Chapter 4

Early the next morning, I was still asleep when my door was suddenly slammed open with a crash.

Before I could recover from being startled awake, a rough force violently dragged me off the bed.

The moment I looked up, I met Ethan's face burning with barely suppressed fury.

"I already said things with Sienna were just for fun. Why did you still do this?"

"Are you satisfied now that you've driven her to death?"

I stared wide-eyed in confusion, having no idea what he was talking about. Then my phone was violently hurled at me.

On the lit screen were Sienna's indecent photos.

Though the important areas were censored, her body's contours were fully visible.

Her address and phone number were even posted below.

The title was crude and vicious: "Ungrateful scholarship student climbs into sponsor's boyfriend's bed, free slut, first come first served."

The comment section had already exploded with tens of thousands of floors of abuse.

"Poor mountains and bad water breed loose women. Poverty doesn't limit imagination, and it certainly doesn't limit spread legs."

"This shameless trash plays around so much, any man can probably have her."

"Ungrateful wolf who bites the hand that feeds her should be eliminated from humanity. Living is just wasting air."

"Already on my way. Any brothers want to form a group?"

"..."

Ethan's face was livid. "You drove Sienna to slit her wrists. She almost didn't make it."

"I've already contacted the media. You're going to the hospital to apologize on your knees and publicly clarify that you maliciously photoshopped these images out of jealousy."

I looked at him like he was a stranger.

"I didn't do it. I'm not going!"

Sienna suddenly ran in wearing a pitiful hospital gown, crying until she could barely breathe.

"Ethan, forget it. Don't make things difficult for Luna because of me. It's my fault for shamelessly falling in love with you. I don't blame Luna for hating me. I only blame myself for not being able to control my feelings for you."

Ethan looked at her swaying, fragile figure and pulled her into his arms, his heart nearly breaking with pain.

"You're not the one who did wrong. Why should you blame yourself!"

He looked up at me, the tenderness in his eyes completely replaced by ice.

"Luna, I'm giving you one last chance. Post a statement now. Publicly clarify and apologize to Sienna online."

Sienna suddenly broke free from his embrace and quickly grabbed my hand, hitting herself in the face with it.

"Luna, I just got accepted to Cambridge. I don't want my future ruined. Just hit me. I'm begging you. If you're angry, hit me. You can even beat me to death if you want. Just please let me leave with my reputation intact."

She used great force, pulling me stumbling toward the sharp corner of the coffee table. The pain made my vision go black.

But she suddenly let out a shrill scream and fell backward. "Ah, Luna, don't kick me..."

Ethan quickly helped her up, his eyes practically shooting fire. "Luna Williams, have you lost your mind? You dare hit someone right in front of me? Is there anything you wouldn't do?"

He took a deep breath and pulled out his phone from his pocket, quickly tapping it several times.

When the familiar obscene sounds started playing, my whole body froze, plunging into an icy abyss.

"You promised me that if I signed the waiver, you'd delete the video. You lied to me?"

I yelled with red eyes, every inch of my heart feeling crushed by heavy machinery.

Ethan showed no guilt, his gaze ice-cold to the point of cruelty. "I gave you a chance. An eye for an eye. It's fair."

His finger hovered over the send button, about to press down.

"No!" I squeezed my eyes shut, humiliated tears hitting the floor. "I'll apologize. I'll clarify."

I opened my social media account and admitted to crimes I never committed, saying I was jealous of Sienna and maliciously photoshopped images to slander her, and publicly apologized to her.

In less than two minutes, public opinion across the internet reversed.

The dirty water redirected, flooding toward me.

Ethan smiled with satisfaction. "I'll let it go this time. Consider it a lesson. You're going to marry me eventually. I don't want my future wife to be a vicious woman."

After finishing his speech, looking at me sitting motionless on the floor with unfocused eyes, his heart suddenly tightened, as if something was about to slip through his fingers.

He said somewhat guiltily, "I'll delete the video now."

Just as he was about to do it, Sienna beside him turned pale and collapsed into his arms. "Ethan, I'm dizzy, I feel terrible..."

He had to pick her up. Before leaving, he threw out, "Reflect on yourself properly. I'll take Sienna to the hospital first and come check on you later."

The door opened and closed, falling into dead silence.

Ten minutes later, my phone suddenly lit up.

On the other end, Ethan had just sent Sienna to the hospital. After a thorough examination confirming she was fine, he finally pulled out his phone to call me.

But as soon as he unlocked the screen, he was struck as if by lightning.

Popping up across every platform online was the uncensored high-definition video from his phone.