Chapter 4

My smile grew brighter, yet icier by the second.

"Sophie, you're right," I said quietly. "I'm not going to die. But you can guess whose life will be ruined."

Sophie failed to catch the hidden meaning behind my words. She assumed I was only bluffing.

She took a step forward and tried to persuade me with her twisted logic, to soften me up with a fake compassionate act.

"I know this is hard for you to come to terms with," she said. "Jonathan was stuck between the two of us and suffered a lot because of it.

"He cares about you deeply and never wanted you to get hurt. I have no one and nothing other than him. He believed pushing you away was the only way to keep me safe."

The more Sophie spoke, the more she acted like she'd done something noble.

She even forced out a few fake tears by the end, her voice trembling on purpose. "Just let he and I be together. You're living with HIV now, and your reputation is already ruined.

"You'll never find peace with him. Walking away is the best choice for both of us."

"Let you two be together?" I snorted, as if I'd heard the most ridiculous joke.

I slowly walked up to her, towering over her by more than a head. My presence made her step back on instinct.

I reached out and gently lifted her chin with my finger, forcing her to meet my gaze. "Sophie, look me in the eye and say that again."

Her eyes darted around nervously, too scared to meet mine. Her fragile act crumbled completely under my unwavering pressure, looking utterly pathetic and ridiculous.

"I'm asking you to let us be together..." she started.

A sharp slap cut her words short.

I pulled my hand away quickly. The blow was not harsh, but it left a clear red mark spreading across her cheek.

"That slap is for me," I said coldly. "Who do you think you are to ask anything of me?"

Sophie froze completely. She clutched her stinging cheek and stared at me in pure disbelief. "How... how dare you hit me? You're just—"

"Just what?" I stepped forward and closed the distance.

She stumbled backward repeatedly until her back pressed flat against the cold wall with nowhere else to run.

"Just a fool you schemed against?" I went on. "Or just someone you lied about and branded with an illness to destroy her life? People like you bring shame on every sincere kid from the backward towns who gets a chance at a better life.

"You take full advantage of all the money and resources Jonathan gives you. You live in the apartment he arranges and work the job he sets up for you, yet you show zero gratitude.

"You only see his fiancée as an obstacle to get rid of. Do you believe you deserve every good thing you've stolen?"

Sophie had nowhere to run, pinned tight against the wall. Her face flushed pale and red in turns, and the panic in her eyes faded completely, replaced by a fierce, reckless desperation.

"So what if I did?" she snapped. "I earned every good thing in my life through my own efforts. I've known him since I was fifteen, and I understand him far better than you ever will.

"He falls for girls who are innocent and rely on his protection. You're a privileged high-class lady who has never faced real hardship. What can you offer him besides your family's status?"

"Real hardship?" I studied her carefully, looking at her as if I had never seen her true self before.

Jealousy and resentment had warped her once neat and delicate features into something twisted and ugly. "You call your actions hardship?

"You chased a man who was already engaged, plotted a failed violent attack to ruin another person's life, and then stood before your victim to justify your selfish mistakes."

"I didn't do this on purpose!" she shouted frantically, raising her voice in a vain attempt to cover up how malicious her inner thoughts truly were. "I just love him so deeply. I can't bear to lose him."

"Love?" I stepped back, staring at her with pure pity. "Is this what you call love? You are fine with letting the whole world label him a cruel man who hurt his fiancée for another woman.

"You push him to commit wrong acts, and then peacefully enjoy the legitimate life he builds for you through those dirty deeds."

I shook my head, no longer able to tolerate the sight of her face, and walked to the middle of the living room.

My spare phone lay lit on the coffee table, ongoing an active video call with chief editors and senior journalists from top mainstream media, including Rivesville Business Times, Financial Weekly and Showbiz Insider.

I picked up the phone and turned the screen toward Sophie, letting her see every shocked, angry and disdainful expression on the reporters' faces.

"Ms. Lane, every word you have spoken and every expression you have made is streaming live to the most authoritative media platforms across the country," I said. "Tens of millions of online viewers are watching this broadcast in real time."

My voice was calm and steady, but my words crashed over Sophie like a deafening shockwave.

Every trace of color vanished from her face in an instant. Her lips trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes froze on the phone screen, wide with pure, helpless terror.

Sophie parted her lips in an attempt to speak, but only broken, breathless sounds came out.

"No, this can't be... You're lying," she mumbled, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Lying?" I laughed freely for the first time. It was a genuine, triumphant laugh, filled with satisfaction after getting my long-awaited revenge.