Suddenly, Trevor noticed the signed contract in my hand and exclaimed in surprise, "Wait! Isn't this the new project contract I drafted? You stole someone else's work!”
He handed his project proposal to Mia, his voice full of grievance. “I spent two whole days and nights putting this together and he just snatched it away from me.”
The project document in Trevor's hand was actually the one I submitted for approval back when I was still at the company. I was the primary lead on it. After I left, no one claimed it, so he simply changed the lead’s name to his own.
When I was about to explain that the project was mine, Mia slapped me hard across the face without bothering to ask.
She demanded angrily, "Trevor was just following company rules when he punished you. And now you go and steal his project? How dare you! No wonder you refused to help him earlier. Blake, you really disgust me! Did you steal all your past deals?"
My face stung, like it was on fire. I stared at Mia in disbelief.
I had worked at the company for three years, while Trevor was just a freshly graduated college student. How could I steal his project?
She snatched the proposal out of my hands and ordered her bodyguards to pin me to the ground and yank at my hair in front of everyone.
Her face was cold as ice. “Blake, this is the apology you owe Trevor.”
I tried to struggle, but people behind my back held me and forced me to bow to Trevor over and over again.
Only when he gave a slight nod did she finally signal for them to let go of me.
My scalp was torn and bleeding, every inch of me throbbing with pain.
Trevor then stepped on my hand with the shiny new leather shoes Mia had just bought for him and mocked, "Blake, the person I hate the most, is a thief. You don't really think an apology is enough, do you?"
The excruciating pain radiated deep into my heart and my wrist was bleeding under the pressure because he pressed his entire weight down on his heel and stomped furiously.
He roared, “A thief like you deserves to have your hands crippled!”
It seemed Trevor's stomps had broken my wrist, because it hurt so much that my vision blurred and my ears rang.
I tried to whisper my defense while begging Mia to save me from under his feet.
After all, we had been together for three years. She used to worry about me so much and even got panicked when I scraped my skin, insisting on rushing me to the hospital.
But now, she pretended not to hear me. Her face twisted in pure disdain as she hissed, “No wonder your father divorced your mother. You’ve inherited your mother’s unscrupulous habits. Even with the engagement ... she secretly arranged it with my family. Like mother, like son.”
“I will never marry a thief." She spat out, "Our engagement is off!"
Then she turned around and left without hesitation.
My already broken heart was shattered even more.
She used to pity me for having no family to care for me, but now she used it as a weapon to attack me.
The thought that I had tried to ask for her help earlier was truly laughable.
Trevor held the project proposal I had completed and showed me he video and photos of him trampling me earlier, then sneered, "The project and Mia are mine. I'm warning you, Blake … If you dare to fight and compete with me again, I'll make sure everyone sees you kneeling on the ground like a dog."
I fainted from the pain and was taken to the hospital by passersby. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up, Jane was sitting beside me. There was a hint of sympathy in her eyes as she sat silently by my side.
I whispered that I wanted to take two days off to rest and recover and she immediately agreed.
