Chapter 5

Scarlett sneered, stepping closer to me.

"Who do you think you are?" she whispered, her voice low and toxic. "You're nothing but a toy. If Ethan wants you on your knees, you stay on your knees."

Her eyes held a deep, irrational hatred that I would never understand.

I stared at her pretty face blankly, wondering how someone could hate me this much for no reason.

Suddenly, her expression shifted. It was the look of a predator watching its prey fall into a trap.

"Ah!" Scarlett shrieked, throwing her body backward with dramatic force.

She deliberately scraped her elbow against the edge of a marble table as she fell, immediately bruising the skin.

"It hurts so much..." she cried, clutching her arm as tears instantly flooded her eyes.

Before I could even process what happened, Ethan rushed over.

"Scarlett!" his voice panicked.

He shoved me out of the way so hard I stumbled backward into a chair.

"Chloe! Did you do that on purpose?!" Ethan yelled, his eyes blazing with fury. "You know she has an old injury there, and you shoved her?!"

"I didn't..." I tried to explain, but my voice cut out.

Ethan's face was dark with rage. His eyes locked onto the silver necklace around my neck.

It was a cheap necklace. Lily had saved up her lunch money for a whole year when she was ten just to buy it for my birthday.

*“Chloe, when I grow up, I'm going to buy you the biggest diamond in the world!”* her little voice echoed in my memory.

But now, Ethan reached out and violently ripped the necklace off my neck.

The thin chain dug into my skin, leaving a sharp, red scratch.

He threw the necklace onto the floor right next to Scarlett.

"Keep it," he said coldly. "Consider it her apology."

My neck felt cold. I touched my bare skin, my vision blurring.

Scarlett picked up the broken necklace, a smirk returning to her face. "It's cheap and tacky, but I suppose I'll take it."

Ethan glared at me, disgusted that I was still standing there. "What are you waiting for? Get down on your knees and apologize to Scarlett!"

My legs felt like lead. I couldn't move a single inch.

This was not the Ethan I knew.

"Are you deaf?" his patience completely evaporated.

He raised his hand, holding his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen. "Since you want to play difficult, don't blame me for what happens next!"

His voice was ruthless. The screen showed the file-sharing app, ready to blast my private audio files to the entire school database.

The guy acting as the auctioneer mocked, "Looks like the lady wants to do this the hard way."

I closed my eyes in despair, waiting for the final blow.

Right at that exact second—

*BANG—*

The heavy double doors of the VIP lounge were kicked off their hinges, slamming onto the floor with a deafening crash.

"Let's see who dares to touch her!"