returned to me. I pushed him away and staggered out of the gate.
Chapter 23
I finally stopped when I passed by the river. If I died, would this all end? If I died. I didn’t have to take the blame for something I didn’t do. Right?
As I set foot in the river, Troy finally found me. He held me tightly in hist arms, soothing me non–stop.
I finally came to my senses when the sky darkened.
In a husky voice, I said, “Troy, can you lend me some money? I don’t need much. I just wanna leave. I’ll try to earn money to pay you back as soon as possible. OK?”
The day I left. I forced a smile and said bye to Troy while clutching the card he had given me.
He was a nice guy. He begged me to leave with him several times, but I turned him down every time. I wasn’t good enough for him, and if I agreed to be with him, I’d only drag him down. I couldn’t do so.
After I boarded the plane and made sure there was no more of the Parrish family or the Kaufman family around, I finally felt slightly relieved. Holding the phone Troy had bought for me, I smiled.
By the time the plane arrived in Miami, it was already dark. I hailed a cab to the hotel, and after I got out of the cab, I couldn’t help but notice the gazes of the onlookers on me. Something in their eyes made me feel
creepy.
I was puzzled and could only tense up. Till I reached the hotel entrance, I relaxed slightly.
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Then when I went to check in, the receptionist turned me down. Only then did I know I wasn’t being paranoid. They really were looking at and laughing at me.
me
The disdain in the receptionist’s eyes was palpable. She even fanned her hand under her nose, looking as if she was about to puke.
“Aren’t hookers supposed to take orders at night? Go away. Gee, you make me wanna throw out. How disgusting! Don’t even dream of staying here. Who knows if you’ve got an STD? If we let you stay here, we won’t have any guests ever again!”
Hearing what she said, the onlookers around started to be bolder. They pointed fingers at me while raising their voices when commenting on me.
Someone even walked in front of me, held their phones, and compared me to the photos and the videos on their phones, confirming if I was who they thought I was.
“She is the hooker from the trending topic, right? She slept with twenty men in one night? I’m surprised to see her walk. What a slut! She even. voluntarily filmed those videos! Ugh!”
“Apparently, she’s more capable than sleeping with twenty men in one night. After all, she managed to film all those videos. Damn, even being in the same room with her disgusts me. Sluts like her should all be locked up!”
“Why couldn’t she stay at Nighton? She could have waited for her clients there. Why did she leave? So nauseating.”
“Have you
checked the comment section of the trending topic? It’s full of her nude photos and videos, and each one has a different male
protagonist!”
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I froze, standing in situ. Someone pushed me hard with a broom, and only then did I snap back to reality a bit.
With a ghastly pale face, I gritted my teeth and took out my phone while. trying my best not to burst into tears. Because my fingers were trembling so violently. I had to try several times before I finally entered the correct passcode. Then I clicked on the trending topic and saw those photos and videos which flooded my screen. At last, I knew why people had been staring at me strangely the whole time.
Everyone was cursing me online, and someone found Andrea’s live stream that day. It was being replayed over and over again.
Everyone saw how humiliated I was.
Just then. I received several messages from an unknown number, and the words were as malicious and mocking as ever.
“Grace, do you like the gift from me? You’re now a nationally renowned hooker. Everyone wants to spend the night with you.”
“You’re already ruined. How come Antonio still cares so much about you? You’re just a slutty hooker and are in no place to compete with me at all! I hate to break this to you, but everything I said at the wedding was a lie. I got someone to leave those marks on my body.
“Who knows? Antonio and Mom and Dad really believed me. What a shame that you haven’t been tortured to death. Your clients told me that they had so much fun with you.”
“I’m so bitter that you’re favored by everyone. I’m two years older than you. How come they always dote on you but not me? How come Antonio loves you, not me? You bitch. You stole everything from me! I should have been the one enjoying their affection! Die!”
