Ashes of Love

Harry lowered his head and glared at me on the floor, his face filled with pure disgust.

“Let go! If I’d known you’d turned into a used-up tramp, I wouldn’t have laid a finger on you!”

I crawled forward a few inches, clinging tightly to his ankle.

“But you already touched me. Just give me the money. I need it, please…”

Those words only flamed his fury further. He kicked me off without a shred of mercy, tossing the card at my face.

“For money, there really is nothing you won’t do.”

I scooped up the card as fast as I could and wrapped myself in the torn nightgown scattered on the floor, forcing a smile onto my lips.

“Thank you. If you ever need me again, don’t forget to call…”

He stared at my face with a cold, detached expression, a sneer escaping his lips.

“Plenty of nouveau riche bastards out there. Since you’re so eager to sell yourself, I can hook you up with a few clients.”

I forced a look of pleasant surprise onto my face.

“That’d be great. Thanks in advance, Mr. Thorne. Call me anytime you need anything.”

Harry grit his teeth, striding over to pinch my cheek tightly between his fingers.

“The sight of you makes me sick. I never want to see your face again.”

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Yeah, come up. Cloudview Hotel, Room 506.”

Within a minute of him hanging up, urgent, heavy knocks sounded from outside the door. Harry’s gaze swept over my disheveled state.

Before I could process what was happening, he stepped forward and pulled the door open.

Standing outside was a short, chubby old man who squinted through the crack of the door to peer at me.

Harry stepped aside to let him inside, ignoring the man’s obsequious bowing and scraping as he casually adjusted his cuffs.

“The woman’s yours for the night. The fee is on me.”

I kept my head low, clutching my clothes tightly against my chest as I heard Harry let out a cold snort.

“No need to go easy on her. She’s selling herself anyway.”

Then came the sound of his footsteps walking away, followed by the firm click of the closing door.

My chest felt suffocated. It appeared Harry’s hatred for me hadn’t faded in the slightest over the years.

But it wasn’t just his family that went bankrupt back then. My family suffered the exact same fate.

Harry was forced into an arranged marriage with Rachel Sterling to save his family’s failing business, torn between me, his newly pregnant girlfriend, and the survival of his family legacy.

So I made the choice for him. A forged abortion record brought our seven-year relationship to an imperfect, bitter end.

I scrambled up from the floor, preparing to put on my clothes and leave, only to be blocked by the fat old man. A sleazy grin broke across his face.

“Whoa, where do you think you’re going? Mr. Thorne paid for everything. We haven’t even had our fun yet…”

He gripped my wrist, then threw me onto the bed with a rough yank.

In a panic, I drove my knee upward with all the strength I could muster. The man let out a painful curse, sliding down to sit on the floor in agony.

I bolted out of the room as if running for my life, only to find Harry leaning against the wall near the elevators, smoking a cigarette with a faint, mocking smile.

“You’re that picky with your clients?”

Gritting my teeth, I said nothing, walked straight out of the hotel and hailed a cab to the hospital.