On the night of our engagement banquet, Mandy Sutton's boyfriend, Lenard Johnson, sends my fiancee, Sarah Lindt, a video clip of him jerking off. It also comes with a text message.

"Using my hand doesn't feel good at all. I miss your tight little mouth."

I want to call that jerk on the spot and cuss him out. But Sarah, who has flown into a state of panic, quickly stops me out of anger.

"Are you dumb? It's obvious that Lenard has sent all of these things to the wrong person! He's my best friend's boyfriend, for crying out loud! There's nothing going on between us! Must you be so paranoid, Jonathan?

"You're the one that's oozing negativity and dark thoughts, so stop assuming that everyone else is the same as you! Put that jealousy of yours away and stop embarrassing me already!"

To think that Sarah is actually accusing me of being jealous and paranoid when she's the one who has cheated on me behind my back!

I merely chuckle coldly before forwarding the video clip to our mutual college group chat. At the same time, I've withdrawn my sponsorship from Sarah's company.

I'm quite curious, though. Without the support of a jealous, embarrassing man who has zero confidence like me, just how long can Sarah maintain her image as a strong and independent businesswoman?

Not even ten minutes after I forwarded the video to the university group chat, there was an uproar.

"Isn't that Lenard? Look at his hand go! Is he trying to start a fire or something?"

"Did he have to do this in the middle of the night? I guess he must find it thrilling."

"Hold on. Isn't Lenard supposed to be Mandy's boyfriend? Then why did the video come from Jonathan, Sarah's boyfriend?"

In an instant, everyone was madly tagging me, Sarah Lindt, Lenard Johnson, and Mandy Sutton.

My phone rang as Mandy tried to call me, but I ignored it; my room door happened to burst open at that exact moment.

It was none other than my dear girlfriend, Sarah.

She had clearly just finished showering; her body was still clad in a towel while water dripped from her hair.

"Jonathan Goodwell, have you gone crazy?"

Snatching up a nearby vase, she charged toward me and brought it down on my head.

I didn't move, allowing the vase to smash against my forehead. Immediately, blood began dripping down the left side of my face.

Shocked by my demeanor, Sarah hastily backed out of our future shared bedroom.

However, she returned to my bedside a while later.

"Jonathan, do you have to take things so far? Mandy has been my best friend since childhood—we're closer than biological sisters! If you stubbornly refuse to let this go, what will she think of me? This is clearly a misunderstanding, so why do you have to treat it as real? Tell me, how are you going to clear up this mess now?"

The way she pretended to be innocent only caused a self-mocking smile to curve my lips.

Lightly caressing the wound on my forehead, she gently urged me to clear things up in the group.

"Just tell everyone that your account was hacked and the video is fake."

In response, I laughed mockingly. "Would you believe it if you were in my shoes?"

My words seemed to trigger her. The earlier gentleness in her gaze swiftly turned hostile.

"Jonathan, just how jealous must you be to kick up such a fuss over a simple misunderstanding? Are you satisfied now?"

"So, you genuinely think that this is just a misunderstanding?"

I looked her straight in the eyes as I asked, yet all I saw was fury and avoidance.

How was it even possible to send that kind of video to the wrong person? Especially since another message had been sent right after it, and on the night of my engagement dinner to Sarah, no less. They must truly think I was an absolute fool.

In the video, Lenard was on the couch across from the camera, his whole body trembling as his hand moved incessantly. The grunts he made reminded me of a boar in heat, all while he kept muttering, "I miss you so much! I miss that small mouth of yours!"

Mandy had been chasing Lenard since our university years and was constantly by his side, almost as though she were glued to him. Why the hell would he be missing her?

Sarah stood before me, obviously feeling extremely guilty. Several times, she opened her mouth to speak, only to swallow the words.

See? Even she couldn't think of an excuse! How utterly laughable!

"He must have accidentally sent it to the wrong person," she finally stuttered. "I'm already engaged to you, so why are you still so suspicious? Do we not even have a basic level of trust between us?"

Not wanting to say another word to her, I shut my eyes to go to sleep.

Realizing I actually had the audacity to ignore her, Sarah instantly grew enraged.

"Jonathan, this is only our first day of being engaged, yet you already dare to treat me this way? Honestly, what did I expect from someone who came from the bottom of society? No matter how much you gild yourself, there's no changing the fact that you're still that same despicable person!"

My eyes flew open. She had struck a sore spot I had carried since I was young.

She was the one in the wrong, yet she had so carelessly ripped open an old wound of mine.

I was born in a farming village in the countryside. However, due to a congenital heart disease, my parents abandoned me, leaving me to a childhood that was beyond miserable.

The other kids in the village would beat me up or force me to drink urine, while the resident crazy old man would constantly grope me. I even had to fight the strays for food scraps to survive.

Nonetheless, it was precisely all these hardships that forged my resilient character, allowing me to gradually build my own business empire.

I had sealed away my dark past in the deepest recesses of my mind, only ever telling Sarah about it. Unexpectedly, instead of feeling heartbroken for me, she gave me her scorn.

From then on, every time I did something that wasn't to her liking, she would bring up my past, gouging the wound in my heart over and over again.

She never seemed to remember that she, too, was only the daughter of an average salaryman in the city—nothing more.

Seeing that her words had succeeded in hurting me, she left the bedroom, satisfied.

A short while later, my phone suddenly buzzed.

It turned out that Lenard had sent a long voice recording to clarify things. He claimed he had meant to send that video to Mandy but accidentally sent it to the wrong person. His tone was filled with utmost sincerity as he apologized to everyone for the disturbance.

The excitement that had just died down swiftly returned, but I wasn't in the mood to read the messages anymore.

Just as I finally drifted off to sleep, Sarah barged in again, her expression twisted into smug delight.

"See what Lenard said? Don't just assume everyone is as filthy as you! Mandy also personally called me to apologize, so what else do you have to say for yourself?"

In no mood to waste time with her, I simply rolled my eyes and kept silent.

I didn't know whether to call Mandy gullible, innocent, or just plain stupid for falling for Lenard's honeyed words. Anyone with a brain would know he definitely hadn't filmed that video for her, nor had he ever meant to send it to her.

Just as I was marveling at Mandy's lack of intelligence, she sent me a message to complain.

"Jon, Sarah told me about what you did. How could you be so impulsive? Even if you don't trust Lenard, don't you at least trust Sarah?"

Profanity burst out from me. Sometimes, stupid people truly were more infuriating than evil people. There was no hope for Mandy—no cure at all.

I failed to get any rest for the remainder of the night. The moment dawn peeked over the horizon, I called my secretary.

"Stop all investments in Sarah's company."

After handling that matter, I crashed back into bed to get some sleep. When I woke up, I discovered that Lenard had called me several times.

I called him back immediately. The moment the call connected, his voice—too high to be a male's, yet too low to be a female's—drifted through the phone tauntingly.

"Jonathan, so what if you forwarded that video to the university chat group? In the end, Mandy still believed me!

"I seriously don't understand how I'm inferior to you. Let me tell it to you straight—I'm definitely going to win Sarah over. It's only a matter of time!"

It was clear that Lenard was laying his intentions bare, openly challenging me. I spent the next ten minutes or so cussing him out before he finally hung up.

However, a short while later, he edited the recording of me cursing at him and uploaded it to the chat group.

"You didn't think I would manage to steal your video, huh? That's right, I just can't stand you! What are you gonna do about it? Mandy must be on another level of stupid for falling for you!

"Think of a way to clear things up in the chat group yourself, though I should remind you that if you dare speak nonsense, you'll have to deal with the consequences!"

The way he tweaked the audio made it seem like everything had been a deliberate ploy on my end, as if I were the one caught in a lie and was now lashing out.

I fell silent, hitting myself over the head for losing my cool and falling for such a lousy trick.

Meanwhile, the others in the university chat group were all up in arms. Having heard the edited recording, they were raging at the "injustice" on Lenard's behalf.

"Damn! Jonathan always seemed like such a great guy. I honestly didn't think he was capable of being so despicable and ruthless!"

"It actually sounds like Jonathan has designs on Mandy. Isn't he satisfied with the campus belle? How could he still be lusting after another guy's girlfriend? How shameless!"

"I know, right? I guess we truly can't judge a book by its cover. I feel so bad for Sarah, though. She should hurry up and dump his ass."

Lenard chose that moment to play martyr.

"Everyone, there's no need to make such wild speculations. Maybe Jon just hates me, plain and simple. He stole my video and uploaded it to the group. It's no big deal."

On the surface, it looked as though he were defending me, but his "explanation" only added fuel to the fire.

Those who had remained silent to watch the drama finally joined the fray, attacking me relentlessly in a cry for justice. Among them, Mandy was the most aggressive.

I instantly started typing a message to clarify things, planning to confront him head-on. However, that was when I realized I had been banned from posting in the group—by none other than my fiancée, Sarah.

Fury had my blood roaring, pounding in my ears so loudly I couldn't hear anything else.

At that moment, Sarah barged into the room with eight bodyguards, who promptly yanked me off the bed. One of them kicked me squarely in the chest, and I collapsed to the ground, immobilized by the pain.

Sarah stood off to the side with her arms crossed, coldly watching the scene unfold.

In the eyes of everyone else, she was a goddess. Not only was she the campus belle, but she was a strong, capable woman who had started her own company immediately after graduation, earning a yearly income of several million dollars.

This was the first time we had ever had a real falling out. Not only had she brought bodyguards, but she had done it for the sake of another man.

With blood seeping from the corner of my mouth, I slowly stood up.

"So this is the resolution you and Lenard came up with? Sacrificing me to smooth things over?"

Her brow furrowed before she replied in a tone that suggested she was doing me a massive favor. "This is the only way to handle the matter. No one else should have to clean up the mess you caused."

It was only then that I noticed the hickeys dotting her neck. The sight caused my heart to clench.

When I remained silent, Sarah assumed I was surrendering and smirked.

"This is the end of it. Don't you dare get any more ideas, or I'll definitely not forgive you. Also, Mandy and Lenard have been looking to buy a house lately. I want you to transfer 200 thousand dollars to me. I'll give it to them on your behalf to ease the tension."

I couldn't stop the bark of angry laughter that escaped my lips. They expected me to help pay for their house and even have Sarah deliver the money on my behalf? Did they seriously think I was so oblivious to their affair?

All these years, I had never revealed exactly how much money I had; not even Sarah knew the extent of my wealth.

She had asked about it once, but I had given her a vague answer, saying I had a streak of luck a few years back. I never gave her an actual number.

The reason was simple—like any other rich person, I didn't want my partner to only be after my money.

Now, it seemed she was testing me with this maneuver.

The average person couldn't possibly imagine the hardships I'd endured—what it was like to go from a wild child fighting stray dogs for food, looked down on by everyone, to where I was today.

All the blood and tears I'd shed over the years had taught me one thing—never show your full hand to anyone. Not even your lover.

From the moment we met, Sarah had simply assumed that I was a somewhat well-off startup founder, and nothing more. Little did she know, the primary investor who had funded her company was me.

Sitting down on the genuine leather couch, I crossed my legs and gave her a long, assessing look.

"Help pay for their house, huh? No problem. I'll personally deliver the money to him in a few days."

At first, Sarah was displeased that I wouldn't just transfer the money to her directly. However, after a moment's thought, she realized she would benefit from this regardless, so it didn't matter how I did it. What was more important to her was whether I could actually fork out that 200 thousand dollars. This would be her chance to see what I was truly worth.

Since she had achieved her goal, a radiant smile spread across her lips. She sat down beside me and reached out to caress my face gently.

"Jonathan, this matter is over now, okay? Next time, don't be so impulsive again. You aren't the only one suffering here—my heart hurts for you too. But if you aren't punished, I'm worried you'll go after Lenard again. I don't want that. After all, Mandy and I are best friends."

In my mind, I sneered. Was she treating me like a pet dog?

…

For the next three days, Sarah never came home, always claiming she was incredibly busy with work.

I finally took the time to pay her a visit at her company, but the receptionist told me Sarah was busy and wasn't seeing any guests.

I pretended to leave, then doubled back, snuck past the reception desk, and swiped my card to enter Sarah's office.

The instant I pushed the door open, I heard Sarah moaning. With light steps, I headed deeper into the office until I stood right outside the door of the adjoining lounge.

Lenard's heavy breathing and grunts were exactly the same as they were in the video from the other day.

"Ah… Sarah, does it feel good? Come on, call me 'hubby'…"

Sarah didn't speak, though her moans sounded like she was trying to hold herself back.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a loud smack—Lenard had slapped her on the ass.

Sarah let out a small scream before whispering shyly, "Ah! H-Hubby…"

Immediately, I felt as though I had been plunged into icy water. My entire body wouldn't stop trembling. Thankfully, I was more than familiar with the dark side of humanity, so it didn't take long for me to calm down.

I retrieved my phone, aimed it at the gap in the door, and pressed record.

After leaving Sarah's company, I contacted a real estate agent to sell our marital home. That place utterly repulsed me now.

I had barely finished the paperwork when I received a message from Sarah.

"Jonathan, there's a reunion with our university classmates at eight o'clock tonight at a bar called Timeless. Since everyone will be there, you can use this opportunity to apologize to Lenard and admit to your mistakes, just like I taught you. After that, you can transfer the 200 thousand dollars to him."

That night, I showed up at the bar on time. When I entered the private room, it was already packed. Sarah and Mandy were sitting beside Lenard, the three of them all smiles as they laughed and talked.

One of our university classmates spotted me and instantly mocked, "Well, well, look who's here!"

The room fell silent as everyone shot me looks of disgust and scorn. At the same time, Sarah's eight bodyguards moved in, swiftly surrounding me. Something was definitely wrong.

I tried to turn back, but one of the bodyguards slammed a punch straight into my abdomen. Spit and bile flew from my lips as I doubled over in pain.

Just like that, I was dragged into the center of the private room, where Mandy welcomed me with a sharp slap across the face.

"Jonathan Goodwell, how dare you frame Lenny! Apologize now, you bastard!"

Following that, the bodyguards forced me to kneel before Lenard, shoving my face toward the floor. Everyone simply watched on indifferently; no one made a sound. Sarah remained silent as well.

It was Lenard who spoke first, his tone dripping with fake grace. "Jonathan, I didn't want things to be like this, but Sarah said you had to face the consequences of your mistake. How about this? Just apologize to me, and I'll forgive you."

Instead of answering, I suddenly lunged forward and headbutted him square in the nose. Blood spurted everywhere.

Lenard clutched his bleeding nose, rage blazing in his eyes. But before he could say anything, Mandy smashed a wine bottle over my head, painting my vision red.

"Jonathan, you're an utter scumbag! Isn't it enough that you have Sarah? How dare you lust after me too?

"Lenny keeps telling me not to go after you because he's worried about my relationship with Sarah. But even now, you refuse to admit what you did and even dare to hurt him! If I don't take revenge for him, I'm not worthy of being his girlfriend!"

Sarah's eyes narrowed. She ordered her bodyguards to pin me down, then approached me, stepping directly onto my face with her high heel. There was a dark, malicious look in her eyes.

"Why can't you just appreciate the chances we're giving you?" she hissed. "After everything I said to you, did nothing get through your thick skull?"

With my eyes bloodshot and my voice raw, I bellowed, "I have proof on my phone!"