My husband’s little lover purposely shattered our wedding photo and even acted proudly while insulting me as an old, unattractive, aging woman.

Out of anger, I slapped her forcefully, making her lose her composure in the next day’s model shoot video, nearly preventing her from blending into the entire industry.

When my husband found out, he not only stayed calm, but even, for the first time, took the lead in preparing a table full of dishes I liked.

That evening, he brought me milk to aid my sleep.

After drinking it, I lost consciousness deeply.

When I regained awareness, I discovered I was tightly restrained in a cruise ship’s banquet hall.

From the mirror, I noticed a few bold words stamped across my face.

[Cheap meat on sale.]

I abruptly raised my head, only to see Waylon Gutierrez casually leaning to the side.

His little lover, Astraea Barnes, held a pork stamp, flashing a teasing smile at me.

The crowd below consisted of Phenix City’s upper class, looking at me with mean looks and joy at my suffering.

The host came up onto the stage.

“By President Gutierrez’s request, a special lot has been added temporarily tonight…”

“Mrs. Gutierrez stamped with pork seal!”

“Starting bid, one dollar!”

…..

My thoughts went empty, with only the coldness spreading through my blood.

I could not believe that just because I got upset over the engagement ring being auctioned, Waylon, to release anger for Astraea, made me suffer such humiliation in public!

Waylon looked at my pale face, seeming quite pleased. “Astraea only joked with you, but you caused her to lose face in public, taking away all her dignity.”

“Since you enjoy showing off at auctions, I’ll give you an opportunity, enjoy it.”

My body felt cold all over, and just when I was about to say something, a light laugh broke out.

Astraea had switched into a new, elegant dress, her face as flawless as before, without any red marks showing.

She wrapped her arm around Waylon, kissed him on purpose in front of everyone, then looked at me boldly.

The crowd below became more excited because of this.

“Astraea is embarrassing Audrey Cooper in public this time! Look at her face, so ugly……”

“I heard Mrs. Gutierrez was an orphan who lived with President Gutierrez in a basement for five years before clinging to him and getting him to marry her.”

“A freeloader, fully depending on President Gutierrez for support, still dared to take out her anger on his new lover; being shamed in public now is what she deserves!”

The burning pain on my face and the heavy shame came together, striking me at once. I shook with anger, my hands tightly clenched.

Waylon mockingly patted my other untouched cheek, his tone harsh and sarcastic.

“Don’t lose your temper, wife.”

“Everyone knows you have relied on me all these years to survive; without me, you have nowhere to go.”

He held Astraea beside him, his eyes soft.

“Astraea, don’t be afraid.”

“No matter what you do, I’ll protect you.”

Astraea’s eyes brightened for a moment as she stepped forward eagerly.

“Mrs. Gutierrez, I was only teasing you, sorry.”

She smiled insincerely, reaching out to wipe the words on my face.

I instinctively moved away, but the next moment, I was tightly restrained by the bodyguards.

“Mrs. Gutierrez, you are no longer favored. Just obey and endure, don’t think of going against Miss Barnes again!”

I gritted my teeth, never expecting that one day, when I fell, the bodyguards who once received so many benefits from me would treat me like this.

The bodyguards were too strong for me to break free, and I could only kneel there while Astraea wiped my face with her hand.

The dark ink spread further, turning into a wide patch across my face.

Astraea covered her lips and laughed out loud.

“Oh, Waylon, look at her. Doesn’t she look like a clown? So ridiculous.”

Astraea’s eyes moved. “But Mrs. Gutierrez made me lose face in front of everyone, and I’m still angry. Waylon, let me stamp a few more marks. What do you think? Her face is already like this anyway.”

Waylon looked at her with affection. “I’ll listen to you, but…”

“The main issue tonight has not been handled yet.”

Waylon stepped onto the stage, picked up the microphone, and his voice echoed through the hall.

“Thank you, everyone, for attending Cooper Group’s route signing pre-event banquet. Before the auction officially starts, let’s first settle some family issues.”

“As you all know, my wife, out of jealousy, intentionally caused Astraea to lose face at the auction, and the owner of this golden route, the ship king, Cooper family, values most the family behavior of partners.”

“So tonight, I will set a rule to punish her shameful actions!”

Golden route?

I was shocked.

Of course, I was familiar with this route.

It was the key to completing Waylon’s maritime project.

No wonder he made an example out of me to warn others, to curry favor with the Cooper family.

However, he still did not know that the leaders of the so-called ship king Cooper family were none other than my father and older brother.

I looked at Waylon, trying to keep my sickness and hate down.

For the sake of our marriage, I still reluctantly asked, “Waylon, are you truly going to end things with me because of that woman? Do you know I am……”

Waylon lost his patience, his brows tightening as he cut me off. “I already said this is your punishment for hurting Astraea, and the ship king Cooper family values discipline. If I don’t punish you, how can I secure this route?”

“How did you become so unreasonable now?”

Unreasonable?

I observed his annoyed look, my heart sinking little by little.

At that time, I concealed my status as the shipping king’s daughter, cut ties with my family, ran away with him, and stayed with him in a basement for five years.

Even Waylon’s rise to his current position within just five years was entirely due to me building networks for him behind the scenes.

I originally intended to tell him my true identity on the anniversary in seven days and persuade my father and elder brother to pass the position of ship king heir to him.

But now…

I laughed coldly, shut my eyes, and stopped looking at him.

Waylon thought I had given in, so his voice softened, with a bit of pride.

“As husband and wife, I’m not refusing to help you.”

“As long as the price you offer is higher than the prices of the few people below, you can auction yourself successfully.”

I raised my eyes and stared at the large screen.

Since the starting price was one dollar, and everyone there was very wise, they realized I had lost my power, and they all wanted to make me look bad on purpose.

Dozens of minutes have gone by, and the auction price is still one hundred dollars.

One hundred dollars meant nothing to me before, but now all my money and bank cards have been taken by Waylon.

My silence immediately set off even louder mocking laughter.

“So the once noble Mrs. Gutierrez was only valued at one hundred dollars!”

“She couldn’t even produce one hundred dollars! Hahaha, paying one hundred dollars to toy with the former Mrs. Gutierrez, that’s a big gain!”

“They always said Mrs. Gutierrez relied completely on President Gutierrez to live. I didn’t believe it, but it was actually true! A bitch who rose through her appearance, without President Gutierrez, she was nothing!”

The price kept going up within the noisy crowd.

“One hundred fifty dollars!”

“Two hundred dollars!”

“Two hundred fifty dollars!”

The bidding voices rose continuously, like slaps, hitting my face.

These people, who used to bow and nod to me, addressed me one by one as “Mrs. Gutierrez.”

At this moment, they fully regarded me as the cheapest goods, their shameless eyes staying on my body.

At this time, Waylon suddenly spoke. “Ten thousand.”

The whole venue became silent for a moment.

Even Astraea looked at him with puzzlement.

In the following second, Waylon held her face. “Didn’t you always want a maid? I think she’s not bad, ten thousand dollars per day, guaranteed to take care of you well.”

Soft laughter rose from below.

Astraea laughed so hard her shoulders shook; she stood up, her gentle voice echoing through the entire place.

“Ten thousand dollars to get a maid is quite enough. But letting Mrs. Gutierrez serve as my maid, wouldn’t that be wasting her ability?”

As she spoke, Astraea shot me a harsh look, then pretended to be generous. “How about this, Mrs. Gutierrez, you act as my dog for one day, right here on this cruise ship.”

“I’ll guide you, crawl across the deck once, bark like a dog. Whatever I tell you to eat, you eat; whatever I tell you to lick, you lick.”

I raised my head in disbelief, abruptly looking toward Waylon, who remained relaxed at the side.

Eight years of knowing each other, three years of marriage, Waylon actually kept quiet, allowing this woman to humiliate me before everyone?

Blood rushed to my head, I lost all sense, using the moment when the bodyguards eased up, I pulled myself loose and seized Astraea’s hair.

“Astraea, what are you? How dare you threaten me?”

I lifted my hand, ready to slap her.

Just before my hand came down, a big hand caught my wrist tight.

Pain shot through my wrist. I turned to look at Waylon, his face pale, sweat running down.

“Waylon, are you really going to treat me like this because of her, a mistress?”

Waylon coldly smiled and threw me aside with a swing of his arm.

“Audrey, have you still not understood the situation?”

"Astraea is now the little girl I care about the most, and you are only something bad I no longer want, a woman worth just two hundred dollars!"

"If it is not because Astraea and I help you, how can your worth go up to ten thousand dollars?"

I could hardly accept that the man standing before me had once been the man I loved for eight years, the one I even chose to leave my life behind for.

In the past, he had knelt in front of me, promising he would treat me kindly forever, and that every bit of money he made would be given to me to handle.

Yet after only three years of being married, he had fully become a different person.

Not caring about my wet eyes, Waylon held Astraea and moved toward the middle of the stage.

Only then did I notice that they had on matching luxury couple clothes.

Cheers came from below, many people calling them a “perfect pair”.

“President Gutierrez really goes far, for a small lover, to push down his former wife like this.”

“The one not loved becomes the other woman, she, a plotting woman who climbed up by looks, enjoyed three years as Mrs. Gutierrez, now her worth has reached ten thousand dollars, already quite respectable to her!”

Astraea became more pleased, smiling widely while looking at me.

“Mrs. Gutierrez, have you decided?”

“Do you choose to be my pet for one day, or let the bidding go on?”

Astraea’s tone sounded sweet and too fake.

“Pick, Mrs. Gutierrez.”

“Oh, I remember,” she seemed to think of something, took a cup of wine from the server near her, “your face is still dirty.”

“So sorry, I will help you clean it.”

After she spoke, the cold drink flowed down from above my head.

The wine and the color mixed together into chaos, making me look even worse than before.

I could picture how I looked now, surely like a street dog.

Otherwise, Astraea would not laugh so happily; the joy on her face could not be hidden.

The banquet hall became quiet, and everyone stared at me, waiting for my answer.

Waiting to watch me cry hard, then drop down like a dog and beg for forgiveness.

I tightened my hands, my eyes moved coldly across all the people there, then stopped again on Waylon.

With a woman beside him, he held a glass of wine in his hand, as if he already knew his maritime project would turn out well and shine after it finished.

But even now, he still did not understand that before, his maritime projects could move forward without trouble only because the people on this line knew me as the Cooper family’s daughter, so they showed him respect.

If not, with only his own skill, how could he rise to the top in Phenix City in only a few years?

“Waylon, you make me do this.”

“After today, the fall of the Gutierrez family is also caused by you.”

Right after I spoke, Astraea seemed to hear a funny story and lifted her voice toward everyone.

“Did you all hear? Mrs. Gutierrez has lost her mind, saying she wants to ruin the Gutierrez family!”

Loud laughter rose from below.

“Audrey is truly pushed crazy by her husband and his little lover, speaking nonsense in front of everyone!”

“Make the Gutierrez family go bankrupt? She does not even think about her own value! A woman who climbed up by her looks, one night, is not even equal to a piece of jewelry Waylon gives his new lover!”

Astraea broke a bottle of costly wine over my head. “Mrs. Gutierrez is dreaming. I help you come back to your senses.”

“The Gutierrez family is the top in Phenix City, how can it fall just because you, a girl with no family, say it?”

Waylon also showed a frown, thinking I was mad with anger, so I was speaking nonsense, trying to pull his attention with strong words.

He coldly laughed, then hinted to the host to keep calling bids.

“Audrey, instead of thinking about the Gutierrez family going bankrupt, you should first care about yourself.”

“The current price has now reached twenty thousand. If you still do not decide, if you truly end up with some man with strange tastes, I also cannot help you!”

I turned my eyes toward the crowd, and a fat man was staring at me with oily eyes, full of desire.

He was well known in this group for liking to toy with women, and just from that, he had already caused two wives to die.

Now he held his card up, looking sure he would win.

Cold sweat came out across my body, I took off the bracelet from my hand, and raised my voice.

“This is my family heirloom, beyond price, I will use it as collateral here!”

Hearing this, not only Astraea, but also Waylon looked at me with surprise.

He naturally knew how much this bracelet mattered to me. I wore it at all times, even while washing, and I did not want to remove it.

But he did not know that this bracelet was actually a token of the Cooper family.

Anyone who knew the Cooper family or had ties with the Cooper family could check a person’s identity through this bracelet.

And Astraea just happened to be someone who did not know its worth.

After a brief surprise, Astraea looked at me with an unfriendly look.

“Mrs. Gutierrez, this bracelet looks so cheap. How can it be worth twenty thousand? In my eyes, even a cheap street item is better than this.”

“But you already wear a fifty-dollar ring; this twenty-dollar bracelet really suits you.”

After Astraea spoke first, laughter also rose from the crowd.

“Family heirloom? This broken bracelet? She really dares to show it.”

“Isn’t Audrey an orphan? Where does a family item come from? Could it be some gift from some random man!”

Waylon set down his glass, his brows tightening.

“Audrey, even if you make up stories, there should be a line. How can this bracelet have no price?”

Astraea also followed. “Even if this bracelet has no value, if Mrs. Gutierrez wants to give it to me, I can still give you a little money.”

“Hmm… I give you two hundred.”

She pulled out two hundred-dollar notes from her bag, tossed them onto the floor with scorn, and reached out to grab my bracelet.

I moved back, holding it close.

Waylon grew upset from my refusal again and again, his tone turning heavy. “Audrey, are you done acting like this? It is only a bracelet, since Astraea wants it, hand it over.”

Astraea lifted her chin with pride. “Did you hear? Waylon tells you to give it to me! If you still hold on, later you will not even get the two hundred!”

“No!” I held the bracelet tighter. “This is not just something from my family, it is also the Cooper family token!”