Dumped the Jerk, Let Him Regret It

Chapter 5

"Helena, what are you doing?!" Alice gasped, rushing over to help me up. She grabbed my arm, and using her body to block everyone's view, she dug her sharp fingernails deep into my flesh, twisting and gouging hard.

A sharp pain shot up my arm, but my face remained blank.

Leaning in close to my ear, she wore a mask of deep concern while whispering, "How does losing to me feel, Helena? Even if you've stayed by his side for ten years, all it takes is for me to shed a single tear, and you'll be forced to drop to your knees and bow to me."

I looked up at her, my eyes completely hollow.

Damien walked over with long strides, pulling Alice into his embrace.

"Alice, your body is weak, you need to be careful."

He did not look at the blood seeping from my arm; he only cared about whether Alice had overexerted herself while helping me up.

I slowly pulled myself up from the floor. My knees throbbed with pain, but my heart had already gone completely numb.

When the charity gala ended, Damien called me into the VIP lounge. He handed me a plane ticket and a check.

"Helena, I've arranged everything over there. You'll have a house and a car. Just wait three to five years until Alice calms down, and then you can come back. You've been wronged because of Alice's situation. I will visit and keep you company often over the next few years."

There were many zeros on the check, enough for me to squander for a lifetime.

This was my severance pay, and my hush money.

I took the check and tore it into tiny pieces right in front of him.

"Is it too little?" Damien frowned.

Looking down at the scraps of paper littering the floor, I spoke calmly, "Damien Prescott, you truly make me sick."

This was the very first time I had ever looked at him with such eyes.

Damien froze for a moment, looking as if my gaze had physically stung him.

"Helena, this is the absolute best path I have mapped out for you!"

I turned away from him without a second thought.

"A path is something I forge for myself. I don't need your hypocritical charity."

When I stepped through the main doors of the hotel, a heavy torrential rainstorm was pouring down outside.

Dressed only in my thin clothing, I walked straight into the curtain of rain.

Once inside the cab, I reached into the hidden inner pocket of my coat and pulled out a miniature recording pen.

Then, I took out my phone, my thumb hovering directly over the send button.

With a single tap of this button, Damien Prescott would go to prison, the Lockwood family would file for bankruptcy, and Alice Lockwood would lose every bit of protection she had.

Without a single moment of hesitation, I tapped send.

The cab sped off toward the airport. The exact moment the plane took off, I stared out the cabin window down at the ground below.

The distant city lights shone with immense brilliance.

And beneath that brilliance, several police cruisers were already roaring with sirens blaring, completely surrounding the Lockwood estate and the venue of the charity gala.

My phone vibrated violently as Damien's calls flooded in frantically.

I pulled out the SIM card and snapped it clean in two with my fingers.

The world was finally quiet.

Goodbye, Damien Prescott.