Just because I asked Ethan Jackson's adopted sister to apologize after she'd maliciously jabbed me with a needle for half an hour during my IV treatment, the next daymy intimate photos were posted all over the internet, priced at six dollars each.

I clutched my bruised hand and went to find Ethan, only to overhear him chatting with friends outside a hotel hourly room.

"Pair of Pamela Carter's breasts, anyone? Hahaha!"

"I'll take 'em! Damn Ethan, you're the real MVP—let us feast our eyes proper!"

"Hey Ethan, aren't you worried Pamela'll dump you or cause a scene after you leaked her nudes everywhere?"

My boyfriend Ethan chuckled lightly, flicking a poker tile printed with a photo of my collarbone onto the table:

"Dare she?

The whole world's seen her bare-ass naked. Now she'd beg me to marry her just to save dignity. How dare she break up with me or kick up a fuss?"

The others cackled with vulgar glee.

"So will you marry her?

If not, mind passing her around to play with once you're bored? Haha! Seriously though, what'd Pamela even do? Why'd you suddenly decide to mess with her like this?"

Ethan's slouching posture snapped upright. His voice dripping with disgust.

"Sarah Jackson just pricked her a few extra times during the IV. Pamela turned into such a drama queen. She knew damn well Sarah's still an intern, but She even dared to demand an apology to humiliate her. I have to teach her a lesson. Otherwise, she'd keep thinking she's hot shit."

As my bare-back photo slapped onto the table with a thud, my breath hitched for several seconds.

——

"Yo Ethan, why'd you price the nudes at six dollars though?

That's dirt cheap! I could scoop up your whole collection for pocket change—hell, and even a roadside rose costs nine dollars and ninety cents!"

Ethan smirked contemptuously.

"I just want everyone to know Pamela's worth less than a discount rose. Humiliated Sarah? Well, I'll humiliate her worse!"

As if remembering something, he took out his phone and unlocked it.

The next second, fragmented, broken sounds came from the device.

"I've got videos and audio too. Seven ninety per clip—any takers?"

My heart plummeted. Tears streamed down my face.

I knew exactly when those shattered moans were recorded.

Shrill laughter crescendoed inside the room, threatening to drown me in this disgusting tide of cheers.

I bit my lip until metallic blood flooded my mouth, clawing back a sliver of sanity.

Ethan took me a long time to chase down—everyone's golden boy, the Over-the-Top Devoted Boyfriend who always put me first.

Over four years together, his sexual appetite stayed ravenous.

He'd constantly buy role-play costumes for me, obsessed with dressing me up.

I'd always thought it spiced things up for him. Never imagined the real purpose was filming material...

As the laughter inside the room grew shriller, cold dread crawled up my spine.

A while back, I caught a cold due to a sudden drop in temperature.

After days of medication with no improvement, Ethan grew concerned and drove me to the hospital where his adopted sister worked.

Before this, I'd only heard about Sarah through Ethan and his friends.

"Sarah? She's Ethan's most treasured person—pure-hearted and kind. Ethan dotes on her endlessly!"

Indeed, though only twenty-four like me, when Sarah spoke, she sounded like she was three or four years younger than me, making you want to protect her.

Yet despite our first meeting, she seemed to dislike me a lot.

I felt her deliberately inserting the needle off-target each time, the sharp pain unmistakable.

Within minutes, the back of my hand turned bruised purple.

Though she glanced at me apologetically, she didn't apologize to me.

Finally, a kind nurse intervened, finding an excuse to distract Sarah so I could receive proper treatment.

Even so, I still felt upset, so I demanded an apology.

Sarah resisted but murmured "I'm sorry" under Ethan's stern gaze.

After that, she ran off with tears in her eyes

Ethan didn't follow. Instead, he softly reassured me it was nothing.

Yet hours later, he leaked my naked photos online—all to avenge his precious Sarah.

Just days earlier, he'd held my hand promising: "Once you meet Sarah, we'll arrange for our parents to discuss our wedding."

If he truly wanted to marry me, why would he treat me in a cruel way?

So… was everything just empty talk?

Were those four years of "I love yous" just lies...?

Suddenly I recalled his friend's drunken slip at a gathering: "If Ethan weren't bound by the nominal sibling relationship withwith Sarah, would you even be called ‘sister-in-law'?"

My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, so painful that I could barely breathe.

I don't know how I left the hotel. But stepping into public, every gaze felt like a scalding brand of mockery.

Overwhelmed by intense shame and fear, I trembled as I dialed my parents, who were abroad doing research.

Their confidential work kept them unreachable for three-year at a time. And today was exactly the day their research project concluded.

When they answered the call, the concern in my parents' voices crumbled my last resolve.

After sobbing uncontrollably, I wiped my tears.

"Mom, Dad—I've decided to join your research. I want to do something meaningful in my life."

I'd once abandoned this dream because Ethan complained he'd be sick with longing if I went far away.

Back then, I thought as long as my love with Ethan stayed stable, it's enough.

But I was wrong. He didn't love me. How could someone who loved me ruin me and turn me into a joke for others to gossip!

How foolish I was. At least I still had a way out.

I stumbled back to the apartment in a daze. The place was cold and empty. Obviously, Ethan hadn't returned.

The smart home sensors detected the harsh light outside and automatically drew a curtain.

The light in the room dimmed. I collapsed onto the carpet, drained.

I wanted to cry, but no tears came.

A shrill ring shattered the silence. I answered—it was Ethan.

"Where are you?"

I opened my mouth, but my throat was raw and aching.

"Home."

"Sarah's holding a party and insists I bring you. Are you free to come now?

Get ready. I'll pick you up."

Before I could refuse, Ethan hung up.

He arrived swiftly. Seeing me still in the same clothes, he only sighed softly.

"I saw the photos online. Don't... overthink it. I believe you, okay?"

And then he pulled a waist-cinching dress from the wardrobe.

"Sweetie, put this on. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

As he slid off my coat, I suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"Believe what?"

Memories of their conversation in the hotel flashed back:

"Ethan, how will you act out this charade with Pamela?"

Ethan stayed silent, but Sarah's voice crackled from his phone.

"Make everyone—including herself, doubt if she's unchaste. You'll play her savior when she's humiliated. It won't hurt your relationship and it'll satisfy me. Okay, brother?"

After a long pause, Ethan answered with doting.

"Okay."

Soon after, my naked photos were branded with "slutty."

I laughed bitterly.

"Believe what?"

I yanked off the dress and flung it aside, exhausted.

"I'm not going. Have fun without me."

Ethan frowned—that was how he looked when he was annoyed.

And sure enough:

"Pamela!

Don't throw a fit!"

"Sarah knows about the online rumors. This party's her way to help you unwind. She wants to apologize properly."

His fingers brushed the bruise on my hand.

"This is Sarah's kindness! Don't be ungrateful!"

In the end, Ethan dragged me out of the house.

Before getting off, I took a mask from my pocket to wear, but Ethan stopped me.

He gazed at me gently but firmly, as if he really were a savior.

"Don't wear it. Truth defends itself. I believe you—believe in yourself too. Okay?"

He tossed the mask out the window and dragged me from the car.

The moment we entered the roaring bar, all eyes suddenly fixed on me

—malicious, appraising, lecherous.

I could even hear unrestrained malicious remarks from the corner:

"Look! That's her, right?

Seems so icy and proper—who knew she's such a slut?"

"That's her!

I'd know that face from the photos anywhere. Damn, what a bitch!

Her figure's even more of a bitch than she is!"

"Hahahaha..."

Spine rigid, nausea churning, I let Ethan haul me into the private room.

The instant we entered, he dropped my hand.

I kept my head down, flustered as I stared at the toe of my shoe, trying to find some comfort there.

But nothing. The stares in the private room were even more clammy, more blatant, and more disgusting than outside!

"I feel sick. I need to go back."

I turned to leave, but a hand clamped around my wrist. Rough thumbs circled my skin, sending goosebumps all over me.

The man holding me was one of Ethan's buddies—the loudest joker from that hotel hourly room.

He looked at me, his gaze utterly blatant.

"Come on sis, why leave so soon?

Can't just bail when we're finally hanging out. Gotta have some fun with us!"

The ambiguous remark made me nauseous, my breath catching in my throat.

Sarah popped out from behind Pamela, wearing an innocent smile.

"Gosh, what are you all doing? You're scaring my future sister-in-law!"

She dragged me from the doorway to the center of the private room. The overhead lights shone down on me, leaving me with nowhere to hide

That's when I saw Ethan.

He lounged in the corner, idly swirling his wine glass, watching the scene unfold with detached calm. No intervention.

The moment our eyes met, he smiled at me—as gently as he always had.

This was the man who'd reduced me to gutter trash.

A wine glass thrust before me blocked my view of Ethan.

Sarah beamed at me, sending chills down my spine.

"Pamela, I'm sorry about yesterday's botched injection. My technique was clumsy and hurt you. Let me make it up—drink this, and we'll call it forgiveness, okay?"

She paused, feigning innocence as she pulled up photos on her phone.

"And those intimate photos online?"

Her sugary tone dripped with faux concern. "Sis, is this really you? If it is... who took them? You wouldn't cheat on my brother..."

She glanced at Ethan, trailing off at just the right moment.

"But no matter! I believe you, and Ethan does too! Drink up, Pamela! Drown those sorrows!"

Her bold act drew whistles and laughter. Even Ethan finally spoke.

Exasperated yet indulgent, he warned, "Sarah, don’t drink too much. You're a nurse—you know alcohol's poison."

Sarah pouted, shoving the glass toward me. "Then my future sister-in-law should drink it for me."

Every eye locked onto me. As I hesitated, Ethan answered for me.

"Drink it. Consider it your duty as her soon-to-be sister-in-law."

I froze.

The toast recipient covering for the toaster? Absurd.

Suddenly, Ethan's true colors crystallized. His past "consideration" wasn't care—it was apathy. My wishes never mattered because I never did.

Bitter taste flooding my mouth, I took the glass.

"Can I leave after this? I'm exhausted."

Ethan hesitated, then nodded at Sarah's pointed cough.

The liquor burned like acid down my throat.

Setting down the glass, I turned to leave.

No one stopped me.

But as my hand touched the doorknob, my legs buckled. I collapsed limply.

My weakness ignited the room. Cheers and shrieks erupted as they swarmed me.

The discomfort wracked my body—I was dizzy and disoriented, unable to make out the people or things in front of me, and my breath came in ragged gasps.

Through the haze, I glimpsed Ethan—calmly peeling an orange for Sarah.

Horror struck.

"Did you team up with them to drug me?"

The man who'd been gripping my wrist earlier crouched down and blew a smoke ring in my face, tapping my cheek twice with an ice-cold lighter.

"This is called obedience potion. Drink it, and you'll do whatever you're told. Ethan went through hell to get this for Sarah. Who told you to piss Sarah off?

Didn't we warn you Sarah's Ethan's most precious treasure? Yet you made her cry and demanded an apology?

Who do you think you are to deserve Sarah's apology?

You brought this on yourself. Can't wait to see you perform... sis."

Piercing whistles filled my ears, making me tremble.

"Hey slut, bark like a dog for us!"

I bit my tongue hard, desperately trying to catch Ethan's eye.

"Ethan!

Take me to the hospital, please..."

Don't humiliate me like this.

But his indifferent gaze blended with Sarah's triumphant smile, leaving me drowning without a lifeline.

"Woof—"

Before passing out, I saw Ethan take a casual sip of his drink.

"Don't go too far. Keep her clothes on."

"Relax Ethan, once this wears off she won't remember a thing!"

I woke up in a hospital bed, the soreness throughout my body leaving my heart numb.

Ethan pushed the door open, having tucked away last night's true nature, gentle as ever.

"Feeling better?

You got dead drunk after two sips yesterday, scared me half to death."

Sarah behind him pouted, theatrically touching my forehead.

"Relax Ethan, Pamela's fine now."

I stared blankly at the ceiling, fragmented memories flooding my mind.

My dress had been changed, torn yesterday when I was forced to act like a dog for entertainment.

Ethan said something else, I couldn't make it out.

After a long while, he left the room with Sarah.

"Rest well, I'll visit later. Tell Sarah what you'd like to eat."

I lay stiffly for hours, last night's humiliation attacking me relentlessly.

Eventually I rose and found my phone in the sofa clutter, along with that back-torn dress.

Someone had posted last night's events. Clear footage of me crawling on the floor and barking like a dog had been uploaded.

The video showed the half-revealed dress, roaring crowd laughter, dim lighting.

Though quickly banned, many had saved it.

The original poster even added: "DM for full video."

Meanwhile, my personal details got leaked.

Vile texts flooded in, calls rang nonstop like a virus, grating on my nerves.

"How much for a night?"

"Address?"

"Where at?"

"Free service?"

"Sequel coming?"

"Handling so many? What a slut!"

I numbly scanned the filth, then wrapped the phone in the dress and dumped it in the bathroom trash.

Before leaving, I borrowed a hat from the cleaning lady.

Too scared to taxi, I walked three kilometers back to my apartment.

I dug out my spare phone and called my frantic parents.

My heart ached, yet no tears came.

"Dad, Mom, did my application clear?

Can I come now?"

I won't wait longer.

Silence hung; they'd likely seen everything about me back home.

Like someone facing execution, I stood naked under public scorn—mocked, insulted, stripped of dignity.

"Pamela, come to us. We'll handle everything."

Before boarding, a shrill ringtone cut through my thoughts.

Seeing the caller ID, I instantly blocked it and powered off.

I escaped the chaos, unaware the hospital had erupted since my phone died.

Ethan sat on the empty bed, face thunderous, while yesterday's private room crowd trembled nearby, Sarah included.

Finally, the man who'd pinned my wrists yesterday rushed breathlessly into the room:

"Eth... Ethan, disaster!"

I've already asked, that potion you made doesn't make people lose their memories after they wake up!

We've... gone too far!