Chapter8
A few days later, Jack’s father was released from custody after paying a hefty fine.
But the damage to the Hunt family empire had already been done.
And Jack’s startup? Even worse.
The platform had been forcibly shut down for a full month.
Customer complaints kept piling in.
And as soon as his competitors saw blood, they went in for the kill.
Within weeks, Jack’s company declared bankruptcy.
He had made a lot of money in the early years. But this time, he lost it all.
What’s worse, someone had spread word that Jack’s father had crossed the wrong people,
and just like that, every one of his business partners began backing out.
The once-glorious Mr. Hunt had fallen from grace.
Once I knew Jack was getting exactly what he deserved, I stopped paying attention.
But I didn’t expect Jack’s father, newly released, to show up at my apartment, dragging Jack along with him.
Before I could react, Jack’s father raised a leather belt and lashed it across Jack’s back.
The sharp crack of leather against flesh cut through the air. Jack winced and cried out in pain.
That’s when I opened the door.
The moment Jack saw me, his eyes welled up with tears.
“I’m sorry, Emma. I really am. I never should’ve pushed you, I never should’ve laid a hand on
you. I never should’ve hurt you like that…”
His voice broke as tears streamed down his face.
Chapter8
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啓盤(日本語吹替版)
But I met his gaze with calm indifference.
“Jack, do you know what’s funny?” I said softly. “I knew all along I was just part of your
twisted payback scheme against Olivia Moore. I just pretended not to see it.”
“That’s because I liked you. I liked you since elementary school. The boy who bought me pink
hair clips and pretty princess dresses.”
“I knew your heart belonged to someone else. But I kept convincing myself that if I just loved
you a little more, just worked a little harder, you’d turn around.”
“But you never did.”
“I can accept that. Love, after all, is about timing and fate.”
“I just wanted to end things quietly. But you couldn’t even give me that. You let that woman
humiliate and assault me in public. And you didn’t speak a single word in my defense.”
“If I were just some ordinary girl, I would’ve had no choice but to swallow the injustice, take
your hush money, and disappear.”
“But you know what? I’m glad.”
“Because you showed me the truth. That the Jack I used to admire, the boy I once held so
close to my heart, died a long time ago.”
Jack’s face turned ghost-pale.
He reached for my wrist, desperate. “Emma, please listen to me. I do love you. I really do. I just
couldn’t let go of the betrayal from Olivia. It messed with my head.”
The tears I had been holding back finally spilled.
In that moment, I realized just how much I’d swallowed over the past six months.
How much I’d suffered in silence, convincing myself that love was enough.
But I didn’t say anything.
I just pulled my hand free and calmly walked to my bedroom.
I returned with a thick stack of photographs and shoved them into his hands.
“Love?” I said. “You slept with Olivia the very night she showed up.”
“You told me you were staying in hotels, avoiding her. But in reality, you were tangled up with
her every night.”
“You know who gave me these photos? Your mistress.”
“My father could’ve found out. My brother could’ve found out. They wanted to destroy you. It
was me who stopped them.”
“I wanted a clean break. Just a quiet goodbye. But you wouldn’t even let me say the word
breakup. You had Olivia beat me until I ended up in the hospital.”
“I’ve never liked conflict. Never. But you, Jack Hunt, you pushed me too far.”
Jack’s face drained of all color.
And his father’s face wasn’t any better.
With fury in his eyes, Mr. Hunt lashed the belt across Jack’s back again.
“I told you, again and again, if you were going to date Emma, treat her with respect!”
“And what do you do? You sleep around before the wedding?! If you wanted that woman so badly, why the hell did you agree to the arranged date in the first place?”
Jack flinched from the blow, shoulders trembling.
Still, he tried to grab my hand one more time.
“Please, Emma. I mean it. I love how gentle, how smart, how kind you are. You’re the best
thing that ever happened to me.”
“I was just… blinded. I let my anger win. But it’s over now. Olivia’s gone, my mom had her
thrown back in jail. She won’t come back.”
I looked down at his trembling hand.
And peeled it away, one finger at a time.
“Jack Hunt,” I said, voice steady. “When I loved you, you were everything. But now?”
“You’re nothing to me.”
With that, I turned and walked back inside.
I didn’t look back.
Later, word got around that Jack had been hospitalized that same night, two cracked ribs from
his father’s beating.
When I heard the news, I felt nothing.
No anger. No pity.
I knew it was a performance, Jack’s father trying to show me they’d “done enough.”
But there was no need.
My revenge was over.
Whether the Hunt family went bankrupt or survived depended entirely on how they chose to
move forward.
And as it turned out, they didn’t.
The Hunts fell, and hard. Thanks in part to that subtle olive branch offered by a certain
someone behind the scenes.
When I heard the news, I was calm.
I went on the blind dates my mother arranged.
I met a man quieter than me.
On our first date, he handed me a small gift.
It was a pink hair clip.
“I visited your room,” he said. “Saw your old one, worn down and fraying. Thought maybe it
was time for a new one.”
My lips curved into a small smile.
I nodded and said, “Okay.”
