When Quinn came home to the villa and saw my eyes red from crying, she immediately hugged me with her eyes full of guilt. She started with an apology, "Conrad, I'm sorry. Back then, after my father passed away, I had no choice but to return to Oceanton and inherit the family business. Your social status was too low. The elders in my family would never have let me marry you."

I could not listen anymore and shoved her away. "So you married someone else? Quinn, what did those seven years apart even mean?"

Quinn looked at me, her expression settling back into calm. "Conrad… You must understand I'm the heir to the Summers family. I have my own duties. Hector and I are on the same level, and our marriage benefits both families. Hector said that as long as you behave, he can turn a blind eye and let you stay by my side.

I looked up at her as tears rolled down my cheeks. Quinn then raised her hand and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. "Conrad, we've been together for so many years. I won't mistreat you. If you want to stay in Oceanton, I'll arrange for you to join the company as my personal assistant."

I slapped her across the face. While she stared at me in shock, I grabbed my luggage and left the villa. After I got into a taxi, Quinn sent me a voice message, "Conrad, stop being stubborn. Summers Group isn't somewhere just anyone can walk into. I'll give you three days to think it over."

Then she transferred ten thousand dollars to me.

In the past, she had never sent me more than a thousand dollars at a time to keep up appearances. Now, she easily gave me ten thousand dollars.

I did not reply and rejected the transfer.

After renting a place and settling in, I switched on my phone again.

Everyone was losing their minds over the trending topics.

Someone had posted a video of me outside the company online. I looked especially pathetic in the video, with shifting eyes.

Every trending topic said Quinn had cheated, and that her boy toy had boldly shown up at her company. Despite being Quinn's real boyfriend, I had become the homewrecker everyone despised.

I immediately posted the story of my relationship with Quinn, along with our chat records. The timeline clearly showed that Quinn and I had been together long before she married Hector.

Public opinion flipped and the whole internet cursed her name instead. Quinn called several times, but I hung up right away.

A few minutes later, Hector posted their marriage certificate on social media. He said he and his wife had a harmonious relationship and accused me of staging everything for attention.

Summers Group's public relations team personally stepped in, claiming the chat records were fabricated, and threatened to send me a legal notice for defamation.

Gossip accounts spread rumors everywhere, calling me a boy toy provoking the legal husband.

The comments under the post turned into a disaster.

[The homewrecker failed to fight back and even got threatened with a legal notice. Hilarious!]

[That's the real husband for you. A few words were enough to crush this arrogant homewrecker!]

[He destroyed someone else's family and he still wanted to get attention by fighting back? Gross.]

My inbox was filled with abuse, and some people even told me to end myself.

Half an hour later, the post was removed, and my account was banned.

For the first time, I understood how ridiculous I was in the face of absolute power.

My phone rang repeatedly. I refused to answer, so the person on the other end kept calling. In the end, I pressed the answer button.

The person calling me was not Quinn, but Hector.

"Conrad." His laugh was full of contempt. "Let's talk."

Early the next morning, Hector asked me to meet him at a cafe.

When he saw me again, he did not look surprised at all. He started the conversation and said, "Conrad, I recognized you the moment I saw you at the company yesterday."

I froze.

The next second, he explained calmly, "Before I married Quinn, I already knew about you. It isn't strange for women to keep a lover on the side in our circle. Quinn is considered reserved, to be honest... She only had you."

I snapped back, "I'm not her lover!"

"What you are doesn't matter," Hector said with a sneer and handed me the latest prenatal report. "Quinn is already pregnant. Now that we have a child on the way, I didn't plan to bother with you, but you made it onto the trending topics, so I have no choice but to handle this."

He pushed a nondisclosure agreement and a blank check my way. "Sign this, record an apology video, and leave Oceanton within two days. Fill in whatever amount you want."

I pushed them back and wanted to leave, but Hector stopped me. "You won't be able to survive in Oceanton. Come to me anytime once you change your mind."

Hector was right.

I took my resume to several companies all morning, but human resources shook their heads the moment they saw it. They rejected me for poor character and for the potential to damage the company's image.

Some even mocked me to my face. "Why are you looking for a job when you're a boy toy? You can just find another sugar mommy, right?"

Photos of me going to interviews were also posted online, and someone directly tagged Quinn's social media account.

The next second, Quinn called me. "Conrad, how long are you going to keep embarrassing yourself? I gave you a job, and you refused it. You insist on going outside and making others laugh at you instead. Can you stop making a scene?"

"Quinn, do you see me as the homewrecker too?" I asked as I felt Oceanton's biting wind cut across my skin.

Quinn went silent for a long time. "Conrad, I..."

I did not want to hear her explanation and hung up.

A few minutes later, my phone started to vibrate again.

My mother's broken sobs came through the line. "Conrad! I couldn't believe I have a son like you! You were someone's… Someone's boy toy for seven years?! You made your father so angry that he had a heart attack! The surgery is going to cost fifty thousand dollars! Where are we supposed to get that much money..."

With a thud, a snowball slammed hard into my head.

Two children pointed at me and shouted, "Boy toy! Hit the boy toy!"

Snowballs came one after another. They laughed as they ran away, even turning back to make faces at me.

I knelt in the snow, tears falling onto my phone screen. With trembling hands, I dialed that number. Hector's mocking laugh came through the phone from the other side. "You made up your mind that quickly?"

My voice was hoarse as I said. "I'll do it."

Hector arranged for me to apologize on a livestream from a TV station.

After I signed the nondisclosure agreement, I faced more than a dozen cameras and read from the script like a machine. "Hello, everyone. My name is Conrad Brown. Regarding the recent controversy online, I'm here to formally apologize to Mr. Hector Gomez and Ms. Quinn Summers...

"I fabricated the chat records for attention. Quinn and I were only classmates."

The number of viewers soared, and the comments were full of abuse. Netizens flooded the screen, telling me to get out of Oceanton. Every comment felt like an invisible bullet. By the time I came back to myself, my heart was already full of holes.

After the livestream ended, Hector took out several stacks of cash and tossed them onto the floor. "Oops. My hand slipped. Pick it up yourself."

The bills were scattered across the floor.

"Hector, don't push it!" I yelled. Just as I was about to charge at him, his bodyguards managed to grab me first. Someone kicked the back of my knee, and I dropped to the floor in pain. As I struggled, my entire body was forced down as my forehead slammed against the floor before Hector.

Laughter erupted all around me as the cameras turned toward me again. The laughter was especially painful for me to hear.

Hector grabbed me by the hair and laughed mockingly. "Conrad, take the money and get out of Oceanton. Don't even think about provoking me."

He turned and called Quinn, his voice fawning. "Honey, everything here is settled! Praise me!"

Quinn blew him a kiss over the phone. "Thanks for your hard work, honey."

I knelt on the floor and picked up the bills one by one. This was the money that would save my dad's life.

After the crowd dispersed, a pair of red high heels appeared in front of me. "Conrad, are you really that short on money? You would even kneel on the floor and pick it up?"

Quinn grabbed my wrist and dragged me all the way downstairs. Then, she threw a bank card at me. "Come to me if you need money. Don't lower yourself like this."

Quinn drove me back herself. Because I was being very apologetic about it, her tone softened. " I bought you an apartment with a river view. Move in tomorrow. Once this all blows over, I'll arrange for you to join the company. We won't need to have a long-distance relationship anymore."

I did not respond as I only counted the money in my hands.

When I got out of the car, Quinn suddenly hugged me. She kissed my face, her eyes full of pity. "Conrad, I'm sorry you have suffered so much these past seven years. I promise, I'll give you whatever you want from now on.

"Hector went a little too far today. He has a bad temper, but please put up with him for now."

Two hours later, I dragged my luggage to the airport.

A headline popped up on my phone. Quinn and Hector had attended a charity gala hand-in-hand and were being praised as a model couple by the other prestigious families.

Meanwhile, I was still the homewrecker that the entire internet was cursing.

Just as I was about to board, Quinn sent me the address of the new place. I replied without hesitation: [Quinn, let's break up.]

After sending it, I blocked her. I did not question her any further, nor did I accuse her hysterically. I simply ended this seven-year-long deception.

When the plane took off, I turned and looked at the city lights outside the window.

Where those lights glowed in the distance, there would never again be a way home for me.