Chapter 1
Each time I begged her not to, she’d turn to me, her eyes red-rimmed, questioning me word by agonizing word.
“Julian, you said I was the only one you loved. I’m just helping you prove it. If you truly love me, you can control yourself, right?”
For three years, she insisted on a sexless marriage, claiming that only after I passed her loyalty test 101 times would we truly be husband and wife.
But just as I was about to conquer the 99th test, Scarlett’s voice drifted into my ears, chilling me to the bone.
“Men, you have to whip them again and again for them to be loyal.”
“Scarlett, what about your dark-skinned boy toy…?”
“Who cares? He’s just a simp. He’s nothing without me. Where would he go? And I just love the thrill. You guys don’t know how aggressive that dark-skinned stud is when he’s in bed with me, in our room…”
Laughter and teasing echoed through the private room.
My head, previously swimming in a drugged haze, was suddenly sickeningly clear.
A bitter smile twisted my lips.
She loved thrills, but what she didn’t know was that her dark-skinned lover loved them even more.
1.
This was the 99th time she’d sent me to her best friend’s bed, all to test my loyalty, to see if I could control myself.
Three years. Test after test had left me broken and battered.
She claimed she suffered from extreme hypersensitivity, an intense emotional fragility. I understood her delicate state and was willing to become her devoted homemaker, caring for her every need.
“So, how’s he still in shape? Did you girls get a good show?”
“Scarlett, why don’t we turn Julian’s photos into blind boxes? Wouldn’t that add more excitement?”
They chatted loudly, completely ignoring me, curled up in the corner.
“His face is the only thing he’s got left. Otherwise, I would have kicked him out ages ago. These past three years have been dead boring. He’s such a stiff, boring man. That young stud is far more entertaining.”
Her words pierced my heart like needles, and my breath hitched as if someone had choked me.
So, it wasn’t that she disliked men touching her; she just disliked me.
“Oh, Scarlett, you even have photos of him in a maid outfit! That’s wild! Looks like Julian really does whatever you say. The aloof campus heartthrob, trained like this.”
Hearing their comments, I felt encased in ice. She had cried and cajoled me into taking all sorts of humiliating and compromising photos, and now they were just entertainment, shared for her friends’ amusement and mockery.
The burning heat in my body forced me to curl up in agony. I had no choice but to pull out the blade I always kept hidden and plunge it deep into my thigh.
Scarlett, who was engrossed in a game, was drawn by my sudden movement.
A photo fluttered down, landing right beside me.
It was a picture of me, naked and bound by a belt, with whip marks.
“Good performance today. I’ve prepared a gift for you at home, your reward for today.”
Scarlett walked towards me, step by delicate step, her fair fingers lightly tracing my jawline.
Looking at the girl before me, I didn’t know when my eyes had filled with tears.
When did the girl I had followed for ten years become this person?
“Do you really have to humiliate me like this?”
“Humiliate? Julian, didn’t you say I was the only one you loved? Didn’t you say you’d accept everything about me? How is this humiliation? I’m just making my friends happy. Didn’t you say my happiness was the most important thing?”
2.
Chloe Vance, Scarlett’s best friend, gripped a syringe and plunged it straight into my arm.
The burning sensation consumed me again.
“Scarlett, I’ve increased the dosage. Let’s see him make a fool of himself.”
Chloe’s wild behavior made Scarlett frown, a flicker of concern crossing her face.
“Isn’t the dosage too high? He might…”
Before she could finish, Chloe stripped off my clothes and threw me out of the private room.
“What are you afraid of? He’ll love you no matter what. It’s just a bigger test for him.”
Left in only my underwear, I was thrown into the lobby by the bodyguards. The humiliating loss of bodily control and the stares of everyone around me made my scalp tingle, and I promptly passed out.
When I woke again, the only sound was the steady beep of medical machines.
“You’re finally awake. It’s a miracle you pulled through after being injected with that much stimulant. Another minute, and your body would have… well, exploded.”
“Seriously, who did you piss off to get such a potent drug? Your body needs time to recover. No bedroom activities for a while.”
Nurse Miller babbled on beside my ear. My mind replayed the memories of chasing after Scarlett for over a decade.
It truly felt like a joke.
She was no longer the girl who had held an umbrella over me that year, asking if I was cold or hungry.
After Nurse Miller left, I ripped out the IV.
For her, I had abandoned my entire social circle. Now, I was utterly alone.
June weather was always unpredictable. Fat raindrops began to pelt down from the sky.
Rainwater mixed with tears blurred my vision.
Before I knew it, I had walked over six miles, all the way to that so-called home.
I stood outside the door for a long time before finally pushing it open.
Inside, clothes were strewn everywhere. There were even suggestive stains on the floor.
Then, the unrestrained moans of a man and woman assaulted my ears.
“Sister, you haven’t looked for me in so long, I missed you so much… One more time, let sister know how much I missed her.”
“Seriously, I could just die in your arms. You’re so strong.”
My feet moved uncontrollably toward the master bedroom. They hadn’t closed the door. The intertwined black and white figures burned my eyes.
A self-deprecating smile curved my lips.
What was I still hoping for? This was her dark-skinned boy toy, Jaxson.
She had insisted on a sexless marriage, claiming it was a three-year trial period, and if I passed, we’d truly become husband and wife.
Everything, absolutely everything, felt like a cruel joke.
All these years, I had lived in the cage she painstakingly wove for me.
On the table was her “compensation” for me today.
It was a silk shirt. But she clearly knew I was allergic to silk.
My self-loathing deepened another notch.
I don’t know how long passed before the sounds from inside finally stopped.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the boring old man. How dare you still show your face here? Enjoying the show?”
It was Jaxson Riley, her dark-skinned boy toy.
He held my family heirloom watch in his hand and wore the shirt my mother had personally sewn for me before she passed.
“Who gave you permission to touch my things? That was left to me by my mother!”
“Something left by a mistress? I wouldn’t even wear it, it’s bad luck. And you, the son of a mistress, dare to talk back to me like that?”
He snorted coldly, picked up a glass from the table, and splashed its contents over me.
The watch in his hand was violently smashed to the floor.
Watching the last thing my mother left me being so cruelly trampled, my pupils instantly constricted.
A surge of strength I didn’t know I possessed coursed through me. I dragged my numb body forward and landed a punch square on his face.
Jaxson stumbled back from the impact, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
“Julian, are you insane? Who gave you the guts?!”
Scarlett heard the commotion and rushed down the stairs.
She nervously threw herself in front of Jaxson, her eyes filled with concern.
“Scarlett, I just said hello to my brother-in-law, and he immediately resorted to violence.”
As he spoke, he slapped himself several times across the face.
Scarlett’s heart ached even more. She lunged forward and brutally kicked me.
My already weakened body staggered back several steps.
The shattered pieces of my watch dug deep into my palm, but I felt no pain at all.
Carefully, I picked up the broken pieces of the watch, one by one, and wrapped them up.
“You’re right. I’ve been insane for a long time. Driven mad by you.”
“You can humiliate me, and I won’t mind, but you cannot humiliate my mother!”
I advanced on her, step by step, wanting to see the girl from ten years ago through her eyes.
Only then did she notice the shattered watch on the floor. She parted her lips to speak but said nothing.
“Let’s get a divorce.”
I said coldly.
3.
Scarlett stared at me in disbelief, but uttering those words brought me an unprecedented sense of lightness.
Jaxson, who had been observing, suddenly spoke up:
“Scarlett, I think Julian’s possessed!”
“I studied with a master for a few years. He’s full of bad karma. We should curb his arrogance, and then Scarlett’s luck will improve, and his mind will clear up.”
Scarlett looked at my resolute gaze, frowned, and declared:
“You’re right. He must be possessed, and he even hurt you. He deserves to be punished!”
Moments later, her bodyguards had me firmly restrained.
Jaxson whispered a few words into her ear. A flicker of hesitation crossed her face.
After a long pause, she finally told him:
“Alright! Do as you say. Julian, I hope this time you’ll understand your mistake!”
The moment she spoke, the bodyguards forcefully poured something down my throat.
I felt all strength drain from my body instantly, leaving only numbness.
When I opened my eyes again, my body was submerged in icy water. Something slimy crawled all over my skin.
The overwhelming terror made me want to scream in agony, but I found my voice trapped in my throat.
“Well, well, well, you’re awake! Honestly, your body is really ugly. No wonder Scarlett doesn’t like you. All those scars look like centipedes crawling all over you. It’s disgusting!”
Only then did I see that dozens of snakes were slithering and climbing all over my body.
“Go on, scream if you dare! But you can’t, can you? Why should the son of a mistress take Scarlett’s husband’s place? Just because of your face?!”
“Ha! Everything you have, I’ll take it back from you, piece by piece!”
Jaxson’s words came one after another, but all I heard was a buzzing in my ears.
A bitter smile played on my lips. Was this with her consent too?
She knew that my deepest phobia was snakes.
Years ago, when we went camping, I was accidentally bitten by a snake, and she carried me down the mountain, step by agonizing step.
But now, I was afraid she had forgotten all about it.
“Time for you to ‘cleanse your karma’ with the snakes and ‘accumulate good fortune’ for Scarlett.”
Jaxson’s words dragged me deeper into hell, like a demon’s taunt.
He wore a look of malicious glee, a wicked smirk on his lips.
“Scarlett and I are going to spend the night together. You just stay put.”
What a cruel way to talk about “cleansing karma” and “accumulating good fortune.”
I don’t know how long I stayed in the water. Finally, the numbness of the drug began to wear off.
Only the intimate sounds of a man and a woman remained in the villa.
Their voices churned my stomach.
Waves of nausea washed over me.
I laughed softly.
Laughing at my own pathetic state, my feelings utterly crushed.
Dragging my numb body, I crawled out of the water. My foot seemed to prick something.
It was a broken bracelet.
Fifteen-year-old Scarlett had carved it herself. She used to say this bracelet would protect her Julian and keep him safe.
Now, the bracelet, like our irreversible relationship, was shattered. The girl she once was, was truly dead.
I walked to the storage room, where all our memories lay.
Watching the wedding photo, which I had begged her for so long to take, slowly turn to ash, the last flicker of hope in my heart vanished completely.
My phone vibrated incessantly. I pulled it out and saw 99+ messages.
“Julian, check the headlines! They’re treating you like dirt!”
It was a message from Leo Davis, one of the few friends who still kept in touch with me over the years.
#HayesGroupSon-in-Law “Son of a Mistress” Mother Was a Home-wrecker#