Elena reached out to hold his hand. But her vision suddenly blurred. A wave of dizziness hit her.

She recoiled and pressed her fingers against her forehead. The road, the man, and the surroundings began to fade.

"Miss Hart," Elias’ voice came, but it sounded distant and muffled. "Are you okay?"

Elena tried to respond, but no words came. Her body went limp as darkness closed in around her. Before she could collapse onto the wet road, two strong arms wrapped around her.

Elias lifted her in his arms and carried her to his car.

He took her straight to a hospital.

The doctor checked Elena thoroughly. He sighed heavily as he turned to Elias. "She recently had a miscarriage."

A dark look crossed Elias’s eyes.

"She is having a mild fever," the doctor continued. "I have given her an injection. It should go down soon. But this is not the main issue."

Elias looked back at him.

"She appears to be under severe mental stress and emotional trauma, and..." The doctor paused as he glanced down at her. "I also noticed several scars on her body. She might have been in an accident. Look at this."

He gently pushed her hair from her forehead and revealed a deep cut. "The wound has healed, but the scar is still there. This was not caused by something minor. She must have hit her head against something hard."

Elias frowned, his gaze fixating on the scar on her forehead. ’What exactly have you been through?’ he thought.

"She is still weak. She needs proper rest and someone to take care of her."

Elias nodded absentmindedly.

"I’ll come check on her later." With that, the doctor left.

Elias slowly lowered himself onto the chair beside the bed, his eyes never leaving her face. Then his gaze moved to the bandage in her hand.

Something tugged at his heart, and he reached out to brush his fingers over the gauze.

"Elena, why did you end up like this?"

This was not the first time he had met her. He had known her years ago, back in school.

The memory resurfaced.

Back then, he used to be silent, introverted, and distant. He didn’t have friends in school. Instead, he was often the target of bullying.

That day, a group of boys cornered him behind the school building. They shoved him, laughing mockingly. One of them snatched his school bag.

"Give it back," Elias shouted angrily, trying to reach it.

Someone pushed him away roughly.

Elias stumbled backward and crashed onto the ground.

"You want your bag," the tallest boy sneered, lifting it high above his head. "Come and get it."

Elias’s eyes burned in fury. He gritted his teeth, rose to his feet, and lunged over. The other boys blocked him immediately and started hitting him. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Punches and kicks rained down on him.

Elias curled into a ball, shielding his head with his arms as the blows continued. His whole body throbbed, as though every bone inside his body were about to shatter. He thought it was the end of his day.

"Stop," a voice cut through the chaos.

All of them froze.

"Step back right now. Or I’ll report all of you to the principal."

Elias lowered his arms and looked up.

A girl stood there fearlessly. There was not even a trace of hesitation in her eyes. She was bold and confident, qualities he didn’t have.

"You..." The tall one raised a finger at her, furious.

"Help," the girl shouted. "Someone is bullying here."

The other boys stepped back and bolted. Seeing all his friends run away, the boy tossed Elias’s bag and fled.

The girl rushed over and handed him a bottle of water. "Here, drink this."

Elias paused for a moment. No one in the school had ever treated him nicely, let alone helped him. He lowered his head as he took the bottle.

"Thanks for helping me."

The girl smiled. Her smile was warm.

Elias went still.

"You should fight back," she said with confidence brimming in her eyes. "Don’t let them bully you. Or they will never stop. Once you stand up for yourself, they won’t dare to hurt you again."

The memory faded, but those words remained deeply engraved in his heart.

From that day on, Elias never let others trample over him again. He had learned to defend himself and regained the confidence he once lacked.

"You were the one who gave me courage back then," he murmured, his gaze softening. "I never allowed anyone to bully or wrong me again. And you—you are like this, weak and battered. What happened to you all those years?"

When his grandfather first mentioned the marriage proposal and told him about the woman who had saved him, Elias had planned to meet her personally and reject the arrangement politely.

He had never expected that the woman his grandfather spoke of would be her.

Not long after the incident at school, Elias had transferred away and gone abroad. He had never gotten the chance to thank her properly.

But when he returned a few years ago, he had tried searching for her again, only to discover that she was already engaged to Noah Sinclair. Believing she had found her happiness, he chose not to disturb her life. But he had never thought she would be suffering like this.

"Sir..." A voice from behind drew him out of his thoughts. He blinked and glanced up to see his assistant.

"A call from Leo." The man handed over the phone.

Elias took it and stepped out. "Hey, little wonder. What’s up?"

His lips curled slightly.

"You didn’t come," came Leo’s slightly disappointed voice. "I waited for you."

"Something came up," replied Elias. "I’ll come tomorrow. No delay this time."

"Promise?"

"Yes, promise."

"Then I’ll wait for you."

The call ended.

Elias’s expression turned serious, his mind rushing back to Elena.

"The jet is ready," came a deep voice from his side.

Elias nodded slowly. "Investigate Elena," he said in a calm tone. "I want every detail about what she has been through all these years."

"Understood."

Elias turned to the man. "I’m leaving. Stay here and take care of her. Tell her we’ll register the marriage once I return."

With that, he left.