He Left Me for His Ex—Then Found Out I'm a Billionaire's Daughter

Chapter 2

Then Emmett's tone turned even more cutting. "Alice, do you really think that just because I compliment you in bed sometimes, that means I love you?" he went on. "In my heart, you're nothing but a cheap w***e!"

That sentence pierced my heart like a blade of ice. I stared in disbelief at the man I had loved and supported with all my heart for years.

I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. "Say that again!" I demanded. "If it weren't for my father's influence, the city's top wedding venues wouldn't even rent out for two million for a quarter of an hour! Without my family's connections, could you have hired the country's leading luxury event designer for five million? Emmett Archer, you have everything today because of me! I think you've lost your mind!"

Stunned by the slap, Emmett froze in place. He looked at me, red-eyed, furious, and deeply disappointed, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes.

But the next second, his pride and deep-seated insecurity took over.

He deliberately avoided my gaze and licked his lips uneasily. "Your father? Your father's just a homeless bum!" he blurted. "Nobody even knows where he's dead or alive, and you're still using him to bluff?"

Vera let out a cold laugh. "In the end, you're just bitter about being dumped, so you're trying to squeeze out more money, aren't you?" she said.

She raised her foot, clad in expensive high heels, and pointed it straight at me. "Here's the deal," she continued. "My shoe is dirty. Kneel down and lick it clean. If you do a good job, I'll give you another five million."

The guests instantly grew excited and pulled out their phones to record.

"Lick it, go on! Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to make money!"

"That's double the money! Alice, stop pretending to be pure. You've done this kind of thing plenty of times in the slums!"

"It's just licking a shoe. You've licked feet before, so what's the big deal?"

Vera covered her mouth in feigned surprise. "Emmett, you told me before that she used to lick random people's feet for money," she said. "So it's true?"

All eyes locked onto me.

I stood frozen, looking at Emmett in shock. "Did you spread those rumors?" I asked.

Emmett shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze. "Wasn't I telling the truth?" he muttered. "Back then, I couldn't stand the sight of you. I didn't even want to touch you. If I hadn't said those things and ruined your reputation, how would you have had the sense to back off and stop clinging to me?"

Looking at Emmett's brazen expression, I felt that all our years of sticking together in the slums had turned to nothing.

That year was when Emmett's first business venture failed disastrously, leaving him deep in debt to loan sharks. The gang came after him with a vengeance, beating him with clubs and fists.

They nearly hacked his leg clean off. I disregarded my own safety, knelt on the ground, and desperately prostrated myself, pressing my forehead to the floor and begging for mercy until the blood ran. The gang boss finally relented, "Your man got my foot dirty. Kneel down and lick it clean, and I'll let you both go."

Emmett was beaten black and blue, lying on the ground barely breathing, yet with red-rimmed eyes he used his last bit of strength to shake his head desperately,

"Alice," he gasped, "whatever happens to me doesn't matter. Even if I'm crippled or maimed, it's fine. You absolutely must not suffer this kind of humiliation."

But I knew all too well that if he were crippled, his life would be completely ruined.

"Emmett," I said, my voice trembling, "that's a leg. How will you make a fortune and give me a good life if you're crippled?"

With red eyes, in front of everyone, I inched forward on my knees across the cold ground and leaned down.

Emmett watched me the entire time, utterly anguished, his eyes bloodshot, as if a knife were twisting in his heart. Afterward, he held me and cried for the entire night.

He gripped my hand tightly and swore a solemn oath.

"This is a lifelong secret between the two of us," he vowed. "It's the humiliation you endured for me. In this life and the next, I will absolutely never mention it again, and I will never let you suffer even the slightest bit of humiliation again."

But now, the very person who spread this story throughout the slums, slandering me as cheap and shameless, turned out to be none other than Emmett himself.