Chapter 4

The next video, titled "Growth," began to play.

The camera shook, showing the bathroom of an upscale restaurant.

My face was pale, with only half my makeup done.

By then, we had left school, and my once youthful face now wore mature makeup.

Leaning on the sink, I coughed violently, even coughing up blood.

"It's fine, just recording this as a memento..." In the frame, I wiped the corner of my mouth and forced a smile at the camera.

"If this deal goes through today, the company will survive~ Lucian won't have to face those people's contempt anymore."

My friend's anxious voice came from off-screen: "You're crazy. You shouldn't drink like this."

I clenched my fist, biting my lip: "With Lucian's temperament, he'd rather let the company go bankrupt than bow to these people."

My voice was soft but carried a fond exasperation.

"This is the last thing Lucian's parents left us. We must protect it."

The scene changed to a private room in the restaurant, where I was surrounded by men forcing me to drink.

Although my face was already flushed red, I kept saying, "You must sign the contract~ You must sign it~"

"Drink three more glasses, and I'll sign it right away!" The man in the black suit with a protruding belly laughed as he poured more drinks.

"Isn't your Mr. Armstrong too proud? Now he sends his woman to beg me."

In the frame, I took the glass and drank it all at once, "He doesn't know about this. I came on my own."

The video froze as I rushed back to the bathroom to vomit.

With reddened eyes, I said, "Turn it off. I can't even watch this myself."

Sighs echoed through the audience.

The host's voice trembled: "Mr. Armstrong, about these things..."

Lucian's face turned pale as he whispered, "I didn't know..."

"At that time, when the company was about to be liquidated, I thought she was out drinking all night because she despised me."

He must have remembered those days when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, and I would come home late, reeking of alcohol.

What did he say back then?

"Not even pretending anymore? Can't wait for bankruptcy before finding a sugar daddy? Aren't you ashamed?"

But the sacrifices I made that I never recorded were far more than what he saw.

I didn't need to emphasize or explain, not then, not now.

Later, the company was revived because of that order, and he always thought it was due to his own abilities.

The host then played the next video, titled "Someone Like Me".

The camera focused on Lucian's office, where he could be seen talking quietly with a young woman.

The girl's high ponytail and side profile when she lowered her head bore an uncanny resemblance to my younger self.

"Mr. Armstrong, thank you for teaching me so much~"

The girl's voice came through the door crack, with a hint of deliberate coyness, "You promised to teach me about wine tasting, don't go back on your word~"

The camera shook slightly, turning towards the scab left on my lip from biting it due to the pain of a gastric hemorrhage.

The host silently continued playing the next clip.

In the video titled "The Girl Named Candice", the "victim" who first put me in the spotlight of social media controversy was seen tracing Lucian's tie with her slender fingers.

"Lucian~ I want to tie your tie for you too."

"Yesterday, Mrs. Chen said my work wasn't up to par again. Could you talk to her about it this afternoon?"

Lucian suddenly stood up: "What's the point of Iris secretly filming all this?"

"She's just my subordinate. We were having a normal conversation~"

He was angry that Candice's inappropriate behavior towards him had been made public.

But he didn't know that Candice had sent me many more moments in private, far more disgusting than what was shown in the video.

Breakfast Lucian personally prepared for her.

Lucian sleeping on her shoulder.

Check-in messages Lucian sent her during business dinners.

Angry voices erupted from the audience:

"If I'm not mistaken, isn't this the secretary who cried on social media about being bullied by Iris in the workplace?"

The host sighed and continued to play the next clip.