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His tone changed instantly to a mock.” “Caleb Grant! I did exactly as you asked. I taught this girl a lesson!”
My heart sank.
As I suspected, this party hadn’t been for Nina’s sake. It had all been a setup designed to humiliate me.
Caleb, cigarette in hand, his eyes blazing with fury, swung another bottle at Reynold’s head. “Screw you! Who said you could touch her? You want to die tonight?”
Reynolds clutched his bleeding head and grimaced. “Mr. Grant, didn’t you say we could do whatever we wanted with her?
You even said you wouldn’t care if we killed her!”
Caleb’s face stiffened as he glanced at me, panic briefly flickering in his eyes.
I let out a cold, detached laugh. I wasn’t
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hurt, not even sad. Just empty. “Thank you, Mr. Grant, for sparing my life.”
Caleb stared at me for a long moment, his jaw clenched in frustration. Then suddenly, he laughed bitterly. “Even a dog knows how to wag its tail in gratitude when saved. What a waste of effort, saving you.”
Without another word, he stormed out of the room, leaving me alone.
After he left, the room fell silent. No one dared to move. No one dared to stop me.
I picked myself up, staggering, and walked out alone, swaying as I left that wretched place behind.
When I woke up, I was back in my own home. My mom’s urn sat by my bedside like someone had tossed it out of pity.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. Clutching the urn to my chest, I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Mom, ever since you left, everyone’s been
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treating me like garbage,” I cried, my voice shaking with grief. “I miss you so much.”
Suddenly, a forceful hand yanked the urn from my arms and hurled it to the floor.
It shattered, causing the ashes to scatter everywhere.
Before I could react, Caleb grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. His expression wasn’t just cold but filled with disappointment and rage.
“Lily, I never thought you’d be so petty,” he growled, his voice dripping with anger. “The whole internet is cursing Nina now, and you’ve ruined her career! You and Reynolds exposed her bullying! Do you even know what you’ve done?”
His grip tightened on my face, his eyes burning with fury. “You were just
‘depressed‘ for a few years, but Nina? She’s stuck with the label of ‘bully‘ forever. How could you be so heartless?”
His words hit me hard.
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Just depressed for a few years?
How could he dismiss everything like that?
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “Caleb, sometimes I really wish I’d never met you.”
He sneered, completely unfazed. “Regret? Please. You’re probably loving this.”
With a smug grin, he pulled out an old diary from the bottom of a box.
My diary… The one in which I had
expressed all of my foolish, naïve emotions towards him when I was a love–sick teenager.
Smirking, he flipped through the pages, mocking me with every word. “Remember senior year? You, the top student, showed late to school every day just so you could walk with me.”
up
He continued, “Then, in college, you bought all these sexy clothes, asking for my opinion. What, were you actually trying to seduce me? And in your third year, you
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boasted about the number of men who
were pursuing you in the hopes that I would become envious. But guess what? I didn’t care at all.”
Caleb added with a chuckle. “You had an eight–year crush on me, Lily. Eight years. And I never even gave you a second thought.”
My fists clenched, trembling with humiliation as he ripped open every
pathetic, immature feeling I had ever had for him.
At that moment, Nina pulled out her phone, a smug grin spreading across her face. She waved it in front of me, showing a photo of my pregnancy test.
“Consider this a warning,” she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction. “Call Reynolds right now and tell him you lied about me. If you don’t, I’ll make this pregnancy test go public.”
She leaned closer, her eyes gleaming with
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malice. “You don’t even have a boyfriend,
Lily, and here you are, already pregnant. How embarrassing!”
Caleb’s mocking smirk disappeared instantly. His voice sliced through the room, sharp and cold.
“What did you just say?” He turned to Nina, his eyes wide with disbelief. “What child?”
Nina clung to his arm, pouting as she zoomed in on the photo. “Look, Caleb! This woman has no self–respect. Who knows what random guy she slept with? And now she’s knocked up!”
Caleb’s face went pale, his lips trembling as he tried to understand it. Step by step, he walked toward me, grabbing me by the throat, his eyes wild with rage.
“Whose child is it?” he demanded as his grip tightened around my neck.
I stubbornly turned my head, refusing to meet his gaze. I could feel his eyes burning into me, demanding an answer.
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Sensing the tension, Nina tugged on his arm, whining, “Caleb, forget about her! Let’s make her fix things with Mr. Carter!”
But Caleb wasn’t having it. He shoved her hard in the chest, sending her sprawling to the floor.
“Get lost!” he barked.
Nina gasped, wide–eyed and clutching her chest. “Caleb! You promised to take care of me! How can you treat me like this?”
He didn’t even look at her. His attention was locked on me.
He glared at me, his voice a mix of anger and confusion. “You told me you’d always love me, Lily. So why the hell did you have a kid with someone else?” His frustration boiled over. “Answer me! Say something!”
Then, in a sudden shift, his voice turned eerily calm. His hand moved slowly to my abdomen, his eyes narrowing as he spoke in a low, dangerous tone.
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“Is it here?” He pressed down hard on my stomach, his touch rough and invasive. “Is this where you’re carrying some other guy’s bastard?”
Instinctively, I flinched, trying to pull away, but his grip tightened, holding me in place.
Then, he suddenly let out a chilling laugh that sent shivers down my spine. “Now you’re scared, huh?” he taunted. “Were you this bold when you were sleeping with someone else?”
His sneer deepened, his grip even stronger. “Didn’t you say you only loved me? You liar.”
Before I could say anything, he threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
His voice was cold, almost robotic. “We’re going to the hospital. You’re getting rid of this baby, and then we’ll start over. I don’t care about your past, Lily. You’re coming with me now.”
I kicked and struggled, desperate to break free. In a surge of anger, I slapped him
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hard across the face.
“Just stop it, Caleb! I have had enough of you! I don’t love you anymore!” I yelled, my voice shaking with emotion.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Oh, really? So, who do you love now?” he sneered. “That piece of trash who got you pregnant?”
His voice dropped to a low, threatening whisper. “Let me make one thing clear, Lily. It never mattered who you loved. You don’t get to decide.”
