Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 9

Chapter 1

"Amy, careful—it's hot."A gentle male voice drifted from inside the apartment.My hand froze midair, keys dangling.It was my boyfriend, Harvey Schur.I pushed the door open. His junior, Amy Linetti, was lounging on the couch in my bathrobe, cradling a steaming cup of milk. And Harvey—the same man who wouldn't bother to pick up a fallen soy sauce bottle—was now kneeling on one knee beside her, carefully peeling an apple.It was a kind of tenderness and patience I had never once received.The moment Amy saw me, a flicker of triumph flashed in her eyes before she quickly replaced it with a timid, fragile look."Melanie, you're back. Harvey was worried you've been working too hard, so he asked me to come keep him company—and help tidy up the place."As she spoke, she stretched deliberately, making sure I got a clear look at the robe she was wearing."Your clothes are so comfortable… though they're a little big on me."Only then did Harvey's gaze shift from her to me—landing squ

Chapter 2

At that moment, Amy stepped forward again, fanning the flames. She peeked out from behind Harvey, eyes brimming with tears."Melanie, please don't be mad at Harvey… It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come."Just now, when I was helping him tidy his desk, I noticed the ten thousand dollars he kept in the drawer was gone… I thought maybe you needed it urgently and took it, so I asked him—but he didn't know either…"She hesitated, her voice dropping even lower."I know you work really hard, Melanie. It's not easy for you to earn money. If you needed it, you could've told him… how could you… how could you take it without saying anything…"The money I had put in that drawer—so Harvey would have living expenses before going abroad—had somehow become stolen in her telling?I looked at Harvey. The irritation on his face shifted instantly into suspicion. He strode to the desk, yanked open the drawer, and found it empty.When he turned back to me, his gaze was that of a man sizing up a t

Chapter 3

I took a deep breath of the cool night air, and the stifling heaviness in my chest seemed to ease at last.Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and dialed the only number in my contacts without a name attached.It rang once before the call was answered."Jamie, come pick me up."A steady, respectful voice replied from the other end, "Yes, Miss."Ten minutes later, a black Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up in front of me.Jamie Melford hurried out of the car and opened the rear door for me. He bowed slightly, his voice tinged with emotion."Miss, welcome home."I gave a small nod and stepped inside.I slipped off my work uniform jacket and tossed it casually onto the wool carpet by my feet.As the city lights streamed past the window, everything that had just happened felt like some absurd dream—one that was quickly fading into the distance.Only then did I take out my other phone and dial my best friend, Cathy Thompson."Cathy, book me a booth at VIVA tonight—the top

Chapter 4

Before the party at VIVA began, I pulled my best friend Cathy aside."Cathy, I need a favor."She had been busily directing the waitstaff as they arranged a champagne tower. At my words, she leaned in, her eyes sparkling with excitement."Say it, my queen. What does your loyal knight need to do for you?"I smiled and handed her my backup phone."Use your number to register a new video account for me."Though puzzled, Cathy did it without hesitation.Once the account was set up, I had her post just one video.It was short—barely fifteen seconds.The camera slowly swept across VIVA's most exclusive booth, The Legacy. The table was lined with bottles of Armand de Brignac and Perrier-Jouët.A group of well-dressed men and women laughed and played, the atmosphere at its peak.At the very end, the shot froze on a hand wearing a Patek Philippe celestial watch.Those long, elegant fingers lifted a bottle of Armand de Brignac and poured me a drink.For the caption, I wrote only fou

Chapter 5

Harvey roared at me."For money, you mix with people like this? Is this how low you've sunk? I'm barely gone, and you're already lining up your next man? You think wearing clothes that don't belong to you can wash away the fact that you're just a waitress?"Have you forgotten who you are? Come back with me! Stop humiliating me here!"His voice exploded across the noisy booth.For a split second, even the music seemed to falter.Before I could speak, Cathy snapped. She slammed her glass onto the table and pointed straight at his nose."Harvey, who the hell do you think you are? Humiliating you? Why don't you take a good look at yourself first!"You're wearing the Armani shirt Melanie bought you, driving the car she paid for, living in the apartment she rented—and you've got the nerve to yell at her?"Everything you eat, wear, and use—what isn't from her? What right do you have to say she's embarrassing you?"The only embarrassment here is you—a freeloading leech pretending to b

Chapter 6

The moment I finished speaking, before Harvey could react, Cathy had already unlocked her phone and pulled up a screenshot."Sorry, everyone, for interrupting your evening."Let me properly introduce this gentleman. His name is Harvey Schur, a soon-to-be doctoral student heading to Ashford University."Just now, in front of all of you, he accused my best friend, Melanie Hawkins, of selling her body for wealth and status."She enlarged the image on her screen and held it up for everyone to see.It was Amy's post from this very morning—a photo of her lounging in my bathrobe, eating the breakfast I had made, wearing the watch I had bought.Below it was her caption: [A new day starts with breakfast made by Harvey. So happy!]"And this," Cathy continued, "is the 'kind and innocent' junior, Amy Linetti, that Harvey has been so desperate to defend."Take a closer look. The bathrobe she's wearing? Melanie bought it at Milan Fashion Week last year. That's five figures."The watch on he

Chapter 7

The chaos at VIVA that night spread quickly through the upper circles and Harvey's university alumni network.He became a complete joke.A man who lived off a woman, only to bite the hand that fed him—ungrateful, shameless, and utterly ridiculous.I had assumed he would tuck his tail between his legs and disappear quietly from my life. But I had underestimated just how low he could go.After discovering that I had cut off all his supplementary cards and blocked every means of contacting me, he began a frenzied campaign to smear and slander me across alumni groups and social media.He recast himself as an innocent victim—someone toyed with by wealth and power.He fabricated a story that I was a psychologically twisted rich woman who, in order to "test true love," had disguised myself as poor to approach him.He claimed I had lured him in with money, only to discard him in the cruelest, most humiliating way once he had fallen for it.According to him, I did it all to satisfy some

Chapter 8

It turns out that what truly breaks a person isn't just an overwhelming debt, but the future they depend on to survive.For Harvey, that offer from Ashford was everything: his hope, his pride.It was not only the culmination of ten years of relentless study, but his one and only springboard out of his background—his ticket into the upper class.And academic misconduct is a line no world-class institution will ever tolerate—especially not when Harvey was already notorious from the previous scandal.The next time I saw him was through a live stream Cathy sent me.In the international airport terminal, Harvey and Amy stood side by side, both wearing masks and hats, hurrying toward security—toward what they believed was their bright future.Just as they were about to hand over their passports, two stern-looking foreigners, accompanied by airport security, stepped forward and blocked their path.The lead, a white man, announced the decision of Ashford University's academic committee

Chapter 9

This ridiculous, everyone-for-themselves drama ended with Amy fleeing town overnight.As for Harvey—completely abandoned and cut off—he actually began his ridiculous attempt to win me back, as if I would ever forgive him and return to his side.Outside my company building, at the entrance to my apartment, his haggard figure became a frequent sight.Gone was the promising young talent he once was. Now, he drifted like a ghost—dressed in faded old clothes, eyes sunken, unshaven—loitering day after day, trying to intercept me.Once, when I went to dine at a restaurant I often frequented, I found him there in a waiter's uniform, carrying a tray, trying to approach me.That once handsome face was now filled with servility—disgustingly eager to please.I spared him a single indifferent glance, then had my bodyguard keep him at a distance. I couldn't even be bothered to say a word.Finally, at a formal reception, Harvey managed to slip in somehow.In front of the entire room—media, bu

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