Chapter 5
I had never truly possessed anything.
Never.
Damien didn’t even glance back as he carried Scarlett out, the slam of the front door reverberating through my bones. I
closed my eyes-not a single tear fell.
After that night, radio silence.
The internet drowned in their love story: Scarlett glittering on Damien’s arm at galas, their intertwined fingers on Parisian
boulevards (his wedding band conspicuously absent). Someone even dug up photos of the “lovers’ shared a cake ten
years prior.
Scarlett’s comment beneath the viral post:
[The cake has always been sweet, just like the princess and her knight.]
The replies rolled in like tributes:
“Now THIS is romance.”
“Guess someone’s seething right now~”
“Waiting for Damien’s divorce announcement!”
I scrolled past impassively-until sleuths noticed Damien’s overseas travel dates in May didn’t align with my pregnancy
timeline.
The internet exploded.
[“Juliette Beaumont cheating proof!”]
[“Heard she sold nudes for tuition…slut got what she deserved.”]
Through it all, Damien said nothing.
I knew what he wanted.
For me to realize every shred of dignity I’d ever had came from his mercy.
To crawl back like I always did, broken-winged and begging.
To play the docile songbird until Scarlett grew bored enough to discard me.
But not this time.
Never again.
The penthouse account was frozen when I moved out-except for one mysterious monthly deposit from an anonymous
source.
Chapter 5
6.25%
On the day of my procedure, as the anesthesia pulled me under, slurred shouting echoed down the hospital corridor:
“I’m ending the game EARLY!” Scarlett’s drunk shriek pierced the sterile air. “I won’t wait for her to pop out that bastard-
ruin her now!”
For the first time in history, Damien didn’t immediately comply.
Scarlett whirled to Sebastian, “Seb! You hate her clinginess too, right?”
Sebastian examined his cufflinks. “I don’t hate that she clung.” A humorless laugh. “I hate that she believed in us.”
“That time you ‘ruptured tendons’ saving her? Please. She spent five years studying medical texts-jabbed her own arm
with needles until it atrophied. Pathetic it is.”
“Our anniversary’s tomorrow. I’ll take her abroad. Consider it my…penance.”
Damien’s expression darkened further.
Scarlett buried her face in his chest. “Let Seb have her! You’ll stay away, won’t you?”
Lynch snorted, “Have you all lost your minds? Back when Julie supposedly snatched Scarlett’s scholarship, you were
practically dueling to play the white knight!”
“Since when do you care? You laughed loudest when those loan sharks leaked her nudes and made her dropped out.”
“Now she’s got no use, even her body got almost torn useless, no more fun.”
“Hell, let’s get somthing more juicy than her nude photos. I’ve got ten influencers on standby tomorrow. Let the world see
what a slut she is.”
“Enough.”
The Kingsley brothers’ twin roars shook the walls as my gurney rolled past.
And for the first time in years-I was free.
