Chapter 5

*Thud!*

A brick smashed against his head.

I haphazardly wrapped myself in a discarded dress and stumbled, hailing a passing taxi.

"Driver! Please unlock the door!"

I kept pulling the car door handle, but it wouldn't open.

"Sorry, miss. The King family paid all the drivers in this area ten thousand dollars, warning us not to pick up anyone tonight. You understand."

"What? Wait! No!"

I still wanted to say something, but the driver already stomped on the gas pedal.

I fell to the ground, awkwardly wiping the blood from my knees.

"You little hussy!"

A wine bottle crashed against the back of my head. I dropped to my knees with a *thump*.

The homeless man, blood streaming from his head, choked my neck and pinned me to the ground, beginning to tear at my dress.

"Coming out naked is just for kicks, isn't it? I know exactly what you hussies are like!

"Damn it, you dared to hit me? I'll make sure you rot in the street tonight!"

My dress was ripped to shreds.

But I didn't panic.

Looking at the homeless man's twisted face.

I grabbed that brick again.

A handful of sand flew into his eyes.

The brick *thudded* against the bleeding spot on his head.

I rolled over, straddling him, hitting him again and again and again, blood splattering.

Until he lay motionless, without a breath, only his eyes wide with shock staring at me.

Only then did I drop the brick, turn, and stumble away, heading towards the edge of the street.

Rounding the corner, I finally emerged.

A flash of light hit my eyes.

I raised my hand to block it.

But it wasn't just one.

A second, a third...

Flashlights and long lenses pointed at me.

They jostled for position, afraid to miss a single frame of my humiliation.

Seeing the entertainment news reporters frequently hired by the Hayes Corporation, I smiled.

So, Daniel and Liam Blackwood were still waiting for me here. Some "slight punishment."

They had planned this all along, waiting for me to be violated, for these reporters to document my utter humiliation.

A screen on a distant high-rise building suddenly cut to a live feed.

Chloe Miller, like a little princess, was flanked by Daniel King and Liam Blackwood.

"Happy Birthday, Chloe Miller! An Unparalleled Honor Worth Hundreds of Millions from Mr. King and Superstar Mr. Blackwood!"

On screen, Chloe Miller was in a lavish venue, charged by the minute.

She was receiving compliments and countless priceless gifts from top figures in the business and entertainment worlds.

Outside the screen, I stood in tattered clothes, blood streaming from my forehead, isolated under the spotlight.

I had every reason to believe this was deliberately orchestrated by those two men.

I walked forward, pushing past cameras and reporters.

They instinctively parted, making way for me.

I stood beneath the towering building where Chloe Miller's birthday celebration was being held.

The spotlights turned to me again.

But this time, they weren't the reporters' cameras.

They were helicopters.

One, two, three...

They were arrayed neatly, hovering directly above me.

The reporters even forgot to press their shutters.

They watched, eyes wide, as a group of blonde, blue-eyed bodyguards, all over six feet tall, rappelled down from the helicopters.

"Madam!"

The leader draped a jacket over me, but I pushed it away.

The cameras followed me into the venue.

The chattering instantly ceased.

In my tattered clothes, I walked up to Daniel King.

*Smack!* I slapped him across the face.