Chapter 4
i wanted to walk away-but the moment Scarlett’s eyes welled up blurry, Damien’s fingers clamped around my wrist like a
manacle, forcing me to unwrap the gifts.
My heart stopped the second those “gifts” came to my sight…
Every item was a carbon copy of the counterfeit luxury goods that had destroyed my mother’s last hope.
Handbags. Dresses. Shoes.
A perfect recreation of my ruin.
Tears blurred my vision, yet the logos burned through the haze like brands on flesh.
Then came the memory-momr’s gaunt face contorted with guilt as she refused all the treatment just to spare me some
hope to live on my life…
“My sweet Julie…all those boys thought you were too proud to date…but you only refused because you didn’t want to
burden them…”
“It’s me…I’m the burden… Forgive me…”
Even dying, she’d blamed herself.
Her wasted form stilled forever, bearing to the grave only sorrow-sorrow for my sake. Whether I endured that day or
remain forever drowning in it, I cannot say. Some grief is not a wound that heals, but a room you never leave.
While Scarlett leaned in, her whisper a venomous caress, “Well, actually, about that charity? It’s a Kingsley subsidiary.”
“One word from Damien could’ve saved your pathetic mom.”
“But he chose my happiness over your mother’s life.”
White noise filled my skull.
Mother…the wicked are laughing…
And you died apologizing.
My palm connected with Scarlett’s cheek before I realized I’d moved.
The slap echoed through the marble foyer.
Scarlett’s perfect skin bloomed crimson, her Oscar-worthy tears already flowing. Damien seized my arm, shielding her with his body.
“Have you lost your mind?!”
Yet when he saw my tears, his hand faltered-reaching for me instead.
I recoiled.
The room erupted. Our classmates’ stares carved me into caricatures.
Gold digger. Psycho. Homewrecker. I could almost hear the words sworn out in their hearts.
Chapter 4
The room erupted. Our classmates’ stares carved me into caricatures.
Gold-digger. Psycho. Homewrecker. I could almost hear the words sworn out in their hearts.
Scarlett pressed a delicate hand to her cheek, playing peacemaker-even as her lips shaped words meant only for me:
“Those loan sharks to whom you gave out your naked photo as collateral for the loans for your mom’s medical bills?”
“They never intended to give you money.”
“Just wanted to watch you beg like a whore.”
Ice flooded my veins.
I lunged-only for Damien to wrench me back. “Juliette! Think of the baby!”
Then the phones chimed.
A chorus of notifications.
My hands shook as I looked down-and there they were.
The photos.
Every humiliating, degrading frame from my darkest hour, flooding the group chat.
“Trash will always.be trash…” someone muttered.
Scarlett’s eyes gleamed with triumph-an instant before she grabbed my hand and pushed herself down the grand
staircase.
“Ah!”
Her scream pierced the air as I slammed into the banister, white-hot pain searing through my abdomen.
“Scarlett!”
Damien released me so fast I stumbled. He caught her at the bottom, cradling her like shattered porcelain before glaring
up at me.
“This is beneath even you.” His voice trembled with disgust. “Apologize.”
He didn’t see how the pain stole my breath.
Didn’t care that they’d taken my mother, my dignity, my very soul.
All he saw was the madwoman they’d made me.
The silence was a living thing now-every guest a juror, every whisper a verdict.
Their eyes said it all: some looked down on me, some pretended to care, a few were practically licking their lips at the drama.
Chapter 4
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At this ridiculous mansion full of fake smiles. At these people who’d sell their grandmothers for gossip. At the man who promised to cherish me, then handed me the scissors to cut my own heart out.
The joke, it turned out, was on me.
And in that moment, staring at my gilded cage and its vipers, I laughed.
Chapter 4
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