Chapter 1

"From now on, you're no longer a Guzman," Marlene Guzman announced in Abigail Guzman's face. Abigail remained silent, only fixing her cold gaze at Marlene, the woman she had called Mom for the past 17 years. Three days ago, by a strange twist of fate, Abigail was involved in an accident with a girl called Gina. She nearly died in an effort to save Gina, who was later found to be Marlene's biological daughter, the real Miss Guzman. But now, Marlene seemed to have completely forgotten Abigail's sacrifice, determined to kick her out to make way for Gina. "Mom, don't be so hard on Abigail. We're rich. And it's reasonable that she doesn't wanna leave," said Gina. "Are you done? If you are, I'm getting outta here." Abigail wasn't in the mood to listen to their cynical taunts. She realized that the Guzmans didn't deserve her love and devotion. Gina stepped forward, trying to stop Abigail from leaving. Yet, what she actually did was whisper to Abigail triumphantly, "There's one thing I forgot to tell you about. Maximo and I had a wonderful night two days ago. We're planning to announce our engagement soon." If Gina hadn't returned, Maximo Oconnor should have been Abigail's fiancé. Abigail looked Gina dead in the eye and replied aloofly, "Oh, congrats. He's not my type anyway." Gina paused, dumbfounded. Obviously, she didn't expect such a cold response, as if her punch had just hit a pillow. Abigail stared at Gina as if she was looking at a fool. "About Maximo, feel free to keep him if you're into that loser." With that, Abigail walked out of the gate, leaving everything behind. Walking out of the Guzman's house, Abigail breathed a sigh of relief and put on a mask. Then she turned and took one last glance at the house. "Grandpa, I'm leaving today. And I won't hide my ability anymore. Will you be happy for me?" The rustle of the wind was the only response she heard in the quiet surroundings. Suddenly, a loud noise came. Not far from her, a black car was parked askew on the street—it had a tire burst. A man in a black tracksuit got out of the car, swaying on his feet. It seemed he was injured. More than ten men were chasing after him, all of them in black. Ronan Lucero glanced over his shoulder, his expression darkening, which only made him seem more imposing. He placed one hand over his belly, his lips devoid of color. "Save it. We paid a high price to hunt you down. You're not getting away." The men in black closed in. "You really think you can seize me?" Ronan narrowed his eyes, his tone icy. The pain in his belly was so sharp that he felt like his consciousness was fading. "We'll see," the leader said and lunged toward Ronan. Just then, a cobblestone came out of nowhere and hit his hand. As soon as he felt the sharp pain between his thumb and his index finger, he fell to the ground. The leader panicked and growled, "Who's there?" Abigail's voice was devoid of emotions. "I'm in a bad mood, so I don't wanna watch people fight. Take it elsewhere before you continue." All the men fixed their gazes on Abigail with a serious look on their faces. Even Ronan's dark eyes showed a tinge of surprise. He was being hunted by international killers, every one of whom was capable of fighting against ten men at the same time. Yet, this masked young lady had just taken one of them down with merely a cobblestone. She was awesome. "There would be consequences for being nosy," snapped the leader. Then he ordered his men in a low voice, "End her." The rest of the killers dashed toward Abigail. Her pupils shrank slightly, a cold glint in her eyes. "Be careful." Ronan started moving before the killers reached Abigail. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks, his dark eyes full of disbelief. More than a dozen killers charged at her, yet none could strike a single attack before collapsing at Abigail's feet. She stood her ground firmly, unflinching, her gaze unwavering. If her hand hadn't still been raised in the air, Ronan would have thought that the scene was his hallucination. "Get lost." Abigail lifted her chin slightly, her tone chilling. The killers looked at her as if she were a demon. "Who on earth are you? What did you do to us?" However, they wouldn't hear the answer as they all passed out right after it. Abigail looked down at them and then lifted her head to look at Ronan, who was standing not far away. Ronan felt his heart skip a beat when he met her eyes. Although he couldn't see her face under the mask, he was enchanted by her beautiful eyes, as bright as the moon. Ronan reined in his thoughts and walked toward Abigail, speaking to her in a gentle tone, "Thank you. And I..." Before Ronan could finish his words, he fell to the ground. Abigail crouched down and lifted Ronan's shirt. She had noticed that he was badly injured in the belly at first glance. However, for her, dealing with it was a cinch. She took out a tiny porcelain bottle from her bag and sprinkled the powder onto Ronan's wound. Then, she took a pill out of a second bottle and placed it in his mouth. Had Ronan been conscious, he would have recognized the pill. It was the Heart Tonic Pill, the very one he had searched the world for. After that, Abigail simply left him on the side of the street and walked away. *** Days later. Two men were standing at the turning corner outside of the Guzman's house. Erickson, Lucero's assistant, was wearing a stylish suit and ear studs. He tilted his head and looked at his boss next to him. "Mr. Lucero, it's been two days. The girl never showed up. I don't think she will return here. Maybe we should just leave." "I wanna wait a little longer." Lucero stared at the gate of Guzman's house with his narrowed eyes with a glint in his dark pupils. Lucero was wearing a casual black outfit. The loose hair on his forehead covered his eyes, adding a tinge of rebellious aloofness to his handsome face. "Please, Mr. Lucero. We'd better leave now, or you're gonna miss the engagement party with Miss Baldwin," Ryker got heated. "You were betrothed to her when you were little. Sir Lucero repeatedly warned us that nothing could go wrong at the engagement party, though he wouldn't be able to attend due to his poor health." Ronan's lips curled into an indifferent smile. "The Baldwins haven't canceled the engagement?" "Although you asked people to spread rumors about you being a violent hideous weirdo, you're from the most powerful family in town. Surely the Baldwins wouldn't dare to do so." "I see." The light in Ronan's eyes dimmed. Given Ronan's reaction, Ryker knew that Ronan had turned a deaf ear to his persuasion. He swiftly decided to drop the topic. "Since we have no hope of finding your life-saver here, we should go. Once I find the legendary Heart Tonic Pill, Sir Lucero will be fine." Ronan blinked and shot Ryker a pointed look. "Do you think you can find it?" Ryker was annoyed by his retort, yet he couldn't think of a proper comeback. After a while, he huffed, "Of course, I'll find it." "Fine." Ronan didn't want to bicker with Ryker. He dropped his gaze and glanced at the Guzman's house before turning around. "Let's go." "Mr. Lucero, where are we going?" Ryker asked. Ronan smiled. "To cancel my engagement with Miss Baldwin."