chapter 2
Leopold was always upright and kind, gentle and attentive to me.
He never once despised the burn scars on my body. Instead, he told me I was an angel who had survived the flames, and that for the rest of my life, he would shield me from the wind and rain.
With him, no matter how badly we argued, he never gave me the cold shoulder or lost his temper. He would always coax me patiently, again and again.
But this time... after hearing Paul's lies, he said nothing. Not a word.
When Paul hung up the call, triumph lit his face.
"Well? Still not going to tell me where Alexia is?"
The guard finally released his hand from my mouth.
I glared at Paul, fury burning in my chest. "You've broken into my home, restrained me, assaulted me, and spouted lies. Every one of those things is against the law."
I wanted nothing more than to tear this fool apart.
At my defiance, his rage deepened. "Against the law?" He sneered. "Then let me show you what real breaking the law looks like!"
He barked an order at his men. "Smash her place to the ground!"
Obeying instantly, the bodyguards began to wreck everything in sight.
In minutes, my once neat little apartment became a wasteland of broken furniture and shattered glass. Nothing was left intact.
Grinding my teeth, I spat, "Paul, with such blatant lawlessness, aren't you afraid of the law catching up with you?"
He laughed coldly, full of scorn. "The law? The law punishes leeches like you. You've bled Alexia dry for yearsdon't you know how much you've stolen from her? Everything in this place was bought with her money. I'm smashing my own things. What crime is that?"
His words rang with righteous fury, as if he weren't a criminal but a judge passing sentence on the guilty.
I checked the time. Less than thirty minutes until Alexia's miscarriage.
The real show was about to begin.
Forcing down my rage, I smiled faintly and drawled, "Why don't you wait a little longer? Your dear wife will be contacting you very soon."
My calmness only made him more frantic. His eyes burned with rage.
"Still stubborn? Fine! Today, I'll utterly destroy your reputation!"
"Take her out!"
The guards dragged me to the gate of the apartment complex.
The commotion quickly drew a crowd. Dozens of eyes turned on me, whispers swelling into a storm.
Paul seized the opportunity, loudly broadcasting my so-called sins for everyone to hear.
And the crowd believed every word.
"This is disgusting. She's already at this age and still leeching off her pregnant best friend? That's basically murder!"
"Exactly! Her friend is just too kind. If it were me, I'd have kicked her out ages ago."
"Classic fake friendpretending to care while scheming behind the scenes. My wife had one just like her, and drove her into debt and depression. Even now, she's still on antidepressants!"
"She's a vampire, that's what she is. First her family, then her friends, then her husband. Whoever meets her is cursed!"
"And she's filthy tooalready married but still chasing after male models, playing mistress. Sharing a community with a tramp like her was just bad luck!"
Spittle and curses rained down, painting me as some vile, irredeemable villain.
Paul looked down on me, his smirk full of provocation.
"Well? Still want to keep that hard mouth of yours?"
He thought he had me cornered. That I would crumble under the weight of shame.
Instead, I laughed coldly, lifting my chin in defiance.
"A dignified tycoonand this is the best you can do?"
"What's a few neighbors cursing me out? Even if they spit until their throats dry, all I need to do is move somewhere else, and it's over."
"If you really want me ruined, Paul, you should've called some internet influencers. Let them livestream it all. That way, maybejust maybeyou could make me infamous across the entire country."
Paul's expression darkened. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine. You want it big? I'll make it big for you!"
Without another word, he pulled out his phone and made another call.
My heart surged with anticipation.
Yes. Stir it up. The bigger, the better. Let the whole world witness the scandal of your perfect, wealthy family.
With his influence, it didn't take long before a swarm of online streamers rushed to the scene, all raising their phones, livestreaming with eager faces.
"Everyone, we've just caught a huge piece of gossip! See this woman right here? Don't be fooled by her innocent looksshe's rotten to the core!"
"She once tried to drag her best friend into a suicide pact after a breakup. Her friend risked her life to save her, and she lived. But instead of gratitude, she became jealous of her friend's better life, and has done nothing but cause trouble since!"
"For years, she's been leeching off her friend. Whenever she had no money, she runs to her. Pregnant and heavily burdened, her friend still runs errands for her, cleans up her messes, even drags herself out in the middle of the night to fetch her when she's drunk out of her mind."
"And what does she do in return? Nothing! She spends money like water, treats her friend's generosity as her due, even pawns her friend's wedding jewelry to buy gifts for boytoys! She maxed out her friend's credit cards to pay off her massive gambling debts!"
"Her private life is a disaster. Already married, yet constantly fooling around, seducing men, knowingly becoming the mistress. She's been chased down and beaten by wives multiple times!"
"I heard that she even contracted a filthy disease. She went to the hospital in secret, dragging her friend along to cover for herwho knows how many men she infected before that?"
"Everyone, remember her face! If you've got guts, slap her if you ever see her. If not, just stay far awaydon't risk catching something from her!"
The streamers piled lie upon lie, weaving tales out of thin air, exaggerating every word.
Soon, every livestream platform was boiling with curses.
"Holy shit, her friend and husband must be saints to put up with trash like her!"
"This isn't even a womanit's a walking tumor!"
"Right? Keeping her alive is like letting a plague spread!"
The scandal fermented at lightning speed. Within minutes, my photo was plastered across the internet, shooting straight onto the trending hot search.
"Leeching Woman."
"Toxic Friend."
"Slut."
Ugly labels piled onto my name, one after another, until they became my new identity.
As the streamers fanned the flames, the onlookers' emotions exploded.
One by one, they began hurling eggs and rotten vegetables at me.
Some who had been eating nearby even smashed their beer bottles at my feet.
Like a lamb before slaughter, I stood in the middle of the filth, drowning in insults, reeking of garbage.
And thenthrough the chaos, a familiar figure emerged from the crowd.
It was Leopold.
At the sight of his face, my lonely heart finally found a refuge.
To me, Leopold had always been my strongest support.
No matter what grievances I faced outside, he would patiently comfort me, help me, shield me.
He was not only my husbandhe was my safe harbor, my home.
At that moment, all my defenses fell.
I wanted nothing more than to run into his arms, to collapse into the warmth I trusted most.
So I did.
But the moment I reached him, he shoved me away.
The force caught me off guard. I stumbled back, losing balance, and crashed heavily to the ground.