Chapter 2

"Still making phone calls? I bet whoever you're calling is just another man you're sleeping with!"

Eve snatched my phone and smashed it hard on the ground.

"What, one idiot husband isn't enough for you? How many sugar daddies have you taken on behind his back?"

I stared at my phone on the floor and took a deep breath.

"Miss Blanchett, I'll say this one last time."

"You have the wrong person."

"Leave now with your people, and I can pretend nothing happened."

Eve burst out laughing.

She turned to look at the guests watching the spectacle.

"Did you all hear that? A mistress who sells herself is telling me to leave?"

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

"Miss Blanchett, mistresses are pretty arrogant these days."

"Exactly! Even brought an idiot husband as cover. Now I've seen everything."

Eve stepped closer in her four-inch heels.

She raised her hand, her nails nearly poking my nose.

"In New York, I am the law."

"Beat them!"

The bodyguards clenched their fists and charged at me.

I instinctively closed my eyes.

The expected pain never came.

Tony was holding me tightly in his arms.

"Don't... hit Celine."

He spoke slowly, his words unclear.

He had severe autism and didn't know what was happening.

But he only knew he couldn't let me get hurt, so he held me tight.

The bodyguards' fists kept landing on his back.

Thud!

Thud!

Each muffled sound hammered at my heart.

"Tony!"

I struggled desperately to break free from his embrace.

"Let go of me! You have a bad heart, you can't take hits!"

Tony stubbornly shook his head.

His face turned deathly pale, but his arms around me didn't loosen even a fraction.

"Celine... doesn't hurt."

"Won't let Celine hurt. I'll block it."

He forced out a smile to comfort me.

This idiot!

He was trembling from pain himself, yet he was still worried about whether I was hurting!

"Stop! Stop it!"

He had a heart condition and couldn't withstand this kind of beating.

My eyes turned red as I whipped around to glare at Eve.

"Stop! If you keep hitting him, he'll die."

The servants around us whispered among themselves.

"Those clothes look real. This girl's demeanor doesn't seem like a mistress either."

"Shh, do you have a death wish? Miss Blanchett is furious right now. Who dares cross her?"

Eve's butler wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and reminded her quietly.

"Miss Blanchett, that gentleman's complexion doesn't look good. He seems to have a heart condition."

"If someone actually dies..."

Eve backhanded the butler with a slap.

"Shut up!"

"An idiot pretending to be precious?"

She pointed at Tony, her eyes contemptuous.

"Forget one life—even if there were ten more, I could afford the compensation!"

"Drag this pair of adulterers to the main hall!"

"I want all of New York to see what happens when you try to steal from me!"

The bodyguards roughly dragged Tony and me toward the main hall.

Tony gripped my hand tightly, his fingers ice cold.

His chest heaved violently, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

I struggled desperately, my heels scraping harsh sounds across the floor.

"Don't touch him! He has a heart condition!"

"You'll kill him!"

Eve walked ahead without even turning her head.

"Then let him die."