Sam felt like he was a beautiful princess who
had been raped by a criminal.
How dare she trick him?
Did she even know what she was?
Now, he finally understood what Sunnie had
been saying.
Max and her mom were bad news.
He had believed Max and thought that Sunnie
was jealous.
But now, he felt like hitting himself.
He started hitting Max, punching and kicking
<
getting raped by a criminal.
How dare she trick him?
Who did she think she was?
Now, he understood what Sunnie had been
saying.
Max and her mom were not to be trusted.
He had listened to Max and thought that Sunnie
was jealous.
Now, he wanted to hit himself.
He took it out on Max.
He kicked and punched her.
At first, she yelled, but then she realized it was
useless.
<
Sam kept hitting her until she was bleeding.
Then Sam called Mitch. “Max tricked me. She
tricked me! I’m so mad!”
Mitch woke up and was shocked to hear that
Sam and Max had slept together.
“What happened? What do we do now?”
“Sunnie can’t find out! If she does, she’ll never
forgive me! We have to cover this up!”
Sam looked at Max. “If Sunnie finds out, you
and your mom are dead!”
Max started shaking and nodded. “I won’t tell
anyone! I promise!”
Sam looked at Max and spat before leaving.
15
<
Sam called his bodyguard. “Investigate! Find
out what Max did behind my back! And
investigate her mom!”
Sam was panicking. He knew Max must have
had a reason for sleeping with him.
She must have had an ulterior motive.
Sam was never going to marry Max. To prevent
her from doing something crazy, he had to get
rid of her.
Sam just had to spend some money and get rid
of Max.
But now, he was worried about Sunnie finding
out.
He had to keep her calm. Sam rushed home.
The housekeeper was cleaning, but Sunnie
wasn’t there.
<
He figured Sunnie was sleeping in her room. He
asked, “Has Sunnie woken up?”
The housekeeper looked confused. “Sunnie’s
not here.”
“What? Where did she go? To a friend’s
house?”
“No, she went to school. Didn’t you know?”
“School? That’s impossible. School hasn’t
started yet.”
“I don’t know. She left with her luggage
yesterday.”
Sam was panicking.
He asked the housekeeper where Sunnie was
going to school.
The housekeeper didn’t know where Sunnie was
<
going.
She just knew that Sunnie had packed a few.
suitcases and said she was going to school and
wouldn’t be back.
Sam ran upstairs and opened Sunnie’s room.
It was clean and organized. There were a few
suitcases.
He rushed over and saw a note: “Sam, here are
all the gifts you gave me. I’m returning them!”
He picked up the note and read Sunnie’s
familiar words.
She was giving him back all the gifts he had
given her over the past ten years. What was she planning?
Sam couldn’t think of a reason, or maybe he
knew but didn’t want to admit it.
5:55
<
He called Sunnie, but she was on the phone.
88
After a few tries, Sam realized that Sunnie had blocked him.
He asked the housekeeper to use her phone.
This time, the call went through.
Sunnie’s voice answered. “Hello?”
“It’s me. Where are you?”
Hearing Sam’s voice, I frowned. “Sam, we broke
- up. Where I am isn’t any of your business.”
16
Sam argued, “We didn’t break up. I didn’t
agree.”
“Sam, are you going back on your word? You
posted that if the post got a hundred likes, we
<
would break up. I have a screenshot. And you’ve
been traveling with Max.”
“I just… I didn’t mean anything.”
“I don’t want to hear it. We broke up. Your life
has nothing to do with me.”
“How can you be so heartless?”
I didn’t understand what Sam was talking about.
Had he lost his mind?
I didn’t think there was anything to say to him.
He had treated our agreement like a joke and
made Max feel good.
No one had forced him to look for Max. No one
had forced him to make things difficult for me.
He had treated me badly and posted a breakup
message. He had set off fireworks for Max.
<
He’d traveled around with Max.
Did he think that I would be waiting for him?
He thought too highly of himself.
“Sam, you made your choice. If you’re with
Max, stay with her.”
“I’m not!”
“You didn’t sleep with Max?” I asked.
Sam was silent.
Before last night, he would have been able to
answer that he hadn’t.
But now, he felt guilty.
Sam’s hesitation made me laugh. “Sam, you
can’t have it both ways. I look down on you.”
<
5:55
Sam’s voice was shaking. “Where are you? Where are you? We were supposed to go to
school together. The housekeeper said you’re already in school.”
“We were going to go to school together, but
you let Max change my application.”
“I… I told you to change it back.”
“Why would I?” I asked.
“Sunnie, don’t scare me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll
do anything!”
“It’s too late. Sam, not all apologies are
accepted. It’s over between you and me. Don’t
bother me.”
I hung up and blocked Sam.
He called a few more times, but I kept rejecting
him.
88
He needed to know where Sunnie had gone.
He had to find her. Sam was going to find her
flight information.
Max’s mom, Fay Porter, burst into the house.
17
Fay, no longer acting sick, dragged Max, who
was bruised.
She glared at Sam. “I want an explanation.”
Sam frowned. “What do you want?”
“You slept with my daughter and ruined her.
Don’t you have anything to say?”
“I ruined her? Didn’t she trick me? Do you think
I could look at her?”
Sam was angry.
<
Fay realized that he wasn’t going to marry her
daughter.
They had hoped that Max could sleep with Sam
and marry him.
“You forced yourself on her. I took Max to the
hospital, and we have evidence. The club has
cameras, and Max recorded everything. You
forced her. You’re going to jail.”
Sam sneered. “What do you want?”
“A million dollars. If you give us a million
dollars, we won’t say anything about it.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then we’ll release the recording. We’ll get a
lawyer. You don’t want that to happen, do
you?”
Fay was sure of herself.
5:55
Sam couldn’t risk it.
Rape was a serious crime. If it was reported,
his reputation would be ruined.
вв
Sam told his grandfather, who was furious.
He couldn’t believe this had happened.
He arranged for people to investigate Fay and
Max and called me to ask about what had
happened. I told him everything..
The grandfather knew that Fay and Max were
up to no good.
He found out that Fay wasn’t a victim.
She was an escort who had done all kinds of
bad things. She had been forced to flee with
Max.
Fay had wanted Max to be helped.
<
Fay and Max had been planning this.
They had been waiting for me to fall for it.
Sam didn’t believe me and chose to believe Fay
and Max.
Sam contacted the police and had Fay and Max
arrested.
They were going to be punished.
I met Sam again six months after I started
studying at Hong Kong University.
The story about Max hadn’t been made public.
Sam was a changed man.
He apologized, and I accepted it.
I wasn’t going to get back together with Sam.
He apologized, and I accepted it.
I wasn’t going to get back together with Sam.
Ten years of love couldn’t beat Max’s lies.
No one could be trusted, and I was my own
salvation.
I had a high scholarship and no other plans.
I wasn’t going to get back together with Sam.
I was going to study and study and study.
Men could betray me. Friends could betray me.
But studying never would.
What I learned would be with me forever.
