Chapter 4 Dragged Through the Dirt

Phoebe froze.

She knew perfectly well that none of those luxury watches had come from her.

Then, all at once, rage exploded across her face. She lifted her foot and kicked me hard in the chest.

The sharp pain nearly made me black out.

All I could hear was Phoebe's furious voice ringing in my ears. "So it wasn't enough for you to sleep your way around with other women, you even accepted gifts from them too? Cassian, you're absolutely shameless. You disgust me!"

Even as she said those words, her eyes remained greedily fixed on my wrists. Unable to hold herself back any longer, she yanked up the sleeve on my other arm as well.

The moment she saw the collection of limited-edition watches underneath, her eyes lit up completely.

Julian let out a cold laugh. "Phoebe, these watches look exactly like the ones I lost."

I looked up at him. I could hardly believe those words had come out of his mouth.

Every single one of those watches had been specially collected for me by Evelyne after she found out I loved watch collecting. She had sourced them through private channels ordinary people would never have access to.

But Phoebe instantly understood what Julian was implying and immediately shouted, "Cassian, I can't believe you actually broke into my house and stole the watches I bought for Julian!"

As she spoke, she lunged toward my wrists to rip the watches off.

I struggled desperately, but Annie was still in their hands, and there was no way I could overpower several massive bodyguards.

Within moments, I was pinned to the ground. My pristine suit was smeared with dirt, and I looked utterly miserable.

To prove herself to Julian, Phoebe personally started tearing the watches off me one by one.

Most of them had been custom-sized by Evelyne specifically for me. The fit was perfect, and the clasps were intricate enough that Phoebe had no idea how to remove them properly, but she didn't care about hurting me at all.

She simply yanked them off with brute force.

My screams rang out as Phoebe proudly handed one expensive watch after another to Julian like trophies.

From the side, Annie shouted angrily, "I'm telling my sister! She's going to make all of you pay for this!"

But no one took a child's threats seriously.

Soon, both my hands were covered in injuries. Bloody abrasions had formed around both wrists where the watches had been ripped away. The pain was so intense it made me gasp for breath, but I still refused to beg.

"Can you let Annie go now?"

I forced myself upright with difficulty, trying to take Annie and leave. But Julian suddenly stepped in front of me.

He sized me up maliciously before saying, "Phoebe, you suppose Cassian had stolen the other things I lost recently? Why don't we strip him and check whether he hid them under his clothes? After all, if those missing items turn up with him later, it'll be hard to explain, won't it?"

Phoebe nodded immediately.

Ignoring my resistance completely, she grabbed the front of my dress shirt and tore it open. Cold air hit my chest instantly, exposing large patches of what looked like hickeys across my skin.

I instinctively tried to cover myself, but my hands were already torn up and bleeding so badly I could barely lift them.

The crowd stared at me suggestively, tossing around vulgar jokes, and my former coworkers were the loudest of all.

"I knew Cassian was easy from the start. Back at the company, he was always trying to seduce me."

"He's probably been passed around by both men and women his whole life."

The comments flooding over me filled me with humiliation and pain. But for Julian, this still wasn't enough—he wanted me completely destroyed.

Pulling out his phone, he smiled viciously. "Cassian, don't say I never helped you out. I'll livestream this and make you famous."

A cruel light flickered in Julian's eyes as he stared straight at me.

I covered my face, furious and humiliated. If looks could kill, Julian would have died hundreds of times over.

But I was completely alone.

Everyone around me was enjoying the spectacle.

Just as despair swallowed me whole, a cold and commanding female voice suddenly rang out nearby. "How dare you cause trouble at my wedding?"