He suddenly leaned down close to me, voice hoarse and low.
“I was drugged too. They sent the wrong person to the wrong room—not me.”
My head buzzed with static.
I stared at him, struggling to believe it. “Who... who are you, really?”
He let out a cold scoff. “Then listen carefully—I'm Shawn Perez.”
—
I didn't even remember how I ended up in the car.
The Perkins family’s bodyguards cornered me behind the hotel. I didn’t even get the chance to struggle before they shoved me inside.
I clenched my teeth the entire way, silent.
The Perkins family never cared for my opinion in anything they did.
By the time the car pulled up to the old estate, dawn was already breaking.
A line of house staff stood in the courtyard, heads bowed like they were waiting for judgment.
The moment I stepped inside, a furious voice exploded from the living room.
“What the hell is the Perkins family playing at?! Where’s the girl? Last night you promised—so where the hell is she? Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!”
A bloated man with greasy hair sat sprawled across the sofa, yelling between puffs of a thick cigar.
His ill-fitting suit was stretched tightly over his belly, which jiggled with each angry shout.
“Think you can trick me? I’d like to see if the Perkins family really wants to lose this investment!”
I hadn’t even gotten a good look at his face when his eyes locked onto mine.
Instantly, his expression turned sleazy and disgusting, like a man picking through spoiled meat.
He took a few steps toward me, then suddenly froze. His face twisted like he’d just stepped in something foul.
“What the hell is this?”
He glared at my father, his tone poisonous.
His smoke curled in the air as he jabbed a finger at him.
“My family’s offering you a billion dollars to invest in your company, and you try to fob me off with this trash?!”
Then his eyes snapped back to me, sweeping over me from head to toe that made my skin crawl.
Contempt and mockery seeped into his expression.
“She’s not even a virgin? You dare send me damaged goods?!”
I was still wearing Shawn's oversized coat, my hair disheveled, my face drained of color.
Roland Larson let out a disdainful click of his tongue, his sneer filled with loathing.
He turned to my father, voice now edged with threat. “That investment? It’s going to be half now—at best.”
“You really think I’d take in some used-up slut like this?”
My father’s face went paper white, but he still forced a groveling smile.
“Yes, yes, of course, President Larson is right. She’s young and ignorant... she didn’t know any better...”
“What she knows or doesn’t know has nothing to do with me,” Roland snapped, waving him off like swatting a fly.
Then, with open disdain, he kicked me.
My father glared at me, his expression blazing with anger.
“Why are you just standing there?! Kneel down and apologize to President Larson!”
I gritted my teeth and didn't move.
He glanced at the bodyguards—and the next moment, a hard slap cracked across my face, splitting the corner of my mouth open.
The sharp taste of blood flooded my mouth and nose.
I was shoved to my knees, my legs scraping the icy marble floor. Hands held my shoulders down, forcing me to stay there.
Suddenly, Roland snorted.
“Forget it. It’s not like it’s her first time. She's just a tool for marriage anyway—I'm not expecting her to be pure.”
“Trash like this is worth five hundred million.”
And before he left, he reached out and patted me on the head—like I was some untrained mutt.
I stared after his retreating figure, my fingernails digging into my palms so hard it hurt.
The moment he was gone, the Perkins family dropped their masks.
My biological mother, Daisy, stormed over, rage twisting her features, and lashed into me like a whip.
“Disgraceful! You’re nothing but a curse to this family!”
“You’ve only been back a few days, and you’ve already stirred up this kind of mess! Do you think the Perkins family exists just for you to humiliate?!”
