Every tabloid in New York knew that Roman Sterling would rather sleep with a random club girl than touch his own wife. The daily question: When will Mrs. Sterling finally give away her precious V-card? Facing the paparazzi's flashing lights, Roman looked at me with fearless arrogance. "Worst case scenario, we each play our own game. If you don't like it, you can find someone too." With that, he shoved his hands in his pockets and casually walked away. That same night, photos of him in bed with his latest fling trended on Twitter. Everyone thought I would spend the night crying alone until dawn. Instead, I contacted a paparazzo and booked a trending spot for myself. Then I tore my lace nightgown, messed up the sheets, and took a "candid" photo of myself in bed. I sent an anonymous text to Roman: [Bro, your wife smells amazing. Let me know when you get divorced.] 1 Watching the trending topic I bought shoot straight to #1, I happily got ready for bed. Within half an hour, heavy, hurried footsteps thundered down the hall. "Chloe! Is this how you get back at me? Who the hell is that guy?!" A photo was slammed into my face. One half was my suggestive bed selfie; the other was a passionate shot of Roman pressing his latest fling, Bella, against a window. This was exactly the headline I had the paparazzo publish. [The Sterlings reach a new agreement: Playing their own games within the marriage, no interference.] I sat on the edge of the bed, casually wrapping my robe tighter. "Isn't this exactly what you wanted?" "You never should have humiliated me by messing around with my father's illegitimate daughter!" Roman's breath hitched. He didn't respond to my accusation, instead gritting his teeth. "Who is he?" "You don't need to know. That's what makes it fair." I used to swear I would dig three feet into the ground to find out everything about his lovers. I was young then; I couldn't tolerate a speck of dust in my eye. But later I realized... Before I could even lift a finger, he'd already moved on to a new one. So I stopped asking. It was pathetic. Roman let out a sudden, sinister laugh. "You've got some nerve!" His gaze landed on a red mark on my collarbone. He pinned me to the bed. I struggled desperately, screaming. A sharp knife pierced the skin of my collarbone, blood covering the "hickey." "Are you crazy! Let me go!" Roman pressed down on me, eyes bloodshot, veins popping on his forehead. "First time, and last time!" "I'll take down the trending topic. Before I lose control, you better go back to normal!" The "normal" he spoke of was me remaining impassive while photos of him in bed with lovers flew everywhere. Me happily accepting the used condoms and stained panties they mailed to me. Roman stared into my eyes darkly for a long time. Seeing my face wet with physiological tears, he finally let go and took some gauze from the drawer. I pushed him away violently. "Don't touch me!" Roman stood up from the bed, his face completely dark. "You put on this show just to piss me off? What are you pretending for now?" "You're shameless just to get my attention. What else are you capable of?" The knife in his hand accidentally grazed my arm. Blood soaked the silk sheets. I was sweating from the pain. But my heart hurt a thousand, ten thousand times more. Roman didn't even blink, his gaze almost heartless. "My mother was right. A woman like you who climbed up from the bottom can never do anything classy!" "Why hire someone to put on a show for me? If you have the guts, really divorce me! Your sister is ten thousand times better than you!" Dropping those words, he stormed out without looking back. A moment later, a divorce agreement signed by him was sent to my phone. Even the asset division was 70-30 in my favor. He firmly believed I couldn't leave him. But I signed it. Then I called a number to confirm my departure time. Roman, what makes you so sure this man doesn't exist? 2 After hanging up, the tears pooling in my eyes finally fell. When Roman insisted on marrying me, the whole world opposed it. His parents looked down on my ordinary background. The Chamber of Commerce almost expelled him. But he weathered all the public pressure to give me the wedding of the century. They said I was the happiest woman in New York. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one who wanted this god-like man. On our wedding night, he took a call and never came back. I sat with my eyes open until dawn. He came back drunk in the early morning, calmly patting my head. "You know what's cutest about you? You're sensible enough not to cause trouble. The Sterling family needs a wife like you." In that instant, the anger blocking my heart was extinguished by a bucket of cold water. I learned to be good. No fighting, no noise. Just a decoration. But now, he was playing with the person I hated most in this life: Bella. Back then, my dad brought Bella home and forced my mom to accept her as a "daughter." My mother, proud all her life, held me silently. She gave my father two choices. Either send Bella away, or she would take me and leave the family. My father said nothing, standing on the balcony in the cold wind all night. When he returned to the bedroom, he found my mother had jumped from the window. It rained heavily that night, washing away the blood on my mother's body. Roman rushed over and held me, letting me punch him over and over, constantly saying, "It's okay, it's okay..." But he chose Bella as his new favorite. What dignity did I have left as Mrs. Sterling? Roman didn't come back that night. The trending topic I arranged was buried deep by him. It couldn't be found anywhere online. But he openly took Bella to galas, letting her replace me as "Mrs. Sterling." He high-profile invited everyone in New York to celebrate Bella's birthday tomorrow. But he knew in his heart that her birthday was also the anniversary of my mother's death. He just wanted me to face reality: someone like me could never fight him. Roman sent a private doctor to bandage the wound on my collarbone that exposed the bone. "Mr. Sterling still cares about you. He remembered your constitution is unique and wounds don't heal easily." I smiled self-deprecatingly and said nothing. The next second, I received an anonymous video. It showed Bella losing control of her emotions: "That night I went to persuade Auntie to accept me as a daughter, but she hit me and said I wasn't worthy." "In the dispute, I pushed her down by accident. It was purely self-defense! Dad, Roman, what should I do now..." Bella slapped her own face frantically, claiming she was sorry to me. My ears rang, the world spinning. My father slapped her hard, clutching his heart in anger. "How did I give birth to a daughter like you! That was my wife!" Bella, with a red handprint on her face, looked stubbornly at Roman's back. "You'll help me. You have me in your heart, right?" Silence for a century. My heart was in my throat. In the video, Roman's expression was unreadable, but his voice was firm and calm. "Go hide for a while. I'll handle the police." 3 Every word Roman said was clear and piercing. The whole world was hiding the truth about my mother's death from me, including Roman, whom I trusted unconditionally. That year, I ran to the police station in the rain. Roman got into a car accident chasing me. He crawled out of the car with difficulty, grabbing my ankle with a bloody hand. "Chloe, go back now. Leave this to me." I naively thought he would get justice for me and my mother because I never believed she would abandon me. But unexpectedly, my father and husband both betrayed me. The next day, I appeared at Bella's birthday gala, disheveled and unkempt. She was intimately holding Roman's arm, enthusiastically showing off the heirloom jade ring he gave her. As if she really was Mrs. Sterling. When I entered, everyone's eyes fell on me—contemptuous, mocking. Only Roman looked relaxed, thinking I was there to beg for reconciliation like before, opening his arms slightly towards me. But he was destined to be disappointed. "Roman Sterling, Bella killed my mother, right? You were an accomplice, right?!" His breath hitched, but the guilt in his eyes vanished instantly. "Today is Bella's birthday, don't make a scene!" Even my father rushed up from the audience and slapped me hard. Seeing the warning looks in their eyes, I finally accepted reality. The content of that video was true. At this moment, Bella threw herself over, crying like a pear blossom in rain. "Sister, I know Auntie hated me enough to kill me when she was alive, but Sister, we only have each other now. Please don't hurt me anymore..." "I won't pursue you for abusing me. I'll be obedient." As she spoke, she inadvertently revealed scars on her arm, looking pitiable. Seeing this, Roman frowned deeply in distress, his eyes full of disappointment looking at me. "Chloe, she's your sister! How could you be so cruel!" The crowd gasped and whispered. "Chloe's mother tried to murder Miss Bella and ended up killing herself? Serves her right." "I didn't expect Chloe to be so shameless. Playing the victim to fight for favor. Old virgins just love to cause trouble." "They mother and daughter are used to bullying others. Trash from the gutter can't change its smell." ... Endless abuse and accusations washed over me. The scene of my mother falling in despair flashed rapidly in my mind. I couldn't bear it anymore. By the time I reacted, my hands were already around Bella's neck. "I want you to pay with your life!" She struggled in my grip. The next moment, a huge force pushed me away violently. Roman raised a trembling hand and slapped my face without holding back. "Chloe, what are you trying to do!" "I order you to clarify to everyone right now that you framed Bella and bullied them mother and daughter, otherwise..." His voice suddenly dropped low, gentle but cruel enough. "Otherwise, I'll level your mother's cemetery. Isn't today her death anniversary?" 4 I looked up in shock. Meeting his almost heartless gaze, seeing the threat in his eyes. His brow was still gentle, but it couldn't overlap with the face of the deeply affectionate man from the past. I stared at him stubbornly, eyes bloodshot. "No!" Unexpectedly, as soon as the words fell, the man took a remote control from his pocket. "There are bombs buried under the cemetery. Chloe, be good. Don't force me." He called me by my nickname, but it sounded more like the whisper of a devil. So he was prepared. To protect Bella, he held my lifeline in his hand at all times. That cemetery was the only thought keeping me alive in this world. I couldn't watch my mother's soul be scattered. I swallowed the blood in my throat, pushed him away, shuffled over, and knelt in front of Bella. "Bella, my mother and I wronged you." "I! Am! Sorry!" I looked up at Bella's triumphant face, then at Roman. "Is this apology enough?" Roman's chest visibly heaved for a moment, then he cleared his throat. "As long as you know you're wrong. You can go. Mourn your mother for me." Dropping this polite remark, he put his arm around Bella's waist and turned to continue the celebration. Amidst the laughter, guests whispered. "No wonder Mr. Sterling won't touch her. Her heart is so dirty. No wonder those bed photos of her came out a few days ago." "She and her mother bullied others. I didn't expect she stole her sister's engagement with tricks. She's the mistress!" "Married for five years and still a virgin. Who would want her? People might think she has a disease." ... I knelt on the ground in a sorry state, listening numbly. I disdained to keep the so-called "forever and ever." Just as I was about to leave, a piercing ding sounded in my ear. Not far away, Bella waved the remote control at me from an angle no one else could see. Watching the countdown tick closer, the hair on my back stood up! I struggled to get up and stumbled out of the banquet hall. Roman followed my back deeply. Just as he was about to call me, Bella pulled him. "Come toast with me." The man twitched the corner of his mouth, his attention returning to Bella. At the cemetery. I dug frantically at the gravestone with my hands, fingers bloody and curled. The next moment, a loud bang exploded in my ears. Debris flew, and my mother's tombstone shattered into pieces. The urn buried deep underground also exploded. Watching the ashes flying in the sky, my heart died completely. Then, a sudden heat wave hit, and my vision plunged into darkness... Roman didn't stay for Bella's birthday cake after all. Instead, he brought a bouquet of flowers to the cemetery. But the moment he stepped in, his pupils dilated instantly!
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