades.

She hung beneath the steel cables of the bridge, her hands bound behind her back, with thirty meters of black seawater beneath her feet.

Night fog drifted across the water, and the distant horn of a cargo ship echoed like a funeral bell.

Footsteps approached through the mist.

Julian walked toward her in a black cashmere coat, his expression calm as ever, as if he had just stepped out of a board meeting.

Behind him stood six bodyguards in black, each resting a hand on the grip of a gun.

"Let me down," Nina said, her voice trembling despite her effort to stay calm.

Julian stood at the edge of the bridge, looking down at her. "Why did you humiliate Aria at the banquet?" he asked calmly.

"She provoked me first!" Nina said urgently. "I only told the truth!"

"Enough." Julian's eyes turned icy. "Aria lost her parents and spent ten years alone overseas. She's suffered more than enough. What right do you have to question her?"

Nina's voice broke. "What about me? I was the one beside you for ten years. Now that she's back, I'm nothing to you?"

Julian fell silent for a moment, then gave a faint laugh. "Nina, have you forgotten who I am?"

He removed his glasses, revealing eyes devoid of warmth. "For ten years I tolerated you because you knew your place. Now I see that you don't."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping low. "You and Aria have never carried the same weight in my heart."

Nina felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss.

"So now that Aria is back, you don't need me anymore?" Nina let out a bitter laugh.

Julian turned and gave an order to the bodyguards. "Hang her there for an hour. Let her remember that the Blackwell family's rules are not something she can challenge."

"Julian!" Nina screamed. "You can't do this to me!"

Julian didn't stop walking. "I protected you before because you stayed in your place. Now that you've crossed the line, you deserve punishment."

The bodyguards obeyed and tightened the rope.

Nina was hoisted higher. The freezing wind cut through her, and her wrists felt as if they might dislocate.

Watching his retreating figure, she suddenly remembered something from five years ago.

An enemy family had planted a bomb in her car. He dismantled it with his bare hands and told her then, "As long as I'm here, no one will touch you."

Now the person hurting her the most was him.

"Julian! Please… I'm afraid of heights!" she cried. "Let me down!"

No one responded.

The waves slammed against the bridge pillars like a beast growling in the dark.

She struggled violently as the rope tore into her skin, blood running down her arms.

For ten years he had kept her in a sheltered world, making her forget that he was, at his core, a ruthless mafia leader who devoured people without mercy.

Second by second, time passed.

Her consciousness began to blur as countless memories flashed before her eyes. He had taken drinks for her, killed for her, stayed up through the night with her during long shifts…

All of it was a lie. All of it had been manipulation.

Suddenly, a sharp crack sounded above her head.

The rope snapped.

"Ah!" Nina plunged into the freezing seawater.

Saltwater flooded her mouth and nose. She struggled desperately, but she sank deeper and deeper.

In the final moment before darkness claimed her, she saw the distant headlights of Julian's car fading away above the water like a dying star.

When she woke again, the sharp smell of disinfectant filled her nose.

She was lying in a VIP room at a private hospital, her wrists wrapped in bandages, her whole body aching.

One of Julian's bodyguards stood beside the bed. "Dr. Avery, you're awake?"

"Did he send you to save me?" Nina asked hoarsely.

The bodyguard nodded, then lowered his voice. "This was a warning. Don't provoke Miss Monroe again, and don't go near Mr. Blackwell."

Nina closed her eyes as tears slid down her face.

Her phone vibrated beside the pillow.

She opened it, and a news notification appeared on the screen.

"Blackwell heir Julian Blackwell makes romantic declaration to his fiancée!"

The photo showed hundreds of drones lighting up the night sky, forming the words, "Marry Me, Aria!"

Aria leaned against Julian's chest, looking up at the sky with a radiant smile.

It was the same wish Nina had once mentioned carefully.

On her birthday three years ago, she had casually said, "I heard people overseas use drones for proposals. It sounds romantic."

Julian had only replied coldly, "Childish."

Now he had filled the entire sky with lights for Aria.

Nina threw the phone to the floor, curled into herself, and finally broke down in tears.