On the day Alexander Hayes’ company went public, he was being interviewed on a TV show. I was in a basement, my body covered in wounds, being tortured by a man. To liven up the atmosphere, the host added a small segment. He asked Alexander to close his eyes and call the top contact on his phone. My phone rang immediately. The man holding me captive tied my hands and put the phone to my ear: “Now that you’ve seen my company go public, do you regret leaving me for money back then?” Alexander’s voice came through. I looked up and saw the man gesturing with a whip. I sneered: “Alexander, how pathetic are you? Give me a million dollars, and I’ll play with you for a while.” Alexander fell silent and abruptly hung up. He didn’t know that when his company successfully raised funds years ago, It was because I had secretly sold myself to another man’s bed. On the day Alexander Hayes’ company went public, he was being interviewed on a TV show. I was in a dark room, my body covered in bruises inflicted by a man. To liven up the atmosphere, the host added a small segment. He asked Alexander to close his eyes and call the top contact on his phone. My phone rang immediately. The man holding me captive put the phone to my ear: “Now that you’ve seen my company go public, do you regret leaving me for money?” Alexander’s voice came through. I looked up at the man threatening me with a whip and sneered, “Alex, how pathetic are you? Give me $100,000 and I’ll play with you.” Alexander fell silent and abruptly hung up. He didn’t know that when his company successfully raised funds years ago, I had secretly sold myself to another man to make it happen. Victor Sullivan got off me with a satisfied look, dressed, and left. I lay curled up on the floor, touching the bite marks on my body. My phone lit up, showing a notification of a $100,000 transfer to my account. I froze, feeling a lump in my throat and a surge of complex emotions. Victor called, telling me to get ready and meet him at a restaurant. I didn’t dare delay. On the way, I wondered why he wasn’t spending Valentine’s Day with his official girlfriend. I waited outside the restaurant for a long time without hearing from Victor. Suddenly, an SUV careened towards me out of control. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact, when a strong arm pulled me into a familiar embrace. His scent was so familiar it made me want to cry. “Emily, are you okay?” Alexander looked down at me in his arms, his voice full of concern. I looked up at his handsome face and those familiar eyes. Five years had passed, and his features had become sharper and more defined. Time seemed to favor him even more. The only thing that had changed was that I was no longer the person he truly cared about. When he realized it was me, his pupils constricted, and he roughly pushed me away. “It’s you?” he said in disbelief. I forced a smile. From his appearance, it seemed he had rushed here straight from the TV show to spend Valentine’s Day with his celebrity girlfriend, Sophia. Sophia appeared nearby in a red dress. Alexander frowned, took off his coat, and lovingly draped it over her shoulders. I lowered my gaze, pretending not to see them, and turned to leave. He suddenly called out coldly: “Aren’t you going to thank your savior before you go?” I froze in my tracks, unable to move. His eyes were filled with hatred and emotions I couldn’t understand as he stared at me. I looked at him coldly, waving my phone, and said slowly: “Alex, my price has gone up. Now it takes $200,000 to get me into bed. Want to give it a try?” He was stunned for a moment, then his eyes blazed with anger. He grabbed my hand tightly, gritting his teeth: “Five years have passed, and you’ve become so disgustingly cheap!” My wrist immediately swelled and hurt. I looked at him mockingly, enunciating each word: “Want to sleep with me? I’ll give you a 20% discount.” Alexander’s expression was shocked, his eyes filled with complexity I couldn’t understand. As he was about to speak, Sophia came over and wrapped her arm around his other arm. “Alex, is this your gold-digging ex-girlfriend?” she asked. She looked me up and down, her tone contemptuous: “You think you’re worth $200,000? You’re really desperate, naming any price. But Alex buys me bags that cost more than that.” “Now you’ve resorted to selling your body to make money. If you hadn’t abandoned Alex for being poor back then, I wouldn’t have met such a wonderful man.” Memories from years ago flooded my mind. Alexander and I met in college. We were each other’s first love, sweet yet bittersweet. Back then, he wasn’t a famous entrepreneur yet. My reputation wasn’t so bad that everyone despised me. We were young and naive, sharing many precious firsts together. Though we argued sometimes, we held each other’s hands firmly, dreaming of growing old together. After graduation, Alexander invested all his savings into starting a business, but was tricked and lost everything. Debts piled up like a bottomless pit, constantly demanding more from us. Alexander’s mother suddenly fell seriously ill, adding to the burden on our shoulders. To pay off the debts, I worked several jobs a day, sharing a single piece of bread with Alexander for meals. We saved every penny we could, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the mounting interest. Alexander’s mother was admitted to the ICU, and we couldn’t afford a cent of her treatment costs. I watched him fall into despair, even sleepwalking at night wanting to jump off a building. My heart was torn to pieces, and I could barely breathe. Victor approached me, offering to pay for Alexander’s mother’s treatment and help revive his business. The condition was that I become his mistress.
Alexander kissed Sophia’s fingers tenderly, his eyes full of affection. “Heaven opened its eyes. Leaving her allowed me to meet you, someone truly worth spending a lifetime with.” Their intimate gestures stung my eyes, making my chest tighten. I pulled my coat tighter, preparing to leave with a cold expression. As I took a step, Sophia stuck out her foot and tripped me. I stumbled, and birth control pills and condoms fell out of my bag. Alexander instinctively reached out to help me, but quickly withdrew his hand. Sophia covered her mouth in mock surprise: “Why are you carrying these things around?” Alexander’s attention was drawn to the items on the ground. He picked up the birth control pills with a gloomy face, looking at me hatefully. He threw them at me. “Emily Collins, have you no shame? Are you willing to degrade yourself like this for money?” “Is money really that important to you? Important enough to become such a promiscuous woman?” I looked at his tailored suit and the luxury watch on his wrist. Bending down to pick up the items from the ground, I smiled: “Of course it’s important! Why don’t you support my business, Mr. Hayes? Help me earn some more money.” Sophia looked at me with feigned surprise, her eyes gleaming with schadenfreude. “How can you, as a woman, say such things? You have hands and feet, can’t you earn money to support yourself?” “Alex… if she hadn’t left you back then, we wouldn’t have met.” “Her thinking is really extreme. No matter what, she was someone you once loved. Why don’t we help her find a job?” These words reminded Alexander of how I had abandoned him for money when he was in dire straits years ago. Alexander’s face turned cold. “She doesn’t deserve it!” He took Sophia’s hand and turned to leave. Before leaving, Sophia looked back at me, her eyes curved in a smile full of malice and mockery. I stood there expressionless, stuffing the birth control pills and condoms back into my bag. I watched them leave. My eyes began to water, their silhouettes becoming blurry. After a long while, I crouched down, burying my head in my arms. I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and opened my phone. There were several missed calls from Victor. The wounds on my body still ached dully. Alexander still didn’t know. The funding for his company… I had exchanged my body for it.
Five years ago. Alexander’s mother was critically ill, and we still couldn’t raise enough money for her surgery. Alexander broke down crying, holding his head in his hands. He even considered jumping off a building to follow his mother. After Victor approached me, I came home to find Alexander taking antidepressants like a zombie. I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore and hugged him tightly, crying hysterically. I agreed to Victor’s proposition. To be his caged bird until he got bored of me. Victor was a sadist who enjoyed torturing women in new ways. Whipping and burning became routine for me. I don’t know what kept him interested in me, but he still hasn’t let me go after all this time. It’s been five years now. The scars on my body have only become clearer with each passing day. … I didn’t go back into the restaurant. Instead, I took a taxi home. It had been a long time since I’d been back. When Victor’s official girlfriend wasn’t around, I had to be available to him 24/7. The apartment wasn’t big, but it felt particularly cold and desolate. This was where Alexander and I used to live together, where we dreamed of walking down the aisle together. After I agreed to Victor’s proposal, I pretended I couldn’t bear the hardship anymore and picked fights to break up with Alexander. We had been in love for four years since college. When he went bankrupt, I stayed by his side without complaint, working like a horse to earn money to pay off his debts. We were too clear about our love for each other; he didn’t believe I was someone who only cared about money. I forced myself to break up with him abruptly. To ensure he would have a better life, I had no choice but to do this, even if it meant hurting him deeply. He searched for me everywhere for three months, kneeling before me, crying and begging. Pleading with me not to leave. I cruelly said I was tired of living from hand to mouth. Tired of being by his side, working like a slave to fill his bottomless pit of debt. Tired of being with him, having to split a dollar in half to make ends meet. Tired of being dragged down by his dying mother. I remember how I angrily complained, driving him away. His eyes were red, his lips trembling. The usually proud man bowed his head, his shoulders shaking as he cried silently. I turned away decisively. Long after, I watched him from afar, covering my mouth to stifle my sobs. He lay on the ground, crying his heart out, then got up and left. Someone saw me getting into Victor’s car. After the breakup, I was completely labeled as a gold digger. In the villa, I lay in Victor’s arms. Replaying the heartache of pushing away the person I loved most. I just never thought there would be a day when Alexander and I would meet again. Now, he has risen to a position far beyond my reach, becoming the successful man I had hoped he would be. While I am covered in wounds. I reach out to touch his image on the TV screen. He looks so confident and accomplished. That’s good. My phone rings again. I answer, and Victor’s playful voice comes through. Fear seeps into my bones. He tells me to buy more whips and candles before coming back to the villa to see him. In the evening, the cold is biting. I kneel in front of Victor’s villa wearing thin clothes, freezing. Victor holds a whip, steadily pressing it under my chin, forcing me to look up. He blows out a smoke ring, lifting his eyelids carelessly. “Why didn’t you go into the restaurant? Was it because you saw Alexander?” “You really wasted the surprise I prepared for you.” I clench my teeth, saying nothing. “When the little cat misbehaves, a good beating will teach her a lesson.” The whip cuts through the air, landing on my body. Fresh blood flows onto the ground, my back a mess of torn flesh.
Sophia is Victor’s cousin, and she’s about to get engaged to Alexander. Victor forces me to accompany him to the engagement party. I see Alexander wearing a white custom-tailored suit, looking dignified and handsome. Sophia is in an elegant gown, graceful with every step. They stand side by side, a perfect match of talent and beauty. Everyone is praising how well-suited they are for each other. I shrink beside Victor, my fingernails digging into my palms. My heart silently shatters into pieces at this grand engagement party. Victor looks over, leading Alexander towards me. “Cousin, where’s your fiancée? Why did you bring this kind of… unsuitable woman to my engagement party?” Sophia pouts. Victor glances at me and Alexander, raising an eyebrow: “Just bringing my little bird out to see the world. After all… she won’t have many chances to see such things in the future.” Alexander remains silent, his knuckles white as he grips his wine glass. Sophia teases, then suddenly stumbles, knocking over the red wine I was holding for Victor. It spills on her dress. She yells angrily: “You did that on purpose! You’re trying to ruin my engagement party!” I look up at Victor. He smirks, sipping his wine and enjoying the show. Alexander stares at me intently, his lips pressed tightly together. Sophia glares at me hatefully. She raises her arm and slaps me, knocking me to the ground. “You slut! Waiter, throw her out!” Sophia shouts furiously, her eyes blazing with anger. I fall to the ground awkwardly, as people gather around, whispering. A flash of pain crosses Alexander’s eyes, and he involuntarily takes a step forward, but then sees Victor pull me into his arms. His eyes darken, and he clenches his fists, stepping back. Victor helps me up, gently tucking a stray hair behind my ear. His eyes flick to the crowd, where an elegant woman stands… his fiancée. He lets go of me and walks over to her with a bright smile: “Darling, you came too?” The woman ignores him, and he hurriedly follows after her. The hall suddenly falls silent, as if time has stopped. Everyone looks stunned. All eyes turn to me, filled with curiosity and mockery. They whisper among themselves. “So she’s not Mr. Sullivan’s hidden fiancée, just a mistress!” “She looks familiar… Isn’t she the gold-digging ex-girlfriend who abandoned Mr. Hayes?” “She deserves this. Now it’s her turn to be abandoned by Mr. Sullivan. Karma really does come around…” Someone throws their red wine at me, and others follow suit. Sophia’s friends grab my hair, wanting to get revenge for her. I remain silent, letting them bully me. My eyes are dull and lifeless. A few rich playboys approach with wine glasses, trying to grab me. “You’re pretty good-looking. I heard you’ll sleep with anyone for money. How about spending the night with me?” The crowd laughs, and the atmosphere turns vulgar. Alexander’s face darkens as he steps forward to remove their hands. “$500,000 as a down payment. Come with me,” he says. The hall falls silent once again. Sophia’s face turns sour as she glares at me and Alexander. “Have a drink with me,” Alexander continues slowly.
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