The room was empty now—just me, alone.

I tried to prop myself up, but my limbs gave out, and I crashed hard onto the floor.

The damp carpet reeked of something sour and nauseating. Gasping for breath, I clawed my way toward the door.

Just as my fingertips brushed the doorknob—the door was kicked open with a deafening crash.

Startled, I whipped my head around and instinctively curled up to protect myself.

A man stood in the doorway—someone I didn’t recognize. His face was sharp and fierce, his suit jacket hanging loosely from one shoulder, and his expression was thunderous.

“...What the hell?”

He looked down and saw me sprawled on the floor. His gaze immediately darkened to something terrifying.

“Who the hell are you?”

I bit down hard on my lip, my body shaking.

“You... Are you from the Larson family?”

“Larson, my ass.”

He stormed in, towering over me with clenched fists and a voice like ice.

“This is my room.”

He stepped closer. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with a wild intensity I couldn’t decipher.

—

When I woke again, pain tore through my body as if I’d been taken apart and put back together wrong.

The air reeked of something intimate—an unfamiliar men’s cologne, the over-soft mattress pressing against my skin.

I tried to move, but my legs buckled beneath me.

My head was spinning. My waist was aching. My body still clung to the scent of a man I didn’t know.

Pushing myself up, I looked down—and froze.

I was completely naked.

No... No. This couldn’t be happening.

Did I really end up being sent off to the Larson family?

How could this happen?

I grabbed the blanket beside me and wrapped it tightly around myself. My heart pounded wildly. Tears welled until in my eyes, blurring my vision.

There was a burning, unfamiliar pain deep inside me—as if this nightmare had torn me apart from the inside out.

And I didn’t even know who that man was.

There had definitely been something in that drink.

I only had a sip. I just wanted to seem obedient so they wouldn’t target me anymore.

Why did it end like this?

I was breaking down against the headboard, barely able to breathe through my sobs, when suddenly the door slammed open again.

I flinched, instinctively pulling the blanket tighter.

It was the same man from last night—the one who stormed in.

His shirt was still half-open, hair tousled, and his eyes were like blades.

He stood at the threshold, his face cold as ice, and his gaze locked on me like he was trying to piece something together.

My heart dropped, and I shrank back without thinking.

His eyes scanned the room and saw the discarded dress, the empty champagne glass, the way I looked like a terrified wreck.

He paused for a second. Then his voice cut through the air, cold and sharp. “Who are you?”

My throat was aching, but I tried to speak without trembling. “I... I’m from the Perkins family...”

His gaze turned even darker.

“They sent you here?”

I didn’t dare nod. But I didn’t deny it either.

He let out a short, bitter laugh. His eyes flickered with impatience, yet beneath it, I could see him struggling to rein in his anger.

“Last night, you mentioned the Larson family? Are you the bride they sent for the alliance?”

My voice felt like sandpaper in my throat. “I... I don’t know. I only know its a marriage alliance.”

His eyes shifted. The fury faded a little—replaced by something deeper, heavier.

“Did you realize they drugged you last night?”

I shook my head.

He stared at me for a few moments, then suddenly let out a dark, sarcastic laugh. A shadowed smirk curled on his lips as he said, “You didn’t do it willingly, did you?”

I nodded instinctively, tears still clinging to my lashes.

He stepped forward, looming over me.

“Then you’re screwed.”

A chill ran through me.

“What... what do you mean?”

He clenched his jaw, speaking slowly through gritted teeth, “You slept with me.

My mind went completely blank.

What?!

“I-I don’t understand... I didn’t.. I didn’t know…”

He suddenly leaned down close to me, voice hoarse and low.

“I was drugged too. They sent the wrong person to the wrong room—not me.”

My head buzzed with static.

I stared at him, struggling to believe it. “Who... who are you, really?”

He let out a cold scoff. “Then listen carefully—I'm Shawn Perez.”

—

I didn't even remember how I ended up in the car.

The Perkins family’s bodyguards cornered me behind the hotel. I didn’t even get the chance to struggle before they shoved me inside.

I clenched my teeth the entire way, silent.

The Perkins family never cared for my opinion in anything they did.

By the time the car pulled up to the old estate, dawn was already breaking.

A line of house staff stood in the courtyard, heads bowed like they were waiting for judgment.

The moment I stepped inside, a furious voice exploded from the living room.

“What the hell is the Perkins family playing at?! Where’s the girl? Last night you promised—so where the hell is she? Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!”

A bloated man with greasy hair sat sprawled across the sofa, yelling between puffs of a thick cigar.

His ill-fitting suit was stretched tightly over his belly, which jiggled with each angry shout.

“Think you can trick me? I’d like to see if the Perkins family really wants to lose this investment!”

I hadn’t even gotten a good look at his face when his eyes locked onto mine.

Instantly, his expression turned sleazy and disgusting, like a man picking through spoiled meat.

He took a few steps toward me, then suddenly froze. His face twisted like he’d just stepped in something foul.

“What the hell is this?”

He glared at my father, his tone poisonous.

His smoke curled in the air as he jabbed a finger at him.

“My family’s offering you a billion dollars to invest in your company, and you try to fob me off with this trash?!”

Then his eyes snapped back to me, sweeping over me from head to toe that made my skin crawl.

Contempt and mockery seeped into his expression.

“She’s not even a virgin? You dare send me damaged goods?!”

I was still wearing Shawn's oversized coat, my hair disheveled, my face drained of color.

Roland Larson let out a disdainful click of his tongue, his sneer filled with loathing.

He turned to my father, voice now edged with threat. “That investment? It’s going to be half now—at best.”

“You really think I’d take in some used-up slut like this?”

My father’s face went paper white, but he still forced a groveling smile.

“Yes, yes, of course, President Larson is right. She’s young and ignorant... she didn’t know any better...”

“What she knows or doesn’t know has nothing to do with me,” Roland snapped, waving him off like swatting a fly.

Then, with open disdain, he kicked me.

My father glared at me, his expression blazing with anger.

“Why are you just standing there?! Kneel down and apologize to President Larson!”

I gritted my teeth and didn't move.

He glanced at the bodyguards—and the next moment, a hard slap cracked across my face, splitting the corner of my mouth open.

The sharp taste of blood flooded my mouth and nose.

I was shoved to my knees, my legs scraping the icy marble floor. Hands held my shoulders down, forcing me to stay there.

Suddenly, Roland snorted.

“Forget it. It’s not like it’s her first time. She's just a tool for marriage anyway—I'm not expecting her to be pure.”

“Trash like this is worth five hundred million.”

And before he left, he reached out and patted me on the head—like I was some untrained mutt.

I stared after his retreating figure, my fingernails digging into my palms so hard it hurt.

The moment he was gone, the Perkins family dropped their masks.

My biological mother, Daisy, stormed over, rage twisting her features, and lashed into me like a whip.

“Disgraceful! You’re nothing but a curse to this family!”

“You’ve only been back a few days, and you’ve already stirred up this kind of mess! Do you think the Perkins family exists just for you to humiliate?!”

“Are you trying to drive us to our deaths?!”

I knelt on the cold floor, slowly raising my head to look at them.

“You were the ones who sent me to that hotel.”

My voice was hoarse, like something broken and rusted.

“You knew what would happen once I got there.”

“Whore!”

My father’s hand came down hard. My head snapped to the side, a high-pitched ringing exploding in my ears.

My mother’s voice was like venom, each word spat with hatred.

“Shameless! Absolutely disgraceful!”

“If you'd died out there, it would've been better!”

The maids all kept their heads down, pretending they hadn’t seen a thing. The air felt frozen, thick with silence.

Father towered over me, sneering.

“Don’t you dare act like the victim. Who knows where you went whoring around last night?”

“Roland didn’t touch you, right? Then who the hell did you sleep with? Huh?”

“You don’t even know his name? Was it some stray dog off the street?”

I didn’t respond.

I only reached into my pocket, my fingers brushing against my phone.

From the moment I stepped foot into the Perkins house, I’d been recording.

Every vile word they said was captured, word for word.

That was when Sariyah finally descended from upstairs.

She was draped in expensive silk loungewear, her face painted with a mask of concern.

“Sis, how did things get this bad?” she cooed.

“Mom and Dad are furious. If you’d just come home earlier, maybe President Larson wouldn’t be so angry...”

She crouched down in front of me, her voice soft, but her eyes glittering with cruelty.

“But I guess it makes sense—someone like you probably sleeps with just about anyone, right?”

She leaned in close to my ear, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Did you really think sleeping with some random man would save you?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

I lifted my head and stared at her, my chest burning with rage.

She was positively glowing with satisfaction, like she’d stepped right onto my most painful nerve.

“Do you even know how powerful the Larson family is?” she said, lips curling into a smug smile.

“Simon might be the one out front, but the real power lies with the Larson patriarch. If he wants you to marry in, even a dog would have to wag its tail.”

“But don’t feel too bitter about it.”

I lowered my eyes, refusing to give her the pleasure of a reaction.

But my knuckles whitened around the phone in my hand.

That night, the Perkins family locked me in the storage room on the farthest corner of the third floor.

The door was bolted from the outside, and the window was nailed shut.

Four walls pressing in, choking the air out of me.

—

The next morning, a servant brought in breakfast.

While they weren’t looking, I huddled in the corner and connected to the Perkins household’s WiFi.

The phone lit up. A financial news alert popped onto the screen.

[Heir to the Perez Corp, Shawn Perez, returns to America—capital restructure expected to shake the New York elite.]

I froze.

The photo showed a man in a dark suit, features sharp and cold. His gaze was piercing, his aura arrogant and commanding.

It felt like my chest had been slammed by a freight train.

Flashbacks from that night surged in my mind.

Cold sheets. Scalding breath. That low voice in the dark.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

Sariyah stood there in flawless loungewear and house slippers, gliding in like a queen.

Her gaze landed on the phone in my hands, and she let out a mocking laugh.

“Wow, you're already reading financial news this early?”

She leaned over to see the screen—and instantly burst out laughing, nearly spilling the milk in her hand.

“Shawn Perez?!”

It was like she’d just heard the joke of the century.

“You think you’re worthy of him?”

"A toad dreaming of swan meat.”

Sariyah inched closer and spat coldly, “Are you insane?”