Chapter 1

"Stop playing dead and get up!" Yvette James' shrill voice echoed in the empty corridor. She was wearing a red, haute couture gown and kicking my thigh mercilessly with her sharp heels.

The intense pain made me curl up in a ball as my lower body felt like hot iron burning on me. The ointment, which contained highly concentrated mint and camphor, started to burn the most fragile soft tissue lining in my body.

I was like a fish thrown onto land as I convulsed violently on the floor. A small cut on my forehead was bleeding, and the warm blood flowed from my brow and into my eye, causing my sight to be blurred by red.

"Get me an ambulance, Yvette," I managed to blurt the words with great difficulty.

All Yvette did was look down at me without any concern for her fiancé on the ground. She looked at me with disgust.

"Ambulance? Are you trying to ruin my IPO? This is an important day for my company, and the media is all over this place! Are you trying to make me a laughingstock in the industry by calling you an ambulance right now?"

Yvette leaned over suddenly to grab my hair, forcing me to look up. "That was only half a bottle of ointment. Why are you acting like you're hurt badly when those people in the comedy clips feel nothing after using the ointment? What kind of a man are you when you can't take a little pain?"

Henry Curtis was laughing hard by her side while holding a selfie stick equipped with proper lighting. He was wearing a flamboyantly shiny suit and had on thick makeup while speaking out loud to his phone's camera in an annoying, high-pitched tone.

"Check out this loser, fam! Yvette is on the verge of being worth billions, and this gigolo is pretending to be sick to garner her sympathy. What a schemer! Any of you who think that he deserves this, just type 'He deserves this' in the comments section!"

Henry spoke as he pushed the camera into my face.

The comments flowed in instantly without stopping.

[Isn't that man disgusting? He'll do anything just to get some attention.]

[I feel bad for Yvette. How did she end up with such a fiancé?]

[Henry is right. Useless men like him with no money will always be jealous of a powerful woman.]

[What's wrong with a little ointment? He should be honored that Yvette put ointment on him. That thing between his legs deserves to be bathed in that ointment.]

The pain in my lower body became numb as I read those malicious words. I bit hard on my lip, tasting the blood from the wound of my bite.

Yvette released my hair and flung her hand in disgust, as if she had just touched something dirty. "Did you hear that? Even the netizens find you disgusting. Henry's live stream is about to hit 100,000 viewers. This is going to be a turning point in his career. So, scream louder and roll about on the ground more. You can't disappoint his audience!"

Yveette took a wet tissue from her assistant and started wiping her fingers carefully. "That little thing between your legs needed some ointment to help with blood circulation. You should thank me for rubbing it on you to induce a growth spurt."

Henry said sarcastically, "You shouldn't say that about him, Yvette. He might not be able to perform well, but he does have his pride."