Chapter 3
1057 Words
I hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on Brinley. It didn't take much work to uncover the truth.
She was never that innocent little angel everyone believed her to be. Underneath the sweet act, her private life was incredibly messy.
For fifty thousand dollars, I bought a collection of intimate video clips of her and her boyfriend.
In those videos, Brinley and that man were entirely uninhibited. They filmed themselves everywhere. In the car, out in the grass, even in the back of a movie theater.
The most jaw-dropping clip was one where Brinley was tied up, the man grinding against her while she screamed 'help' over and over, intentionally acting as if she were being forced against her will.
Off-camera, her boyfriend even grinned and explained that this was just kinky roleplay between them... Brinley's favorite kind.
I slammed the flash drive down in front of Julian. "Brinley isn't the angel you think she is. She was filming this garbage when she was only eighteen. She's a total fraud, Julian! She doesn't deserve to be part of our family."
But at that same moment, the clip of Brinley 'being forced' leaked and went viral all over the internet.
Brinley curled up in Julian's arms, sobbing her eyes out as if her heart were breaking. "Chloe hates me so much she had to rip open my worst wound and show it to the whole world? I don't have any dignity left to go on living. All I owe you in this life, Julian, I'll pay you back in my next..."
She lifted a dagger straight at her own heart, but Julian caught the blade with his bare hand. Blood dripped down his wrist, pooling onto the floor.
Julian's gaze burned into me as if he wanted to stab right through my bones, his voice colder than shards of midwinter ice, "Can't you see she was forced? How could you do this to her? Do you have any idea how much a girl's reputation means?"
I fumbled to explain, the words catching in my throat. "The video online... it wasn't me who leaked it—"
But Julian didn't hear a single word. Instead, he said, "Fine. If you really don't know what it feels like, then you're going to experience it for yourself."
He hired the best prosecutor in the city, had the entire trial broadcast live, and threw me behind bars for leaking private information. Everyone turned on me overnight. I became public enemy number one, despised by everyone.
I tried to file an appeal from my cell, but Julian crushed that hope under his heel without a second thought.
"You've always turned your nose up at my money, right?" he told me during a glass-walled visit. "I want you to remember this: everything you have, I gave it to you. I can take it all away. As long as I'm here, you won't find a single lawyer in this city who will dare take your case. Five years. I hope that's enough time to teach you respect, empathy, and how to humble yourself."
An unbreakable weight locked around my heart back then, and I drowned in an endless ocean of agony I couldn't claw my way out of.
I stopped fighting.
I crumpled heavily to the cold prison floor, and the last thing I saw was the memory of him walking away with Brinley, never looking back once.
As the man standing in front of me now melted into that face seared into my memory, I felt no pain, no resentment... nothing at all.
The doctor was right. I had fully moved on.
I smiled, calm and cool. "The people closest to you, Mr. Lucas, could be your sister, or they could be your future wife. It just can never be me."
The bitter edge in Julian's voice grew thicker. "Chloe, do you really have to talk to me like that? I know the punishment I gave you back then was harsh, but I just didn't want you to turn into a spoiled, arrogant brat who took everything for granted."
He stepped closer, his eyes pleading. "Be good. Come home with your brother. I'll take good care of you. The world is a dangerous place, and you've been sheltered your whole life. Only when you come home can I give you the best protection, the best medical care. The best of everything... Chloe—"
"Chloe!" A voice calling from down the street cut him off mid-sentence.
I turned my head and spotted my brother running toward me, his face half-hidden behind a protective face mask.
I waved at him brightly.
As he closed the distance between us, he smoothly took the grocery bag from my hand and pulled me along with him.
Julian's eyes darkened sharply. "Chloe, who is this guy?"
The sudden, demanding question made my brother pause in his steps. "Chloe, do you two know each other?"
I forced a thin, polite smile. "Just an old acquaintance from many years ago."
Suspicion sharpened Julian's gaze. He reached out, trying to yank me back to his side.
My brother pulled his mask down, extending a hand in a polite but firm greeting. "Hello, I'm Ethan Vance."
Julian stood frozen for a few seconds, his face turning pale as if he were forcing himself to swallow ash.
"Mr. Vance... I'll admit my company needs your corporation's partnership. But Chloe is my sister. I, Julian Lucas, would never throw my sister under the bus just to get ahead in business."
Julian looked back at me, a cruel edge creeping into his tone as he tried to defend his territory. "You're the most powerful executive in this city, Mr. Vance. You can have any woman you want. Chloe has a criminal record, and she struggles with severe mental illness. She isn't worth your attention…"
My brother immediately recognized who Julian was. His expression went icy, and he instantly stepped in front of me, shielding me completely from Julian’s view.
"You've got that completely wrong, Mr. Lucas," Ethan said, his voice dripping with authority. "Why on earth would I care about anyone else's sister, when I am simply taking care of my own?"
Julian stared past Ethan's shoulder at me, shock written all over his face. "Chloe... how can you possibly be Mr. Vance's sister?"
- Writer
