Online, Ryan wept publicly, claiming that after becoming disabled while saving lives, I had heartlessly abandoned him and broken our engagement.
In the video, he sat in a wheelchair, pale-faced, one pant leg hanging empty.
“Emily, come back. I don’t believe you would throw away our years together.”
Beside him, Chloe spoke tearfully.
“I’m the one he saved. I owe him my life. I sincerely thank Ryan for rescuing me. And I beg Miss Carter—Ryan is a hero. You can’t abandon a hero just because he now carries scars. If you want compensation, I’ll do anything. Just please, don’t leave him when he’s at his weakest. He truly needs you.”
The two of them played off each other seamlessly, pushing me right into the storm.
I hadn’t expected that even after fleeing abroad, I’d still get dragged into their farce. Overnight, I became the target of online outrage.
“This is what a shallow woman looks like—dumping her fiancé the moment he’s disabled. She’s an embarrassment to women everywhere.”
“Hurry back and take care of him. He’s a national hero now. If you don’t, we’ll make sure you pay.”
“A woman like this deserves the worst—she should burn in hell!”
Malicious comments flooded every corner of the internet. Some even doxxed me, exposing my personal information.
My parents weren’t spared either. Their photos were plastered online, and our house was vandalized with spray-painted graffiti.
“Look at the kind of parents who raised such an ungrateful daughter. With a daughter like her, they can’t be any better.”
“If I had a daughter like that, I’d beat her to death. Total disgrace. How does she even have the face to live?”
“This whole family doesn’t deserve to exist on Earth. Send them away before they waste more resources.”
Fury boiled inside me. I hadn’t expected this disaster to drag my parents down as well.
Just then, my phone rang—it was Mom.
Her voice trembled with worry. “Sweetheart, what on earth is going on? We could never believe you’d betray someone like that. Did something else happen that we don’t know about?”
Hearing how, despite enduring so much abuse, she still trusted me unconditionally, my eyes instantly grew hot with tears.
Not wanting to burden them with the truth of my past life, I said, “Mom, Ryan and I broke up before he ever went to save Chloe. He told me himself—whatever happened after would no longer concern me.”
“And he went after Chloe because they were already having an affair. I have proof. This is all part of Ryan’s scheme. Now that he’s crippled, he just wants to chain me to him.”
“Besides, the firefighters were rescuing people that day. Why was it that everyone on the first floor was saved unharmed, yet only he was badly injured? Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”
Mom grew furious. “That Ryan—I knew something was off. And to think he played the hero. Good thing you’re not like what they’re saying online. But now that the whole internet is slandering you, what do we do?”
I reassured her. “Mom, you and Dad stay home. Don’t go out for now. I’ll handle this. If he wants to use public opinion to force me into taking care of a cripple, then he can’t blame me for striking back.”
After hanging up, I let out a cold laugh.
Ryan, in this second life, I hadn’t planned on bothering with you. But since you’re shamelessly clinging on, don’t blame me for being ruthless.
I dialed a number. “Is what I asked for ready?”
Moments later, a file landed in my inbox. Just as I expected, everything I needed was there.
