He Used Me for His True Love, So I Exposed Him Live

Three days after I was kidnapped, they drugged me—something vicious, something that burned through every nerve. Clyde Gilbert, Sterling City's untouchable golden boy, showed up just in time.

He gave me his body as the cure, one hand gripping the back of my head, his voice wrecked:

"Deidre, I'll take responsibility. Once we're out of here, I'm marrying you."

After that night, Clyde really did propose—big, public, impossible to miss.

And right behind it came a video, humiliating and explicit, shot straight to the top of the trending list.

The slut-shaming hit like a wall. Thousands of strangers tearing me apart online, and I couldn't breathe through any of it. I went looking for Clyde, half out of my mind,

and walked in on him pressing a slender girl against the garden wall, his lips at her ear.

Her eyes had gone red with hurt:

"Do you actually have feelings for Deidre Morton? The whole circle is saying you're marrying her. If your heart's changed, just tell me—I'll let you go."

Clyde scoffed. "Don't be stupid. Victoria, the only person I've ever wanted to marry is you."

"Then what about the proposal? And those videos everywhere?"

He smiled, dismissive.

"Obviously—I needed a slut like her to make you look good by comparison."

"Those videos? I set that up. I fed them to the media myself. All of it was to prop up your pure sweetheart persona."

"My parents won't let you through the door, right? But once they find out I'm about to marry trash like Deidre Morton, the comparison alone will make them accept you."

I stood frozen where I was, ice spreading through every limb.

So from the very beginning, I had only ever been the foil for his idealized first love.

But I'm Deidre Morton. Nobody made me to be stepped on.

——

I stayed behind the hedgerow in the garden,

chest slamming against my ribs, every gulp of air coming up short no matter how hard I tried.

Clyde's voice kept cutting into me like a blade.

"Victoria, you know why I picked her?"

"Deidre Morton—big tits, no brain. Dangle anything shiny and she'll chase it. I barely had to try before she actually believed I was going to marry her. Moved to tears like a complete idiot."

He pulled out his phone, scrolled through something, and handed it to Victoria with a grin.

"Look at the comments under those videos. They're calling her the biggest slut in Sterling City—no shame, throws herself at any man who'll have her."

"Now look at your comment section. Nothing but praise for how clean and pure you are, a lotus untouched by mud. Isn't that exactly what I wanted?"

Nausea churned up from the pit of my stomach.

I bowed my head, eyes falling to the delicate diamond bracelet on my wrist, and unclasped it without a second thought.

Two hours ago, Clyde had fastened it on me himself.

A proposal gift, he'd called it. He'd gone down on one knee to give it to me, his voice and his expression so reverent.

Anyone watching would have sworn he was desperately in love with me.

Funny—with skills like that, he was the one who deserved an award in the entertainment industry.

I forced the tears back, clenching the bracelet so tight the links bit into my palm.

From inside the garden, their voices drifted over again.

"So when are you going to tell her the truth?"

Victoria's voice was thick with grievance. "The backlash online is already at full boil. She's being torn apart. Are you really going to keep this up?"

"No rush."

Clyde ruffled Victoria's hair, indulgent.

"My mother hasn't completely softened up yet. Let Deidre keep playing her part a little longer—once my parents fully accept you, I'll toss her."

"By then her reputation will be in the gutter, and my parents will cut their losses for the sake of the family name. You marrying into the Gilbert family will just fall into place."

"But..."

Victoria bit her lip, voice dripping with tender concern. "Poor Deidre, though. She doesn't have the faintest idea what's really happening to her."