06
Just then, Ricky Lancaster called.
“Cynthia, if you agree to come back to me, I’ll clear your name.”
“Otherwise, you’ll see what I’m capable of.”
I roared, consumed with fury: “Get lost! Ricky Lancaster, I hate you! I never want to see your
face again, not in this lifetime!”
I hate Ricky Lancaster, that shameless bastard. Even if the love between us is dead, how
could he allow my loved ones to be attacked?
He’s a kidnapper, a thief, using my pain as leverage to coerce me into being with him. Grandma closed her eyes, filled with regret. Ricky Lancaster, you’re an executioner. Before, I was merely disappointed in him, but now I’d gladly tear him limb from limb.
I held Grandma, who was growing cold in my arms, and wept uncontrollably.
Isaac Hawthorn arrived shortly after and held me tight, whispering words of comfort.
Once I regained some composure, he had a doctor examine the injuries on my face.
Three days later, I held Grandma’s funeral.
I bid farewell to the last family I had left in this world.
My eyes were swollen and bloodshot from crying; I stared numbly at Grandma’s headstone.
During that time, Isaac Hawthorn cancelled all his engagements.
And the online doubts seemed to have subsided, as well.
My eyes stung, and my voice was hoarse as I said to Isaac Hawthorn, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
Isaac Hawthorn gently brushed the stray hairs from my forehead, “You and I are husband
and wife now; it’s only right that I do these things.”
I looked up.
“I know you’re taking pity on me, considering we were classmates.”
“I don’t know why you agreed to my ridiculous request. Now that I’ve seen Grandma off, we
don’t have to pretend to be married anymore.”
Isaac Hawthorn smiled and playfully flicked my nose.
“You used me and now you’re discarding me, you ungrateful little rat.”
“In the Hawthorn Family, there is no divorce, only death.”
Looking at him, I saw a ghost of the sunny boy in the white shirt from years ago.
Such intimacy couldn’t help but make my cheeks flush.
I followed Isaac Hawthorn back to his villa.
But I found that no matter where I went, it seemed I was being followed.
Figures.
Over the next few days, my photos plastered every website, shooting straight to Trending Topics.
ធ
4:08 pm G D D G
#A–List Celebrity’s Ex–Wife Spotted With Another Sugar Daddy#
#Arrogant Mistress Spotted Cruising in a Luxury Car Again!#
And then there are the nude photos, maliciously photoshopped with my face, and my name
plastered all over those tawdry adult sites.
Ricky Lancaster’s still threatening me too, demanding I crawl back to his gilded cage.
Those vile comments…. they’re drowning me, suffocating me in a sea of despair.
Isaac Hawthorn even offered to help me fix this mess, but I turned him down, politely.
I know that if I don’t stand up for myself, this kind of thing will just keep happening. After meticulously gathering all the evidence, I started the Livestream.
I stared at the phone screen and took a deep breath.
The livestream room was instantly flooded with netizens, a tidal wave of insults and abuse
washing over the screen.
“You’re so beautiful, you could’ve done anything! Why stoop to being a mistress?”
“Did your mother bring you into this world just to wreck families!”
“How dare you hurt our Jasmine! Death to the mistress and her whole family!”
Despite my attempts to brace myself,
Those venomous words cut me like a thousand tiny knives, each one a fresh agony.
I struggled to shut out the noise, focusing on the evidence laid out before me.
“Ricky Lancaster and I were university classmates. We married before he was famous.”
“Back then, Ricky Lancaster had no income. To support his dreams, I worked four jobs a day.
“When we married, he didn’t pay a single Bride Price. The engagement Diamond Ring was borrowed. We didn’t have wedding photos, wedding bands, or even a wedding reception.”
The Livestream began to quiet down.
