Chapter 3

I could only curl up and protect my head, choking on broken sobs.

No one tried to stop it. Someone even stepped on the back of my hand just to get a better camera angle.

They shouted excitedly into their phones, “Guys! This is the rapist! Get a good look at his face!”

“The top gifter is going crazy! Ten rockets if you break a leg! Nelson, did you hear that? Break his leg!”

“Beat him to death! Trash like this shouldn't be left to live!”

Aileen stood in the middle of the crowd with her arms crossed. She didn't try to stop them. Instead, she was fanning the flames.

“Nelson! Break his hands! Those filthy hands touched me. Cripple them!”

“Kick him in the crotch! Make sure he can never be a man again!”

The sharp crack of bones breaking made my scalp go numb. The pain exploded, my vision went black, and a metallic sweetness surged up my throat.

I spat out a mouthful of blood and foam, clinging to the last shred of consciousness as I stared at Aileen’s hypocritical face. My voice came out hoarse.

“Aileen… you’ll pay for this.”

She looked at me with nothing but contempt. “Pay for it? Please. Casey, didn't you think about the consequences when you raped me? Go to hell. Just seeing someone like you alive makes me sick.”

Finally, sirens wailed in the distance.

As Nelson was dragged away, he kept thrashing and spat a thick wad of phlegm straight onto my face.

“Pfft! This is disgusting. He got my hands dirty!”

Meanwhile, I was hauled into the ambulance like a dead dog.

Just before I sank into complete darkness, I saw Aileen’s face twist into an instant mask of fragile innocence.

“I’m sorry for wasting public resources… My boyfriend just acted out of impulse. He was only trying to protect me… I want to be kind too… but what about me, the real victim?”

…

I spent three days in the hospital.

Three broken ribs, a pulverized left hand, and a major concussion.

Aileen became the ‘Most Beautiful Anti-Assault Advocate,’ raking in hundreds of thousands from three days of livestream sales. Countless people hailed her as an icon.

On the contrary, I became the universally hated rapist, pervert, and scum. My phone was flooded with messages wishing me dead.

Even the nurse changing my bandages looked at me with open hostility. She ripped off the gauze that had fused to my flesh, completely ignoring my trembling.

“Ouch…” I sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

She shot me a cold glance. Disgust was written all over her face. “What are you whining about? That hurts?”

She deliberately pressed harder on my wound. “When you ruined that woman, it hurt her a hundred times more than this!”

I wanted to explain, but no words came out.

…

Not long after, Aileen came to visit me.

She didn't bring Nelson along. She brought two assistants and a phone. She was livestreaming.

The moment she entered the ward, she dropped to her knees beside my bed, sobbing dramatically.

“Casey, even though you hurt me, I’m a kind person. I don’t want to push things too far. If you agree to one condition, I’ll write a letter of forgiveness so that you won’t go to prison.”

I watched her coldly, seeing straight through the act.

The live chat exploded:

[She’s too kind!]

[Why give trash like him a chance?]

[Our queen’s got a heart of gold!]

Aileen wiped her tears and finally stated her condition, “Nelson was arrested for beating you and has to pay for your medical bills. And I broke up with him because he claimed I’d lost my innocence.”