Chapter 2

The commotion in the suite finally subsided.

Adrian’s men moved quickly.

Several men in black suits pushed the reporters out without saying much. Cameras were forced down, microphones were pulled from the air, and the tightly packed bodies were shoved toward the door.

BANG!

The suite door slammed shut.

Silence immediately fell.

Yet the air in the room felt more suffocating than before.

Claire was still standing in the middle of the room. Her shoulders trembled, and her crying had not stopped. Her face was pale, her eyes red. She looked utterly devastated. Completely destroyed by betrayal.

A few steps away from her, Livia stood trembling behind the blanket she clutched tightly.

“Claire… I didn’t—”

SLAP!

A harsh slap landed on her cheek.

Livia’s head was thrown to the side. A burning pain immediately spread across her face.

She had not even finished speaking.

“You dare call my name?” Claire’s voice trembled with anger.

Livia looked at her with tear-filled eyes.

“I don’t know how I ended up here—”

SLAP!

The second slap.

Harder.

Livia’s body staggered backward, nearly losing her balance.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Claire screamed.

Tears streamed down her face, yet her eyes were filled with hatred.

“Ever since you came, you’ve always been like this!”

SLAP!

The third slap.

“Your mother seduced my father with that innocent face!”

SLAP!

“And now you’re trying to seduce my fiancé as well?!”

Livia’s body finally collapsed onto the floor.

The blanket covering her body almost slipped off. Her hands trembled as she tried to support herself.

“I didn’t do anything…” her voice broke.

But Claire only laughed bitterly.

“Didn’t do anything?”

She pointed toward the bed.

The white sheets still showed the striking stain of blood.

“You call that doing nothing?”

Livia turned to look at the bed.

Her chest felt as if it were being crushed.

She did not even remember what had happened.

Her tears fell endlessly.

“I don’t know…”

Claire stepped closer.

Her high heels stopped right in front of Livia.

Then—

SLAP!

Another slap landed.

This time more brutal.

“You really have no shame!”

Claire grabbed Livia’s hair roughly until the girl let out a soft cry.

“The daughter of a cheap woman will always be cheap!”

Livia bit her lip hard.

She did not fight back.

She did not dare.

She only endured the pain.

Near the window, Adrian stood with a cold face.

His hands were clenched tightly.

He watched everything.

Without moving.

Without any intention of stopping it.

His gaze was filled with contempt.

If Claire had not struck Livia first, he might have done it himself.

But Adrian knew his own strength.

One punch from him could make the girl faint.

Or worse.

Claire pushed Livia until the girl’s back hit the marble floor.

“Do you know how many reporters just saw this?” her voice trembled.

“The entire city will know!”

Her hand pointed at Livia with a tremble.

“They will know that my stepsister slept with my fiancé.”

“No!” Livia cried. “I was set up—”

“ENOUGH!”

Claire’s shout cut off her words.

“I’m sick of your lies!”

She turned toward Adrian with a shattered expression.

“Adrian…”

Her voice became weak.

“I… I didn’t know she would do something like this…”

She covered her face while crying.

Her body looked fragile.

Adrian looked at Livia again.

His gaze was even colder than before.

“Get out.”

His voice was low, but sharp as a knife.

Livia slowly raised her face.

Tears were still streaming down.

“I didn’t do this…”

Adrian sneered.

“Stop playing the victim.”

He stepped closer by a few steps.

The man’s aura pressed down like walls slowly closing in.

“You already got what you wanted.”

His gaze dropped toward the blanket covering Livia’s body.

“You managed to get into my bed.”

Livia’s heart felt shattered.

“I never wanted that…”

“Then why are you here?”

The question struck like a hammer.

Livia had no answer.

Because she herself did not know.

“She has always been like this since the beginning,” Claire said, tears still streaming down her face.

“Always pretending not to know… after destroying everything.”

Livia looked at her sister with eyes full of pain.

At that moment, she finally understood.

No one would believe her.

Not in this room.

Not in this world.

And Adrian De Luca looked at her as if she were nothing more than something filthy.