LOGINSophie suddenly lowered her voice and looked mysterious."Do you two know where Marigold went?"I shook my head."As long as she never comes back to harass me, I don't care."Riley burst out laughing."You slapped the fear into her."Sophie spoke quietly. "Julian locked her up. Her family came to make a scene, but Julian paid them off. Marigold said she had been reduced to a plaything, chained up and forced to eat and sleep with the Grant family's dog."I frowned.As a woman, I couldn't accept it. No matter how much I hated Marigold, she could go to prison, lose everything she had, or die in poverty. But treating her like livestock and sexually humiliating her was still beyond anything I could condone.Riley saw my discomfort and sighed."Don't think about it, Ash. People have to pay for their choices. This was the path she chose."I took a sip of wine.Sophie patted my shoulder."Julian isn't doing well either. Apparently, he tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists. He survived
I let his tears soak into the hollow of my neck."Julian."I spoke softly."When you slept with Marigold, did you feel even the slightest love for me?"His arms around me went rigid for a moment."...It was an accident. I was drunk, and she climbed into my bed on her own. I... I thought she was you.""Is that so?""But she told me herself that you said I was an orphan without a mother, and that no one else in the world would ever love me besides you."I spoke each word slowly."You knew how deeply my mother's death had affected me."Julian panicked and tightened his arms around me."I was only afraid you would leave me, Ash. I didn't mean any of that. I was just angry.""And what happened in that private room was also just something you did out of spite?"Julian remained silent for a long while."I only wanted you to understand that you could have anything as long as you stayed by my side. The world isn't easy without me, and I'm the one person who can give you everything."I smiled."
[Isn't this going too far?][I agree. Using the threat of sexual violence against a woman is downright monstrous][Wasn't this the path she chose? She was the one who abandoned the male lead, so she should have considered the consequences.]I had no idea where Julian had posted my information.Drunk men often showed up to harass me. They offered me money to sleep with them, and some even tried to break down my door.I was too terrified to sleep. I could only sit by the door with a knife in my hand and doze fitfully, waking at the slightest sound.Then Julian called me."Have you realized your mistake?"I looked at the mirror in the entryway. The person reflected there looked disheveled, with bloodshot eyes filled with fear.I couldn't let my life be ruined like this.I closed my eyes for a moment."I'm sorry.""Sorry for what?""I shouldn't have insulted Marigold or hit her."There was no discernible emotion in Julian's voice."Is that all?""What do you want me to do?""Ashley Scott,
"Shut your filthy mouth. You're giving me a headache."Marigold continued insulting me, so I kept slapping her.I didn't stop until she finally fell silent.[This is so satisfying. Am I allowed to say that?][The female antagonist is horrible! She beat our darling female lead like this. Just wait until the male lead takes revenge!][To be fair, the female lead's insults were a little too filthy.][That still doesn't give her the right to hit someone! Look at our darling female lead's face! The male lead is going to be heartbroken when he sees it.]I couldn't be bothered to respond to the comments.I released Marigold and sat back down on my bed."Just wait. Julian won't let you get away with hitting me."I rotated my aching wrist and didn't even bother looking at her."Go ahead."Marigold had arrived full of arrogance, but when she left, dragging her bags and scrambling away, she looked utterly pathetic.Riley asked worriedly, "Is Julian really going to retaliate?""I recorded everythi
I stared at her."Do you really think no one remembers what you've done?"[Is the female antagonist ever going to stop? Our female lead was only looking out for herself.][It was just a handbag. I remember Sophie's family wasn't poor either. Why is she being so petty?][Exactly. Riley only failed one class. She could just retake it.]I finally understood why Marigold had become the female lead.A crowd of people with the same twisted values had been cheering her on.Marigold completely lost her composure.She dropped what she was holding and began screaming abuse at me."Ashley Scott, you're just bitter, aren't you? Why are you pretending to be some kind of justice warrior?"You keep saying you don't care about money, but you and I both know what it feels like to be unable to take a single step without it."I used to drink at a bar for a few dozen dollars, until I developed stomach bleeding. I never want to live like that again."We came from the same background, so why have you always
I slapped Julian with my free hand."I hope you two stay together forever."Before they could react, I shoved through the crowd and walked out of the school.I didn't have time to keep arguing with them.I still had a part-time job to get to.I stayed busy until late at night.I returned to the dorm just before curfew.Marigold still hadn't come back.My roommate, Sophie Cook, hesitated before speaking."Ash, Marigold said she was spending the night with her boyfriend and wouldn't be coming back tonight."I was exhausted and had no energy to worry about such pointless drama."Got it."My other roommate, Riley Runn, asked, "Are you all right?"I shook my head."I'm fine."Was I really not sad?It would have been a lie to say I wasn't.I had once sincerely considered Marigold my best friend. I shared everything good I had with her. We came from poor families, so we understood each other's hardships better than anyone. We used to tell each other everything.The happy times I shared with







