Chapter 3 Twist the Story

I opened my eyes and found myself in the hospital. My body felt like it had been run over by a truck, but I pushed myself up. "How's… the baby?"

The nurse gave me a look of sympathy. "You'd have died if your neighbor hadn't noticed your door was open. Even if you didn't want the baby, you should've come to us. You shouldn't have just crashed into a table to force a miscarriage."

My mind buzzed. Jonathan killed our baby.

Then my phone started vibrating so violently that I thought something was wrong with it.

"You wrecked someone else's family? You're fired, Linda!"

"I can't believe you stole a college girl's boyfriend! You should drop dead, you bitch!"

"If you're that desperate for a man, just apply for a job at a brothel! Don't hurt someone else's relationship!"

My phone was bombarded with all sorts of messages. Some came from my workplace. Some came from people I didn't know.

Natalie had written something online that accused me of being a homewrecker.

The miscarriage had weakened my body, and now a wave of sharp pain swept over me. I clutched my chest and gasped. At that moment, Jonathan called.

I answered, my voice trembling. "Jonathan, we've been dating for seven years!"

I came from a poor family and often worked part time back in college. When he proposed, Jonathan was holding a bouquet of flowers, and he promised, "I know I'm not rich, but I promise I'll do my best to give you a better life. I won't let you suffer."

We started going out. Back then, even when we only had instant noodles to eat, he would still give me the only egg.

And now? Now he paused before answering, "Natalie's young. It's normal for her to be insecure. That post is just how she vents. Don't overreact. And where are you? You're not at home."

The pain I'd been holding in finally cracked me, and it gushed out. I sobbed. "I'm in the hospital. Our…"

Jonathan interrupted me coldly. "You're an adult, Linda. Running away from home like a little girl is embarrassing."

Then he continued as if none of this mattered. "You've been healthy enough to work three jobs a day. No way you get sick that easily. Drop the act. Natalie's unstable now. You'll have to apologize to her."

I was in disbelief. "She twisted the story and sent the entire Internet after me, and now you want me to apologize to her?"

"Or what? You want me to watch while the Internet pushes her to suicide?" Jonathan raised his voice. I fell silent, and he said in a low voice, "I'm the one paying for your mother's hospital fees."

My heart trembled. My mother had always been frail, and over the past year, she had been admitted to the ICU three times.

Jonathan noticed how stressed out I was, so he transferred my mother to an expensive ward and took on all the costs.

I worked my butt off to save up and pay back my debt. Only then would I feel like we were equals in this relationship.

Now he was threatening me with my mother. A wave of exhaustion unlike anything I had ever felt crashed over me. Suddenly, I saw no need to argue with him anymore.

…

With tears in my eyes, I nodded and went to the villa district according to the address Jonathan gave me. The toll the miscarriage had on my body was heavy. My footsteps were slow and heavy, and I had to drag myself forward with every step.

The guard stopped me.

"I'm Jonathan's girlfriend."

The bodyguard looked me over suspiciously. He called Jonathan to confirm, then finally let me in. But the disdain on his face was impossible to miss.

"Everyone knows Mr. Mueller's girlfriend is Ms. Shaw. Honestly, some people really have no shame walking around in broad daylight."

When Jonathan saw me, he put on a faint smile, as if he had known I would come. "Do as I say, and I'll keep paying for your mother's stay."

He led me to a phone that had already been set up. "We'll start a livestream. Tell everyone you're the homewrecker and apologize to Natalie."

I jerked my head up and looked him dead in the eye. "You're calling me the mistress?"

Natalie chuckled. "We've already gone public. Of course you're the mistress."

Jonathan did not answer my question. Instead, he frowned and handed me a piece of paper. "Do as I say and read off this script. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. It'll be over soon."

The script said I had seduced Jonathan and ruined his relationship with Natalie because I was jealous of her.