In the morning, the Greenfield Building buzzed with activity. To avoid adding fuel to the gossip fire, I decided to have Luke drop me off two blocks away. I eagerly grabbed my bag and exited the car.Just as I stepped out, my phone buzzed with a message from Wendy. She had sent me a video. I opened it to find footage of two staff members from Johnsonville Business School removing Max's photo from the wall of distinguished alumni.Right after the video ended, Wendy called."Jen, the school took down Max's photo! They're practically crucifying him. He'll never be seen on the same level as Luke again!""When did Luke's image become so grand in your eyes?"Max's photo used to hang next to Luke's on the wall. Every time Max stood there, he would sneer at Luke's picture, mocking him."He's always been great. I've always looked up to him. Today is a victory. I'm going to post this video on social media and the school forum.""I'll make sure to create a fake account to watch.""Just wa
"She's not doing charity! She's causing trouble. That idiot Max, so clever that he's outsmarted himself, doesn't even have evidence of Cindy using him.""Someday, she will pay for what she's done."Cindy manipulated me like a toy, planning everything from the beginning. She kept provoking me, confident that I couldn't touch her. But no plan is foolproof. I just have to wait patiently for her downfall."Absolutely! Max is terrible, but Cindy is even worse. If it weren't for the fact that Old Mrs. Lansworth is in poor health, I would have already gone to her to expose Cindy."Old Mrs. Lansworth, Lucy, doesn't like Cindy. With her poor health, any stress could worsen it and deepen the rift between the Lansworth and Smith families."Calm down, Wendy. We'll find another way.""Jen, are you okay?"Wendy asked with concern in her voice."I'm not your favorite anymore, Wendy. You only just now remembered to ask how I'm feeling?"Feigning a pout, I glanced at the TV screen, took a bite
I ignored the call, put my phone on silent, tossed it into my bag, and headed to meet Wendy.I took a cab to in99 and had just gotten out when someone bumped into me, spilling the contents of her bag all over the ground."I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she stammered, quickly bending down to gather her things.Her voice sounded familiar. "It's okay," I said, crouching to help her."Jen?" Sharon asked, looking up in surprise as she zipped her bag closed."What happened? You look so upset," I asked. Sharon, unlike Cindy, had a good character, and I had a favorable impression of her."It's Cindy... she's missing!" Sharon's eyes were red, and she looked like she was about to cry."She can't just disappear," I replied, skeptical."I really can't find her," Sharon insisted, her voice frantic. "We were shopping, and she was trying on clothes. I ran into an old friend and chatted for a bit. When I went back, Cindy was gone.""Maybe she went home.""No," Sharon shook her head, pointing
"The incident back then was your doing too," I said, trying to control my rising anger as I confronted Cindy, who had hurt me so many times without any repercussions."So what if it was? What can you do about it?" Cindy taunted, clearly pleased with herself. "Jen, with your level of intelligence, going against me is just setting yourself up for humiliation. You're not even a challenge. But before I declare a temporary truce, I'll do you a favor.""The identity of the man that night means nothing to me. This isn't worth meeting you over," I said, suspecting she was just trying to find another way to hurt me."If you don't come, I'll take your father's ashes abroad and bury them with my mother. He was with your mother in life; in death, he can be with my mother. That's fair.""Address," I demanded. Cindy was crazy enough to follow through on her threat. She had already proven she would go to any lengths to hurt me."That's more like it. Come to Asta Residence. I want to see you in t
Wasn't he supposed to be in the hospital? How could he be right behind me?Realizing the danger, my body instinctively tensed, and I tightened my grip on my bag.Holding my breath, I stayed still, observing his movements through the glass door.Max approached quickly. As he reached out to cover my mouth, I spun around, swung my bag at him, and stomped on his foot."Ouch!"Max cried out in pain and paused.Ever since he nearly killed me at Cintail Mountain, I had developed a post-traumatic response. When I saw him in jail, the bars between us allowed me to remain calm.Now, fear took over. I screamed and ran in panic."Shut up!" Max, now a fugitive, feared drawing attention and yelled at me to be quiet.Ignoring him, I kept shouting, "Help! Help!""Jen, you're asking for trouble!" Max, desperate and dangerous, had nothing to lose. If he caught me, survival was unlikely. I ran as fast as I could."You think you can escape?" Max's long strides closed the distance between us. I
Last night at ten o'clock, when I was getting ready to go to sleep, I got a call from an unknown number in our city.The voice on the line, clear and pleasant, asked, "Are you Jen Middleton?"I didn't hesitate and said, "Yes, that's me. Who's this?"Instead of answering, the woman laughed and said, "Your husband is so wild in bed"I was completely confused and was about to ask who she was and how she knew anything about my husband, but the call was abruptly cut off, leaving a dial tone.At first, I thought it was just a prank and didn't think much of it.But as soon as I hung up the phone, a troubling thought crossed my mind: if it was just a prank, how did the caller know my name so accurately?Lost in my thoughts, I received a video through text from the same unknown number, followed by a message."Don't believe it? Take a close look at the true colors of your husband, Max Jennings."Even the mention of my husband’s name ‘Max Jennings' was alarmingly accurate.A few seconds
It took every ounce of courage I had to tremulously tap open the second video clip.In the video, Max was shown bathing in a transparent glass shower, and two used condoms were lying on the carpet.The mistress purposefully zoomed in and asked Max in the video, "Max, you're so naughty, lying to your wife about being busy with work out of town.""How else would I find time to be with you?" he replied."Isn't she about to give birth? Shouldn't you be there for her?"Max responded nonchalantly, "What's so special about a woman giving birth? If I were there, would it make her suffer any less?""You bad boy! Is it because your wife is pregnant and it's inconvenient that you can't bear to touch her, and now you're so horny? Tonight, I almost broke under you.""Do you think she tastes as good as you?" Max scoffed dismissively, "Even if she wasn't pregnant, I would be too lazy to touch her.""Liar, if you're too lazy to touch her, how did she get pregnant? Could it be that the child in
Max, who was two years ahead of me in college, caught my eye during freshman orientation and it was love at first sight.Clad in a white shirt and black casual pants, Max stood tall at six feet, boasting a lean and beautiful physique reminiscent of a masterpiece crafted by skilled sculptors. Emerging from beneath the lush camphor trees along the campus path, he waved and smiled, with the bright sunlight casting a dappled glow upon him, his eyes sparkling.It was impossible not to be captivated.Once we began dating, I learned that Max was enrolled in the Business School, while I pursued studies in the School of Foreign Languages. On the day we met, he mistook me for a Business School freshman and kindly carried my luggage all the way to my dorm.It was only upon reaching the entrance to my dorm building that he realized I belonged to a different department. However, driven by his love at first sight, he boldly continued with his mistake.He confessed to me that from the moment he