After graduation, I accepted the marriage proposal from Julian, my childhood sweetheart, who had been chasing me for eighteen years. That very night, he made passionate love to me, whispering words of devotion that felt as countless as the stars. But no sooner had I confirmed my pregnancy than he seized my family’s company. My dad was reduced to a janitor, and my mom was forced to entertain his clients as a mere hostess for their amusement. I clutched my pregnant belly, my pleas raw with agony, and demanded to know why. He just laughed, a cruel, mocking sound. “Eighteen years ago, your family merged with ours, and my sister was bullied so relentlessly at her elite boarding school that she jumped to her death.” “Now, all I’m doing is making your family taste a bit of that humiliation. What’s so unbearable about that?” He reached out, his hand cupping my face. “Tonight’s clients are the very same people who tormented my sister back then. If you don’t want your mother to be ruined in her old age, you’ll go entertain them yourself.” After an obscene amount of alcohol, I lost the child I’d carried for only two months. But Julian, instead of using the money to pay off my parents’ workers’ wages, bound them with contracts, turning them into his personal servants. I yearned for their freedom. I sold myself: 100 for a drink, 200 for a night. I endured this for seven grueling years. Yet, on the very day I gathered enough money, his mistress had a group of men corner me, clearly intending to violate me. My parents were brutally beaten to death. When I woke up, I shattered the wine bottle in my hand, the trembling shards resting against my wrist. But he was staring at his sister, who had returned perfectly unharmed. That’s when I truly broke.
Julian had barely stepped downstairs when he heard Mrs. Davies’s complaints and lunged, his hand clamping around my throat. “You gave Chloe cold porridge! How *dare* you!” “If anything happens to the baby she’s carrying, I swear, I’ll destroy you!” Ever since Julian assigned me the task of tending to his mistress during her pregnancy, the household staff, eager to curry favor with Tiffany, began to frame me relentlessly. It was only when he noticed my high temperature that he unconsciously loosened his grip. “Why are you so hot? Are you running a fever?” I merely squatted, scooping the spilled hot porridge into the trash with my bare hands. “I’ll drink more tonight. Don’t deduct my pay.” One of Tiffany’s ways to control me was to manage my parents’ debts. If she wasn’t happy, she could complain about anything, even rolling dice to arbitrarily cut the money I was saving for my parents. My only recourse was to drink even more at the evening parties. The more I vomited, the happier Julian’s sister, Chloe, seemed. Last time, after I was so weak from a bleeding stomach ulcer that I was nearly assaulted by several men, she even ‘generously’ added a few thousand to my payment. Now, only five more drinking parties stood between me and collecting enough money. Julian looked down at me, his jaw clenched. “Did you visit my sister this morning?” Seven years ago, after Julian revealed everything, I was forced to go to Chloe’s grave every morning to ‘repent.’ Thinking about what happened this morning, I weighed my words carefully, trying to find a way not to anger him. “Tiffany, she…” But the moment I spoke her name, he grabbed my collar. “Trying to frame Tiffany again? Who taught you such a rotten habit?” When Tiffany had pushed me down the stairs, I had only muttered that someone pushed me. He had punished me by forbidding me from eating for three days, supposedly to cure me of my ‘suspicious’ habits. Now, just speaking her name, he assumed I was trying to frame him. I closed my eyes, quietly waiting for his wrath to unleash. I couldn’t risk the fleeting concern I’d seen in his eyes moments before. A cough echoed from upstairs. Julian immediately flung me to the floor and rushed up. My lower abdomen screamed with piercing pain from the impact. I finally made up my mind, my hand trembling as I opened my phone and selected a flight. For seven years, my parents believed Julian still cherished me, and willingly remained at his company, holding the lowest positions, just to be near me. Their half-century of dignity, trampled underfoot. Just five more days, and I could take them away.
That evening, as I changed, Mrs. Davies, as usual, spat viciously behind me. “Ugh, going out to sell herself every day. It’s sickening to watch.” “Good thing Ms. Reed had the foresight to sever your basic function as a woman.” I ignored her, heading to the party. The dull ache in my lower abdomen grew steadily worse, until I could barely stand straight. The clients, startled, stopped grabbing my chin and force-feeding me drinks, instead calling Julian. “Mr. Stone, Ms. Reid looks terrible. Is she…?” They thought I was pregnant again. The night I miscarried, the pain had been just like this. That night, Julian had sat outside the delivery room all night, his voice raw with agony, demanding the doctors ensure I woke up. From then on, everyone knew Julian cared for me, but scorned me after learning about my family’s ‘harm’ to him. Yet, they dared not arbitrarily decide the extent of my punishment. Until a cold voice spoke on the phone. “She upset Tiffany this morning and received a small punishment. Continue.” This morning, Tiffany had forced me to take a whole bottle of medication designed to prevent pregnancy. “Only I can give him children, you slut! You ruined his sister’s life so badly. You don’t deserve to have children, not in this lifetime.” Blood began to trickle endlessly. I crawled to the hospital. The diagnosis: I could never conceive again. Later, I learned Tiffany had been so agitated because Julian had mumbled in his sleep the previous night, “Skylar, I’m thirsty.” She thought he still had feelings for me. I laughed, a desolate, bitter sound. She hadn’t seen how madly Julian had loved me before, so she couldn’t comprehend the depth of his hatred now. “Skylar, the eighteen years I chased you were the happiest of my life.” “I swear, you’ll be my most cherished treasure, always.” But his deceased sister. She made it all seem like a cruel joke. It was dawn when I finally stumbled out, clinging to the last shred of consciousness, seeing Julian’s car waiting in the distance. The hostesses behind me scoffed, unapologetic. “Still doesn’t know her place. She’s just an escort now, but she still gets a ride every day.” “You don’t understand. Mr. Stone orchestrates this spectacle purely to humiliate her, a constant reminder of her former status as a privileged heiress, now forced to play hostess and feign smiles for men.” I touched my belly. Four more days. For the remaining days, I desperately fed myself painkillers, not daring to miss a single party. I even forced more alcohol down my throat, as if doing so would make time pass faster. Finally, on the last day, after downing the last bottle, I exhaled the easiest breath I’d taken in seven years. Excitedly, I reached for my phone to call my parents, to share the good news. Just as I stood up, one of the men grabbed me. “Where are you off to, Mrs. Stone? We’re just getting started.” A group of men rose from their seats, converging on me.
As they pressed me down, I screamed desperately. “Stop! I’m Julian Stone’s woman! He’ll destroy you if he finds out!” The man grinned, revealing yellowed teeth, as if I’d told the funniest joke. “You might be ‘Mrs. Stone,’ but we follow orders from the one Mr. Stone *truly* cherishes!” Seeing his phone on a call, I instantly guessed who was on the other end. “Tiffany! Why are you doing this to me?!” Tiffany’s casual sneer was audible. “Your debts are cleared tonight, so I need something else to control you.” “Don’t worry, they’re all pros; they’ll make sure you have a ‘good time,’ in shifts. All you have to do is cooperate while they take a few pictures. No harm done, right?” Because of her, I could no longer have children, and now, in front of all these men, my dignity, my very self, would be stripped away. My eyes burned, bloodshot, wishing I could reach through the phone and throttle her. “Tiffany, if you let them continue, I swear, tomorrow I will kill you!” “You? Please. By the way, I have a surprise for you. It’s going to tear your heart out even more.” The next moment, Julian’s concerned voice came through the phone. “The floor’s cold. Why are you out of bed?” Her voice instantly turned weak and tearful. “Sister, just because you saved your parents, do you want to kill me?” But I was staring at my parents, hogtied, gagged, and dragged in, my mind reeling, breath caught in my throat. My dad was already unconscious, and my mom was looking at me with horror and grief. The men around me leered, closing in on her. I didn’t have time to explain. I desperately begged Julian on the phone. “Julian, please, I beg you, let my parents go! It’s all my fault, I upset Tiffany!” “You can do anything to me, just don’t touch them!” “Don’t let *anyone* touch them!” I screamed, my throat raw. Julian paused for a moment. “What do you mean? I wouldn’t go as far as touching them.” I suddenly understood. This was all Tiffany’s doing. I fought with all my might, snatching the phone from the man. “Julian, I’ve saved enough money!” “But Tiffany, she’s tied up my parents, and she’s got a bunch of men trying to…” Before I could finish, Mrs. Davies’s gasp suddenly came through the phone. “Ms. Reed, are you feeling dizzy again?” “Mr. Stone, Ms. Reed has been unwell lately, she hasn’t left the house and has been resting. She can’t bear such false accusations!” But I only watched as my dad’s breathing grew weaker and weaker. He had asthma, and now with his mouth gagged, his life was in danger at any moment. I frantically tried to think of what else I could offer. “Julian, I know you hate me.” “Just let my parents go, and I’ll turn myself in for murdering your sister, or I’ll take my parents and leave this city. I promise, you’ll never see me again.” “Never see you again?” Julian’s voice was sinister, laced with an unyielding fury. “Skylar Reid, your solutions are certainly decisive.” As my dad’s chest stopped rising and falling, and the men drew closer to my mom, I screamed and lunged forward, one hand protecting the phone, the other pushing the men away. “Come and see for yourself! The driver is right outside, just have him come in and he’ll know everything!” Julian suddenly laughed, his voice so cold it seemed to freeze the blood in my veins. “Chloe isn’t feeling well today. I sent the driver to get her medication. Did you plan this whole charade for today?” I froze, completely stunned, my eyes meeting my mom’s desperate gaze. Though her mouth was gagged, I could almost hear her say, “My daughter, your dad and I are dragging you down.” I suddenly understood something, and tried to run to her, but the men around me seized the opportunity and pinned me down again. “Haha, the daughter’s still fresh meat.” “Mr. Stone’s wife being played by us, just thinking about it feels good.” Obscene words echoed above me. I only watched as my mom struggled to her feet, lunging at the men on top of me, only to be brutally shoved away. Her forehead slammed against the corner of a table, blood gushing uncontrollably. “Mom!” Blood splattered on my face. Like a wild beast, I roared, shoving the men off me, and rushed to her side. But her eyes would not open again. Her eyes and nostrils were clogged with blood. A drop of blood splattered onto the phone, and Julian’s voice amplified. “Skylar, still acting?” The men around me spat, then pinned me down again. My mind went blank. I stopped resisting. Until my clothes were ripped to shreds, and I screamed out with every last ounce of strength, “Julian, I hate you!” Then, I lost consciousness completely. 6. “No!” Julian roared, rushing forward to stop me. I saw it, the look the hostess had described. No, it was even more profound. Julian’s eyes were bloodshot, his body trembling. He reached out to pull me back but didn’t dare get close, unable to form full sentences.
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