Chapter 4

Walking out of that smoky, chaotic club, breathing in the cold night air, I felt a wave of nausea.

I didn't go home. Instead, I drove straight to Melody's company.

It was eleven at night, and the lights in Melody's office were still on.

She was wearing a well-tailored business suit, reviewing a thick investment proposal with blue-light-blocking glasses on.

Seeing me push the door open, she took off her glasses, looking slightly surprised.

She rubbed her temples, her usually sharp gaze softening instantly. "What brings you here so suddenly? Didn't you say you're going out drinking for Jeremy's birthday? You reek of cigarettes."

I walked over, poured her a glass of warm water, then pulled up a chair and sat opposite her. I took a deep breath. "Honey, I need to confess something to you."

For the next fifteen minutes, I held nothing back, telling her everything, exactly as it happened: the chat I read on Jeremy's phone that day, how he took me to an underground club tonight for prostitution and gambling, and how he took that suspicious-looking photograph at the end.

I didn't exaggerate or try to hide my own foolishness. After all, I'd initially thought he was just a loose cannon.

After I finished talking, the office was deadly silent.

I expected Melody to be angry, at least to blow up at me for keeping such bad company, but she didn't.

She listened quietly, then reached for her phone on the table. She unlocked it and pushed it towards me, a chillingly cold smirk playing on her lips.

On the screen was a message from a newly registered WhatsApp account containing the very photo of the escort girl lunging into my arms at the club's private room entrance.

The angle was incredibly tricky. Because it was backlit, you couldn't see me pushing her away. Instead, it looked like I was holding her in a loving embrace.

Below the photo was the caption: "Mrs. Reed, your husband is fooling around in an underground casino with a young model. You're not doing a very good job of keeping him in check, are you? How does it feel to know that you can't satisfy your man?"

"Sent ten minutes ago." Melody's slender fingers tapped on the table, "The timeline matches perfectly. Looks like your "good friend" is really efficient."

"That scumbag..." I clenched my fists in anger, feeling the urge to rush back and beat Jeremy to a pulp.

"Sit down." Melody's voice was soft but carried an undeniable authority.

She looked at me with sharp eyes, "Beating him up wouldn't solve any problem. You'll just get detained for fifteen days and give him a chance to play the victim. Alan, you're the boss of a company. When you encounter a problem like this, you need to keep a clear head."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

Melody scoffed, forwarded the photo to her assistant, and then made a call.

"Hello, Neil? It's me. Help me check someone out. His name is Jeremy Collins. Check his recent cash flow and debt situation. Pay especially close attention to his dealings in the crypto and grey market. I want the most detailed report possible. The sooner, the better."

After hanging up, Melody leaned back in her executive chair, arms crossed over her chest.

Her eyes gleamed with the sharpness of a hunter spotting its prey. "Since he's trying to drag you down and ruin you, it must mean he's in serious financial trouble. I wouldn't be surprised at all if an arrogant speculator like him gets involved in things he shouldn't."

The efficiency of the venture capital queen was terrifying.

In less than two days, Neil's "due diligence report" landed in Melody's inbox.

The two of us sat in the study at home, going over the dense numbers on the screen, and gasped.

Jeremy wasn't just bankrupt, he had gone completely insane.

The report showed that over the past year, Jeremy had become obsessed with a shady, high-leverage cryptocurrency.

To increase his leverage, he not only maxed out all his credit cards but also borrowed from underground loan sharks at an annual interest rate as high as 70%.

Last month, that crypto crashed, and he lost everything overnight. He was nearly two million dollars in debt.

The debt collection agencies pushed him to the brink, threatening to chop off his limbs.

"His jealousy of you is just a façade. The real reason he's setting you up is because he needs a fat sheep to slaughter," Melody pointed out directly.

"He wants to force us to divorce using the photo, creating the illusion of your emotional breakdown. When a person is in extreme distress and desperate to save their marriage, their IQ is at its lowest. At that point, Jeremy will naturally step in under the guise of being a good friend to trick you into investing or becoming his guarantor, and completely drain you of whatever marital assets you get to pay his debt."

Looking at this irrefutable evidence, I felt a chill run down my spine.

If I hadn't happened to see the messages on his phone that day, if I hadn't confessed everything to Melody without reservation, or if Melody had even a hint of suspicion when we saw the photo, Jeremy's malicious plan would have succeeded.

"How do we get him back?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

Melody stood up, walked to the French window, and looked out at the bustling night view. Her tone was frighteningly calm. "He tricked you and attempted fraud. This is no longer just a moral issue. Alan, since he dug a trap for you, why don't we turn the tables on him? We'll play along and lure him into our own trap. Then, we'll screw him over."