Chapter 5

Chloe's POV

Three days after I moved into the basement, Julian's assistant showed up at my door.

The suited assistant stood in the damp, smelly hallway of my building, looking at my thin, pale face with pity.

"Mrs. Vance, Julian wants you to come home."

"I'm not Mrs. Vance anymore," I said calmly. "The divorce papers have been mailed to his office."

The assistant sighed. "He ripped them up. He said if you just apologize and admit you were wrong, he'll clear your debt and help you reopen your studio."

I let out a cold laugh.

A slap in the face followed by a sweet treat. Julian really loved playing corporate mind games with me.

"Tell him I'd rather starve to death than take a single dollar of his money."

After the assistant left, I began looking for jobs.

But with the "toxic pan" scandal attached to my name, no company would hire me.

I even tried applying for dishwasher jobs at local diners, but the managers recognized me and kicked me out.

"We don't hire scammers here. Get lost!"

Standing on the busy New York streets, watching people pass by, I felt utterly powerless for the first time in my life.

Then, my phone rang. It was an unknown number.

"Miss Lynn, I hear you're desperate for cash."

The voice on the other end was familiar, arrogant and dripping with condescension.

It was Scarlett.

"What do you want?" I asked guardedly.

"Come to Club V888 tonight at 8:00 PM. If you show up, I'll give you a million dollars."

I wanted to hang up immediately, but the thought of the thirty million dollar debt made me squeeze my eyes shut. "Fine."

At 8:00 PM, I pushed open the heavy door to the VIP lounge at Club V888.

The room was dimly lit, filled with expensive cigar smoke and loud music.

Julian was sitting right in the center of the plush leather sofa, holding a glass of whiskey, looking relaxed and regal.

Scarlett was clinging to his arm, surrounded by several wealthy young heirs of New York.

The room went dead quiet when I walked in.

Julian's eyes landed on me. Seeing me in a cheap oversized t-shirt and worn jeans, looking noticeably thinner, his brow twitched slightly.

But he quickly masked it with cold mockery.

"Well, well. Did your pride run out that quickly?"

I ignored him and walked straight to Scarlett. "Why did you call me here?"

Scarlett giggled, pulling a check from her designer bag and slapping it on the table.

"Chloe, there's a million dollars right here. All you have to do is drop to your knees and drink this entire bottle of tequila, and the money is yours."

She pointed to a bottle of high-proof liquor on the table.

The rich kids around her laughed and cheered.

"Whoa, isn't this the proud Chloe Lynn? Look at her now."

"Julian, your ex-wife is really pathetic. Kneeling for just a million?"

"Scarlett, you're brutal!"

I stared at the check, my hands clenching into fists, my nails drawing blood from my palms.

I looked at Julian.

He swirled the whiskey in his glass, his eyes cold and detached, as if watching a stranger.

He wasn't going to stop her.

He was letting her humiliate me.

"What's wrong? Don't want it?" Scarlett mocked. "Then get the hell out and stop ruining our night."

I took a deep breath.

The thirty million dollar debt was a mountain crushing me. I had no other choice.

Slowly, I began to bend my knees.

But right before my knees could touch the dirty floor, Julian slammed his whiskey glass onto the ground.

Smash!

Glass shattered everywhere.

The lounge fell into dead silence.

Julian stood up abruptly, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me up with brute force.

"Chloe Lynn, have you lost all self-respect?!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me in fury.

"For a lousy million dollars, you're willing to throw away your dignity? Where is your pride?!"

My wrist hurt from his grip, but I only let out a broken laugh.

"Dignity? Julian, didn't you step on my dignity a long time ago?"

I yanked my hand out of his grip, my eyes entirely dead.

"Who are you to judge me? I am in this position because of you."

"Get her out of here!" Julian shouted at his bodyguards, frantically loosening his tie.

"Julian, what are you doing..." Scarlett complained, grabbing his sleeve.

"Shut up!" Julian snapped at her, his voice so cold that she instantly went quiet.

I was dragged out of the club by his bodyguards and thrown into the back of a black Maybach.

The car sped through the city, finally stopping in front of a secluded mansion in the suburbs.

This was the house we bought when we first got together.

I was shoved inside, and the heavy oak door slammed shut behind me, the lock clicking into place.

"Mr. Vance ordered that you are not to leave until you've cleared your head," the bodyguard's cold voice came from outside.

Looking at the empty, quiet house, I closed my eyes in despair.

He wasn't just ruining me. He was locking me up.

The mansion was huge, but it felt like a gilded cage.

I was locked there for a whole week. No phone, no internet, no TV.

The maid delivered three meals a day, but I barely touched them. Food meant nothing to me now. The extreme mental stress made me drop weight rapidly. My clothes hung loosely on my bony frame.

Every day, I just sat by the window, watching the sun rise and set, replaying the last twelve years in my mind.

At twelve, I saved his life.

At twenty, I ran away from my family to marry him when he had nothing.

At twenty-three, he became the billionaire CEO of Vance Enterprises, and he wanted me to be his hidden mistress.

Love is a losing game. I bet everything, and I lost down to my bones.