When Liam Sterling and I were in our honeymoon phase, we could go through thirty condoms in a single day. After we were both completely exhausted, he would always pull me tightly into his arms and ask if I would ever leave him. But later, it was also him who forced me to be his new lover's nude body double when I was driven into a corner, desperately trying to raise money for my mother's medical bills. Mimicking the adult film actresses, I swallowed my pride and filmed three humiliating scenes. Just when I thought my mother was finally saved, he casually remarked: "I'll wire the five million in six months." I whipped around in panic. "Didn't we agree you'd pay me as soon as we wrapped?" Without the money, the hospital would pull the plug tomorrow. Liam carelessly tossed the script onto the table. "My liquid capital went into Mia's new female-led blockbuster. It's her first time carrying a major studio film; we have to make sure the production value is top-tier." He thought I would throw a tantrum and beg like I used to. But this time, I was truly exhausted. ...... "You're going out like that?" Liam raised an eyebrow, looking at the sheer, skimpy costume I was wearing, then glanced toward the door. I knew he was reminding me that the entire film crew was right outside. But I had just been gawked at while filming even more degrading scenes in front of the cameras. What was left out there that I couldn't face? I numbly walked toward the exit, but Liam grabbed my wrist. "Have you no shame?" I turned to look at him calmly and asked, "Have you ever left me with any?" He fell silent. We both knew the truth. From the time he picked me up from the local drama school when I was nineteen, he put me on a pedestal. He helped me win an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a SAG Award, making me the brightest star in Hollywood. He used to say he loved my pride, loved the confident way I stood at the pinnacle of the industry. But the moment my family went bankrupt, he was the first to turn his back on me. And it was all because the newly rising starlet, Mia Vance, whispered: "Liam, the way Chloe looks at me... it scares me." With that, he personally broke my wings, dragged me down from the clouds, and stomped me into the dirt. Seven years of love couldn't compete with a few tears from a newcomer. He had initiated a breakup seven times, and every single time, it was because Mia needed a better role or a brand deal. Even now, knowing perfectly well that my mother was lying in the ICU racking up astronomical daily fees, he simply didn't care. My eyes suddenly stung. I asked him, "How much money did you put into her movie?" He answered nonchalantly, "Fifty million." Fifty million dollars. It felt like a giant hand was squeezing my heart, the pain making it hard to breathe. All I needed was five million. Just a fraction of that fifty million would have been enough to save my mother's life. I had been with him for seven years, and I wasn't even worth the production budget of Mia's movie. I didn't argue further and pushed open the soundstage doors. A few PAs and crew members were laughing outside. When they saw me, they abruptly went dead silent. They looked at me awkwardly. I don't know who let out the first dry chuckle. "Chloe, all done shooting?" They exchanged knowing glances and started to snicker under their breath. I ignored them and pushed past the heavy velvet curtains. I immediately ran into a group of overweight, sleazy studio investors. They stared at me, and someone let out a low whistle. "Well, if it isn't our Best Actress. You guys finish your business in there?" The group erupted into boisterous laughter. Liam threw a heavy glass ashtray out from inside the studio. It smashed onto the floor right at their feet. Shards of glass exploded outward. I didn't dodge. A piece sliced into my calf. Blood trickled down my pale skin, but I felt nothing. Liam stared intently at my bleeding leg, his brows knitting together. After a long pause, in front of everyone, he tossed his tailored suit jacket over my shoulders. "I said six months. It's not like I'm not paying you. Who are you putting on this stubborn act for, huh?" He didn't button it. He just draped it over me casually, putting on a show for the outsiders. I took a long, deep look at the man I had loved for seven years. I always thought that if I was just a little more obedient, a little more humble... He would remember how good I used to be. People always say that when you love someone, you feel their pain. But in his eyes, there was only the cold indifference of someone looking at a toy. The moment I stepped out of the studio lot, all the strength drained from my body, and my legs trembled uncontrollably. As tears fell without my permission, I heard their lively conversation resume behind the heavy doors. Someone asked Liam: "The Adams family was definitely set up this time. Liam, are you really not going to help her?" Liam's indifferent voice drifted out: "I was the one who set the trap. Mia said Chloe humiliated her in public when she first debuted. She's been holding onto that grievance for years. I had to help her vent." "Aren't you afraid she really won't come back this time? She's an Oscar winner, after all. She's got pride in her bones." Hearing this, Liam actually laughed out loud. "Stop joking. I've known her for eight years, and she's been with me for seven. Every single time I call, she comes running." "If she could actually leave me, I'd respect her a lot more." I leaned against the brick wall, biting down on the back of my hand so hard I drew blood, just to keep myself from making a sound. My family's bankruptcy, my Hollywood blacklist... it was all Liam's doing. Simply because Mia Vance felt wronged a few years ago. My wet clothes clung to my open wounds, tearing at my flesh with every movement. Thinking of my mother hooked up to all those tubes, thinking of the doctor saying they would turn off the life support if I didn't pay the bill... I slapped myself across the face, hard. "You idiot. It's because you fell in love with him that you and your mother are in this dead end." I never imagined my romance would end like this. Sterling Media controlled the entertainment industry with an iron fist. A single word from Liam Sterling could dictate the life or death of any artist's career. If he was determined to get revenge for Mia, no one in the entire industry would dare help me. I stood on an overpass, on the verge of a breakdown, watching the endless stream of headlights below. I almost wanted to jump. But I didn't dare. If I died, what would happen to my mom? "Right. Mia Vance." I suddenly remembered her. At an awards ceremony years ago, I had just won Best Actress. She was an obscure newcomer. Backstage, an intoxicated investor grabbed her hand and refused to let go. I happened to walk by and helped her out of the situation. At the time, I was giving Liam the cold shoulder because of rumors between him and another actress. He didn't indulge my temper. Instead, he chuckled mockingly: "So only our Best Actress gets to play the hero? That newcomer—Sterling Media is buying out her contract." I never expected that to be the beginning of our twisted three-way entanglement. I don't know when Liam actually set his sights on Mia. He gave her top-tier resources, hired the best acting coaches in the world for her, and put her on the hottest talk shows. To ensure she wouldn't be bullied by industry veterans, he flat-out bought a global ambassadorship for a luxury fashion house and handed it to her. Whenever Mia suffered the slightest grievance, I didn't even need to ask to find out. Because Liam would preemptively break up with me, then take my movie roles and brand deals to apologize to her. He used to say, "Mia is pure. She can't handle the dirty side of this industry." She couldn't suffer grievances, so I had to suffer instead. I rushed to the private club in Beverly Hills where they were throwing Mia a wrap party. But the security guards blocked me at the door. "Sorry, Miss Adams. Mr. Sterling gave strict orders. No one is allowed to interrupt Miss Vance's celebration." This was the club Liam and I used to frequent all the time. Now that I was blacklisted, no one gave me the time of day. The cold night wind pierced my body, tearing my wounds open again. The pain made my lips tremble. "Let her in." I looked up. Liam was standing by the entrance, looking down at me. A flash of pity crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by coldness. "Who are you putting on this pathetic act for? Don't you know you get a high fever when you stand in the rain?" It was true. I had a weak immune system; the rain always made me sick. During the peak of our relationship, he would frantically wrap me in his trench coat whenever it drizzled, terrified I'd catch a cold. I lowered my head. "I want to talk to Miss Vance." Liam frowned, a sneer tugging at his lips. "You really haven't changed at all, Chloe." He was afraid I would cause trouble for Mia. After all, I had a track record. When I first found out Mia was calling Liam in the middle of the night, claiming she was "afraid of the dark" and couldn't sleep... I stormed directly onto her movie set and threw her phone into a prop fountain in front of everyone. While the entire crew was watching Mia make a fool of herself, Liam marched over and slapped me across the face. The entire crew gasped in shock. I stubbornly held my ground, declaring my territory: "You are my boyfriend! Not some stray dog that anyone can call in the middle of the night!" Liam just glared at me coldly, shielding the weeping Mia behind him in front of everyone. "Look at yourself right now. What's the difference between you and a lunatic?!" He left me standing there, being pointed and whispered at by the crowd. Because of that incident, Mia was handed the lead role in an international director's film—a role I had spent six months negotiating. And I was locked in the basement of his mansion to "reflect" on my actions. Mia cried for a few days, so I was locked up for a few days. Without a drop of water or a bite of food. Liam coaxed her for a full week before she agreed to go home. Worried that the public backlash would affect her, he outright bought a boutique production company and gifted it to her. I shook my head, forcing out a smile that looked worse than crying. "I just want to explain to her that we're already broken up." The utter disbelief on his face still managed to make my heart ache. I admit, I still loved him. Knowing he was the heir to the Sterling empire, a man with immense pride, I had never once defied him. I was always terrified that a single expression or word might hurt his ego. But I never imagined he would be this ruthless to me. To actually bankrupt my family and destroy my career just to help Mia blow off some steam. It wasn't that I didn't love him anymore. It was that I didn't dare to. Once the grievance took root in my heart, it grew wildly like vines. Tears fell before I could stop them. Liam frowned. "If you have something to say, say it. Why are you crying..." Just as he raised his hand, a figure ran out from inside the club. Mia was wearing a haute couture gown. Her flawless makeup and the diamonds dripping from her neck exuded pure wealth. She looked nothing like the timid newcomer she used to be. Compared to me, she looked like the true Queen, held tenderly in Liam's palm. "Why did you come out here?" Liam took off his jacket and affectionately draped it over her bare shoulders, his voice incredibly soft. She looked up, the corners of her eyes turning slightly red, which immediately threw Liam into a panic. He leaned down, coaxing her gently. "What's wrong? Who upset our Mia?" Mia finally broke into a smile, playfully punching Liam's chest before whispering: "I heard Chloe was here, so I came out to see." "Well, you've seen her now. Are you satisfied?" He asked Mia, but his eyes were fixed on me. I guessed she probably was satisfied. The Oscar-winning actress who had rescued her at that awards ceremony was now standing before her in torn clothes, her wet hair plastered to her face. I looked as pathetic as a person could possibly look. How could she not be satisfied? I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but I didn't dare. If I angered Mia, my mother wouldn't even survive the night on the ventilator. I forced myself to paste on a fawning, desperate smile. "Mia. Long time no see." She was much more casual than I was. "Chloe, you really didn't have to come in person. I've already forgiven you." I looked up at her. Forgiven me? Forgiven me for throwing away the phone she used to seduce someone else's boyfriend? Or forgiven me for being an obstacle in her Hollywood career? For a moment, I couldn't process it. I just stared at her blankly. But Liam suddenly flared up. "Mia is being incredibly generous. Shouldn't you say thank you?" Heartbreak was an understatement. I fought back my tears. Those two words rolled around my mouth over and over. I bit my tongue so hard the taste of blood flooded my mouth before I stuttered them out. "Th-thank you..." Liam pulled his gaze away from me, pulled out a black Centurion card, and handed it to Mia. "There's five million in here. You decide if you want to give it to her." My eyes lit up instantly. As long as I got that money, my mom could be saved. I looked at Mia with desperate hope, only to see her slowly close her fingers around the card. Mia pouted playfully. "Chloe made me a laughingstock in front of the whole crew back then, and almost caused a huge misunderstanding between you and me, Liam. I don't want to just give it to her." Liam chuckled fondly and tapped her nose. "Whatever you want." Panic seized me entirely. My mother was waiting for this money to save her life. I had drained all my savings trying to fill the black hole of my family's debts. I was penniless, constantly hounded by paparazzi and debt collectors. My mother had a weak heart, and the shock of it all had put her in the ICU. My last hope was right in front of me. I begged: "Mia, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You can punish me however you want, just please, help me." Mia pretended to think about it, tapping her chin with her finger before suddenly acting cute: "How about this? Sister Chloe, if you do that dance you did on set for me right here, I'll give you the card. Okay?" She smiled sweetly, but her words were more venomous than a viper. "You know, the one where you crawl on the floor like a dog. A lot of people said you performed it brilliantly." Liam remained silent. He stood behind Mia with his hands in his pockets, tacitly endorsing her cruelty. "Not willing, huh..." She sighed in fake disappointment and moved to put the card into her designer purse. I panicked completely. "I'll do it!" At that, her smile bloomed brightly. Her eyes curved into crescents as she lifted her chin, waiting for me to move. I glanced at the stone-faced Liam, then slowly bent my body. It was just a physical movement, but I felt like my soul was being executed a thousand times over. Thud. My knees and palms hit the cold, wet pavement. I collapsed onto all fours, my fingernails digging ruthlessly into my palms as my hands shook. "Woof... woof..." I barked like a dog, crawling on the ground in front of them. The humiliation made my vision go black. Mia laughed with total satisfaction, stomping her feet in delight. "Oh my gosh, Chloe! I was just joking! You actually did it!" I didn't move. I stayed kneeling on the pavement before them. "Well..." Mia sighed melodramatically, then tossed the black card onto the ground in front of me. I reached out and picked it up. Tears splattered one by one onto the gold-embossed plastic. I could save my mom. Liam Sterling, I would never dare to love you again. I stood up and muttered a quiet: "Thank you." Liam's face looked like a thunderstorm. He shoved Mia's arm away and stormed back into the club. "Liam..." She called out, but he didn't look back. Frustrated, Mia glared at me. "Are you still here? Get lost!" I turned and left the club. Behind me, as Mia fumed, her socialite friend who had just returned from Europe walked out and exclaimed: "Mia, you really are Liam Sterling's girlfriend! His family is basically Hollywood royalty!" Mia's annoyance vanished in an instant. She lifted her chin smugly. "I told you, but you didn't believe me." Her friend squealed excitedly, but then looked confused. "But that Chloe girl earlier... she clearly had a deep history with Liam. You just gave her five million dollars for nothing? You let her off way too easy." Mia's eyes darkened, and a cruel smile curled her lips. "Who said I gave it to her for nothing? I've already had someone anonymously leak the video to TMZ and the blogs." "What video?" Mia laughed. "Oh, nothing. Just a little clip of the great Oscar-winner Chloe Adams... crawling and barking like a dog outside a club." I left Beverly Hills and rushed to the hospital as fast as I could. Once my mom had the surgery, I would go with her to a new city and start over. As for Liam Sterling, we were done. Forever. The hospital wasn't far. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, feeling a peace in my heart I hadn't felt in months. Mom, I'm going to pay for the surgery right now. I'm taking you away from here. The ICU was on the seventh floor. I could see the lights were still on, shadows moving quickly around the nurse's station. I waved the card in my hand. "Doctor! I'm here to pay the bill!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I wanted to shout the good news to the whole world. But when the elevator doors opened, I walked into pure chaos. Several doctors and nurses were pushing a hospital bed toward the resuscitation room at full sprint. "The patient went into cardiac arrest after seeing a highly triggering news broadcast!" I didn't quite understand. I just rushed straight to the billing window and slapped the black card on the counter. "Payment. Hurry. For Evelyn Adams in the ICU." The billing clerk looked at me, then looked at the rushing hospital bed, her eyes filled with absolute pity. She didn't take my card. I froze. The person lying on that rushing bed... was my mother. Pure terror seized me. My heart skipped a beat! "Mom!" So this is how death arrives. Silently. I chased after the bed but was locked out by the heavy doors of the resuscitation room. Sirens wailed in the streets below, approaching, then fading away. The hospital corridor suddenly became loud. "Look at the news! Best Actress Chloe Adams crawling like a dog in public!" "Oh my god, what happened to her?" People around me started pulling out their phones. I couldn't move my legs. Every drop of blood drained from my body. I went insane, pounding my fists against the doors of the resuscitation room. But all I could see through the glass window was the straight line on the monitor. "Mom! Mom!" My entire world went black. I couldn't understand. I had the money. Why was my mother gone? That flat, unwavering line lay quietly on the screen. "Mom!" I sobbed until I felt like my soul was tearing apart. "Why didn't you wait for me?! I got the money! I got it!" I plastered the black card against the glass door, babbling incoherently. "Look, Mom, look! I got the money! You're going to be saved!" I cried. I screamed. But that line never peaked again. I shattered completely. I couldn't understand why, when hope was right in front of us, this had to happen. "You toxic curse!" My Aunt Sarah burst out of the crowd. Her fists rained down on me, beating me with every ounce of strength she had. "Look at what you've done!" "Why would you do this?! Your mother would rather die than see you humiliate yourself like this!" Sobbing uncontrollably, Aunt Sarah threw her phone at my chest. The video was still looping on the screen. It was me, crawling on the ground outside the club, barking like a dog. Then, Mia's voice rang out: "Sister Chloe performed brilliantly." Followed by my own voice. I said: "Thank you..." The video played on an endless loop. Right outside my mother's resuscitation room. Unable to take it for another second, I smashed my fist into the phone. Again and again. My agonizing screams echoed down the hall. The screen shattered into pieces, but the audio still glitched and stuttered out of the speakers. I smashed it like a madwoman. My hands bled profusely. The blood mixed with the dirt on the hospital floor. I don't know how long I smashed it, but the phone finally went silent. Trembling, I looked up at Aunt Sarah. "It's okay. It's gone. It's gone. It won't play anymore." But the only response I got was the heavy doors of the resuscitation room opening. The doctor walked out, looking exhausted, and pulled down his surgical mask. "I'm sorry. We did everything we could." In a single night, I truly understood what it meant to lose everything. I kneeled on the floor, my eyes completely empty. The doctor asked me to sign the death certificate over and over. The morgue called repeatedly to ask about the timeline for handling the body. I kneeled on the floor, praying to the heavens: "If there are gods in this world, please, save my mother. Let all the karma fall on me." I don't know how Liam heard the news, but he rushed over. He was always so aristocratic, every step he took radiating the composure of an apex predator. But now, ignoring the stares of everyone around him, he was running frantically down the hall. "Chloe." "Chloe, I just found out..." He tried to hug me, his eyes filled with shock and panic. "Don't be afraid, Chloe. You still have me." I stared at him blankly. For the sake of love, exactly what price had I paid? I used the wall to pull myself to my feet. He quickly reached out to steady me. "Liam." "I'm here." Liam spoke rapidly, "I'm right here, Chloe." I looked at him. His face was the face I loved most in the world, yet I felt like I was staring at a living, breathing demon. My lips trembled as I whispered my plea: "Kill me." He looked as if he had heard the most horrifying thing in the world, shaking his head. "Chloe, don't scare me." Liam pulled me tightly against his chest. I could clearly feel him trembling. Why was he shaking? Wasn't this his masterpiece? The morgue doors opened, and a nurse walked out. I held my breath, terrified to see that cold, lifeless face. Liam stepped in front of me, blocking my view. "Chloe, don't look. I'll handle everything." I lost all my strength. I collapsed onto the floor. And wailed into the sterile air. Liam crouched down in front of me with great difficulty, stroking my hair as he promised: "Don't worry, Chloe. I'll give your mother the grandest funeral possible." It took a long time before my mind came back to me. I looked up at him and asked: "Are you satisfied?" He looked stunned. "What?" I asked, "Are you satisfied now, Liam?" Liam desperately grabbed my hands to defend himself. "Chloe, I didn't know this would happen. I just wanted to teach you a lesson! On the very last day, I swear I was going to pay the hospital bill for you." I let out a bleak, hollow laugh. I reached into my bag and pulled out the knife I had prepared for myself. Without a shred of hesitation. I plunged it brutally into Liam's chest. Warm, sticky liquid coated my hand. Liam looked down at the wound, then spoke gently: "Chloe, if you're still angry, you can stab me again."
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