Chapter 2

The night of the auction became a nightmare I could never escape.

Ronald staged the whole thing himself. A few intimate photos were enough to send him trending online, while all the blame was dumped onto me.

No matter how desperately I tried to explain, Zoey refused to believe a single word.

On the very night I had been waiting for most, the night of our engagement, she personally sent me onto the auction stage.

Behind the black veil, I saw Ronald wrapping his arms around her from behind, whispering against her ear as they clung to each other intimately.

At that moment, it felt like my heart was being carved apart.

The wealthy women below the stage looked at me with naked greed.

"Tonight, Whoever bids highest gets Goldman for the night."

Holding onto my final shred of hope, I looked toward Zoey pleadingly.

"I really didn't do it…"

Through the haze of cigarette smoke, she revealed those cold, heartless eyes.

"If you did something wrong, then you should be punished."

The cold instruments that followed dragged me through humiliation without end.

Tears streamed down uncontrollably as my entire body trembled in pain.

Only then did I realize: she truly hated me that much.

By the time the event ended, it was already deep into the night.

The photos of my humiliation had long since spread across the entire city.

And after hearing her conversation with the manager with my own ears, I set the place on fire.

The roaring flames burned away everything between us, every memory, every piece of our past.

The police arrested me soon after.

Zoey kicked me hard, sending me crashing to the ground.

"Ronald inhaled smoke and he's still being treated in the hospital! How could you be this vicious? You were trying to burn him alive!

"Just wait. This time, I absolutely won't let you off."

The day I was sentenced, Zoey publicly announced her support for Ronald as the heir to the Goldman family.

From that moment on, I had nothing left.

For three years in prison, I slept beside the toilets. They shoved my head into toilet water and forced me to drink it. The inmates beat me, humiliated me, treated me worse than an animal.

To survive, I fought my way through with my fists.

The only thing keeping me alive was the hope that one day I could leave prison and buy back my parents' old mansion.

The day I got out, I hid myself in an underground fighting ring like a rat crawling out of the gutter, living numbingly from match to match.

That one million dollars would have brought me one step closer to reclaiming the house.

The thought jolted me awake.

Everything before my eyes was stark white.

"Did the money come through?"

The manager clearly had not expected that to be the first thing I asked.

He fell silent.

It felt as though a sledgehammer had slammed into my chest, and tears burst out before I could stop them.

I really had been deluding myself.

Why would Zoey ever let me have what I wanted?

"…Forget it. I'll just fight a few more matches."

"Henry Goldman."

The manager immediately cut me off, pity filling his eyes.

"Don't come back anymore. Ms. Sanders made it clear: if anyone lets you fight again, she'll bankrupt them."

After saying that, he tossed a bank card onto the bed and left almost as if he were fleeing.

In an instant, every emotion clogged in my throat so tightly I could barely breathe.

I staggered out of the hospital. Torrential rain mixed with my tears, blurring my vision.

I gripped the bank card tightly in my hand, knowing that my dream of redeeming the old mansion had slipped even farther away.

Without realizing it, I found myself near the old estate.

Through the curtain of rain, I saw Zoey holding Ronald's hand in front of a crowd of reporters.

"Starting today, this home officially belongs to Ronald!

"From now on, he is the rightful heir of the Goldman estate!"

In that instant, the world spun around me.

Finally, I made the call.

"Take me away."