It's my first time visiting my girlfriend, Jennifer Hayes' family for the holidays.

At the dining table, her childhood friend, Duncan Foley, suddenly slams his cutlery down.

"How could you bring a prostitute client home for dinner, Jenny?"

The atmosphere becomes awkward immediately.

Everyone initially thinks that Duncan is running his mouth because he's had too much to drink, but he continues to ramble in a matter-of-fact tone.

"My buddy is a part of the anti-prostitution task force! As if I can get the person he's personally arrested wrong!"

As he speaks, he tosses a copy of the public security administrative penalty notice onto the table. My name is displayed on it.

The sight leaves me stunned.

It's true that the anti-prostitution task force arrested dozens of offenders in the city last month. But I'm the one who gave the signature of approval as the newly promoted chief commissioner…

When I didn't respond, Duncan Foley took it as his cue to make matters worse.

"Jenny, a man who wants to marry up but won't even clean up his act is absolutely vile. It's not too late to realize just how disgusting a guy like this really is. Dump him before he gets his filth on you!"

Glancing at the public security administrative penalty notice, I calmly said, "My name isn't exactly rare. A ton of people have the same name. How are you so sure it's me?"

Duncan's expression stiffened. Baring his teeth, he uttered, "It's true that other people might also have the name Nicholas Blackwell, but are you also going to say that the guy my buddy arrested has the same face as you?"

I let out a snort. "If you insist your friend recognizes me, then fine. Call him right now. Make that a video call. We can ask him directly."

My firm stance threw Duncan off for a moment.

He immediately put on a wounded act before turning to Jennifer Hayes' parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, what, you expect a criminal to be clean? I'm just worried Jenny might catch some nasty disease from him! I may be blunt, but everything I say is for Jenny's sake!"

At that point, Jennifer turned to me, suspicion evident in her eyes.

My heart sank. I quickly grabbed her hand. "Jenny, we've been together for a long time now. Do you really not know what kind of person I am?"

Her gaze wavered, like she was hesitating.

She cast Duncan a brief look, then said in a low voice, "Duncan, you can't joke about matters like this. If you've falsely accused Nick of something he didn't do, then you have to sincerely apologize to him."

After a pause, she added, "Nick, I want to believe you, but… Duncan isn't the kind of person who'd intentionally make false accusations. If you really did it, you should come clean now, and I'll let it go."

I froze, thinking I must've misheard.

As soon as she finished speaking, her parents' expressions turned ugly. "Jenny, what are you saying? If what Duncan says about him is true, there's no way we'll allow you to be with someone like that.

"The evidence is right here. As far as we can tell, this punk is just being obstinate. It's impossible for this to be nothing but a coincidence."

From the very start, Jennifer's parents had made it clear that they didn't like me.

They'd kept making subtle digs at me for being from a small town.

They'd said we weren't a good match status-wise and questioned what kind of spell I'd put on Jennifer for her to not only insist on dating me but also bring me to their home on New Year's Day without telling them first.

It was true that my parents were farmers their whole lives, and they had to scrape together every penny to send me to college.

After graduating, I landed a stable job. I started at the bottom and worked my way up one step at a time to where I was at that point.

The only reason I'd always told Jennifer I was just a low-level civil servant was to prevent her from feeling any pressure over my current status.

I'd actually planned to come clean today and even propose while I was at it. I never expected her parents to act like this toward me.

My body stiffened briefly, and my lips twitched a little as I said, "Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, it's true that my family isn't well off, but what does money have to do with character? You can look down on me all you want, but please don't insult my parents."

Once I called them out, they finally held their tongues.

I was just about to sit down again when Duncan splashed a glass of red wine all over me. "Nicholas, Jenny already gave you a chance to come clean, but it seems like you're just too proud to own up to it."

"Fine! I'll put the hard evidence right in front of you now. Let's see how you'll talk your way out of this!"

The very next second, he fished a stack of photos out of his pocket. As he slammed them onto the table in front of everyone, he remarked, "If your parents raised someone as shameless as you, they can't possibly be decent people."

The moment I saw the photos, my blood ran cold. They were pictures of me squatting naked in a hotel hallway.

In some of them, there were a few women who were scantily clad and men who appeared to be clients beside me, making the whole thing look like a humiliating police raid.

Duncan's grin grew even wider. "My buddy said that when they caught Nicholas, he was so scared that he wet himself. He was on his knees, begging for mercy and pleading with the police not to notify his family."

He turned to me, his eyes full of mockery. "Nicholas, didn't you claim to be innocent? Go on, defend yourself."

My blood boiled. Duncan had fabricated all of this from the very beginning. He obviously wanted to ruin my reputation in front of Jennifer and everyone else.

Looking up, I met Jennifer's furious gaze.

I'd just opened my mouth to speak when she slapped me hard across the face. "I can't believe I even wondered if this was all just a misunderstanding… Nicholas, are you still going to deny it when the evidence is right here?"

Her parents stood up as well, pointing accusatory fingers at me and yelling, "You're absolutely disgraceful! Get out of our house right now, and keep your filth off our floors!"

My chest felt tight, and I found it hard to breathe. It took me a moment to regain my composure. I knew that there was no point in explaining anymore, so I wiped the wine off my face and pulled out my phone to make a call.

When I transferred here last month, Captain Roger Carter from the local precinct had personally received me.

With the situation as it was, his appearance would be enough to set the record straight. But no matter how many times I called, Captain Carter didn't answer.

My flustered behavior only made everyone more suspicious.

Duncan approached me and snatched my phone away. "Stop putting on an act, Nicholas. Who do you think can come and help you lie your way out of this when things have already come to this?"

He kicked me hard in the chest, knocking me to the ground. My vision went dark all of a sudden.

By the time I could see clearly again, Duncan already had his arm around Jennifer.

Looking down at me as if I were beneath him, he said, "Jenny, I told you from the start. Guys who look decent on the surface are usually the dirtiest underneath. Now you finally believe me, right?"

I stared at Jennifer with reddened eyes, only to notice that her expression had gone cold.

I staggered to my feet. Frowning deeply, I stared straight at Duncan and asked, "What exactly do you want from me?"

Duncan let out a cold laugh. "What do I want? Naturally, I want you to get what you deserve!"

He pulled out his phone and made a call. Soon, several of his men appeared at the door.

Before I could react, they pinned me to the ground. My struggle was met with several hard kicks. My head spun from the assault. They stripped off my coat and pants before dragging me outside.

It was snowing heavily. I was left with nothing but a pair of boxers, my whole body shaking from the cold.

Lifting my head to look at Jennifer, I saw no compassion on her face, only icy indifference. "Nicholas, if it weren't for the fact that you looked like an honest guy and were easy to deal with, do you really think I'd actually be with you?

"I only brought you home today to deal with my family since they've been pressuring me to get married. And yet you humiliated me!"

Her words made my heart ache. She was only with me because I was a tool she could summon whenever she needed something.

Before long, a crowd gathered outside the Hayes residence.

Loving the attention, Duncan shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, this scumbag went to prostitutes behind his girlfriend's back, got caught, and still refuses to admit it! What do you all think we should do to teach this dirty, despicable lowlife a lesson?"

I curled up in the snow, my body black and blue from bruises.

The neighbors whispered among themselves as they sneered and jested.

"The guy looks all proper, but who would've thought he'd be so shameless in secret?"

"Jennifer is an outstanding young woman. She must have been blind to choose someone like this!"

Amid the commotion, someone spat on my face.

Though I was so cold that my body was turning purple and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably, nothing felt colder than my heart at the moment.

While I was humiliated by the crowd, Jennifer didn't look the least bit sympathetic. She even looked a little pleased.

I summoned all my strength to suppress my shivers and speak. "Jennifer, you really won't even hear my side of the story? You're just going to believe whatever he says and think I'd do something like that?"

Jennifer let out a scoff upon hearing that. "What more is there to explain? I don't want to hear a single word of your lies, Nicholas."

The disgust in her eyes was impossible to ignore. "I only feel disgusted by you now. Just thinking about being with you makes me sick. Once this is over, the first thing I'm doing is getting a full check-up at the hospital. If you've infected me with a disease, I'll make sure you pay for it!"

Duncan lowered his head and patted her back gently, his tone soothing. "Don't get worked up over a guy like him, Jenny. Ruining your health over this isn't worth it."

My face turned purple from the cold as I curled into myself even more. Every breath I took felt like sharp thorns scraping my throat.

With all the strength I had left, I managed to squeeze out, "Duncan, tell me… Am I the immoral one, or are you the one flipping the truth on its head? I'll give you one last chance. If you don't come clean to everyone now, you're going to regret missing this chance…"

Hearing this, Duncan flew into a rage on the spot. "Damn it! After all this, and you still dare to threaten me?"

Grinding out a curse, he charged at me, lifting his foot as if to strike my head.

Just as the blow was about to land, Jennifer grabbed him. "Duncan, stop!"

She spoke in a measured, slightly urgent voice. My heart skipped a beat. I thought that maybe she finally couldn't bear to see me being treated like this anymore.

But the words that came next cut colder than the midwinter snow. "Stay away from him. A guy like that could be carrying all sorts of diseases and bad luck. You shouldn't dirty your shoes."

The last bit of hope I had died the instant she finished speaking. My body no longer felt cold. I simply felt numb and hollow inside.

Duncan withdrew his foot, grinning wickedly. "Jenny, I'm just angry on your behalf. This guy's been lying to you all this time, and yet he's still refusing to come clean. It makes me so mad that I just want to kill him!"

As he spoke, he signaled to his men. "Tie him up properly. We wouldn't want him to get unruly later."

Several of his men immediately stepped forward to bind my hands behind my back with hemp rope, despite my struggles.

I watched in horror, a sinking feeling clawing at me. "Duncan, what are you trying to do? Intentionally causing harm is a crime. Even if I did do something wrong, you have no right to take the law into your own hands!"

Duncan laughed like I'd said something funny.

He crouched down close, his excitement clear on his face. "I'm not taking the law into my own hands. When it comes to dealing with scum like you, this is simply called doing society a favor."

Right as he said that, he lifted his foot again, only this time, he didn't hesitate.

He kicked me squarely in the face. I saw stars, and my nose started bleeding like crazy. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

Before I could even cry out in pain, everything went black. I didn't know how long I was out, but when I woke, I felt the freezing wind slashing at my mostly bare body.