Chapter 8
My parents finally grasped the truth.
They exchanged a look, then turned on Caius like wolves scenting blood.
My father grabbed him by the collar and snarled, “You bastard! So you’ve been playing with both my daughters?”
Caius staggered back, hands flailing. “M-Misunderstanding! Uncle, Auntie-it’s all a misunderstanding! Please don’t think too much of it!”
But my father’s veins bulged. He spat at Caius’ feet.
“Bah! I was running with gangs when you were still in diapers. You think you can con me? You shoved five hundred dollars in my hand, told me to go on stage, point at Serene, and call her shameless. You even wrote the damn script! And now you pretend you don’t remember?”
My mother trembled with fury, holding up her phone to the cameras flashing around us.
“It’s him! He ordered us to slander Serene! Yes-I’ve been rotten. I’ve wronged my daughter, made her suffer unjustly. But I’ll be damned if I let a wolf like him use me to bite my own child!” Her voice broke. “I’d rather die than keep taking his dirty money!”
Caius gaped, stunned-then erupted, pointing at them in a frenzy.
“Insane! You’re all insane! You took my money and broke your promise!”
His voice cracked into a shriek. “When did I ever tell you to lie? I told you to come on stage and
tell the truth!”
He suddenly jabbed a finger at me, venom dripping from every word.
“Serene! Say it yourself! Weren’t you nearly raped by that old man? Even if he didn’t finish the job, didn’t he still grope you, kiss you, strip you?”
The auditorium fell deathly silent.
Caius’ eyes gleamed with cruelty.
“And the bar! You worked in that filthy bar! Don’t tell me drunk men never grabbed your thighs. Don’t tell me customers never pawed your waist. Didn’t you go off with those thugs into the alley for two hours? Who knows what you did there!”
My whole body went rigid. The bloody memories I had fought so hard to bury came rushing back, exposed in front of everyone.
Tears spilled down my face-not from shame, but from a pain so sharp it hollowed me out.
I forced my voice steady, word by word.
“So this… this is why you want to destroy me?”
Caius faltered, color draining from his face. His tone wavered, scrambling for control,
“Serene, don’t look at me like that. I didn’t mean to ruin you. You-you were the one who wronged Elowen first! She was so good to you, and you always excluded her, bullied her! You even stole the honor that should’ve been hers!”
He grew desperate, grasping at excuses.
“I just wanted to teach you a lesson, make you treat her better. I didn’t expect things to get so out
Chapter 8
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3:38 pm P P P P
of hand…”
His voice dropped to pleading.
“Once this blows over, people will forget. Just let Elowen have the job. You’ll survive no matter what-you always do. But she… she can’t.”
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, my smile cold as a blade.
“She said I bullied her? Then tell me-where’s the evidence?”
Caius blinked. For the first time, he looked genuinely lost.
He stiffened, forcing out a weak defense.
“Elowen is too kind, too innocent-she couldn’t lie! You pressured her so much, she got depressed, sick even! That’s the proof!”
3:38 pm P Ppp.
