Reborn Young Miss: Phoenix Burning Red

Lennox had met a fair share of women in the twenty-six years of his life, but he had never met a woman as frightening as her. Not even his mother, who was known to be an aloof socialite, had this aura emanating from her. This young woman looked as if she'd experienced a lot of grievances and bitterness in life, not seeing the world behind rose-tinted glasses like others.

"Woman, you dare to hit me?!" He growled at her in rage.

No one had the guts to humiliate him like this, and he was shocked by the stinging pain on his cheek. However, that was enough to bring some sense to him, realizing how foolish his words had been earlier.

"Ha! So you still have some energy to scold me? Why don't you use that energy to hunt your enemies instead?" The young woman scoffed and looked down at him.

"You are already like this, but you are willing to throw away your self-worth and life just because you hit rock bottom. Life isn't always fair, but that's irrelevant. All that matters is that you figure out where you want to be, hold your head high, and keep moving forward regardless of what others say."

"Indeed, I'm already like this." Lennox glared at her. "I've hit the lowest point of my life. What do you expect me to do then? Do you have any idea how painful my injuries are? Even the slightest air touching my skin gives me excruciating pain!"

The young woman was startled for a little, but she easily recovered from his words. Her frown deepened, but it wasn't enough to mar her beauty. She might be beautiful in Lennox's eyes, but he thought that this little sister was still in the cusp of adulthood and hadn't reached her peak yet.

"If you've already hit rock bottom, you won't fall further than this. The only way out is to go up. Fate gives you a second chance in life, so don't waste it. Not everyone can be as lucky as you - escaping death. Even if you need to crawl out of hell and drag those responsible for your current state down with you, do it. You need a reason to live, even if it means seeking revenge on those who wronged you."

Silence ensued between them, and Lennox dared not break his gaze from this young woman. Even Gavin couldn't help but nod his head in agreement with her, and that says a lot to Lennox. It was hard for anyone to get Gavin's approval, and not many could tolerate his attitude.

Lennox could feel his best friend's gaze on him, knowing that he was worried about him. However, Gavin would need to wait for a while before they discuss their next course of actions.

"Your name?" He asked the young woman in front of him.

The young woman narrowed her gaze at him.

Lennox gave her a good head-to-toe look, noticing that though her clothes looked casual and simple, they came from a luxury brand. She must have come from a prominent family if she had access to this floor of the hospital.

"For what? For you to blacklist me or get even with me in the future? I'd rather not get involved with you. Please let this be our first and last meeting."

"Of course not!" Lennox exclaimed. "It should be me who should be worried of being bullied by you, not the other way around!"

Lennox found it laughable that she thought he had enough time to do such a trivial thing as that. He wasn't that petty to bully this little sister.

"Mister, I have nothing against you. Actually, I do not care whether you die or not, but hearing you speak carelessly about throwing your life away pissed me off. Your voice is also too loud that I can hear it from the other room."

"Let me apologize on his behalf, Miss…?" Gavin slightly lowered his head toward the young woman.

The young woman eyed Gavin for a moment and nodded. "Make sure this doesn't happen again, though I don't mind giving him a few more slaps if he intends to continue spouting nonsense."

She paused as she considered whether to give her name or not.

"It's Adrienne. Adrienne Jiang."

Adrienne. Lennox thought that just like his name, her name means 'darkness' too. Just what were their mothers thinking when they chose to associate their names with darkness?

"Feel free to hit my friend if you deem him deserving, Miss Jiang. Since Nox wouldn't listen to reason, perhaps violence would help straighten him up. Be careful though, we wouldn't want him to be any stupider than he is right now."

Lennox could see a smile threatening to spread on his best friend's face and his eyes widened in shock. He made a mental note to confront Gavin about this treachery he had committed against him, favoring Adrienne Jiang, a stranger, instead of his own friend.

Adrienne Jiang chuckled and gave Lennox one last look before turning around to leave.

"It's already dark, please don't cause another ruckus as it would disturb others." She said before stepping out of Lennox's hospital room, leaving him alone once again with his best friend.

Once Adrienne Jiang was gone, Gavin rubbed his temple and sighed. He took a seat next to Lennox's bed and crossed his arms.

"See, Nox? You weren't listening to me. I understand that you are still in a lot of pain, but don't be unreasonable. You've already chased away three caregivers I hired and it would take some time to find a replacement. You've caused a disturbance and have inconvenienced Miss Jiang tonight. Though I don't approve of her assault, I have to agree with her sentiments about your life."

Lennox groaned as he adjusted from his seated position to lying down on his bed. His mother was on her way back from her business trip to see him. She and Gavin must have a plan for his treatment, but his looming problem regarding his half-siblings remains.

His vicious relatives wouldn't dare to touch or hurt those children unless they got rid of him first. Lennox never thought that his stupid father would leave a will that named him as the temporary guardian of his bastard children in case something happened to him.