I looked incredulously at the dress I was wearing. It was designed for the wedding toast and looked low-profile yet respectful. It was not that similar to the dress Ruby had on.

Moreover, her makeup had been done by celebrity makeup artists who helped make her bridal makeover look exquisite. Anyone who was not blind could tell right away that she was the bride. How could I be stealing her limelight?

I frowned. I did not want to waste time arguing with them. "I'm wearing an official dress for the wedding toast. It's not appropriate to take it off."

Before I could leave, Ruby suddenly grabbed my hand. She cried pitifully while tearing off my dress. "You heard what she said, everyone. She said it's an official dress for the wedding toast. She did this on purpose! I would’ve tolerated this on other days, but this is my wedding day! How can I let this slide?"

When she grabbed my collar, she deliberately scratched me violently with her sharp, manicured nails. Blood splattered everywhere instantly, and I screamed with pain.

Ruby cried even louder and pitifully when she saw this. She pushed me into the crowd out of panic. "I didn't do it on purpose! It's because you insisted on wearing that dress. My husband tailor-made my dress for me, and it means a lot to me. I can't allow anyone to take that away from me!"

Her tears fell freely, and her underlings grew angry over the predicament she was in. Her group of besties started to grab my hands to hold me down while continuing to pull at my collar. Viciousness flashed in their eyes.

"Don't dirty your hands, Ruby. Cheap women like her rarely have more than two dresses. It would be bad luck for you to even touch her!"

"We'll help you tear the clothes off this b*tch. Who does she think she is to imitate you?"

"Hey, any men around here who are strong enough should come help out. This b*tch is actually brazen enough to fight back!"

Before I could react, someone's arm wound around my neck. I almost passed out from suffocation as my limbs started to go weak. It didn't matter how much I tried to fight back. I could not fight off the numerous hands grabbing at me.

Tears filled my eyes as I shouted at them to stop, "I-I'm Connor's foster mother… Uff…"

Before I could finish what I was saying, a bloody scratch appeared on the corner of my mouth. The group kept insulting me one after the other, not bothering to listen to what I had to say. The dress was soon torn off me.

I was left cowering alone on the icy floor with wounds all over my body. My dress had been torn to shreds, and everyone brought chunks to Ruby as if presenting a treasure to her. Ruby did not even glance at them. All she did was stare straight at me.

When I tried to say something, the person holding down my hand immediately slapped me. My cheek became badly swollen. I could feel the burning pain sear through my brain. Before I could react, I was dealt another slap.

Cruel laughter rang in my ears. "Shouldn't you be grateful that I made sure your features were balanced with swollen cheeks on both sides?"

The world spun around me when I heard Ruby's coquettish voice amid her sobbing. "Thank you, everyone. I'm sorry I let everyone see something so unsavory on my big day. It's all my fault for indulging her shenanigans.

"But she's still a woman, after all. She won't be able to marry anyone if she has so many wounds. She won't be able to live a life of luxury like me once I become Mrs. Milford!"

With that, Ruby picked up a glass of whisky and raised her hand to pour it all over me. "What a great coincidence that there’s alcohol here. I can help Chloe disinfect her wounds."

When she saw me wince from the pain, her smile got wider as she said to me, while feigning being considerate, "Don't worry. Even though you can't afford such expensive whisky, it's my wedding, after all. I can use it however I want."

It was the beginning of autumn, and I was left wearing only my undergarments. I could not help hugging myself tight as I shivered from the cold. I was like a fish out of water that was about to die. The group seemed to have found something interesting as they were encouraged to imitate what Ruby did by grabbing alcohol off the table.

"Isn't Ruby creative? I want to have some fun too! I wonder if this bottle of 1982 Lafite would work well as a disinfectant."

My tears mixed with the red wine as it flowed to the corner of my mouth.

"Hey, don't sneak a lick of that wine! It's pretty disgusting now that it has blood in it."

They looked at me maliciously and with disgust as they continued laughing while having their fun with me. They carefully observed my painful expression and described it loudly for Ruby.

I could no longer speak. If I even attempted to speak, a slap would come for me. I was numb from the pain as the alcohol burned all the wounds on my body. It felt like I had just been grilled on a hot plate.

When I tried to stand up to run away from this hellish room, I was pushed to the floor numerous times, helpless as everyone burst out into laughter.

"Trying to escape? Not so fast. We gave you a chance before this, but you didn't take it." Ruby looked down at me with superiority. She kept stepping on my fingers with her high heels as she listened to my weak cries of pain.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Sam Chilton is here!"

Everyone instantly hushed as they looked worriedly between Ruby and me.

Sam was the high school heartthrob. Everyone knew that he had a crush on me back then. He was also the reason why Ruby copied my fashion style. It was because she had a crush on him. Her expression turned savage as she coldly called for the taunting to stop.

I thought the torture had finally ended, and I could have a moment of peace. I struggled to get up by holding onto the table leg and attempting to run out of the room, but the moment I touched the table, Ruby kicked me down. I fell heavily to the floor.

The sound of leather shoes stomping toward us became louder. Ruby grabbed my hair to reveal my injured face. "Guess who this is, Sam. This b*tch tried to compare who looks better by wearing the same dress I did. Who do you think is prettier? Me or her?"

Ruby grabbed my cheek and patted it with the back of her hand, chuckling playfully. Sam looked at my face carefully with a cold look in his eyes. He was suddenly taken aback by what he saw. I knew he had recognized me.

I tried my best to blink at him, hinting crazily for him to save me, but he ignored me and even scoffed, "Who is this? I don't know her at all."

The young man who had once disregarded Ruby now looked at her in a flattering and humble manner. "The bride is always the most beautiful woman at a wedding. Where did this ugly thing come from to have the courage to compare herself with you? She must be out of her mind. Ptui!"

He spat cruelly right on my face. My heart sank as I was filled with despair.

Ruby let out a long, satisfied sigh. Her ego had been greatly fed today.

My eyes turned red as I trembled. Back in high school, she used to make me her imaginary enemy, turning her group against me. However, their bullying had been limited to avoiding me and saying nasty things about me to everyone they knew, which did not affect me that much.

I did not expect her to become even worse after finding out she would be marrying into the richest family in Lark City. My teeth almost broke from how furiously I was clenching my jaw, and I tightened my fists.

Ruby Saunders! Now that I was going to become her mother-in-law, I could not let her bully me anymore, or I would be unworthy of the Henderson name. Her lackeys started to surround me.

I knew that there were too many people against me. All I could do was listen carefully to whatever was happening outside the hall. Once a bodyguard passed by, I would immediately call for help.

That was when Ruby suddenly crouched to the ground to pick up the shards of the smashed alcohol bottles. She played with the shards in her hand and pressed them onto my face hard. The shards sank deep into my cheek.

"Argh!"

Excitement appeared in her eyes when she heard me screaming, and she picked up another shard. Everyone started to heap praises on her. Some of them even applauded.

"Chloe has always copied Ruby! This punishment is too lenient for her. And I can’t believe our Mrs. Milford is dealing out the punishment personally."

"Be grateful. You won't be lucky enough to meet a rich wife like Ruby in the future, but it's different for us. We're Mrs. Milford's best friends!"

"If you plan on copying Ruby again, just look at yourself in the mirror to ask if you're worthy enough! You should be grateful that she's willing to personally deal out your punishment. How can you glare at us?"

Ruby was on cloud nine with everyone's enthusiastic bootlicking. I took the opportunity to use every ounce of strength I had left to announce my true identity. "I'm Connor Milford's mother. If he finds out how I was treated today, you'll all suffer the consequences!"

They were busy trying to get on Ruby's good side because of how powerful Connor was.

Connor controlled Lark City with a firm hand. He was the one who executed his parents' murderers swiftly and ruthlessly. They were part of a rival business. They were once the richest family in Lark City, but Connor destroyed them overnight.

He created a storm in the business world. Anyone who knew of him would tremble at the mention of his name.

Connor's personality mellowed a little after I taught him not to handle things so extremely. Otherwise, the women who tried to approach him over the years would not have had happy endings, and Ruby would never have had the chance to marry him.

Everyone was taken aback by my words before they laughed even louder. "Have you been beaten silly, Chloe? How dare you claim to be his mother! I wouldn't even dare to dream of something so ridiculous."

Ruby's expression turned cold as she figured I was just trying to taunt her. "How badly do you want to be my mother-in-law? Fine. We don't have many guests right now. Take her to my room! If she enjoys role-playing so much, I'll go along with her this time."

Two of her lackeys came up to me. I had a bad feeling about this and quickly waved my hands hysterically to stop them. However, Ruby stepped on my mouth, grinding the bottom of her dirty shoe on it.

"Open your mouth and lick it clean. Aren't you great at yelling? You should use that energy to apologize to me. I might let you go if you make me happy enough.”

I shut my mouth tight as I shook my head in rejection, crying. This minor movement enraged Ruby. She screamed curses at me while choking me, and she slapped me dozens of times. I was already bleeding out of my nostrils, yet she was still not satisfied.

Ruby picked up more empty shards to slash my naked body and left messy wounds on me with her long fingernails. "Sigh… You've dirtied my pretty nails when all I wanted was to teach you a simple lesson. You should’ve just apologized."

She continued viciously as she accused me, "It's all because you were stupid enough to impersonate my mother-in-law. How can I tolerate you insulting my family? You deserve to be taught a good lesson.

"Everyone knows how swift and ruthless my husband's foster mother is when it comes to making decisions. She's also a graduate of an Ivy League university. How can a cheap whore like you compare to a woman like that?"

Someone started thinking about this and said, "Rumor has it that Connor Milford's foster mother is only three years older than he is. Could she really be…"

Ruby interrupted the person with a sneer and pushed the glass shard in her hand into my mouth. "How is that possible? Shouldn’t I know what kind of person Chloe Henderson is? Being a cheap whore is in her DNA.

"She was born this way, but has always been deluded into thinking she’s someone else. Why else would she copy me back in high school? She probably told people that she was the Saunders heiress rather than me!"

She stuffed my mouth with a piece of my torn dress to stop me from calling for help. "This is the way things should be."

Ruby sat prettily on the sofa while she watched the others kick me intermittently. She smiled happily at the sight. After a while, she got bored and picked up my phone, which I left at the side. She used my bloody fingers to unlock my phone.

While going through my photographs, she found a picture of me with Connor. It enraged her, and she came running up to me to give me several hard kicks.

"You vixen! I wondered what you were doing at my wedding. You're trying to seduce Connor because you're jealous of me marrying into a rich family!"

She carefully picked out the sharpest piece of glass and started slicing my face with it. "You love to be slutty, don't you? Let's see how you’ll seduce men once your face turns to shreds."

Ruby sliced up my face again and again. The sharp pain nearly reached my bones as my skin was cut up. I was about to suffocate from all the crying. All I could do was shake my head continuously as I begged her to let me go.