At the company’s new product launch event, the massive screen suddenly started playing a video of me being sexually assaulted years ago. Whispers rippled through the crowd as I frantically snatched the remote control, only to have my husband Damian stop me. “Elara, so you do know it’s wrong to expose someone’s privacy. Then why did you post Seraphina’s nightclub photos yesterday?” Only then did it hit me: last night on Instagram, I’d shared a picture of a masked stripper dancing at a nightclub. But the dancer was wearing a mask. I had no idea who it was. Before I could explain, Damian snatched the remote from my hand. The humiliating video continued to play on the screen. Damian, meanwhile, picked up Seraphina and walked away. Watching his triumphant smirk, I knew this time, I really had to leave… Damian Corp’s exhibition hall was fully automated. Besides the remote, there was no manual switch to control the big screen. At this very moment, everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen, showing me. It was Damian Corp’s executive suite on the top floor, usually reserved for their most valuable clients. My once-neat suit jacket was now ripped to shreds, soaked in wine. My shoulders, my collarbones, were covered in the hickeys of a stranger. I huddled in the corner, trembling uncontrollably. But the drunken man seemed only more excited. He gathered his strength and lunged at me, His thick, greasy hands slowly tracing my waist… The scene before me dragged up eight years of tormenting memories. “Ugh!” I dry-heaved, completely out of control. Reporters, their eyes glued to the screen, rushed me with their cameras. One male reporter, a predatory smirk plastered across his face, grabbed my shoulder. His hands quickly slid down to my waist. “Thought Mrs. Damian was so high and mighty! Turns out you just used your body to get ahead! Mr. Damian took a piece of trash like you into his home – tell me, how do you please him? When can I get a taste of Mrs. Damian myself?” I shoved his hand off my waist. Trembling, I tried to stand up, to escape this living hell, But a dozen cameras were shoved right into my face. “Mrs. Damian, Mr. Damian chose to play your humiliation video in front of everyone. Does this mean he’s already tired of you? Or has he always been disgusted by you? You haven’t been able to conceive all these years; is it because he finds you dirty?” “Mrs. Damian, do you think Mr. Damian married you because he was impressed with your ‘special skills’?” “Please tell us, how many deals did you help Damian Corp close with these… methods over the years?” The suffocating crowd of people in front of me caused a sudden hallucination. One moment, they were beasts with gaping maws, eager to devour me. The next, they all morphed into his face, with those lewd, greasy grins, reaching out to touch my body. I completely snapped. I scrambled up from the floor, my eyes bloodshot, screaming at the people surrounding me with all my might. “Yes! I’m that dirty! I’m a piece of trash! Get out!” Then, I fled in a panicked scramble, under their gazes of disgust and contempt… The moment I ran out of the exhibition hall doors, my phone pinged with a message: [Elara, the fun’s not over yet. Look up…] I snapped my head up. On the giant screens of commercial complexes lining both sides of the road, the same video was playing. My phone rang again: [Elara, check your phone again?] I opened my social media apps and saw a photo of me, barely clothed, my neck bruised with hickeys, trending… The piercing ringtone made my soul shudder. I picked it up mechanically. First came Seraphina’s sugary giggle, then her tone suddenly sharpened. “Elara, everyone might call you Mrs. Damian, but you’re still my loser!” The call ended with a burst of wild laughter. I’d lost count of how many times this had happened. The first time, because the cat we kept at home accidentally scratched Seraphina’s leg, Damian threw me into the reptile house at the zoo. I’d been terrified of snakes since childhood; Damian knew that. Yet, that day, he just stood outside, holding Seraphina, watching with cold eyes as I screamed until my throat was raw. The second time, when I attended a gala, I tripped and accidentally spilled wine on Seraphina’s gown. Damian, in front of everyone, poured a dozen bottles of wine over me. My sheer dress was soaked, my figure exposed for all to see. After that incident, even now, when I accompany Damian to parties, people still sarcastically call me ‘the Wine Whore.’ And what else? Too many times… If not for my family’s business crumbling thirteen years ago, when Damian risked everything to save me from creditors, If not for eight years ago, when after being assaulted by that old man, Damian was the first to step forward and protect me, I would have left him long ago. But now, Damian himself had shredded the very protection he once offered, turning it into a dagger aimed straight at me. I knew there was nothing left to hold onto…
I gritted my teeth, trying to make it home. But before I could even cross the street, a wave of dizziness swept over me. Amidst blaring horns and stares of judgment, I collapsed to the ground. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. From outside the room, I heard the doctor’s concerned voice. “Mr. Damian, we agreed not to upset your wife again. Why did you…?” “Her condition was just starting to recover, and now she’s back to square one. If we’re not careful in the future…” “Will she die?” Damian’s cold voice cut off the doctor. “Not now, but if…” “If she won’t die, then don’t talk about it.” The doctor seemed to want to say more, but Damian had lost his patience. “How I treat my wife is none of your business. I know what I’m doing. Get out!” The doctor left, and the room door opened from the outside. “Elara, it’s me.” Damian leaned down and kissed my forehead, then gently brushed the hair from my face. “Wake up, you’ve been asleep for a long time.” My body fell into a wide embrace, Damian’s stubbled cheek brushing against my neck. “Elara, don’t mind what people outside are saying. What happened eight years ago never mattered to me. I love you, only you.” His familiar breathing enveloped me, Once, it was my source of strength, but now, I only felt disgust. But I had no strength to push him away. Damian seemed to think I was still as docile as before. His mood instantly brightened. He ruffled my hair a few times, then got up, scooped a small bowl of porridge, and carefully held it to my lips. “Elara, eat a little. Though the doctor says you’re fine, you still need to eat something.” The warm porridge touched my lips from the spoon. I hesitated for a moment but swallowed it. My health had to come first, after all. “Feeling better?” After feeding me a few more spoonfuls and seeing I still hadn’t replied, Damian spoke in a low voice, his tone unmistakably firm. “Since you’re feeling better, go apologize to Seraphina.” I turned sharply, meeting Damian’s cold eyes. “Why should I?” There was no emotion in Damian’s dark eyes. “That girl tried to kill herself because of your photo. If I hadn’t gotten there in time, she would have died. This is a matter of life and death, you have to go.” “Damian, what about me? She put my photos…” “Elara.” Damian frowned, slamming the porridge bowl onto the table, his voice suddenly turning cold. “I don’t have time to bicker about trivial things with you. Your mother’s doctor called again this afternoon. I’ve been arranging for a new specialist from overseas…” “I’ll go.” Getting the answer he wanted, Damian kissed me and then left. Watching his retreating back, my heart plummeted into an abyss again. Though his tone was flat, I still heard the threat in it. My mother had a rare neurological disorder. For eight years, Damian had been paying the exorbitant medical bills and constantly flying in doctors. He never made a show of it before. But today, for that woman, he was using my mother to threaten me… A bitter ache exploded in my chest. I found that familiar number and sent a message. [Come back, Caleb. I need you.] Caleb, my only living relative, had estranged himself from our family early on to pursue his directing ambitions. But for the grand play I was about to stage, to achieve the desired effect, only he could do it… [Okay, arriving in New York in three days.] [Elara, I’m taking Seraphina to clear her head. We’ll be back in three days. Prepare yourself during these days. In three days, come to the company and give Seraphina a proper apology.] Caleb’s and Damian’s messages came in at the same time. I clutched my phone tightly, sobbing aloud on the hospital bed, then a mad smile stretched across my face…
Early in the morning, three days later, Damian’s driver knocked on my door. Seeing me, the driver looked hesitant. “Mrs. Damian…” “Let’s go. I’ll come with you.” The driver’s attitude had already prepared me, But the moment I saw everything before me, I froze. The man who had assaulted me eight years ago was now sitting in Damian’s office, chatting casually. But eight years ago, Damian had told me he’d personally had him locked up… “Oh, Elara, you’re actually on time…” Seraphina, her voice sickly sweet, emerged from Damian’s office. She reached out and pulled me directly inside. The balding, greasy man extended his hand to me. I quickly stepped back half a pace, bumping into a wine cabinet behind me. A large patch of crimson wine instantly soaked through my blouse. The look the man gave me again made me dry-heave uncontrollably. I stared intensely at Damian. He was rubbing his temples, avoiding my gaze, Seemingly about to say something, but Seraphina cut him off. “Elara, we’re all old friends here, don’t be so shy…” Seraphina stepped forward, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me closer. “Damian said that making you embarrassed in front of everyone that day was a bit much, so today, we’ll just resolve this apology of yours here in Damian’s office.” She gestured with her chin towards the older man. “Mr. Hayes is a valued client of our company, and a good friend of mine. As long as you can keep Mr. Hayes happy today, I won’t hold a grudge against you…” The moment Seraphina finished speaking, The man grabbed me and pulled me next to him. His burly hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his embrace. “You were young back then, didn’t really satisfy me well. Now you must have been ‘trained’ quite a bit by Mr. Damian, haven’t you? Today…” The wine spilled on my back now soaked through to my front. The man’s eyes and hand simultaneously slid down from my shoulder. I bit down hard on my lower lip, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. Damian, sitting in the distance, looked down, silent. A massive wave of humiliation rose up from my chest, choking me. With every ounce of strength I had, I shoved the man away. Before Seraphina’s smile could even fade, I slapped her across the face, Then I grabbed her wrist and shoved her into the man’s arms. “If he’s such a good friend of yours, then you should be the one to keep Mr. Hayes happy!” The old man, clearly a man with no fear, let out a lewd chuckle, Then he ripped Seraphina’s sheer dress, picked her up in his arms, and kissed the pale skin of her chest. I watched the scene unfold, a shiver of perverse satisfaction running through me. Suddenly, someone’s hand clenched around my neck. Then I was thrown out, smashing against the wine bottles shattered on the floor. Countless shards of glass dug into my flesh. Blood and the red wine spilled earlier splattered across me like crimson flowers. In the midst of the excruciating pain, Damian had already rushed towards the screaming Seraphina. He punched the man in the face, scooped Seraphina into his arms, Then turned and grabbed my throat. “Elara, I never thought you could be so vicious! Seraphina was trying to make things easy for you with this apology, yet you’re still ungrateful! Just because you ‘serviced’ this man eight years ago, you won’t do it again?!” “Fine! Since you have no shame, then I, Damian, have nothing to hold me back! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson you won’t forget!” Damian dragged my crimson-stained body away. It wasn’t until I saw the hospital’s outline from the car that I realized what Damian’s “punishment” would be…
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