The day I was supposed to marry Jimmy, he ran off with Sienna, the one he always said was his soulmate. As if to taunt me, he'd send a postcard from every new city they visited—a picture of the two of them, smiling and carefree. I was getting a manicure and enjoying macarons flown in from Paris when their ninety-ninth postcard arrived. I tossed it in the trash without a second glance. Just then, after three years of silence, Jimmy stormed back into my life. He pointed a trembling finger at my wedding photo—the one with my actual husband—and roared, "How dare you cheat on me with some bastard while I was gone!" I couldn't help but laugh. "What are you talking about? My husband and I have been married for three years." I raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Jimmy, you didn't actually think I'd be waiting for you, did you?" 01 Jimmy’s eyes bulged. “You think I’ll believe that pathetic excuse?” he snarled, grabbing my arm. “Tell me! Who’s the lowlife you’ve been shacking up with? I’ll make you both pay!” He yanked so hard I heard a sickening pop in my shoulder, and a sharp pain shot through me. My mother-in-law, hearing the commotion, came out. Seeing a strange man gripping my arm, she rushed forward. “Who are you? Let go of her immediately!” Jimmy glanced at the simply dressed older woman and instantly dismissed her as our housekeeper. He shoved her hard, sending her stumbling to the ground. “Get lost, old hag. This is between me and her.” “Mom!” I cried out, watching her fall. “Are you okay?” Hearing me call her ‘Mom’ stopped Jimmy cold for a second, then the fury in his eyes intensified. His grip on my arm became a vise. “Mom? That’s your mother? And here I thought you’d landed someone important.” He sneered, his gaze sweeping over her plain clothes. “Judging by how ragged she looks, your new man must be a real loser.” Tears of pain streamed down my face. A dark, ugly bruise was already forming on my arm. “Are you insane? You vanished for three years! You abandoned me without a word, and now you have the gall to come back and act like this?” “And don’t you forget,” I choked out, “we never even had the ceremony. We were never legally married!” My words seemed to stun him for a moment. Then, he started dragging me out of the house. “Everyone knows our families were arranging a merger! You think you can just say we weren’t married?” he spat. “This mansion is mine! You moved your boy toy in here and you dare to talk back to me? You’ve got some nerve!” He dragged me all the way from our private estate to the main intersection, stopping in the middle of the street where the most people were gathered. “Chloe Winters!” he bellowed, making a public spectacle. “You couldn’t even wait for me to be out of the country before you started sleeping around! You have no shame!” “This mansion is mine! I want you out, and you’re going to pay me five million dollars in rent for the past three years!” he screamed. “If you don’t, I’ll make sure you and the entire Winters family become the laughingstock of this city!” Through the crowd, I spotted a familiar figure. Sienna. She was smirking at me, her eyes filled with triumph and contempt. A bitter laugh escaped my lips. He had humiliated me when he left, and now he was back to do it all over again. The whole point of our arranged marriage was to save my family's business. I thought marrying him would secure the investment we desperately needed. But he left, the money never came, and my family’s company went bankrupt. The people living in this neighborhood were all from high society. Hearing Jimmy’s tirade, they were already whispering, their minds made up. “No wonder she’s such a recluse. She’s been hiding her lover in there!” “I thought she was somebody special. Turns out she’s just a gold-digging tramp living off her man’s money.” 02 Just then, my mother-in-law limped out, clutching her back, her face a mask of fury. “You let her go this instant!” she yelled at Jimmy. “Just wait until my son gets home. You’ll regret this!” “Chloe, don’t be afraid. Mom will protect you.” Her words only enraged Jimmy further. He sneered and gave my arm another vicious tug, dragging me a few feet across the rough pavement. “You’re threatening me, you old crow? I don’t care who your son is! You’re squatting in my house! Pack your things and get the hell out!” The sharp gravel scraped my legs raw, leaving bloody trails on the asphalt. “Jimmy, this house is mine!” I cried out. “Go home and ask your parents what really happened after you left!” I tried to warn him. “Let me go, right now, or I swear you’ll be sorry! She’s not my housekeeper! You have no idea who you’re messing with!” Before he could respond, Sienna pushed her way through the crowd. She shot me a venomous look and kicked me squarely in the chest. “You little slut, stop your pathetic crying!” she shrieked. “Are you trying to seduce the rich men around here? Cheating on Jimmy with one man isn’t enough for you? You have to flaunt yourself in public?” A wave of pain radiated from my chest, and it felt like a ball of cotton was lodged in my throat. Seeing Sienna attack me, my mother-in-law threw herself over my body to shield me. “Chloe, are you okay? Just hold on, Mom will find a way to help you!” Sienna, furious that someone dared to interfere, grabbed my mother-in-law by the hair and slapped her hard across the face, again and again. “You old bitch! You really think this is your house now, don’t you?” she spat. “Forget this slut, even if that pretty-boy son of yours showed up, I’d beat him down too!” My mother-in-law stumbled back from the blows and fell to the ground, motionless. Covered in dust, her face already swelling, she looked so fragile. “Mom!” I screamed, a primal, gut-wrenching sound. I turned my head, my voice raw with fury. “Come after me! Leave my mother alone! She’s over sixty years old! Are you even human?” My words only seemed to provoke Jimmy. He grabbed me by the hair, ripped the belt from his pants, and began whipping me with it. I collapsed to the ground, the world blurring into a kaleidoscope of pain and moving shadows. I was going to die here. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the darkness. Suddenly, a man’s voice cut through the chaos. “Hey! Stop that!” A burly-looking man from the crowd had stepped forward. Jimmy glanced at him, a scornful laugh escaping his lips. “What, are you one of her clients too? You seem awfully concerned. She must be great in bed, huh? You’re all lining up for her!” He turned to the watching socialites. “You ladies better watch out! This woman will sleep with anyone. She’ll steal your husbands right out from under you!” His words hit their mark. The few sympathetic glances I’d received turned icy cold, replaced with looks of disgust. The man stood between me and Jimmy. “Sir, you need to watch your mouth. No matter what, you can’t just beat a woman in the street!” Jimmy’s eyes darted between me and the man. Then, with a roar, he punched the man in the face, knocking him down and climbing on top of him, raining down blow after blow. “You think you can scare me? I’m going to kill both of you today, you cheating whore and your pathetic lover!” 03 I blinked, my vision swimming. The kind stranger’s face was already a mess of blood and bruises. “Stop… don’t hurt innocent people,” I rasped. “Do what you want… to me.” Jimmy sneered and stalked toward me. He planted his foot on my face, grinding his heel into my cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him off the hook. Or this old hag,” he said, gesturing to my mother-in-law. “You’re all trash. I’m going to enjoy taking my time with you for squatting in my house!” Then, he and Sienna were on top of us, slapping us relentlessly. I felt a tooth loosen. My mother-in-law, barely conscious, was no match for Sienna. Her face was quickly covered in blood, her head lolling limply to the side. Seeing her like that, I panicked. The shock and lack of air triggered my asthma. “Please…” I wheezed, clawing at my throat. “My… my inhaler…” I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. All I knew was the terrifying sensation of being unable to breathe. Jimmy ripped my hand away, rummaged through my pocket, and found my emergency inhaler. He threw it as far as he could. “You want your medicine?” he sneered. “Stop the act. I never knew you had asthma.” Sienna leaned against him, laughing. “Jimmy, honey, she cheated on you. Why should we care if she lives or dies? If she dies, it’s just God punishing her for being a slut.” As if on cue, they grabbed me and started tearing at my clothes. “You like being a slut, don’t you? Well, today we’ll let you be a slut for everyone to see!” They ripped my blouse open, exposing my chest. I could see people in the crowd raising their phones, recording. I could barely breathe, but I kept begging. “Give me… my medicine… I’ll die…” I pleaded with Jimmy. “Please… give it to me… and I’ll forget everything that happened…” He laughed as if I’d told the world’s funniest joke and threw me back on the ground like a rag doll. “You want me to forget? I’m the one who should be settling scores with you! What a joke!” “Get out of my mansion today, and pay me my five million! Or I’ll make sure you regret it!” His eyes lingered on my exposed chest, and he licked his lips. “Damn, if I’d known you had a body like this, I would’ve taken you for a test drive before I left.” He smirked. “But it’s not too late now. You make me happy, and I’ll give you your inhaler.” He dangled the inhaler in front of my face, then scooped me up and started carrying me toward the mansion. “No! Don’t touch me! Please, let me go!” I clutched the torn fabric of my shirt, sobbing. His eyes raked over my body. “Begging me now? Too late! You just be a good girl and take care of me, and maybe I’ll forget about the three years of rent you owe.” He pressed his full weight on me, his unfamiliar scent turning my stomach. I closed my eyes in despair. Just then, a deafening car horn sliced through the air.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "393526", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel