Chapter 3

After speaking, I turned to leave, but was frozen in place by one sentence.

"Think about those photos. Do you want them to see the light of day?"

I froze for a moment before turning back.

Looking at Kelly's cold, indifferent face.

Suddenly I remembered her at nineteen, holding my marked body, crying until her whole body shook.

Back then, her autism was severe.

I chased after her three meals a day to feed her food and medicine.

Annoyed, she'd slip away and hide.

I chased her to a street corner and was dragged into an alley.

My mouth and nose were covered, my vulnerable parts violated. I couldn't see light or count how many people there were.

When she found me, she'd completely lost it.

Stubbornly apologizing, saying she'd take care of everything.

Later, she gripped my hand, stared into my eyes and swore that those people had been dealt with, those photos destroyed, and that her entire life from then on would be mine.

But now, for Joel's sake, she was threatening me with my own trauma.

Seeing my dazed expression, Kelly suppressed the reluctance in her eyes.

She coaxed softly, as if making a promise:

"Just post one statement on social media, and leave the rest to me. We'll get our license, get married, have children—I'll still be your wife..."

"And if I refuse?"

"Think about your parents. Your father has a bad heart..."

Though she didn't finish the sentence, it said everything.

That night, we both fell silent.

She knew I'd compromise, just like she knew that every time we fought, I'd always be the one to come crawling back.

The next day when I turned on my phone, the screen was full of headlines screaming that Joel was a knowing third party, two-timing both of us.

Before I could react, Kelly kicked the door open.

"Wallace, Joel is your friend! How could you bear to slander him? To ruin his reputation!"

Her eyes were bloodshot. Without letting me explain a single word, she dragged me to the city hospital.

Getting out of the car, my knee hit the door. I cried out in pain.

She didn't pause for even a moment.

Watching her urgent, retreating figure, I suddenly wanted to laugh.

The hand that gripped mine was so tight, so warm, yet I felt like I was falling into an abyss.

The lobby had already been set up as a press conference venue.

Joel sat on the platform without speaking, shoulders hunched, eyes slightly red.

Kelly felt terrible for him. She shoved me toward the reporters and rushed over to him.

Countless microphones thrust toward me.

[Mr. Wallace, Dr. Joel says you were molested by a pedophile in your youth, which twisted your psychology. Is that why you stormed out yesterday?]

[We heard you've been obsessively pursuing Dr. Kelly, knowing full well she and Dr. Joel were in love, yet still trying to seduce her, attempting to become the knowing third party?]

[You and Dr. Joel are friends as close as brothers. To steal his woman like this—do you have no shame at all, Mr. Wallace?]

My blood felt like it had caught fire, burning all the way to my head.

I stared at Kelly in shock.

She'd promised never to leak a word about that incident. Why did Joel know?

Before I could figure it out, the friend who'd said he'd repay me properly suddenly smiled at me.

The next second, the large screen behind us suddenly lit up.

It showed my pale teenage face and my body covered in bruises.