Chapter 3

After that incident that night at the bar, Jason completely vanished from my life.

The malice that surrounded me flared up once more, getting worse by the day. The neighbors who used to bully us continued dumping trash and spitting in front of our door.

Someone even splashed our door with paint while hurling slurs at me.

One night, on my way back home, a group of people dragged me into a dark alley and started beating me up.

Their punches and kicks rained down on me. After having their way, they spat on my face and yelled, "Like brother, like sister. Neither of you is good."

Under the dim streetlight, I crouched on the ground, clutching my head and sobbing uncontrollably.

One of them suddenly reached out and jerked at my clothes.

I was terrified.

While struggling, I accidentally slammed into a protruding stone in the wall. Blood streamed down my face.

At my most panicked and helpless moment, I never expected Jason to appear.

He walked over and towered over me condescendingly. I could not see his expression, but his tone was icy.

"Christine, you must be having a hard time recently, right? If you need someone to blame, blame it on your brother. You're suffering in his place."

I did not look up. My heart was crushed so badly that I could not breathe.

Raucous laughter rang around me once more, but Jason interrupted them, saying to me, "Christine, I will make you live in fear, just like this. I will make your brother, who's rotting in prison, understand that he owes Lisa. Forever."

Then, he left without looking back. The men who had tried to violate me left with him as well.

That night, I returned home in a daze. When I saw a pair of clay dolls on the table, tears instantly streamed down my face.

Jason and I had made those dolls in an arts and crafts store when we were still in love. He made me one, and I made him one.

I initially thought of placing our dolls in each other's homes as proof of our beautiful love, but Jason said he did not want to be away from me, so naturally, the dolls had to be together.

He placed both dolls in the most visible spot in my home.

He even said he hoped we could get married sooner, spending every morning and evening together.

Those vows still echoed in my ears.

Too bad the man that I loved had completely changed. Just when I was engrossed in my memories, my phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from my best friend, Jenny Swinton.

She sounded a little hesitant, but in the end, she asked, "Christine, did you see what's going viral on the Internet?"

I searched on social media and immediately saw the photos of me in various states of undress.

The photos that Jason took of me at the bar the other night.

It came with a caption.

[The brother's a criminal, and the sister's not any better.]

More than 10,000 people had liked the post and reposted it with countless comments.

[Girls these days no longer have any self-respect, messing around everywhere.]

[Well, we all know that she's selling her body for fast cash.]

[Look at her figure. She's not bad. I would like to have a go at her, too.]

The overwhelming tide of abuse left my mind completely blank. The world spun before my eyes, and I could no longer stand. I slumped to the floor.

'Jason Chase, how cruel you are.'