The night I was crowned Pure Jade Maiden of the entertainment industry, my intimate photos hit trending on social media.
I was on my way to find my boyfriend, to ask for his help, when I overheard his conversation with one of his lackeys.
"Mr. Simmons really lives up to his reputation. Leaking those photos of Beryl Summers just destroyed her overnight."
"Now that audiences won't touch her, they'll naturally flock to Marina's new film."
Abraham Simmons laughed, cruel and unhurried.
"Don't let that innocent face fool you. Underneath it all, Beryl Summers is wild and venomous. Absolutely addictive." He paused. "If she'd just behaved herself, I would've handed her any resource she wanted."
"But no. She had to go and hurt my Marina."
As he spoke, his expression went cold. He crushed out his cigarette, his voice dropping to something bone-chilling.
"I'm not just cutting off her career. I want her name dragged through the mud. I want her buried so deep she never crawls back out."
The words hit me like a bolt of lightning. I turned away and typed out a message to my family.
I'll agree to the arranged marriage.
——
Inside, the conversation continued.
"What if she comes to you and makes a scene?"
Abraham scoffed.
"A scene? She wouldn't dare." His voice dripped with contempt. "A woman that ambitious, even if she finds out I'm behind it, will just pretend she heard nothing and come crawling to me for resources like a good girl."
I could still remember the first time I met Abraham Simmons. The way he'd looked at me, his gaze so intense it felt like he wanted to crush me into his very bones.
After that, he'd pursued me relentlessly. Anything I mentioned in passing would appear in front of me the next day. He'd carve time out of his schedule to visit me on set. After a long day of filming, he'd cook for me himself, then massage the aches from my shoulders.
A dull, stinging pain spread through my chest.
Before I could collect myself, my phone buzzed with a new notification.
A message from my mother.
Sweetheart, the engagement party is set for next week. Come home early to try on your dress.
The moment I hit send, a pair of strong arms locked around me from behind.
"Heard everything?"
I swallowed the pain and forced the words out. "Why would you destroy me?"
Abraham smiled.
"Beryl, I know you can't stand even a grain of sand in your eye. But Marina saved my life." His tone shifted, half coaxing, half threatening. "If you'd been a little more obedient, if you hadn't gone after her, I could've kept lifting you up."
"Otherwise... you know what I'm capable of."
That familiar voice. Once, it had been tender. Now it was a warning.
I paused. After a moment, my voice came out level.
"Just let me go, and I won't compete with her for resources anymore."
Perhaps because I seemed compliant, he tilted my chin up with one finger.
"Beryl, remember this. I only like you when you're obedient."
But in the next breath, his expression darkened.
"Still, there's the matter of the resources you stole from Marina. How do we settle that score?" His eyes narrowed. "I don't trust you. For the sake of your career, how much did you make Marina suffer? How am I supposed to believe you'll actually behave?"
His words turned the blood in my veins to ice.
So that was how it was. Three years of everything I'd done for Abraham Simmons, every sacrifice, every sleepless night, and in his eyes, all of it had been an attack on Marina Mason.
I had left my family behind and come to the mainland to build something on my own. All I'd wanted was to become a leading actress, so my parents would finally agree to let me marry him.
For three years, I hadn't taken a single day off.
And all of it was erased by one sentence:
"If you can't find a way to make Marina forgive you, I'll have to handle it myself."
That killed whatever fight I had left, whatever questions I wanted to throw at him. Instead, I heard myself ask, almost like I was twisting the knife into my own chest:
"And if I refuse?"
He smiled coldly.
"I will make sure you never recover."
That night, I didn't remember how I made it to the hotel.
