Chapter 4

Panic seized my chest like a vice. I couldn't let Ethan see me like this.

I broke down, sobbing and pleading:

"No! Please, Chloe, don't!"

"Don't take off my clothes! I was crazy, I lost my mind!"

"Just let me go! Please let me go!"

My terror only delighted Chloe further.

"Let you go? Keep dreaming!"

"I hated you back in school—always acting so pure and righteous, silently drooling over my man."

"Now that he's putting a ring on my finger, you show up trying to blackmail him?"

"If I don't break you today, you'll think the Sterling family is made of soft clay!"

She ordered the others to rip off my shirt and jeans, filming the entire thing on her phone.

I fought back wildly, but my battered body was too weak.

"Take a good look, everyone! This club escort barged into a high-society engagement to ruin a family!"

"A pure, unadulterated whore!"

I begged through my tears, but someone shoved my own wadded-up shirt into my mouth, gagging me completely.

I trashed and muffled, trying to scream that I wasn't an escort—I was a cop!

"Wait."

I'm a cop. Why would Ethan call me a club escort?

My heart slammed against my ribs. My whole body froze.

Could it be... I didn't travel to another dimension?

Could there be an undercover operation?!

The girls holding me down grew visibly uneasy at my sudden stillness.

"Chloe... what if this goes too far? What if she dies?"

"Maybe we should stop. We were classmates, after all..."

Chloe sneered coldly. "Stop? She's just playing possum!"

"Rip off her underwear! Now!"

The other girls shrank back, hesitant to cross that line.

Chloe scoffed and stepped forward to do it herself. I curled into a ball on the cold floor, using my last ounce of strength to protect my dignity.

I looked at her, my voice muffled and broken through the gag:

"Please, Chloe... beat me, kick me, do whatever you want... just don't strip me."

"Please."

Chloe yanked and pulled, but my grip was locked in sheer desperation. Panting with frustration, she glared down at me, her eyes glinting with sick malice.

"Fine. You want to keep your dignity? Then lay there and let me use you as a doormat."

"If you survive, maybe I'll let you go!"

Curled on the floor, I closed my eyes and nodded faintly.

The next second, Chloe’s sharp designer heel slammed directly into my face.

"You think this pretty little face can steal men?!"

"Let’s see what you can steal after this!"

"Take this! And this!"

"Don't just stand there! Stomp on this bitch! Trample her until she screams bloody murder!"

"Ten thousand dollars cash to whoever stomps the hardest!"

Greed flared in the eyes of the other girls. They rushed in, kicking and stomping every inch of my body without mercy.

For ten endless minutes, blows rained down upon my ribs, spine, and face. By the time they stopped, I was lying in a pool of my own blood, barely breathing.

Chloe crouched down in front of me, her sneer dripping with venom.

"Let's see you try to seduce someone now, you piece of trash."

"Now, strip the rest off!"

"I’m posting her naked body all over the internet!"

My fading consciousness snapped back in sheer horror.

"Mmph! No! You promised!" I muffled against the gag.

Chloe let out a mockingly sweet laugh. "Oh? Did I? Even if I did, so what?"

"I changed my mind! Why would I keep a promise to a filthy stray like you?"

Chloe personally ripped away my last shreds of clothing, then pulled out her phone to record my battered, exposed body.

I wanted to fight back, to tear her apart, but my limbs refused to obey.

"I swear to God, if I survive this room, I will put every single one of you behind bars!"

Suddenly, Ethan's deep, authoritative voice echoed from the hallway outside like a thunderclap:

"Chloe? Where are you? The ceremony is about to start!"

Chloe’s expression shifted instantly. She shoved the gag deeper into my mouth, ordered the girls to form a human wall around me, and smoothed down her dress.

Noticing some dirt on her white train from where I had struggled, she kicked me violently in the ribs one last time before putting on a sweet smile and opening the door.

"Baby, what are you doing back here?"

"Dad and Julian aren't here yet, are they?"

Through the small gaps between the girls' legs, I saw Chloe wrap her arms affectionately around Ethan's suit-clad arm.

My soul screamed his name, desperate for him to notice me, but not a single sound escaped my throat.

"I just wanted to see my gorgeous bride as soon as possible," Ethan murmured smoothly.

Tears streamed down my bloody temples.

Chloe giggled coyly. "I'm not your wife yet! If you want me to call you husband, you have to marry me in front of the whole world first!"

"Go on back to the ballroom. I need to touch up my makeup."

Ethan nodded and began to turn. My heart plunged into bottomless despair as his footsteps started to fade.

"By the way," Ethan suddenly paused, glancing back at her. "What happened to that girl, Claire Miller?"

"I'm curious how she managed to get a photo of me."

Hope roared back to life in my chest. I trashed against the floor, trying to make noise, but a heavy classmate immediately sat on my back, pinning the air out of my lungs.

"Hm? What's going on in there?"

Ethan took a step forward, his sharp eyes scanning the room.

Chloe panicked, quickly blocking his view. "Don't look! The girls are changing! You can't look!"

"I already had security kick Claire Miller out. Go mingle with the guests, baby. I need to finish getting ready."

Ethan’s gaze turned intensely suspicious. He pointed straight through a gap between two girls:

"Why is there someone lying on the floor?"