On our seventh year anniversary, my girlfriend, Rachel Winters, forces me to drink a glass of drugged champagne before dumping me onto the bed of an 80-year-old widow.

"It's Bryon's first time attending a business meeting. He's still pure and oblivious, so he doesn't know how to satisfy an older widow's insatiable desire.

"I have no choice but to ask you to seal this business deal on his behalf. Think of this as your way of helping me repay Bryon's family for raising me since young.

"Don't worry, Corey. No one will know about this."

After that, Rachel turns off the lights and leaves the room while ignoring my pleas for help.

But the next day, the video of me and the widow going at it is spread across the Internet. My colleagues look down on me for resorting to such underhanded methods just to get promoted. They can't believe that I'm able to stomach the idea of sleeping with an 80-year-old widow.

Thanks to the video, the company's reputation is greatly affected. Rachel holds a press conference immediately to address the issue.

I thought she'd defend me, but I didn't expect her to change her tune.

"I've already discussed this matter with the Dalton family. Corey Dalton shall take responsibility for what he's done to the widow. As for me, I will get engaged to Bryon Parson."

I feel as though lightning has struck me on the spot.

I've founded this company with Rachel and has stuck by her side through thick and thin, resulting in us rising as the new-time business moguls. But in the end, she decides to ditch me.

"Corey, if you really want to stay by my side, you can remain as my side piece. In exchange, I'll help you shake that old woman off your tail."

As I meet Rachel's smug gaze, I shake my head decisively.

"I've already thought things through and decided that I'll be marrying the widow."

I was completely stunned the moment my girlfriend, Rachel Winters, announced that she was getting engaged to Bryon Parson.

I yelled at her hysterically.

"Why won't you speak the truth? He was the one who offended that widow, which was why he was forced to sleep with her in the first place! But you drugged me and forced me to take his place!"

Hundreds of cameras immediately pointed toward me as if I was just a circus monkey who'd gone mad.

Rachel just looked at me calmly and said, "Bullshit. What proof do you have?"

That was all it took to silence me.

The people around me wouldn't stop snickering.

I remember how I had once been falsely accused of being a Peeping Tom in the women's bathroom back when I was still in college. The student body then forced me to publicly apologize onstage so that I would be despised by the entire college.

However, Rachel, the college belle, was the only one who believed me when I said I wasn't the one who did it and stood up for my innocence. We had only met each other twice before that.

She had been my salvation since then.

I got madly infatuated with her and pursued her for four years after that.

Now, the same scene was happening all over again, but things were heading in a completely different direction this time.

The reporters immediately shoved their microphones into my face as they yelled questions at me.

"How could you even think of having a one-night-stand with an 80-year-old widow when you already have a girlfriend as beautiful as Ms. Winters?"

"Did you just have a change in taste? Or are you really a sick psychopath after all, Corey Dalton?"

"How could you even bear to prey on an 80-year-old widow like that? She could already be your grandmother at her age!"

They kept repeating their malicious questions at me, forcing me to answer.

I looked at Rachel.

She just looked back at me with a calm expression on her face, watching the drama unfold like she was a complete outsider.

"I am the victim!" I exclaimed, gritting my teeth in anger.

Then, I fled the scene amidst the overwhelming ridicule, returning to the office with a livid expression on my face.

I thought of asking the company's deputy CEO, Steven Armstrong, to clear things up for me. He and I were good buddies who went way back, after all. He once promised me that he would always take my side no matter what happened, and I could always count on him.

Just as I'd stepped into the company, however, Bryon immediately came over to me, fell to his knees, and grabbed hold of my legs as he wept and groveled.

"I'm sorry, Corey! You can yell at me or hit me if you want to, but please don't blame it on Rach! It's all my fault! Please, can't you just forgive me?"

He wouldn't stop groveling and sobbing as he apologized to me on his knees.

I froze at once.

However, I soon caught the malicious glint in his eyes.

Before I could react, I suddenly heard Rachel's furious voice behind me.

"Corey Dalton! How could you be so vicious and wicked? Is this all you know, bullying the weak? You're such a coward in public, but yet, you dare to bully an intern like Bryon as soon as you're behind closed doors!"

Rachel shoved me aside forcefully and shielded Bryon behind her, staring at me warily with icy hatred in her eyes.

It was as if we were not lovers anymore, but rather, sworn enemies instead.

My heart hurt so much that I couldn't even breathe properly anymore.

Rachel was my girlfriend of seven years and the person whom I thought I was going to marry. Meanwhile, Bryon was the intern whom I had patiently and painstakingly taught everything I knew and who looked up to me as his mentor.

I used to trust them both unconditionally. But I never thought that they had already been seeing each other behind my back and were now even joining forces to plot my downfall.

"What's going on here?"

Just then, Steven and a few other board members hurried over.

"Please don't blame Corey for any of this!" Bryon immediately yelled. "It's normal for him to be mad because he took my place sleeping with the 80-year-old granny!"

Rachel felt a pang in her heart when she saw how upset and aggrieved Bryon looked. She immediately defended him.

"Corey was the one holding the grudge against Bryon and forcing him to kneel and grovel at his feet as soon as he got back to the office!"

But I hadn't even done anything!

"How could you do such a despicable thing, Corey Dalton!"

The directors immediately chided and condemned me harshly as soon as they heard what Rachel said. They even reached out to help Bryon off the ground.

"How could you bully people like this? Are you trying to force him to the end of his wits?"

I looked at Steven, hoping that he would uphold justice for me. Instead, he stormed up to me with a dark look on his face and punched me right in the face until I saw stars.

I was stunned for a few long seconds before I asked him incredulously, "Steve? Are you not even going to ask me for my side of the story? Have you already forgotten your promise to me as my best friend?"

However, Steven also backstabbed me by glaring at me coldly and saying, "Being friends is one thing, but your horrible work ethic is another! And don't you dare try being sentimental and using that 'best friend' label on me!

"Bryon had only just begun working in the workforce, and you are his direct superior! You can't possibly watch him destroy his own future like this, can you? Even Rachel is more willing to help him than you are!

"What's the big deal about you making a small sacrifice for him like this? Would it kill you to be nice to him?"

Every word he said felt like a sharp knife to my heart. It hurt so much that I shivered hard and could barely even remain standing on my feet.

Meanwhile, Rachel added, "That's right! You're a leader, which means you should shoulder all the responsibilities of being one!

"And to add on to that, the Parsons had been kind enough to raise me as their own daughter for 20 years. You'd better stop it with your fuss now and quit pestering others about it!"

Why was I now responsible for repaying the Parsons' favor when Rachel was the one who owed them? And when had I ever pestered anybody about anything?

In the past, Steven once told me that I should look out for Bryon for Rachel's sake.

When the company was just starting up, Bryon kept falling ill, and Rachel insisted on staying with him to take care of him the entire time. So, I was forced to travel all over the country and secure funds and investors for the company all by myself.

I didn't even buy new clothes for myself for years, and yet, I was told to buy Bryon new clothes all the time. And if both he and I saw a watch that we both liked, I was also forced to give it up for him instead.

There were plenty more instances like this, but I never told anyone, not even Steven, because I didn't want anyone to worry about me.

Rachel knew about all these, and she used to feel sorry for me and make it up to me afterward. But now, they'd all changed and turned against me.

"Although I'm getting engaged to Bryon, and you're now forced to marry the 80-year-old granny, we can still technically have a 'relationship' with each other," Rachel then said, looking every bit confident and self-righteous.

She was really fond of playing mind games at this point. This was a public slap to the face, taking me to be the fool instead!

I was so speechless that I ended up laughing in anger.

This place was absolutely disgusting. I knew I was going to throw up if I stayed another second longer, so I turned and left.

Bryon's faux concerned voice then sounded behind me.

"Do you think we're going a little too overboard if we treat Corey like this?"

Rachel sighed softly and said, "We'll make it up to him next time."

Make it up to me?

Over my dead body.

I didn't care about it anymore.

I stood shivering in the cold winter wind in my thin clothes. A stretch limousine then stopped next to me, and a woman dressed in black got out of the car.

"Hello, Mr. Dalton. I am Ms. Blackwell's secretary, Jeanette Richards. She would like to invite you over for a cup of coffee."

I was just about to turn her down when someone suddenly struck my neck from behind; I was then hurriedly stuffed into the car.

I eventually passed out after struggling for a bit.

When I woke up again, I realized that I was stark naked, and an old woman was scrutinizing my body very closely.

She looked exactly like the old woman in the viral video circulating online.

I felt my heart sink to my stomach. This was terrible. Was I going to be forcefully taken against my will once again?

Why was I always so down on my luck like this?

"This man isn't too shabby. His body seems firm and supple enough," the old woman said with a smile and an approving nod. She then turned to Jeanette and said, "Get him a change of clothes and send him to the villa.

"And then inform the Daltons that the engagement will be held next week. All upper echelons of society will be in attendance."

After that, the old woman turned to leave.

Jeanette brought me a change of clothes, helped me put them on, and sent me to the car.

I stood before the villa, where a young woman peeked at me through the curtains before turning around to speak with the old woman once again.

I couldn't help but sigh and exclaim my thoughts out loud, "Her granddaughter's already that age, and yet, she's still thinking of preying on younger men like me?"

The bodyguards leading me there nearly tripped and fell. They all turned to look at me in shock, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. I shut up immediately after that, worried that my comment would cost me my life.

I took another closer look at the villa.

This was the first time I'd seen a residential building that was five times bigger than a mall, and it was also all nicely decorated in the style that I liked.

Before I could enter, Rachel suddenly rushed up to me and frowned in displeasure.

"How dare you pretend that you're suffering and at your wits' end when you're about to live the best life you'll ever have with a billionaire old widow? And to think I was cracking my head open trying to think of a way to save you from her!"

How could she even think about such a shameless thing to say?

I was the victim here, and yet, she kept making herself out to be the victim instead.

"So tell me. How are you planning to save me from her?" I asked curiously.

"If you'll agree to be my secret lover, then I will wipe off all records of you in the system and hide you away. Nobody will be able to find you, then."

Rachen then smiled lightly as her eyes crinkled into slits. "However, the only condition is that you give up your position and all your company shares to Bryon."

I had a stuffy feeling in my chest. In other words, she was going to hide me and trap me somewhere forever, depending on her for food and survival, and never to be able to regain my freedom ever again.

Maybe this was all just an elaborate scheme to force me into giving up my shares to Bryon after all.

"Am I not the most thoughtful and most sincere person you'd ever met?"

The smile on Rachel's face deepened. Then, she smacked me with a contract.

"Sign it. The three of us will be living as a happy family in the future."

There wasn't an ounce of remorse in her eyes at all. All I could see was just a deranged sense of control and manipulation.

I inhaled deeply and smacked the contract out of her hands. As she looked at me in shock, I made myself clear.

"I've already made up my mind. I'm going to marry the widow!"

"What did you just say?"

Rachel didn't think that I would be that resolute about it. She was first taken aback. However, she soon grinned a short while later.

"Do you think that I still don't know you? You only have one chance. Don't you dare get arrogant about it."

She was convinced that I would eventually give in, thinking that I was still madly and deeply in love with her.

However, she never thought that I was already thoroughly disappointed in her. All of my love and affection for her had already died out.

Just then, Steven and Bryon hurried up to me.

Steven was looking particularly mad as he kicked me in the chest and sent me sprawling to the ground.

"You bastard!"