Chapter 4
After leaving the university, my mind was numb as I somehow made it onto a bus, returning to the home I hadn’t seen in a long time.
When I arrived home, the door was splashed with paint, with the words “Mistress, go die” written in large letters.
I took out my key to open the door, only to be grabbed by my perpetually drunk dad.
“Where’s the money? The breakup money? Give it to me!”
He started to feel around my body, ignoring gender boundaries, and I shoved him away.
“No! There’s no money!”
“Gideon and I were in love and broke up peacefully. I didn’t ask him for money!”
“Nonsense!”
Another slap landed on my face.
My dad pointed at my nose, yelling, “Bullshit! What kind of bullshit love? The internet says you got millions in breakup money. You’re trying to fool me!”
“If not for money, why climb into his bed?”
He stormed into the bedroom and grabbed a whip.
I instinctively trembled, memories of being abused as a child flashing before my eyes.
The whoosh of the whip, the unending pleas of pain, the agony of lacerations from the whip, and the ultimate torment of him rubbing salt into the wounds, making me feel like I couldn’t live or die.
“Dad, don’t…”
Watching him approach with the whip, I frantically pulled out the pregnancy test report and knelt down.
“Dad, you can’t hit me. I’m pregnant with Gideon’s child…”
He finally halted, paused, then snatched the pregnancy test report, and after reading it, kicked me in the shoulder.
“Shameless, just like your mother who ran away!”
“I heard Gideon has a low sperm count. How could the child be his? Tell me, which other man have you been fooling around with?”
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, and the whip was about to come down.
“Today, I’m going to beat this disgraceful brat to death!”
I pushed him away and got up, grabbing a fruit knife from the coffee table and pressing it to my neck.
The blade cut into my neck, drawing blood.
Grievance and anger filled me, and my hand shook uncontrollably, making it hard to control the pressure.
“Fine! You want money, right? If I die now, you won’t get a cent!”
Finally, my dad calmed down.
He squinted and asked, “Is it really Gideon’s?”
At this point, I could only nod.
Instantly, my dad’s mood shifted, and he was all smiles, wanting to drag me to find Gideon, saying I was now Gideon’s family’s young mistress.
“Stop!”
“What do you want to do now?”
I pressed the knife harder, causing more blood to seep out.
I bitterly curled my lips, “I’ll go alone. If you come with me, it’ll just be a scene. Only if I go and play the victim will I get more money.”
Hearing that I could get more money, he let me go.
But I had no intention of finding Gideon.
I took out my phone, checked the tickets, and planned to head to a new place to start over.
To completely leave this oppressive environment.
But as I was looking at the tickets, I felt eyes on me like needles.
When I looked up, I noticed people passing by were giving me strange looks.
At that moment, my phone rang.
I opened Gideon’s social media account and saw he had posted an electronic invitation to his wedding with Adeline.
He had publicly acknowledged our past and casually said,
“Please don’t cyberbully Cora. She just likes me too much.”
A wave of nausea surged from my stomach.
I covered my mouth, overwhelmed by sadness and anger.
Gideon did this, pretending to stand up for me.
But!
As I stared at the ticket, it felt as though curious glances were pricking at me. When I looked up, I realized that passersby were giving me odd looks.
Just then, my phone rang. I opened Gideon’s social media account and saw he had posted the digital invitation for his wedding with Lydia. He casually acknowledged our past, saying, “Please don’t target Miss Cora online, she’s just overly fond of me.”
A wave of nausea surged up from my stomach. I covered my mouth, feeling both grief and anger. Gideon’s words seemed like he was defending me. But!
Wasn’t he just confirming that I was the other woman? I wiped at my throat, feeling the sting of pain, unsure if it was from my heart or an actual wound.
With a trembling hand, I uploaded years of chat logs, photos of us together, and the gifts he gave me onto social media. “I’m Cora from the mistress scandal, but I’m not the mistress. Gideon and Lydia know very well who the real one is.”
“When I found out Gideon was getting married, I was devastated. I thought our seven-year relationship was finally going somewhere. But Gideon told me he couldn’t give me a title and wouldn’t break off his engagement with Lydia.”
“He wanted me to pretend nothing happened, to remain his compliant lover, while he and Lydia conquered the business world together.”
“I refused and broke up with him. But to get rid of me, they painted me as a scheming graduate student willing to do anything to graduate. And what about Gideon? Isn’t he responsible for deceiving his student?”
As my emotions ran high, blood trickled from my neck. I posted everything about my years with Gideon and what Lydia said to me online. I want everyone to see his true character.