Chapter 3

"If you hadn't been willing to give us a 1.2-million-dollar engagement gift, I never would've married you in the first place. Now, it turns out that was dirty money anyway."

Victoria's words pierced my heart like a blade.

As it turned out, I had never been anything more than a backup to her. She had married me for my money and nothing else.

Jonathan pulled Victoria into his arms and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"A repeat offender like him doesn't change. Even if he gets locked up, he'll be out in no time. Instead of letting him off easy, we might as well drag him outside and parade him around so everyone can teach him a proper lesson."

Jonathan didn't stop there.

He had them strip me down until I was left in nothing but my underwear, then used a marker to write insults all over my body before fastening a dog collar and leash around my neck.

They then dragged me outside.

By the time we reached the neighborhood park, Jonathan was already shouting at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, come take a look! We caught a thief!"

Windows opened one after another as people leaned out, pointing, whispering, and then laughing as they realized what was going on, while others pulled out their phones to record.

I instinctively tried to hide, but Jonathan yanked on the leash around my neck, forcing me to stay exactly where I was.

There was no escape. I curled in on myself, trembling all over as a crushing sense of humiliation swallowed me whole.

Victoria had no intention of stopping any of it. She even took out her phone and recorded me in that moment of complete disgrace.

My chest tightened painfully as I forced myself to speak. "Victoria, are you just going to believe everything he says? What kind of thief could steal millions of dollars?"

She didn't even look at me.

"How would I know? Jonathan said people pay good money for women's underwear. Maybe that's what you were doing," Victoria said, her tone laced with impatience.

"Honestly, who knows if you've taken mine before. Just thinking about it makes me sick. If you have, I'm not letting it slide!"

Jonathan cupped her face and kissed her again, his tone soft and reassuring. "Don't worry. Whether he did it or not, I'll make sure to teach him a lesson today."

As his words landed, he lifted his foot and ground it into my face.

The pain was agonizing, but I forced myself to speak through it, warning him, "Jonathan, you know exactly what happened. If you stop now, you might still be able to turn this around. If you don't, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison!"

Jonathan's expression twisted into a snarl as he yanked the leash and slapped me across the face. "You've got a lot of nerve to threaten me instead of begging for mercy! I've been way too patient with you!"

He still wasn't satisfied. He turned, grabbed a large stone out of the flowerbed, and raised it like he was about to smash it into my head.

Victoria immediately threw her arms around his waist. "Are you insane?"

My gaze instinctively snapped to her because I thought maybe she still felt something for me after all.

Unexpectedly, she placed a hand over her stomach and said coyly, "I don't want my baby growing up with a father who's a murderer."

My mind went blank.

Victoria had been married to me while carrying Jonathan's child.

I laughed, and as I did so, tears began streaming down my face.

Jonathan lit up with delight. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her passionately, then turned back to me with a cold look. "Then we'll let everyone else handle him."

My heart lurched. Fear crept into my tone as I said, "Jonathan, what do you think you're doing? There are laws against this—"

Before I could finish, something was stuffed into my mouth.

A vicious grin spread across Jonathan's face as he shouted toward the crowd, "This piece of trash doesn't just steal money and gold bracelets. He steals women's underwear, too! He's done this before. Who knows how many of you he's stolen from? Go ahead, deal with him however you want!"

A lot of the women in the neighborhood had lost underwear before, and hearing that was enough for them to assume I was the one who'd taken them.

In an instant, the crowd was outraged. People rushed forward, grabbing whatever they could find and swinging at me, including rolling pins, baseball bats, and even vases.