I was the adopted daughter of the Clark Family, but I became Justin's secret lover. We have been together for five years, during which he had cheated countless times and he was a well-known playboy.

But I loved him deeply, so I could only silently endure.

But this time, it seemed different. He had genuinely fallen for another girl.

At two in the morning, clutching my cramping stomach, I stared at the chat window labeled "wife". I felt almost numb inside.

There were many times this had happened during these five years and I had lost count.

However, this one felt different.

[Are you home yet? I have a little surprise for you, I'll give it to you tomorrow.]

Late at night, my stomach twisted in pain, keeping me awake. Just as I picked up my tablet, a message popped up.

I hadn't even processed it when the second message came through.

[I miss you so much. I don't know why, but you always understand me and respect my feelings. I really love you!]

Respect?

In the Clark Family, there was no respect, only power.

I let out a bitter laugh and put down the tablet.

The sound of the door opening came from outside. Before I saw him, Justin's roguish voice called out. "Hey, come over here, I brought you some spicy hot pot."

I didn’t expect him to come home today and even brought me food. This was unlike him.

Justin had already entered the room and his face suddenly darkened when he saw the tablet on the bed.

"What are you doing with my tablet?"

I pretended to be casual. "I was watching a series. My stomach doesn't feel well, so I can’t sleep. What's wrong?"

He threw out a curt warning, "Don't touch my things in the future!” Then, he hurried out of the bedroom.

By the time I slowly walked out, Justin was sprawled out on the sofa, his expression back to normal.

I pushed his legs aside and sat down, stirring the noodles in the spicy hot pot. I took a bite despite my stomach cramps, only to find a hair in it.

I didn't say anything. After all, the last time he brought me food was years ago and I didn't want to ruin the moment.

He nudged me with his foot and when I looked at him, he smirked. "Smells good, doesn't it? It's the last serving, just like when we were kids."

The noodles indeed tasted like they did when we were kids, but he had changed.

Years of late nights and drunkenness had made Justin irritable and quick-tempered. His once indifferent face was now marked by various vices and even his hair had turned a brazen red.

The noodles in the bowl had grown cold, with congealed oil floating on top, making me feel a bit nauseous.

I kept stirring the noodles, the hair now gone.

"Tastes good, just like before. But my stomach really hurts and I can’t eat much. Can you take me to the hospital?"

Justin scoffed. "I'm exhausted. Just take some painkillers."

I softly murmured an acknowledgement. Then, a phone started ringing.

Justin answered without hesitation.

A cheerful and bright voice came from the other end, "Justin, I miss you so much!"

Justin instantly broke into a wide, indulgent smile, repeating, "Okay, okay, my little darling."

He grabbed his keys and headed out.

Hearing the door slam shut, I went back to the bedroom and picked up the tablet.

The latest message read, [Justin, I couldn't wait to give you your gift tomorrow. You won't be mad at me, right?]

It was accompanied by a pleading kitten emoji.

I swallowed a few painkillers, unsure if the pain in my stomach or the ache in my heart was worse.

In the end, I just wasn't worthy.

The chat records on the tablet continued to update.

[That spicy hot pot tonight really had the taste of our childhood. Too bad I'm on a diet and can't eat too much. Why did you pack it up? Are you so thrifty that you won't even waste your girlfriend's leftovers?]

I went to the living room and looked at the now cold spicy hot pot, my already uncomfortable stomach feeling even worse.

I hugged the trash can and vomited for a long time, tears streaming down my face.

Leftovers.

Justin gave her the memories of their childhood and then served me the leftovers.

I wiped my tears, got up and threw the bowl and soup into the trash can.

Unable to sleep the entire night, I went through all the chat records. I didn't cry again, just watched repeatedly, feeling almost numb.

They had just started their relationship and were in the throes of passion. This girl's love was unconditional.

She was innocent and naive. She didn't even know about Justin's dark and twisted side.

He also put away all his sharpness and cared for her wholeheartedly.

I looked at it calmly for a long time and put the tablet back to its original place.

He didn't take it away in a hurry. Maybe he knew that even if I saw it, I would keep silent like before.

When they talked about their childhood, Justin only said that he was an only child and was very lonely. His mother was kind and would sponsor some children to accompany him at home.

I smiled sarcastically.

Kind?

The so-called kindness was to listen to the priest, find a girl with a hard life and bless her future son by constantly abusing her.

She got pregnant less than a month after she brought me home. I was four years old at that time.

He had flirted with countless girls in recent years and I thought I was already used to it.

I pretended to be deaf and dumb and he enjoyed it too.

Justin dragged me into hell and I just accompanied him in madness, knowing all about him.

What's even scarier was that I loved him, I actually still love him.

I suppressed all my surges and pretended not to know anything until Justin started asking me how to coax girls. His smile was dazzling, a sight I had never seen before.

Our mutual friend April sent me a screenshot.

[Justin is in love now. I heard that he is very serious this time. He is very careful every day and does not allow others to say a bad word. He is always available. It has been almost a year and they haven't even touched each other.]

The girl in the photo of his post was youthful and beautiful. She was a stunning beauty.

I clicked absentmindedly on Justin's post, enlarging the image of the girl and scrutinizing it repeatedly.

This was the first time he'd posted about a girl on his social media.

He pursued her passionately.

Then what am I?

He had never acknowledged me publicly, calling me a follower, a maid and a vent for his desire.

The first time, I was even forced.

When I snapped out of it, it was already late in the day. The soup I was simmering for him in the kitchen had boiled dry and the kitchen was on fire before I noticed.

In a flurry, I put out the flames, suddenly feeling it was pointless. These five years had lost all meaning.

I waited for Justin while holding onto my blanket. Suddenly, I really wanted to ask him. What was I to him?

He still didn't come back all night and I stayed awake until morning.

Watching the messages I sent from my phone go unanswered, I dialed his number for the first time.

"Justin."

My voice was hoarse as I spoke.

A clear, crisp female voice came from the other end. "Who are you? Justin is on the mountain top, we're watching the sunrise."

I remained silent for a moment and hung up the phone. I had said I hadn't seen the sunrise in five years, but that woman saw it in less than a year.

Looking at the tablet screen, the messages had stopped since yesterday.

[Baby, I'm here!]

Clearly, everyone knew.

I closed my eyes with a bitter feeling, pulled the blanket tightly around me, too exhausted to tend to the burns on my hands.

Several days passed before Justin returned home and when he saw me, he frowned and questioned me sharply.

"Are you crazy? You called me and I had to comfort her for several days, you know?"

He didn't see the burns on my hands, nor the chaos in the kitchen.

"Justin, what am I to you?"

Uttering these words seemed to release the anguish I had been feeling for some time. I looked at him, unable to bear the embarrassment, unable to say the next words.

My hands trembled slightly as I hugged the blanket tighter.

He paused for a moment. "Just a follower, right? Can you really marry me?" he asked.

I pulled up the corners of my mouth. "Yeah, who else would be a follower with additional sleep functions?"

Justin's face darkened and he slammed his phone to the floor.

The loud noise made me flinch, instinctively protecting my head.

"Why are you breaking things? Are you going to hit me like Mrs. Clair?" I trembled as I spoke, trying to keep my voice steady. "Am I wrong? Since you love her so much, let's just end it. It's been five years and I'm tired too."

Justin's smile turned dark, completely different from his earlier sunny demeanor. He leaned in, gripping my chin painfully, causing me to furrow my brows in pain.

Seeing my frown, excitement flashed in his eyes as his fingers caressed me.

"You belong to me for life. Even if we part ways, it's because I don't want you. I told you at the beginning, Cindy, you wanted to do it yourself."

It was indeed my own will.

He liked me very much in bed at the beginning and asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend afterwards.

I was abused by Mrs. Clair and he was the only one who treated me well. He even took me to school, so I could go to school.

I had never seen the sun and I had never experienced true love.

Justin was like a bowl of poison. Drinking it or not was just the difference between dying faster or slower.

But I still drank it, because he was the only light I could see in my gloomy life at that time.

I regarded him as my only salvation.

That day, Justin and I parted on bad terms.

He never came back and I assumed that we had broken up. I found a house and moved out without his knowledge.

I didn't dare confront him again. I had already used up all my courage that day.

When the familiar phone rang for the first time, I thought he had found out that I had left without saying goodbye.

I felt inexplicably happy.

The phone kept ringing and I finally answered it without any hesitation.

"Cindy, I'm drunk. Come pick me up."

He hung up the phone with just these words.

It seemed he didn't think I would refuse at all.

Shortly after, he sent me the location of the bar. After hesitating, I changed clothes and headed out.

I felt a bit bitter in my heart, but then a hidden sweetness emerged. Even if he hadn't noticed, he probably still had me in his heart.

I pushed aside all thoughts and went to meet him.

Arriving at the bar, the noisy music gave me a headache. In the dim light, I finally found him.

He was playing around with a group of people, not looking like he had drunk too much. Sitting beside him was a quiet girl with milk and a computer in front of her, showing no intention of leaving.

I sat down in a corner, relieved that no one paid attention to me. I watched Justin laugh and play wildly. When he saw me, instead of coming over, he carefully held the girl's hand.

My blood seemed to stop flowing. The first time we held hands was my initiative; he never held my hand back, even when we were at our best.

Before, he still had some patience with me. When I acted coquettish and asked him to hold my hand, he just went through the motions.

Now, they held hands tightly and the girl looked at him with a sweet smile.

The subtle glances around me made me feel like a joke. I stood up, planning to leave quietly, when Justin grabbed me and pulled me back. The people around us started to make a noise.

The innocent girl in Justin's arms bit her lip and looked at us, her eyes reddened. "Baby, what does this mean?"

Justin let go of my hand, pulled her into his arms, buried his head in her neck and said something and the two of us laughed and joked.

The girl looked at me sideways while talking and laughing, with disdain in her eyes.

I heard that she was a completely spoiled girl who couldn't stand any grievances. Her family background was also very good, so it was normal for her to look down on an adopted daughter like me.

The words around me came into my ears bit by bit.

The licking dog follower was just a toy.

I cowered in the corner, too scared to even argue back, afraid of causing trouble for him. All I wanted was for him to finish so I could take him home and then stay far away.

So when the girl came over and called meme, I didn't respond. Justin saw his girl looking upset, her lips pursed and he just comforted her with a pat.

People around us sensed something was wrong and started crowding around, urging me to drink. I looked at Justin, who remained as still as a mountain.

He knew that I was allergic to alcohol. But he said nothing, not a word and even whistled.

I inexplicably picked up the glass and tremblingly drank one after another. His eyes looked complicated, as if he was about to stop me, but the girl beside him suddenly exclaimed, "Baby, there's a little bug!"

He quickly turned to help the girl pat it away, looking anxious in a way I had never seen before. He even smiled as he drank the milk he disliked so much, simply because the girl fed it to him.

I didn't look at them, just focused on drinking. Before long, my body broke out in hives and even breathing became difficult.

Before I passed out, I heard a stranger hesitantly say, "She's passing out! Justin, should we call an ambulance? She's not okay."

Justin was shouting something, but I couldn't hear anymore.

This was the last time, Justin.