All for a blurry video, too unclear to make out the face, he abandoned me, leaving me alone halfway up the mountain to chase after her overseas.
For a fake rumor, with no photos or videos to back it up, he could even walk away from me after we were in bed together.
I knew Astrid was fishing for something. She couldn't let go of her first love, but she also couldn’t give up on Lucian, the big catch. So she came back and I wasn’t surprised at all.
I took a taxi back to the "home" Lucian had given me. The place he provided as a refuge.
I had barely settled down after returning home from the hospital when I heard the sound of the door opening.
Lucian, dressed in black and looking exhausted, stood in the doorway. “Where is Astrid?”
I didn’t expect him to be so impatient. It hadn’t even been half an hour and he was already here, looking for me.
He had never come here on his own before. Every time, it was me begging him. That’s why Lucian would say I was selling myself. Sometimes, I couldn’t help but feel worthless too.
"The Prescott Family's financial support to the Aldridge Family must not be interrupted. You need to have the contract written out in black and white before we talk." With a sharp sound, he slammed the contract onto the table in front of me.
I was momentarily stunned, instinctively picking it up to examine it.
The contract was meticulously detailed, laying out all my demands, even specifying Aldridge Family's future shares, dividends and the contract’s duration.
I looked up at him, feeling a strange mix of unfamiliarity and pity.
Seeing the person I loved give his heart to someone else, that suffocating pain tugged relentlessly at my chest.
"Mr. Prescott, you spend a fortune for love? you really have guts." I let out a cold laugh, then signed the contract without a second thought.
I pulled out the phone with Astrid’s number stored in it and tossed it toward him.
"Astrid came back a month ago. Use this phone to call her, she’ll pick up."
Not long after Lucian left, the phone at home rang.
"Lucian doesn't want you anymore? Do you have any idea how hard the Aldridge Family is struggling right now? And you're just going to let go of someone like Lucian?"
A sharp pain surged through my lower abdomen and I curled up on the sofa, gasping for air as I clutched the phone.
"Mom, I've taken care of the funds."
After hearing my answer, she finally believed me.