He Married My BFF, I Mocked Him Publicly

Chapter 2

What happened seven years ago felt like a lifetime away. Back then, Dominic was a poor boy who could barely afford to feed himself. He spent his days hauling cargo at the docks and was constantly beaten by local thugs for refusing to pay protection money.

The first time I saw him, he was being pinned into a filthy gutter. His face was covered in blood, and two of his ribs were broken, yet he was still swinging his fists and fighting back. I had my men chase the thugs away, then knelt down to look at him.

"Can you still stand?" I asked.

He stared at me in silence, struggling to crawl to his feet only to collapse back onto the ground. When I reached out to help, he violently shoved my hand away.

"I don't need your pity," he spat.

I laughed. I was only twenty back then, having just returned from abroad. As the Whitford heiress, my name carried weight in both high society and the underworld, and everything in life still felt fresh and exciting. I was used to people fawning over me. The stubbornness in his eyes was something I had never seen before.

"I don't pity you. I admire you," I said. "Want to come work for me?"

He froze, looking as if he couldn't comprehend my words.

"I need someone who isn't afraid to die to help watch my operations," I repeated. "Are you in?"

And so, Dominic joined me. Starting from the very bottom as a mere soldier, he did everything from debt collection to street brawling. He was reckless and always threw himself into danger without a second thought, quickly securing his place in the gang. I loved that raw, ruthless edge of his. The thrill he gave me was unlike anything anyone else could offer.

I pursued him relentlessly, making my feelings known to the entire world. I bought him clothes and watches, settled his troubles, and stayed by his side whenever he was injured. At first, Dominic was deeply resistant, constantly evading my advances. That was until a rival gang kidn*pped him and locked him in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. I broke in all by myself. When I arrived, he had already been tortured to the point where not a single inch of his skin was left intact. Enraged, I grabbed an iron pipe, charged in, and fought with everything I had to get him out.

But I was stabbed three times in the process. As I drove him to the hospital, the blood pooling from my wounds completely soaked the driver's seat. Right before I was wheeled into the emergency room, he grabbed my hand and asked, "Why?"

I smiled, my eyes curving into crescents. "Because I like you."

He stared at me for a long time before closing his eyes, a single tear slipping down his cheek.

We became a couple after that. Dominic treated me incredibly well, so much so that it made me feel every sacrifice I had made was worth it. He memorized all my preferences and never let me get hurt again. I truly believed we would stay happy like this forever.

But everything was turned upside down when Celeste appeared. One day, she showed up at my door crying, saying her father had run up heavy debts through loan sharking, and the creditors were coming to kill them. With nowhere else to go, she begged for shelter. Since she was my best friend from school, I softened and let her move in. In the beginning, she and Dominic couldn't stand the sight of each other, and I constantly had to play peacemaker between them.

The turning point came on my twenty-fifth birthday. I had taken some men out for a debt collection run, but the other side played dirty and ambushed us. I took a deep knife wound to the back, and clutching the wound, I stumbled all the way home.

The front door was unlocked, so I pushed it open. In the living room, Celeste was standing on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around Dominic's neck as they kissed passionately. I froze on the spot, blood slowly dripping from between my fingers. My ears were ringing, and the only sound I could hear was the increasingly heavy thud of my own heartbeat.

Dominic was the first to notice me. He let go of Celeste and turned around, his face completely devoid of panic. Celeste, on the other hand, gasped in terror and frantically adjusted her clothes.

"Let me explain..." she stammered.

With a trembling hand, I wiped away the blood dripping into my eyes. Dominic walked over, reaching out to touch my hand, but I flinched away.

"It's been seven years, Serena. I'm bored," Dominic said.

"So you slept with my best friend?"

"Everyone wants to try something new eventually. Besides, Celeste is sweet and simple. You're just too overbearing."

Trembling with rage, I raised my hand to slap him, but he caught my wrist with ease.

"Let's break up," I said quietly.

"No," Dominic said, frowning. "I'm used to having you around. Why can't we just keep things as they are? You can pretend you don't know anything, and we can go back to how we were."

Staring at him, I suddenly felt as if the man standing in front of me was a complete stranger.

"Dominic," I enunciated, every syllable laced with venom. "You disgust me."