Chapter 3

Half a month later, I didn’t expect to see Leo and Emily at the entrance of my gated community.

Both of them looked completely haggard.

Leo grabbed my wrist, squeezing so hard it felt like he was trying to crush my bones. “Charlotte! You b*tch! How dare you quit!”

“You’re coming back with me right now to apologize to Mr. Thomas and get your job back! Do you hear me?!”

I looked at him coldly. “Leo, who gave you the right to order me around?”

By now, neighbors and passersby were drawn to the commotion, stopping to watch.

Seeing the crowd gather, Leo roared at the onlookers.

“Everyone, come look at this! This woman spent all my money, found herself a rich sugar daddy, and now she’s dumping me!

“I worked my ass off to buy her a car and a house, and she turns around and drops me like trash! My hard-earned savings were all squandered by her!”

The surrounding crowd started whispering, their eyes filled with disdain.

“She looks so quiet and polite. Who knew she was that kind of person?”

“Seriously, this poor guy.”

I laughed out of sheer frustration.

“Your money? Fine! Let’s show everyone the transaction records of everything you’ve ever sent me since we started dating!”

As I spoke, I pulled my phone out of my bag.

Leo’s face instantly changed.

Of course he didn’t dare let me show them. All the money he had ever sent me added up to less than a thousand dollars.

Seeing that I was about to unlock my phone, he snatched it out of my hand and slammed it brutally onto the ground.

“A sl*t like you definitely has disgusting, filthy chat logs with other men on that phone! Smashing it is getting off easy!”

Looking at my phone, broken into two pieces on the pavement, my chest heaved with anger.

During those few seconds I hesitated, the surrounding crowd had already taken my silence as a sign of guilt.

“Look at her dressed all nice. It turns out she’s just a gold digger!”

“She’s got a great body, though. Wonder how much it costs to sleep with her?”

“Ugh! Shameless wh*re!”

Emily walked over to my side, smug and arrogant. “Charlotte, stop struggling. You can’t beat us.”

“If you don't want to be called a whore, be a good girl and get back to work. Otherwise, we have plenty of ways to make your life a living hell!”

I let out a light laugh. “What era are you living in, trying to use sl*t-shaming to force me to bow down?”

I turned my head toward the ones hurling the nastiest insults a moment ago.

“A bunch of gullible idiots believing whatever you hear. Keep spreading rumors about me and see if I don’t sue you!

“As for you and Leo, my biggest regret in life is ever meeting you two scumbags!”

With that, I swung my arm and landed a hard slap across Emily’s face.

Leo rushed forward to protect Emily.

Just as he was about to berate me, I raised my hand and slapped him right across his face, too.

Both of them stared at me in disbelief.

“You b*tch! Are you insane?! How dare you hit us!”

Furious, Leo rolled up his sleeves, swinging his fist as he charged at me.

“Stop!”

Right then, several burly men pushed through the crowd, walking straight toward us.

Leading them was none other than Scarface from the loan shark company.

“Ha! Charlotte, these guys are here for you, aren't they?!

“They look like trouble. What sleazy thing did you do to have people coming to seek revenge?”

Emily’s eyes were full of gloating malice, dying to see me suffer right then and there.

Leo looked at me with smug satisfaction as well. “If you apologize to us and promise to go back to work quietly, we might consider helping you out!”

I didn’t answer and simply looked at them with pity in my eyes.

Just as they were growing impatient and about to lay a hand on me, Scarface stepped up and stood right in front of Emily.

“You’re looking for Charlotte, right? She’s Charlotte!”

Emily excitedly pointed at me to identify me to Scarface, but he raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face!

“I’m looking for you! Emily Rose!”

Scarface pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it right in front of Emily’s face.

“B*tch! You borrowed ten million from me earlier, and you’re half a month overdue without paying a cent back!

“With compound interest, it’s already rolled up to twenty million! You’re paying me back today, or else!”

“Twenty million?!”

Emily’s eyes widened, and she let out a shrill scream. “When did I ever borrow money from you?!”

“It’s written in black and white, and you still want to deny it? If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll really think we’re running a charity!”

She was answered with a flurry of heavy punches.

Seeing this, Leo tried to pull those men off her, but to his surprise, they started beating him up too.

“You’re her boyfriend, right? Let me tell you, if she can’t pay up, you’re not getting away either!

“Boy, get twenty million ready for your girlfriend, or I’ll make life a living hell for both of you!”

With that, he waved his hand, ordering his henchmen to drag Emily and shove her into the car.

In the final second before being thrown inside, Emily gripped the car door tightly, hurling a hysterical accusation at me. “Charlotte! What on earth did you do to me?!”