Chapter 2
The ballroom went dead silent.
Zachary, who had been keeping an eye on her the whole night, couldn’t hold back anymore. He stormed over, grabbed Jasmine by the arm, and dragged her out into the hallway before she even realized what was happening.
They were so close now that she could clearly see it–in those cold eyes that had fixed on her since their reunion, there was suddenly a flicker of disbelief, even a trace of trembling.
“Why do you have a prison wristband? Have you been to jail?”
Jasmine didn’t dare look at his face. Her chest felt crushed, overflowing with bitterness and grief.
“Answer me! Jasmine!”
She forced her eyes wide open and curved her lips into a careless smile, nodding lightly. “Yes. I went to prison.
“Back then, I fooled around with that rich heir for half a year and even slept with his friend. He dumped me for being dirty. After that, I found some old guy with money–he was old, sure, but still had energy. The only problem was that he hated protection.
“I got pregnant three times and had them all aborted. The doctor said I’ll never be able to have kids again. When I asked him for money, he refused and tried to beat me. I accidentally killed him and ended up serving a few years in prison. So what?”
With every word she spoke, Zachary’s expression grew darker, his face
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Chapter 2
hardening into cold indifference.
He couldn’t control the strength in his grip, his fingers digging into her hand until it turned purple. Through clenched teeth, he hissed, “Were you really that willing to sink so low?”
“Low? Please. People do what they have to for survival. I just wanted a taste of high society. Don’t act like this is news to you.”
A
Her calm tone snapped the last thread of his restraint. Rage consumed him, and his words came sharp, brutal. “Yeah. I always knew you were the kind of whore who would sell her dignity and self–respect for money! The biggest mistake of my life was ever loving a filthy woman like you. You deserve every bit of misery you’ve got–it’s nothing but retribution!”
After unleashing years of pent–up anger, he flung her hand away and stormed off without looking back.
The moment his silhouet This book had been added on your bookshelf. ay, Jasmine’s tears finally broke free.
She crumpled to the floor, arms wrapped tightly around herself, as if that could hold together her shattering heart. The pain was so raw and suffocating, she thought she might pass out.
Those nightmarish memories came crashing back, swallowing her whole.
After breaking up with Zachary, she spent a month back home with her stepfather, waiting for news that Zachary had finally accepted the school’s offer to study abroad. With him gone, out of her stepfather’s reach, she thought it was safe to confide in her mother and begged her to run away together
But her mother’s reaction had been nothing like what she hoped. Instead, her mother lashed out, screaming hysterically that she was filthy and a disgrace for seducing even her stepfather,
Chapter 2
The shouting woke her stepfather. When he realized she planned to escape, he grabbed a rope, determined to tie her down.
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Everything after that blurred into chaos. All she remembered was blood. Her stepfather killed her mother, and in the struggle, she ended up killing him.
She was arrested, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to four years in prison.
By the time she got out, doctors told her she had late–stage cancer.
And now, at the very edge of her life, she found herself face–to–face with Zachary once more.
Jasmine couldn’t tell if this was fate or a coincidence. But she knew one thing–since she had buried the truth from the start, she would take it to the grave.
It took her a long time to steady herself again.
In the days that followed, Zachary didn’t come looking for her. She thought maybe he was too disgusted even to demand the 800 thousand dollars anymore.
That was, until one afternoon, when he suddenly texted her–ordering her to get to the hospital within 20 minutes.
Lateefa Khanam is a spirited writer who finds freedom in horse riding. She cherishes her mare and the newborn foal, calling them her little happy family.
