Chapter 5

I glanced at the phone screen, startled by the exaggerated photos, and quickly averted my gaze.

But Liam had no intention of letting me go. He grabbed my neck, forcing me to look at the tweet, which boldly read—

“Rising Model Serena’s Promiscuous Private Life: Early Risqué Photos Exposed.”

My neck hurt from his grip, and I gasped for breath, only able to weakly argue that I hadn’t done it.

But Liam not only refused to listen to any of my explanations, his anger burned even fiercer, culminating in a violent slap across my face.

My ears rang, and my left cheek was so numb it was almost senseless. I froze, staring blankly at the man before me, unable to fathom how terrifying he could become for Serena.

Liam realized he had hit me hard. A flicker of guilt and panic crossed his face, but it was quickly replaced by cold fury.

He looked down at me, his voice a chilling pronouncement:

“I’m giving you two choices: either go apologize to Serena on your knees right now, or I’ll use far crueler methods to get justice for her!”

Facing his blatant threat, my whole body trembled. Endless pain surged through my heart.

Finally, it all morphed into a desperate, self-mocking laugh.

“Liam, how else do you think you can hurt me?”

I lifted my head, my eyes red, staring fixedly at Liam.

I had already died once, and I was about to “die” again very soon.

What more could Liam do to a dead person? Reduce me to ashes?

My defiance infuriated Liam, and he stormed out, slamming the door. Before he left, he spat out:

“If you refuse to do things the easy way, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“Aubrey, I truly underestimated you. Playing innocent in front of me, then going after a helpless girl like Serena with such viciousness!”

Watching Liam’s retreating back once more, my heart was perfectly calm.

I began counting down the days until my departure—two days. Only two more days until I could board a plane to another country, and then, under the guise of death, completely rid myself of Liam.

However, a few hours later, Chloe called me from overseas, her voice urgent and panicky:

“Aubrey, who did you offend?! Your name is all over the internet… Have you seen it?”

I was bewildered. I’d been organizing my design drafts all afternoon and hadn’t touched my phone.

I clicked on the news. The next second, my pupils contracted sharply.

My childhood abuse by my stepfather was being widely publicized, used to interpret my designs as dark and twisted, a direct result of my childhood trauma.

Seeing my stepfather’s name again, those three hateful words, I immediately rushed to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet.

That man, who had always abused me after my mother remarried, was the greatest shadow of my life.

I had only mustered the courage to tell Liam about it after five years of dating.

Liam had been so heartbroken that his voice trembled, wishing he could drag my stepfather out of his grave and punish him again.

That night, Liam held me close, promising, word by word, that he would re-raise me like a little girl, helping me completely forget those terrible memories.

And now, the malicious words in the tabloids laid bare every detail of my childhood abuse, even quoting the exact phrases I had once confessed to Liam.

My life’s work, my proudest achievements, were branded as twisted and worthless, belittling my entire career.

Countless netizens were caught in a wave of discussion, peering into the painful history of my childhood abuse, and casually disparaging my designs.

I vomited until there was nothing left but bile, my soul feeling like a gaping wound had been torn open.

I had thought, even without love, how else could Liam hurt me?

But I never expected to be utterly devastated again by the trust I had once given him.

I called Chloe back, my voice hoarse:

“Chloe, I can’t take it anymore… I want to leave two days earlier. Can I?”

“Yes, you can.”

Meanwhile, Liam was holding a tear-streaked Serena on his lap, covering her eyes, and gently comforting her:

“Serena, I’ve already had those malicious news articles about you taken down. Just pretend you didn’t see anything… I’ve already punished her.”

Serena’s tears turned into a smile. She hooked her arms around Liam’s neck and kissed him passionately. They immediately became intimate, oblivious to anyone else.

Just then, Liam’s secretary burst through the door.

“Mr. Liam, sir! Something terrible has happened to your wife!”