Chapter 2

My thoughts returned to the present. I looked up at Alex with a faint smile.

"If this sincerity isn't enough, Alex, I can still—"

"Enough!"

His gaze fell on the small medicine bottle at my feet.

He picked it up before I could, examining it closely.

"Ten painkillers at once? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

After we married, Alex frequently brought women home.

Each one was trouble.

Some even secretly drugged Alex with aphrodisiacs to climb their way up.

The situation was urgent, so I took the antidote for Alex myself.

But when Alex woke up, he was convinced I'd drugged him, causing him to lose a billion-dollar deal.

From then on, he systematically destroyed my family's business until we went bankrupt.

I desperately tried to explain that Rose was the one who drugged his drink.

But Rose cried, and he refused to believe me.

My family went bankrupt, and after divorcing Alex, I left with nothing.

To escape my family's debts, I hid and struggled daily, barely eating.

During that time, Alex actually transferred me some living expenses.

In ten years of marriage, it was the first time he'd helped me when I was down.

But reality threw cold water on me again.

To get that money, I had to apologize to Rose.

I couldn't take it anymore. I refused his charity and shouted at him:

"Alex, you're hopelessly stupid! I'll say it one more time! I wasn't the one who drugged you! It was your secretary Rose!"

After Alex hung up, my parents were humiliated that very night and jumped from the company rooftop.

I begged everyone on my knees to borrow money for their burial, but Alex spread word throughout the city: anyone who lent me a single penny was his enemy.

So I had nowhere to turn. I went from a wealthy lady to a delivery driver.

Meanwhile, Alex attended business events with Rose.

He even spent millions chartering a luxury yacht for three days just to celebrate her birthday and make her smile.

I watched their happiness from afar, eating my meals mixed with tears. For ten years.

But misfortune picks on the miserable. I was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer at the hospital.

I'd spent everything paying off debts. My pockets were emptier than my face, let alone affording those expensive targeted drugs.

Desperate, I even worked as a hostess at a nightclub, where I encountered a gloomy-looking Alex. His expression was indifferent.

"Mata, you've really got some nerve!"

"I understand you'd drug me for money, but you dared to frame Rose. You'll pay with your life. However much money you want, I'll burn it for you!"

I shook my head with a bitter smile, but tears fell from my eyes first.

Fine. If he wanted me to pay with my life, so be it.

Living this long had been exhausting anyway.

I rushed to the restroom to clean my wound. Alex followed me out and grabbed my chin, trying to kiss me.

He said it was compensation.

I bit down hard on his hand and spat out the blood.

"Get lost!"

Alex's face darkened. He laughed coldly.

"What five-star rating? At the end of the day, you just need money, right? Sleep with me once, I'll give you five hundred!"

"Stop pretending! You drugged me back then for money, didn't you?"

He pressed me against the wall, his hand reaching into my jeans.

"Alex! You animal, don't touch me! You disgust me!"

Alex punched the wall right next to my head.

He seemed enraged, deliberately finding ways to humiliate me.

He made me deliver a bag full of sex toys and condoms to a couple's hotel.

Alex leaned against the doorway in a bathrobe, looking me up and down with that casual gaze.

I knew Rose was in his bed.

But I didn't care anymore.

I ignored him, just set the delivery by the door and turned to leave.

Alex couldn't stand it anymore. He chased after me and grabbed my arm.

"Stop! Is this how you treat customers?"

His voice betrayed barely concealed panic.

My bandaged wound started bleeding again.

The door wasn't closed. The pungent smell made me nauseous.

Seeing I didn't care, he flew into a rage and slammed the door.

"Get lost!"

Two days later, I'd just returned to the company.

My supervisor threw a resignation letter in my face.

Then came a tirade.

"How did you offend Rose? She came to the company herself! That's Alex's sweetheart!"

"We can't pay you. Don't drag us down with you. Pack up and get out!"

My stomach twisted painfully. I leaned against the wall and crouched down.

After swallowing over a dozen painkillers, I finally managed to say:

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have offended Rose."