Three Years as His Kept Woman

Chapter 6 Burned Dreams

Seeing Lucia nod, Adrian was so furious he nearly lost his voice. He hurled the keys to the floor.

"Get out."

Lucia did not complain. She bent down, picked up the keys, and carefully slipped them into her pocket. Then, without hesitation, she turned and dragged her suitcase out of the bedroom. When she passed Adrian and Vivian, she did not even glance at them.

Vivian whimpered in pain and urged Adrian to take her to the hospital, but this time Adrian hesitated. He stared at Lucia's retreating figure for a moment before suddenly speaking.

"If you apologize to Viv, I might consider forgiving you."

Lucia did not even turn around. "I don't want to trouble you anymore."

Her voice was soft and calm, yet for some reason it irritated Adrian even more.

Vivian glanced between Lucia and Adrian, her expression darkening slightly. She pretended to persuade Lucia.

"Ms. Hart, Adrian is just angry right now. If you leave like this, you're really not considering his feelings."

Lucia had no intention of arguing with them any longer. She pulled her suitcase forward, but the bag resting on top suddenly slipped off and fell to the ground. A pile of study materials spilled out.

Among them was a brochure for Northbridge Institute of Technology that had been tucked inside a book.

Adrian froze. After a moment, he picked up the brochure and flipped through it. His expression slowly turned incredulous.

"Don't tell me you're planning to apply to Northbridge Institute of Technology."

Lucia knew she could not hide it anymore, so she simply nodded. "So what if I am?"

Adrian let out a dry laugh. "You're a woman who makes money selling your looks. How much intelligence do you think you have? Do you even know Northbridge Institute of Technology's global ranking? How could you possibly get in?"

Seeing Lucia's ridiculous dream, Vivian even stopped pretending to be in pain. She lightly tapped Adrian's arm.

"There's nothing wrong with having a dream. Why are you being so harsh?"

Then she turned to Lucia with a faint smile. "But Ms. Hart, I suggest choosing something more realistic. When your ambitions are too high, you're the one who ends up crying."

After saying that, Vivian could not help laughing. She bent down and picked up one of Lucia's textbooks.

"This looks pretty advanced. Do you even understand any of it?"

"Give it back!"

Lucia rushed forward to snatch the book, but in the process she accidentally bumped Vivian. Vivian immediately fell backward onto the floor again.

"Ah!"

Rage flared in Adrian's eyes. He glared at Lucia as if he wanted to burn a hole through her.

"That's enough. You've targeted Viv again and again. Apologize to her right now."

Lucia sighed helplessly. "I already told you. She fell down the stairs herself."

This time Adrian truly lost his temper. He gathered all of Lucia's study materials and threw them into the yard. Then he set them on fire.

Lucia stood there in shock.

Her admission letter from Northbridge Institute of Technology was inside those materials.

She rushed forward desperately, trying to stop him, but she was no match for Adrian. All she could do was watch as the flames swallowed everything.

For the first time, Lucia completely lost control of her emotions.

"Why are you doing this? Give my things back!"

She reached into the fire, trying to grab something from the burning pile. The flames instantly scorched her hand.

Martha hurried forward and pulled her back. "Don't do something foolish!"

Adrian looked down at her with cold superiority.

"Apologize to Viv."

For the first time, Lucia openly defied him.

"I did nothing wrong."

Adrian clenched his fists, anger flashing across his face.

"Fine. If you refuse to admit it, do you think I have no way to punish you? You remember that I'm your patron, right? You said it yourself just now. Even if today is the last day, you'll still fulfill the contract."

He stared at her coldly. "Then kneel here. You're not allowed to stand up until you admit your mistake."