Chapter 1

After my family went bankrupt, I accepted my ex-boyfriend’s demand.

I acted like an adult film star in bed, doing everything I could to please him.

Torn between shame and relief, I told myself that once the funds cleared tomorrow, Dad wouldn't have to go to prison.

When it was over for the third time, applause echoed from behind the two-way mirror.

"Damn, the sounds Chloe was making just now... even through the glass, it had me going crazy."

My hairs stood on end. Behind me, Christian let out a low grunt as he finished inside me.

"You clenched up because you were nervous. Felt pretty damn good, actually."

Humiliation burned through me. He casually adjusted himself and spoke in a drawl:

"The capital transfer to your dad's company will take a month."

I whipped around in horror. "We agreed on a week! Why a month?!"

A month would be far too late.

Christian pulled up his trousers without a care in the world.

"I used the liquid funds to buy Yvonne a rare, museum-grade blue sapphire. She just flew back from overseas. A girl needs a proper welcome gift, doesn't she?"

He thought I would throw a fit, jealous and desperate, screaming at him like before.

But this time, I was just tired.

...

"You're walking out like that?"

Christian arched an eyebrow, looking down at my bare body, and tilted his chin toward the glass mirror.

I knew he was reminding me that people were watching from the other side.

But they had already watched every single degrading, violent thing we just did. What else was left to be ashamed of?

I walked numbly toward the door. Christian grabbed my wrist, his grip like iron.

"Do you have zero self-respect?"

I looked back at him calmly. "Did you ever give me any?"

He choked on his words, speechless.

We both knew the truth, didn't we?

We met when we were seventeen. A terrible car wreck had left his right leg with a permanent limp, twisting his personality into something dark, possessive, and paranoid.

He would deliberately do extreme, destructive things just to cause a scene, seeking proof that people actually cared about him.

One night, after another violent fight with his family, he stormed out, and I found him bleeding in an alley.

He was like a wounded hedgehog, lashing out and biting anyone who dared approach.

I had always been slow to read people. Seeing his bruised, striking face back then, I foolishly stayed by his side. I became the only person he couldn't kick away, no matter how much he cursed or shoved me.

He once muttered that he yearned for a normal, peaceful life. So I, an heiress who had never even held a broom, taught myself to cook, clean, and do laundry, desperate to give him the warmth of a simple home.

Yet over the five years we dated, he broke up with me nineteen times.

Every single time, it was because Yvonne returned.

Even now, knowing perfectly well that if our company didn't receive an immediate cash injection, our assets would be liquidated and Dad would face federal prison, he couldn't care less.

My eyes stung with a bitter ache. "How much was the sapphire?"

He thought for a second and answered offhandedly, "Forty million dollars."

Forty million dollars.

A tight fist seemed to squeeze my heart, the pain so sharp I could barely draw breath.

Forty million... That exact amount would have saved my entire family!

Five years at his side wasn't worth a casual welcome trinket for Yvonne's arrival at the airport.

Christian was a man of absolute authority. If he said one month, not even me leaping from the rooftop would change his mind.

I stopped arguing. I turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Instantly, I came face-to-face with the men who had been peeping from the observation room.

They looked at me awkwardly, before one of them smirked and broke the silence:

"Done already, Chloe?"

A chorus of crude laughter erupted down the hall.

A heavy ceramic vase suddenly flew out of the suite, shattering against the corridor wall and cutting off their laughter.

Shards exploded through the air. I didn't dodge. A sharp piece sliced across my leg.

Warm blood trickled down my skin, but I didn't feel a thing.

Christian stared intently at the fresh cut on my leg, then cast his gaze down at his own uneven legs.

After a long pause, he stepped forward, draped his coat over me in front of everyone, and slowly buttoned it up.

"I said a month, and I'll give it to you. Who are you throwing a tantrum for, huh?"

Fastening the top button, he patted my chest, seemingly satisfied.

I looked deeply at the man I had loved so madly for five years.

I used to believe that if I just listened, if I just obeyed, Christian would eventually realize my worth.

They say the highest form of love is tenderness and heartache for the other person. But in his eyes, there was only a raw, twisted desire to drag me straight down to hell with him.

The moment I stepped out of the estate, all strength drained from my limbs, my legs shaking uncontrollably.

As tears spilled down my cheeks, muffled laughter drifted out from behind the door once more.

Someone asked Christian:

"The Vance family was clearly set up by someone. Thirty days from now, their assets will already be completely liquidated. Chris, are you seriously going to let them burn?"

Christian's detached voice floated out:

"I was the one who set the trap. Yvonne found out I'd been sleeping with Chloe all these years. She was so heartbroken she cried for hours. I had to teach Chloe a lesson to make Yvonne feel better."

"Aren't you worried she won't come back to you this time?"

At that question, Christian chuckled softly, dripping with arrogance:

"Be serious. We've known each other for eight years and dated for five. When has Chloe Vance ever failed to crawl back to me the second I crook my finger?"

"If she actually managed to fall in love with someone else, I might even respect her."

I leaned against the icy stone wall outside, biting down hard on the back of my hand to stifle my screams.

Our bankruptcy... the debt collectors, the liquidation... Christian orchestrated all of it.

All because Yvonne shed a few tears, and he wanted to vent her frustration on me.