Chapter 4

Eva's POV

Before the charity gala started, Melanie pushed me into a dark corner near the backstage entrance.

"When the host calls your name, you get up there."

I clutched the thin note in my hand. "Do you have the remaining hundred thousand?"

Melanie's smile instantly vanished. "Do you think I'm going to run off on you?"

"Yes."

Melanie stared at me and let out a cold laugh. "Fine. If you beg well enough up there, you'll get your money."

From the main hall, loud applause echoed.

The host's voice boomed through the high-end speakers. "Tonight, besides our new project launch, we have a very special guest. We have the former heiress of the Vance family. She's here to tell us what it feels like to fall from the clouds straight into the dirt."

The crowd erupted into laughter.

Melanie patted the dust off my shoulder with fake kindness. "Go on. Show the high society of this city how cheap your life is."

I walked onto the stage like a robot.

The bright spotlights hit me, making my vision go blurry. The first person I saw in the front row was Julian.

Melanie sat right next to him, tilting her chin up at me. Julian, however, was looking down at his tablet, not even sparing me a glance.

The host handed me the microphone, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Ms. Vance, I heard you used to be a high-society socialite, but now you're cleaning toilets at Sterling. How do you handle such a massive fall?"

The crowd laughed even louder.

I held the microphone. The cold metal felt freezing against my sweaty palm.

"I have no choice but to handle it."

The laughter grew louder.

I looked at the crowd with an expressionless face. "The Vance family is broke. My father is dead. I have no other skills, so I clean. I do the dirtiest work."

Some people pulled out their phones, recording me like I was an animal in a zoo.

"I used to sit where you are sitting, listening to others. Now, I stand here as a stepping stone. I am your entertainment."

The laughter in the room slowly died down. Melanie's smile stiffened, and she glanced nervously at Julian.

Julian's hand paused over his tablet. He finally raised his head and looked at me on the stage.

Our eyes met.

His eyes were cold, filled with disgust. He looked at me as if my public humiliation was entirely my own fault.

The wound in my abdomen was throbbing violently. I could barely stand. But I gripped the microphone and kept going.

"I need money. I will do anything for money. Cleaning, experimental drug trials, taking the fall for others... as long as you pay me, I will do it."

When I said "taking the fall," the room went completely silent.

Melanie's face turned pale. Julian's fingers gripped his tablet so hard his knuckles turned white.

The host, sweating profusely, tried to salvage the situation. "Ms. Vance, you have a... unique sense of humor. So, what is the biggest lesson you learned from your recent theft?"

I stared directly into Julian's eyes through the glaring lights.

"The lesson is... never treat someone else's promise as your lifeline."

Julian's eyes darkened completely, a terrifying aura radiating from him.

Melanie couldn't sit still anymore. She stood up, flashing a perfect smile as she grabbed a microphone. "Eva is just nervous. She's talking nonsense. Please don't mind her."

She walked quickly onto the stage, standing right beside me. She put a loving hand on my arm.

But out of the crowd's sight, her sharp acrylic nails dug deep into the flesh of my arm!

"We brought her here tonight to show everyone that even when people make mistakes, Sterling Enterprises is generous enough to give them a second chance."

My arm was bleeding from her grip, turning numb with pain.

The crowd erupted into applause, praising Sterling's generosity.

This wasn't a charity event.

This was Melanie stripping me of my last shred of humanity, cutting me piece by piece.

The moment the gala ended, Melanie shoved me into an empty dressing room.

The second the door closed, her fake smile vanished, and she slapped me hard across the face!

Slap!

My head spun. I tasted copper in my mouth as my lip split open.

"Who gave you permission to talk about the drug trials and taking the fall?!" Melanie screamed, her face contorting with rage.

I wiped the blood from my lip, my eyes dead. "I didn't mention Sterling. I didn't mention you."

Melanie sneered. She grabbed a stack of cash from her bag and threw it at me. The bills scattered all over the floor.

"Take it and get out!"

I looked at the scattered money. "We agreed on a hundred thousand. This is barely twenty thousand."

"You signed a note," I said, pulling out the paper.

Melanie snatched it from my hand, tore it into pieces, and threw the shreds in my face. Then, she stepped on the pieces.

"Now there is no note," Melanie whispered maliciously. "Eva, look at yourself. You get what I decide to give you. A cheap life is easy to keep alive. This is enough to keep you breathing!"

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

Julian stood at the entrance. His eyes swept over the scattered cash on the floor, finally landing on my bleeding lip.

Melanie gasped, her eyes instantly welling with tears. She immediately put on a helpless, crying voice. "Julian! I was just trying to give her some extra help because I felt bad for her, but she said it wasn't enough... She almost ruined our project launch on stage..."

Julian stepped into the room, looking down at me.

I didn't argue. I knew exactly who he would believe.

I bent down. Under Melanie's mocking gaze and Julian's disgust, I picked up the cash, bill by bill, folded them neatly, and put them in my pocket.

My desperate, pathetic behavior for money completely set Julian off.

His cold voice cut through the air. "Eva, you really have no shame left."

I paused.

I looked up, wiping the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, and looked at him calmly.

"Shame doesn't pay for my medical bills, Julian."

Julian's eyes turned ice-cold. He pointed at the door. "Take your money and get the hell out."

I dragged my heavy feet past him.

As I walked by, Melanie whispered, "Spend it wisely, Eva. You won't get another chance like this."

I didn't stop.

I pressed the twenty thousand dollars deep into my pocket, even though my hands were covered in my own blood.

Twenty thousand was still money. It was still a chance to live.

I couldn't cry.

I wouldn't cry.