Chapter 3
In that moment, David didn’t look human to me. He looked like a monster—something ripped straight from hell, grinning with bloodstained teeth.
Unsurprisingly, the photos were leaked again.
Even though the faces were blurred, anyone who knew me could recognize my body, my room, my life. And the comments—God, the comments—were a sewer of filth.
"Damn, isn’t this the slut from before? The blur makes it even hotter."
"Look at that body—tiny waist, that ass…Tsk, what a treat."
"She looks like a goddess made for sin."
"Wonder how much a night with her costs. Rich guys get all the fun."
I gripped my phone so tightly my knuckles went white. My body curled under the sheets, trembling uncontrollably as I tried to hold myself together.
Their words crawled under my skin like maggots. I wanted to scream, but my voice had long drowned in tears.
A few minutes later, the photos and comments were wiped from the internet. Reported, scrubbed, silenced.
But the damage was done. A few minutes were all it took to ruin a person.
I cried until I couldn’t breathe. I don’t know when I passed out.
When I finally woke up, my eyes were swollen, my face blotchy. And across the table from me, calmly having breakfast like nothing had happened, was David.
He didn’t even look up. Just muttered a half-hearted, “Morning,” while scrolling on his phone.
But I caught a glimpse of what was on his screen.
A group chat. All men—his usual toxic little crew. And just one woman. Celia Davis.
I only read a few messages before my stomach turned.
"Yo, Ashcroft, bring her over. We wanna see what all the fuss is about."
"We’re just gonna look, nothing else."
"Come on, even Celia wants a peek, right Celia?"
Celia sent a laughing emoji.
I nearly crushed the spoon in my hand. My blood boiled. My jaw locked.
The memory of those blurred photos burned behind my eyelids. Worse was David’s wicked grin as he snapped them. How he deliberately angled the camera to catch my tears.
Like he got off on watching me fall apart.
I stared at him, voice cold as steel. “You posted those pictures.”
He didn’t even blink. “I didn’t. My phone was hacked.”
Coward.
He couldn’t even look me in the eye. Couldn’t admit it. Couldn’t own up to what he did.
I wanted to throw something at him. Instead, I stood up, heart pounding.
If this was the man I once thought I could tolerate—I had to be fucking blind.
Fine. If he wanted war, I’d give it to him.
But first, I had to get out of this house.
I turned to leave, but his hand shot out, blocking my path.
“There’s a party tonight. You’re coming with me.”
I froze. My heart dropped.
So that was it. He really wanted to parade me in front of them. Let them gawk at me like I was some kind of trophy.
I shoved him hard. “I’m not going.”
He smiled. The kind of smile that made your skin crawl.
“If you’re gonna act up, I’ll get mad.”
I backed away, hand reaching for my phone to call someone—anyone.
No signal.
I stared at my phone in disbelief. Then I saw it—The small, black device on the nearby table.
A signal jammer.
He jammed the signal. He planned this. He walked toward me, slowly, as if I was prey. But he didn’t hit me. Didn’t grab me.
Instead, he gently wiped the sweat off my forehead. Like a lover. Like a lunatic.
“Relax,” he said, like he was soothing a child. “It’s just a normal gathering. You’ve met my guys before. Celia’s back in town—you haven’t seen her yet.”
“I’m not going,” I spat, backing away like he was poison.
He sighed. “But they all want to see you…”
That’s when I ran. I didn’t care where. I just needed to get out.
But I didn’t make it far. A sudden, sharp blow slammed into the back of my head.
The world spun. Darkness swallowed me.
And the last thing I saw before it all went black…Was David catching me in his arms with a twisted smile on his face.
When I woke up, I was in the back of a car.
Dizzy. Fuzzy. Weak.
I was dressed in something I’d never wear—a black, skin-tight dress that clung to me like a second skin, exposing more than it covered.
I was lying against David’s chest, his arm wrapped around me like I belonged to him.
And I knew—Tonight, the real nightmare was only beginning.
