I’d been in a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend Adrian for five years. Every night, he’d call me to satisfy his needs. Right before he came, his voice would always go thick and low. “Harper, I miss you so much it’s killing me…” The day before Valentine’s Day, I booked a flight home and hid in his closet to surprise him. When Adrian walked in, I was about to jump out. Then I watched him carry my best friend Chloe onto the bed. She straddled him, unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time, her voice syrupy and sweet. “Adrian, that idiot Harper still hasn’t figured out we’ve been together for five years. How boring is that?” “She’s begged you to marry her nineteen times. Why don’t we give her a surprise at our wedding next week?” I clutched the engagement ring in my palm. My mind went completely blank. Adrian’s hand slid under her dress, his voice lazy. “Why the rush? I already sent her to work in Scandinavia. You’re still worried?” Through the wooden slats, their shameless moans echoed in my ears. I curled up in the closet, my hand pressed over my mouth. My heart was already dead.
The two of them lay tangled and naked on what was supposed to be my wedding bed. Tears hit my phone screen. Right then, it lit up with a text from Adrian. “Harper, let’s not just call today. How about a video call?” Chloe glanced at the message and let out a cold, mocking laugh. “Adrian, you let her listen while we fuck, but now you wanna livestream it?” Adrian tugged her panties between his teeth, grinning. “Wanna bet whether she picks up?” Before I could react, Adrian’s video call came through. My hands trembling, I tapped the screen several times before finally hitting decline. One was a man who had once used his life to protect me in earthquake rubble. The other was a woman who had helped me when I faced school bullying. And now, they were having sex on my bed. The scene was too much. So much so that even after they’d gone through an entire box of condoms, I still couldn’t move. Adrian lit a cigarette and slowly turned his gaze toward the closet. Our eyes met. My heart felt like it was being crushed in someone’s fist. Adrian blew a smoke ring and smirked. “Harper, you into voyeurism now? How long are you planning to hide in there?” Chloe’s face went pale, and she dove under the covers in fright. Three seconds later, I stumbled out of the closet, my voice shaking uncontrollably. “I wanted to give you a surprise.” Adrian sat up leisurely and blew smoke directly in my face. “Surprise? The text notification for your flight booking came to my phone ages ago. What surprise could there possibly be?” He reached under Chloe’s dress and pulled out a wet bunny tail, tossing it at me. “Learn something. That’s what a surprise looks like.” I’d proposed to him nineteen times, each time coming up with different creative ways, all to repay him for saving my life. But now, all my efforts had become a joke. “Why? Why would you both do this to me…” Seeing my blank expression, Adrian said flatly. “What? Harper, you didn’t actually think you could have me all to yourself, did you? That’s pretty selfish.” “Besides, Chloe moans pretty loud every time I call you. You seriously never heard her?” So every time he told me he missed me, he was inside her. I couldn’t stop shaking. My stomach rolled with nausea. Chloe pulled on my nightgown and put it on slowly, smiling mockingly. “Harper, didn’t you always say you’d share everything with me? You’re so busy with work, I was kind enough to help Adrian with his physical needs. Shouldn’t you thank me?” I shoved her away violently and grabbed a photo frame, hurling it at her. “Get out! Both of you get out!” Ironically, the photo of Adrian and me in the frame had already been replaced with a picture of Chloe in a bikini. And every day Adrian would tell me that when he missed me, all he could do was look at my photo. Turns out he meant this kind of photo. A shriek rang out. Adrian didn’t hesitate to shield Chloe. The frame struck his temple, and blood immediately began streaming down. “Harper, can you stop being crazy? It’s not like I’m abandoning you.” “Not marrying you isn’t my fault. Have you really never looked in a mirror and faced what your background is?” “Chloe and I are just having a wedding ceremony. As long as you don’t make a scene, our relationship will never change.” I frantically grabbed everything within reach and threw it at them. “Relationship? What relationship? You want me to be the mistress?” “Get out! Both of you cheating scum, get out!” The door slammed with earth-shaking force. Looking at the chaos throughout the bedroom, I threw the engagement ring I’d been clutching out the window. Then, possessed by some strange impulse, I picked up a small piece of broken glass. Like I used to do when I was young, numbly I pressed it against my wrist and dragged it across.
All the love and hate flowed out along with my blood. In my daze, I remembered that afternoon seven years ago when the earth shook. The school building collapsed. I was trapped under a concrete slab, waiting to die in despair. But Adrian frantically dug through the rubble and pulled me out bit by bit with his blood-soaked hands. The aftershocks continued, and when a huge boulder fell toward us, he didn’t hesitate to throw himself over me, using his back to create a protective bridge. Debris rained down on his head, his back, his face, but he gritted his teeth and smiled at me. “Harper, don’t be afraid. As long as I’m here, you won’t die.” After that, he had a vicious scar on his back. I traced that scar with trembling fingers, sobbing uncontrollably. But he just smiled like a fool. “Why are you crying? This scar is proof that I love you.” And in high school, some girls cornered me in an alley. They called me a fatherless bastard and said they’d use box cutters to slash my seductive face. It was Chloe who charged in alone to protect me, pointing at them viciously. “You dare touch her? Just try it!” From that day on, Chloe walked to and from school with me. She told me so earnestly. “Harper, we’re going to be best friends for life.” When I woke up in the hospital, Adrian’s gaze fell on the crisscrossed scars on my wrist, and he sighed softly. “Harper, I always thought you were smart.” His voice was low, like he was stating something he’d known all along. “What’s so bad about staying by my side?” “You know your background. I could never possibly agree to marry you.” “All that talk about marrying you on the nineteenth proposal… I was just humoring you.” Ever since my father ran off with his mistress, my mother’s mental state had been unstable. And Adrian and Chloe both came from elite families. Whenever people gossiped about me behind my back, Adrian and Chloe would fiercely defend me. I often asked myself: what had I done to deserve such care from these prince and princess figures? Adrian paused, his eyes unreadable. “Harper, what exactly do you want? Money? Love? Medical resources for your mother? Or…” He leaned close, his voice sharp as a blade. “Do you want me to give you a child?” Motherhood securing status-it had always worked. But I used all my strength to slap him hard across the face. “I want you gone! Never let me see you again for the rest of my life!” Adrian froze for a moment. He slowly traced his cheek with his long fingers, then laughed, pressing his tongue against his back teeth. The hospital room door was pushed open again. Chloe walked in carrying a basket of mangoes, her laugh bright and deliberate. “Oh my, my dear best friend, playing hard to get again?” She walked to Adrian’s side, her eyes sliding past me. “Adrian got tired of that game seven years ago. It’s not appropriate to keep playing it now.” She began peeling a mango for me. But I’m allergic to mangoes. Chloe had known that from the day she met me. She deliberately showed off the dazzling diamond on her ring finger. Adrian had once said he would buy his future wife the biggest, most brilliant diamond ring. Remembering how I’d accidentally gouged a piece of flesh from my palm while crafting Adrian’s wedding ring, my heart throbbed with dense, sharp pain again. Chloe handed me the peeled mango. I raised my hand and slapped it to the floor. The juice stained her dress. Adrian’s eyes darkened immediately. “Harper, if you have a problem, take it out on me!” “Chloe’s been good enough to you! She doesn’t even mind me supporting you after we’re married! What more do you want?!” Chloe looked at me with wounded eyes. “Harper, do you really need to target me like this?” I was about to throw them out when two trending topics suddenly appeared on my phone. The first was the joyful news of a marriage alliance between the two elite families of Adrian and Chloe. But the second was a record of my seven-year romance with Adrian. The comments were full of people cursing Chloe for being a homewrecker who knew about me and pursued him anyway. Adrian’s usually unrestrained face suddenly turned dark. He ground out the words through clenched teeth. “Harper, you’re really despicable…”
But I hadn’t logged into any social media accounts since waking up. Chloe grabbed my wrist and screamed. “Harper! People live by their reputation! Are you trying to destroy me?!” “Adrian saved your life! I saved your face! Even your job in Scandinavia was through our connections! We don’t expect you to repay us, but how can you be so ungrateful?!” During the struggle, the wound on my wrist reopened. Blood dripped onto the sheets one drop at a time. But Adrian just looked at me with disappointed eyes. I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “It wasn’t me.” But Adrian simply picked up my phone and unlocked it by entering his birthday-which he knew by heart. Then he pointed at a ten-thousand-dollar transfer record and demanded coldly. “If it wasn’t you, then what’s this?” He didn’t know that was money I’d advanced for my mother’s surgery. He threw the phone at me, shielded Chloe, and walked out. Half an hour later, Adrian posted his marriage certificate with Chloe on the official social media account of the Sterling Group. The date was seven years ago. The same day Adrian and I had made our relationship official. They’d gotten their marriage license. My heart hurt so much it went numb, yet I couldn’t shed a single tear. Public opinion reversed. Countless netizens cursed me for being a mistress trying to sabotage their marriage. My personal information was quickly exposed, my work email flooded with hate mail, and my social media inbox became a swamp of vile insults. More devastatingly, my supervisor in Scandinavia called to fire me directly. Adrian easily crushed everything I’d worked years to build. And the story of my father abandoning my mother years ago was endlessly magnified. “Harper’s dad didn’t want her mom, and Adrian doesn’t want her either. She and her mother are destined to be mistresses!” “And she proudly posted their chat records, thinking it would hurt Miss Morrison? What a clown!” “Disgusting. How does someone like that have the face to keep living? Harper and her mother should just die!” The class group chat exploded too. “Wasn’t Adrian’s girlfriend always Harper? How is Chloe the one he married?” “You don’t know? Adrian actually always liked Chloe. During that earthquake, he went to save people because he thought it was Chloe buried there!” “So Harper’s been a pathetic stalker for all these years? Wow, she’s been a mistress since her student days?” When I saw that message, I nearly collapsed. Just as I was about to fall, Chloe suddenly steadied me. She looked at my pale face and said with a cheerful smile. “Harper, do you know why Adrian pursued you?” She lowered her voice, enunciating each word. “Because I have certain… preferences.” “Adrian loves me too much, so he condescended to seduce you. Now that I’m bored with this game, it’s time for you to leave!” “Oh right, the day after tomorrow is my wedding with Adrian. My dear best friend, you absolutely must come.” As Chloe turned to leave, she deliberately slipped a pregnancy test into my hand. “The fruit of mine and Adrian’s love. Four months along.” My world collapsed. Adrian’s former devotion, those promises more moving than sweet nothings-it had all just been a game. Adrian’s call suddenly rang. But I didn’t answer. Soon he sent a text. “Harper, don’t believe what they’re saying in the group. After I marry her, I’ll explain everything.” I pressed my nails deep into my palm and typed. “When you called me ‘baby’… were you calling for her?” The other end went silent. The tears I’d held back for so long finally fell. I don’t know how long I stood in the cold wind. I wiped away my tears and dialed a number I hadn’t used in ages. “Mr. Hawthorne, I agree to join your polar research project. For the three years I’m gone, please take care of my mother.” The person on the other end agreed readily. “No problem. I’ll send a private jet for your mother right away.” The call ended, and immediately the phone rang with a call from my mother’s caregiver. “Miss Reed, something terrible has happened! Your mother’s in trouble!”
When I found my mother, she was being pinned to the ground by several caregivers, barely alive. Her back was already torn and bloody, yet she still stared fixedly at Chloe. “I’ll kill you!” Chloe had three bloody scratches on her face, clearly from my mother’s nails. She gripped the whip in her hand, saying through gritted teeth. “The wedding is tomorrow! How can I face people looking like this?” “You old hag! Ninety-nine lashes left! I’m going to beat you to death today!” Understanding what had happened, I immediately rushed forward to shield my mother. But the doctors had said for years that her condition was improving. Why would she suddenly lose control? Crack! The whip struck me hard. I cried out in pain. But Chloe looked down at me from above, smiling smugly. “Harper, your mother couldn’t compete with mine. And now you can’t compete with me either.” I froze. “What did you say?” My eyes fell on the family photo in her hand. My father-the one who’d abandoned his wife and child-had his arm lovingly around another woman’s waist. So Chloe’s mother was the mistress from back then! Chloe’s laughter echoed in my ears. “Serves you right! Who told your mom to call my mom a homewrecker back then! Now you’ve become the real mistress. I’ve finally avenged my mother!” “I’ll tell you the truth: the day you and Adrian made it official, I gave my permission. Adrian treats you slightly well and you’re willing to be a lapdog. You’ve never been loved before, have you? Pathetic.” “Now, either you take these ninety-nine lashes for this old hag, or you go live and tell the whole world that you and your mother are both mistresses.” Every word was like a poisoned needle stabbing into my deepest wounds. Rage surged to my head. I lunged at Chloe like a madwoman. But just as my fingers touched her sleeve, Adrian’s furious voice suddenly came from behind me. “Harper! Don’t you dare!” He kicked me violently aside, his eyes fixed on the sharp scissors on the ground. “Bitch! If you want to die, go die yourself! Don’t touch Chloe!” I held my bloodied mother, tears falling silently. Adrian hesitated slightly and instinctively moved to help me up. But Chloe stumbled into his arms, crying piteously. “Adrian, Harper said her mom’s crazy and won’t be punished for murder!” “I don’t matter if something happens to me, but the baby in my belly…” The trace of pity in Adrian’s eyes for me instantly vanished. The bodyguards immediately understood and grabbed the whip, lashing me viciously. Excruciating pain instantly engulfed my entire body. I screamed. But Adrian refused to look at me again. At that moment, my mother, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly shielded me tightly in her arms. Her cloudy eyes were full of tears as she whispered in my ear. “It’s my fault for being useless and letting you suffer so much. This time, let me protect you.” Hearing her breathing grow weaker and weaker, I cried and begged Adrian for help. “I’m sorry! I apologize! Please, please save my mom!” But no matter how much I pleaded, no one responded. My tears ran dry. The ninety-nine lashes were finished. When my mother went into shock from blood loss, Adrian finally walked out of the room. He finally spared me a glance. “A few lashes won’t kill you. Your current state is partly your mother’s fault! This should teach you both a lesson!” I wiped the blood from my lips. Through my tears, I began to laugh. “Adrian, I really wish I’d never met you in this lifetime.” Adrian stood up and let out a cold laugh. “Fine. Just don’t make a scene at the wedding. I’ll buy your mom a villa. You can live with us, or if it makes you uncomfortable, you can live next door.” I shook my head numbly. “No. We’re never seeing each other again.” “Suit yourself.” With that, Adrian lifted Chloe into his arms and headed straight for the hospital. On the wedding day, Adrian’s wedding procession got into a car accident. At the hospital, he spotted my mother’s caregiver walking out with luggage. Ignoring his own injuries, Adrian went up to her. “Where are you going? Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of Harper’s mother?” She looked at him like he was insane. “Are you out of your mind? Miss Reed’s mother’s funeral is today. You want me to take care of her in the grave?!”
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