My Ex Crashed My Engagement Party

At my engagement party with my fianc, my ex-boyfriend Damien Smith suddenly appeared.

He clapped his hands mockingly as he walked toward us:

Serena Locke, I wondered how you dared to leave me. Turns out you found yourself a richer backermy cousin.

The guests erupted in shock.

The once lively banquet hall fell into dead silence.

All eyes turned to me, filled with shock and scrutiny.

But I simply gazed calmly at the face I'd once loved deeply for three years:

"What? You used to despise me as a gold digger. Now that I'm with someone else, you still have a problem with it?"

Damien and I met in college.

In our third year together, my dad suddenly fell seriously ill and needed expensive treatment.

I was desperately trying to figure out where to get the money when my roommate suddenly asked: "Why don't you ask Damien for help?"

I didn't understand what she meant at first.

"You don't know? Damien's family is loaded."

"I only found out recently when I went to a party at the Smith estate with my dad."

"Your dad's medical bills would be like pocket change to himthe cost of one meal."

I froze, not knowing what to say.

I could only remain silent.

That night, I secretly followed Damien.

I watched him smoothly open the door of a luxury car.

I watched him drive into a gated mansion community.

My emotions swirleda confusing mix of feelings.

I didn't understand why Damien had been pretending to be poor.

But the next moment, I felt a glimmer of hope.

Hope that maybe Damien could really help me solve this urgent crisis.

So without overthinking it, I pressed the doorbell of the mansion.

In less than thirty seconds, the door opened.

Seeing me, Damien was visibly startled.

"Serena? What are you doing here? Who gave you this address?"

He didn't invite me in.

He just stood sideways in the doorway, brow furrowed, looking at me.

The suspicion and interrogation in his tone made me inexplicably nervous.

I clutched the hem of my clothes, standing at the door like a child who'd done something wrong.

All the opening lines I'd prepared on the way vanished from my mind.

"Damien!" I spoke softly: "Could you please help me with something?"

"My dad's in the hospital. I urgently need money for his treatment..."

Before I could finish, laughter erupted from inside.

It was Fiona Ashford, Damien's childhood friend.

I'd heard Damien mention her before.

"Damien, is this the new girlfriend you told me about?"

"Didn't you say last time that she wasn't with you for money?"

"No, it's because my dad" I tried to explain.

But Fiona cut me off: "I know!"

"You just have a seriously ill relative who needs money to be saved, right?"

She placed her hand on Damien's shoulder with a light laugh:

"Looks like your new girlfriend is pretty clevershe's even learned to use roundabout tactics to ask for money."

"Though this excuse is pretty old and not very original!"

Fiona looked at me with contempt.

"That's not true, I'm not lying!" I quickly explained to Damien: "My dad really is sick and hospitalized."

I pulled out the crumpled diagnosis certificate from my pocket and held it up to him.

But Fiona snatched it away:

"Wow, you're quite professionaleven made fake medical records that look so authentic?"

"Clearly an expert. You've probably scammed plenty of guys besides Damien, haven't you?"

One sentence branded me a con artist.

Damien, who'd been half-skeptical, suddenly turned dark with anger:

"And here I thought you were different from those gold-digging women."

"Turns out you're all the same."

"I never wanted your money!"

My voice cracked with tears, and I couldn't control them as they streamed down my face.

Damien froze.

But Fiona beside him suddenly clicked her tongue twice:

"They say tears are a woman's best weapon."

"With acting skills like yourscrying on commandit's a real shame you're not in Hollywood."

Two sentences of manipulation successfully made Damien's gaze turn cold again:

"So what exactly are you doing right now?"

My body stiffened. I felt petrified.

Damien's ice-cold questioning was like a frozen blade stabbing straight into my heart.

I opened my mouth.

But my throat felt blocked, and ultimately no sound came out.

Three years of our relationship couldn't withstand Fiona's two sentences of instigation.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

I didn't say anything more.

I just forced myself to wipe away my tears and turned to leave.

But the next day, a hundred thousand dollars suddenly appeared in my bank account.

It was transferred from Damien.

Below it was a message:

"Didn't you want money? Well, here's your chance to earn it."

From that day on, Damien changed.

He was no longer gentle or considerate.

He no longer treated me like his girlfriend.

Instead, he treated me like a plaything to summon and dismiss at will.

When he was thirsty, I had to deliver coffee under the scorching sun.

When he was hungry, I had to bring him meals I'd cooked myself.

When I finally managed to deliver them, he'd dump everything in front of me.

Then casually say: "I suddenly lost my appetite."

Like a game he never tired of playing.

Toying with me again and again.

He even made me wear revealing dresses to accompany him to cocktail parties.

"So this is Damien's girlfriend?"

"You've kept her hidden so long and finally decided to show her off?"

His friends came over with drinks, teasing him.

But Damien denied it outright.

"No!"

"Why would I bring my girlfriend to this kind of occasion?"

When his eyes swept over me, they held a trace of contempt:

"She's just a toy I bought with money!"

A casual remark, yet it stabbed into my heart like a knife.

The pain made it impossible to breathe.

For my father's medical bills, I couldn't defend myself.

I could only stand there stiffly.

The air around me instantly solidified.

The previously curious and scrutinizing gazes all turned to mockery and ridicule.

"A toy? Interesting!"

Damien's friend looked me up and down lecherously.

"When will you let me play with her too?"

"You like this type?" Damien asked casually.

"I'll send her to you when I'm done with her!"

My head snapped up, eyes wide with disbelief.

I couldn't imagine Damien would give me away like an object to someone I'd just met.

"Feeling upset?"

Damien watched my embarrassed and humiliated expression with interest, wrapping his arm around my waist.

The corner of his mouth even held a faint smile.

"Serena Locke, since you're after money, why pretend to be so wronged?"

"I didn't lie to you."

I forced out each word through gritted teeth:

"You can just investigate at the hospital."

"I really just wanted to borrow money for my dad's medical expenses..."

Before I could finish, Damien pulled me into a small room next to the hall.

"You think I didn't investigate?"

"I did look into this patient."

"It's just a pity..."

With a tearing sound, Damien roughly ripped my dress.

"Fiona told me it's all fakea fake patient."

"That's impossibleshe's lying!"

Before I could protect my clothes, a tearing pain shot through my entire body.

"Damien!"

My eyes widened in terror.

"You can't do this here..."

This room was separated from the main hall by only a glass door.

Anyone could see with just a glance.

Damien's head expertly rested on my shoulder:

"Afraid your new target will see?"

He pressed my head against the glass:

"Serena Locke, I never realized you were so capable."

"How many men have you hooked in such a short time?"

"Who's your next target? Mr. Morrison or the Mr. Bennett?"

"I didn'tI'm not that kind of woman!"

I tried to struggle free, but Damien held me firmly in place.

Pain crashed over me.

My whole body shuddered uncontrollably.

Damien ignored my words completely.

Instead, he playfully lifted a strand of my hair: "I can stop."

"But... you can forget about getting another cent from me."

Thinking of the remaining medical bills for my dad, I fell silent.

"See!" Damien's husky voice sounded:

"You're no different from those other women."

Tears rolled down the glass drop by drop.

I bit my lower lip hard, trying not to make a sound.

I don't know how long this humiliation lasted before Damien finally finished with lingering satisfaction.

He straightened his perfectly unwrinkled clothes and walked straight toward the cocktail party.

Leaving only one sentence: "You can leave now."

Not caring at all that my dress was torn to shreds.

I understood.

This was also part of Damien's twisted pleasure.

He wanted me to leave looking disheveled like this.

I bit my lip.

I tried to gather the remaining fabric together and limped toward the exit, enduring the pain.

Despite being extremely careful, I still attracted attention from those around me.

Seeing my appearance, they instantly understood:

"Oh my God, to do such shameless things at this kind of occasion? I've seen it all now."

"Young girls these days will do anything to climb the social ladder!"

"That dress is wasted on hersuch a beautiful dress ruined."

Damien stood in the crowd with a faint smile, as if he had nothing to do with it, enjoying the show.

I ignored them.

I just lowered my head and escaped this suffocating place as quickly as possible.

My phone dinged.

Another hundred thousand deposited.

I don't know when it started, but my relationship with Damien had completely become a financial transaction.

I thought this would be the end of it.

But a few days later, someone anonymously posted compromising photos of me on the campus website.

They even gave it an eye-catching title:

"Female College Student Allegedly Rejected After Offering Herself to Wealthy Elite"

The photo was of me at the party entrance trying desperately to cover myself.

The angle was calculated to maximize my embarrassment and humiliation.

Hateful comments instantly flooded the entire comment section:

"This kind of girl is a disgrace to our schoolshe should just leave!"

"Clearly desperate for money, thinking taking off her clothes will get her into a wealthy family?"

"I heard she's an honors student in her department. Who knew her private life was this messy!"

"Looks decent on the outside but so disgusting inside!"

"Expel her immediately, or she'll ruin our school's reputation!"

My fingers turned white from gripping my phone so hard.

My entire body trembled uncontrollably.

Before I could process it all, my advisor called to inform me of the decision to expel me.

"No, Ms. Parker, please let me explain!"

I gripped my phone tightly, trying to stay calm:

"This isn't what it looks like online."

"This is all a misunderstanding."

After I explained desperately, Ms. Parker finally agreed to give me one more chance to prove myself.

I immediately called Damien, hoping he would clarify things with the school.

But he just laughed dismissively: "Aren't you though?"

One sentence left me frozen in place.

"However... I'm in a good mood today!"

"I can give you a chance to beg me."

So an hour later, I rushed breathlessly to the bar Damien mentioned.

The room was packed with people, and Damien sat right in the center.

He smiled and pointed to the table full of alcohol: "These are all gifts prepared for you."

"Drink them all, and I'll have the dean cancel your expulsion."

He knew I was allergic to alcohol.

Yet he still chose to humiliate me this way.

"Fine!"

But I couldn't be expelled. I had no choice but to agree.

Glass after glass.

My stomach burned painfully.

My face and body swelled more and more from the allergic reaction.

Seeing my movements slow down, Fiona, sitting next to Damien, suddenly spoke:

"Drinking so slowly? Can you afford to waste our time?"

Looking at her smug, instigating expression, a realization dawned on me:

Fiona liked Damien.

That's why she'd framed me repeatedly.

Unfortunately, I realized this too late.

Fiona had already ordered people to pin me to the ground.

First, they pried open my mouth and poured alcohol in.

Then they simply dumped the rest all over me.

Damien just sat there watching without saying a word.

My vision gradually blurred.

My stomach churned with wave after wave of pain.

I felt something flowing out of my body.

I suddenly thought maybe it would be better to just end it all like this.

Something was flowing from my body.

"Blood! She's bleeding!"