"I'm your fiancé, but I'm also Abby’s brother—I have to protect both of you. As her sister-in-law, can you not hold grudges against a younger girl?" With that, he dragged me to the Whytton estate.
Victor's mother barely spared me a glance before covering her mouth and nose in disgust. His father ignored my outstretched hand, turning instead to scold Victor.
"That trashy mystery box even ended up in the hands of the servants. Can you stop bringing garbage into this house?"
They stood there like the sun—radiant, untouchable—looking down on me like I was nothing more than a rat crawling through the gutters, afraid I might stain their light.
One of the rich heirs blew a smoke ring in my face and let out a loud, mocking laugh.
"Damn, Sis! You’re dressed pretty bold tonight. Never been with a dancer before—Mr. Whytton, you sure are lucky!" Someone else chimed in with a smirk.
"She might be fun, but only after the boss is done with her!" The first guy shrugged. "Relax, I wouldn’t dare. I’m just jealous, that’s all. I’ve seen plenty of flirty women before, but I’ve never seen one this wild!"
Victor ran his hand along my stiffened back, murmuring in a low voice, "They’re just spoiled brats who don’t know proper manners."
He added, "Don’t take it to heart, okay?"
I felt no comfort from Victor's words. Only a suffocating tightness in my chest, nausea rising in my throat.
Abigail, dressed in a puffy short skirt, approached with an apologetic look, offering me a cup of ginger jujube tea.
“Sis, I cried all night over this. You’re my idol—how could I ever play with your life like that? Please forgive me, okay? As for the mystery box…”
She effortlessly changed the subject, slipping a stack of photo cards into my bag.
“People online are saying the woman in the photos is you, but I don’t believe it. After all, my brother has never been into… things like that.”
She clung to Victor’s arm, looking up at him with a sweet, pleading expression.
“Brother, you have to do something. We can’t let outsiders ruin Faith’s reputation. I even spent all my allowance buying a hundred of them!”
Victor gently patted her head, his touch unbearably tender.
“I already gave you my secondary card. Just use that whenever you need money.”
One of the guys who had just been making dirty jokes about me chimed in with a teasing laugh.
“Abby, don’t cry, beautiful. You know it breaks your brother’s heart.”