Chapter 1100

"Juniper, I deserve to die." Warren was drowning in guilt, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "If anything happens to Celine, I'll—"

"You absolutely do." Juniper gripped her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white, her voice colder than liquid nitrogen. "Warren, did I or did I not tell you to protect her?"

Warren slumped forward, feeling like his soul had been ripped from his body. The agonizing pain in his chest made it impossible to even stand up straight.

"If she loses so much as a single hair on her head, I will end you myself." Juniper's eyes were bloodshot. She ground the words out, enunciating every single syllable with lethal intent. "You stay exactly where you are on Liberty Island. Don't move."

"Celine "

"Are you deaf?" Juniper snapped, losing whatever shred of patience she had left. "When I go in to save my sister, I don't want to waste a single second having to save your pathetic life, too."

She knew exactly how much Celine loved Warren.

Having delivered her ultimatum, Juniper hung up the phone and marched straight toward Tucker's office.

"I need a leave of absence." She slammed the form down onto his desk, radiating an aura so terrifying it dropped the temperature in the room.

Well then. Was this a student asking for time off, or a mafia boss staging a hostile takeover?

"You—" Tucker adjusted his glasses, preparing to ask for a valid reason, but froze the second he made eye contact with the girl's icy stare.

"It's life or death." Juniper stood ramrod straight, her breathtaking face pale but eerily composed, her voice rough. "If you don't approve it, I'll drop out of school. Or transfer majors. The professors over at the School of Medicine try to recruit me every time I walk to my car anyway. I'm honestly sick of rejecting them."

Without a single word of protest, Tucker grabbed his pen and practically carved his signature onto the leave slip.

"How much time do you need? You didn't write down any dates!" Tucker asked, bewildered.

"I don't know." Juniper licked her dry lips, her voice chillingly hollow. "Keep the slip.

I'll fill in the dates later. Don't worry, I won't fall behind. As for the finals..."

"Fine, fine, fine." Tucker waved her off frantically, letting out a heavy sigh. "Why would I ever worry about your grades?"

Even if she didn't attend a single lecture for the rest of the year, she'd still ace the finals with her eyes closed.

If it wouldn't totally upend the academic hierarchy, she'd be the one standing at the podium while he sat in the back taking notes.

"Just stay safe," Tucker added hastily. "If you need any resources or favors, you let me know."

"Thank you, Professor." Juniper's lips twitched upward in a mechanical movement that completely failed to reach her eyes.

"I'm out."

She hoisted her backpack over her shoulder and sprinted toward the campus gates. Right. She hadn't called Shanley. To save time, she'd just grab a cab and meet him.

Just as she raised her hand to flag one down, a familiar sports car roared down the street, braking aggressively right in front of her.

The door swung open. Shanley stepped out, looking immaculate in a tailored suit, his face carved from stone. He closed the distance between them in three long strides.

"What are you doing here?" Juniper stared at him, the hardened ice in her eyes cracking just a fraction.

"I heard about Liberty Island." Shanley took her heavy backpack and tossed it to Felton, then wrapped both his hands securely around her waist. "I'm going with you."

"Okay." Juniper agreed without a second of hesitation. "You come with me."

...

Four hours later, the two of them touched down on Liberty Island.

Although Juniper had reunited with her biological family, Liberty Island operated under incredibly strict security protocols. Maintaining.

absolute secrecy was param

The residents only knew that the Lord's wife had found her lost family-they had no idea who that

family actually was.

A heavily tinted, armored transport vehicle picked them up from the tarmac and

delivered them directly to the estate. The grand double doors swung open.

The second Juniper stepped inside, she saw Warren collapsed on the sofa. His hair was a mess, his face pale and haggard. He looked like a hollow shell of a man drained of every ounce of life. '