Chapter 3
“Home.”
“Isla is hosting a gathering and insisted that I bring you along. Are you free? Get ready, I’ll pick you up.”
Before I could refuse, Arthur hung up.
He arrived quickly. Even when he saw I hadn’t changed, he only let out a soft sigh.
“I saw the photos online. Don’t overthink it. I believe you, okay?”
As he spoke, he pulled a dress from the wardrobe, one that cinched at the waist, designed to flatter.
“Be good, change into this. It’s not polite to keep everyone waiting.”
As he reached out to remove my coat, I suddenly lifted my hand, catching his wrist in a firm grip.
“What exactly do you believe?”
I thought of what I had overheard at the hotel. My voice came colder this time.
“Arthur, how are you planning to play this act with Beatrice?”
Arthur didn’t respond, but suddenly, his phone played Isla’s voice.
“Of course, we’ll make everyone, including her, question whether she was actually being indecent. As for you, Arthur, you’ll step in as her savior when she’s at her lowest. That way, your relationship stays intact and I get my revenge. Arthur, is that okay?”
A long pause followed before Arthur answered, his tone indulgent.
“Okay.”
Soon after, my private photos spread across the internet, labeled as promiscuous.
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
“What is it that you believe?”
I yanked the dress from his hands and tossed it aside, exhaustion seeping into my bones.
“I’m not going. Go enjoy yourself.”
Arthur frowned, a flicker of irritation flashing across his face, as expected.
“Beatrice! Stop being so difficult!”
*Isla saw what happened online. She planned this gathering to help you relax. She also wants to take the opportunity to apologize to you properly.”
His fingers brushed over the bruises on the back of my hand.
“This is Isla’s kindness. Don’t be ungrateful.”
In the end, I was dragged out the door.
Just before stepping out of the car, I reached into my pocket for a mask, but Arthur stopped me.
stopped me.
His gaze was steady and gentle, like a savior reaching out to the abandoned.
“You don’t need it. The innocent has nothing to fear. I believe you, so believe in yourself, too, okay?”
Before I could react, he tossed the mask out the window and pulled me out of the car.
The moment we stepped into the bar, the air shifted.
The music throbbed, but conversations faltered. All eyes turned to me.
Drunken gazes swept over me, crawling like filth against my skin.
Low whispers slithered through the crowd, unfiltered, venomous.
“Look, look! That’s her, right? She acts all cold and elegant, but who knew she was such a slut behind closed doors?”
“Yeah, that’s her! I’d recognize that face anywhere. Damn, she really looks the part, an absolute whore.”
Laughter exploded around me, sharp and cruel.
My stomach twisted, bile rising in my throat. But I locked my spine, forcing myself to stand tall.
Arthur’s grip tightened as he pulled me into a private room.
The moment we stepped inside, Arthur let go of my hand.
I dropped my gaze, staring at the tips of my shoes, my heart hammering against my ribs. I searched for a sense of familiarity, for anything to ground me.
But there was nothing.
The eyes in this room were worse, sticky, shameless, suffocating.
“I don’t feel well. I want to leave.”
I turned, desperate to escape, but a hand clamped around my wrist.
A rough thumb brushed against my skin, slow and deliberate, sending a sickening wave of goosebumps across my body.
I looked up straight into the leering face of one of Arthur’s friends. The same one who had been the loudest when mocking me at the hotel.
His gaze was brazen, shameless.
“Leaving so soon, sis–in–law? We finally got together; how could you not stay and have a little fun with us?”
The implication dripped from his words, thick and vile.
My stomach twisted violently. The air felt thinner. It was getting harder to breathe.
Chapter 4
