Reborn: The Tyrant's Obsession-Chapter 234: His condition relapsed again

Violet smiled bitterly and shifted in her seat, angling her body so that passersby saw only her back.

With careful fingers, she tugged the neckline of her top downward.

From her collarbone to the upper swell of her chest, the skin was red and inflamed. The texture was patchy and sensitive, almost painful to look at.

Ella’s eyes widened.

"I can no longer audition for the role of the female lead because the first scene itself starts with the female lead in the bathtub..."

Violet trailed off and shook her head.

As she covered herself up, she spoke, "When this started happening, I still did not doubt her..."

But over the next few days, she observed something.

Esther would keenly look at her face, once in a while, she would strongly urge her to use those products, thinking that she was not using them.

And as much as she was reluctant to accept that her best friend would want to harm her, Violet would be blind to not see the truth in front of her eyes.

Violet stood and bowed to Ella one more time, "I have judged you in the past and we share no special relation. You did not have to go out of the way to inform me about this."

She looked up, "But if you didn’t do it, then I don’t know what would have happened to me today."

Ella pushed herself to her feet, "I know a dermatologist who can help you. If you pass the audition, you will be able to heal the wound before the shooting for the other parts starts..."

Violet’s eyes widened as she looked at Ella in surprise, "Really...?"

Ella nodded, "You can take your time to think about it..."

"I am willing," Violet said in determination, "The shooting of the first part only revolves around the main characters. I can audition for the second lead. If I get that part..." Her eyes teared up.

"Good luck," Ella had no doubts in Violet’s potential, she was more than talented to audition for the role of female lead as well.

Ella gave her the contact of a renowned dermatologist she had known when she was still in the entertainment industry.

"I heard... you are auditioning too?" Violet looked at Ella curiously after thanking her for another hundred times.

Ella paused when she heard the question. Then, she shook her head.

After Violet left, Ella checked the time.

And immediately, her brows shot up. The auditions must have started by now!

She had just taken a step when something caught her attention.

Ella squatted on the ground and picked up a lavender colored handkerchief. There was a small violet flower embroidered in the corner.

She instinctively looked up, only to realize that Violet was already gone.

Ella glanced at the handkerchief closely as a hint of confusion flickered in her eyes.

For some reason, the handkerchief looked familiar to her...

But Ella couldn’t put a finger on where she had seen it before.

After thinking for a while, she folded the handkerchief and kept it in her bag.

Just as she was retracting her hand, her gaze landed on her phone.

Ella froze. Before leaving the Eve Mansion in the morning, she had texted Adrian again.

Maybe...

She had already reached out to grab the phone as the thought crossed her mind.

Maybe Adrian has texted back.

However, the moment she tapped on Adrian’s name, the hope in her eyes faded.

Let alone a reply, Adrian had not even seen her texts.

Ella’s brows tugged together as she glanced at the screen for the longest time.

One couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

...

In a mysterious condominium by the suburbs.

The corridor was swallowed in shadows, the ambient light barely reaching the end of the hall.

Ji Yan stood outside a door, tension radiating from his stiff shoulders as muffled noises bled through the heavy wood.

Thrashing.

Metal hitting metal.

And low, guttural sounds that didn’t sound quite human.

"Ji Yan!" Ronan’s sharp voice snapped from inside. "Get in here. Now!"

Without hesitation, Ji Yan shoved the door open.

Inside, the room was dark, save for a flickering bedside lamp that cast everything in a grey-blue hue.

The air was thick, stifling, like it hadn’t been ventilated in days.

Adrian was restrained to the bed, his wrists handcuffed to the headboard.

The man’s skin was so pale it looked almost translucent under the dim light, veins bulging at his temples and neck like something unnatural had taken hold of him.

His chest rose and fell in erratic bursts, muscles coiled like a live wire.

But it was his eyes that made Ji Yan freeze in his tracks.

They were bloodshot and ferocious.

The handcuffs seemed to barely restrain him in his place.

"Hold him down by the chest!" Ronan barked, one arm struggling to keep Adrian’s right shoulder pinned while the other reached blindly for the medical bag on the floor.

Ji Yan moved quickly, sliding onto the edge of the bed, holding Adrian’s upper body down just enough to stop his violent flailing.

He held Adrian back in a practiced motion, firm but controlled, as if restraining a beast and not a man.

"Dr. Knight, the Second Master is already burning up...!" Ji Yan did not dare to move to look at Ronan as he spoke. "He hasn’t slept in days. And today, he had barely gotten an hour of sleep before this happened again..."

"Another hour of this and his organs could start shutting down," Ronan muttered, already assembling the syringe with urgent movements.

Adrian’s head snapped to the side, red-rimmed eyes flicking open, but they weren’t focused. Just glowing with exhaustion, confusion, and something incomprehensibly darker.

"Second Master," Ji Yan called quietly, voice trembling when he saw the man in that state. "Second Master, you have to hold on..."

Regardless of what Ji Yan said, Adrian didn’t respond.

His breathing had turned shallow. His entire body trembled like something deep inside was breaking down.

"Hold still for a second..."Ronan said under his breath as he leaned in with the syringe.

The sharp pinch of the needle met Adrian’s arm.

He jerked once then stiffened.

A long, guttural breath escaped his lips.

Then, slowly, his body began to lose its tension. The tremors softened.

The tight lines across his face smoothed just slightly. And within a few seconds, his eyes fluttered shut.

Ji Yan didn’t move away immediately. He stayed in place, holding Adrian down until the man’s condition slowly stabilized.

Ronan checked the pulse, brow twitching. "He’ll be out for a few hours. Long enough to keep him from crashing again. But we cannot use this thing again..." He glanced at the syringe.

Ji Yan slowly released his grip on Adrian, "Dr. Knight, is it harmful for the Second Master’s body?"

Ronan didn’t answer immediately.

He stared at the pale, unconscious man before muttering, "To some extent, yes. But this is the only proper solution we have for Adrian’s condition at this moment. If we use it continuously, he will grow immune to it and this might no longer work on him in the future.

And in that dimly lit room, the silence pressed in again.

Ronan turned to Ji Yan, his face tense, "How could you leave Ace there, all by himself?"

Ji Yan lowered his head, "Mrs. King was adamant on having the Second Master visit her. And with Miss Yu around..."

’’Her again?" Ronan pinched the spot between his brows, "Since when did you start working for her?"

Ji Yan sighed, "It was the Second Master’s order. He wanted me to bring her back to Vermilion City as soon as possible."

Ronan fell silent.

"Miss Yu has been constantly asking about the Second Master. I don’t know how to deal with her questions without offending her..." Ji Yan mumbled as both the men walked out of the room.

Ronan scoffed, "Ace might have his secrets, but that woman’s mind is as mysterious as bottomless well."

"Dr. Knight, you mean?"

"You can never be sure if she is asking about Ace out of worry or because she has some ulterior motives," Ronan calmly said.

Ji Yan looked at Ronan in surprise.

"What?" Ronan arched his brow.

"I thought you had changed your opinion about Miss Yu."

Ronan did not say anything immediately.

He indeed looked at Ella in a better light after she apologized to him for her past behaviour, defended Ruby fiercely in front of him, and helped Ruby out of the tricky situation with Max a few days ago.

But, one thing still bugged him.