Katniss knelt down on the floor, begging my mom to let her go this one time, but my mom refused to listen.

Because she was caught cheating, Katniss was given a zero. After she went back home, she sank into hopelessness and ended her own life.

From that moment on, Austin came to hate my mom. In order to get revenge, he tricked me into starting a relationship with him.

That day, after Austin finished letting out his anger, he didn’t even look at me, brushed past me with a cold face, and walked away.

After he left, neighbors outside gathered together, pointing at my whole family and whispering rumors.

“So this is a genius girl? Acting sweet and well-behaved on the outside, but doing such filthy things behind closed doors. If she were my daughter, I would beat her to death!”

“So shameless. Who would’ve guessed someone so young could seduce men like that, sleeping with three in one night? Toss someone like this into a nightclub, and it would be wild, right?”

“Her mom’s even a teacher. Who would’ve thought she would raise such a dirty daughter? Who would dare let their child be taught by her? Wouldn’t that just be a class that teaches kids to turn bad?”

……

Their mockery and insults were as harsh as they could be.

Those neighbors even followed what was spreading online, causing more trouble. My parents’ workplaces and personal details were all exposed.

My dad got so angry that he had a sudden attack right there and passed away before the ambulance arrived.

My mom was pushed into a dead end by online attackers and, right in front of me, jumped from a building in hopeless pain and committed suicide.

That year, I was eighteen years old.

Austin used only one night to tear my family apart and ruin my whole life.

Austin held onto me tightly, unwilling to release me. I smiled weakly and shoved him away.

“Please step aside. I still have to go earn money.”

Austin let go of my sleeve and stood there blankly, watching me remain on the street, staring empty-eyed at the people walking back and forth.

Some men passed by without even looking at me. Others, oily, shameless older men, let their eyes crawl over me, looking me over with greedy interest.

“How much for a night?”

“Six hundred.”

The man shook his head after smacking his lips. “Your hands are very rough. That price is high.”

I quickly grabbed him. “It can be lower.”

The man smiled, rubbed his chin while checking me again, then nodded.

“Alright. Then come with me. If tonight feels good, I might think about keeping you around for a long time…”

The man’s hands started moving in a dirty way around my waist.

I forced myself to bear the sickness, putting on a false smile. Just when I was about to go with him, someone suddenly pulled me hard. I crashed down onto the ground.

Before I could respond, Austin’s fist slammed into the pervent man’s face.

“You filthy old pervert! Touch her again and see what I do!”

Austin’s face was red with anger that was almost taking over him.

“Where did this brat come from? You dare hit me?!”

“I hit you, so what? Get out of here!”

I wanted to step forward to stop it, but Austin roughly pressed me against the wall, his eyes burning with anger.

“Belle, do you have no self-respect at all?”

“You graduated from a top university. No matter how badly you need money, you wouldn’t sell yourself for only a few hundred, right? Don’t you feel ashamed?”

I looked at him, a bit confused, showing in my eyes.

“A graduate from a top university? Me?”

It seemed Austin didn’t know that, after everything that happened that year, the university no longer kept me.

The young woman sitting in the sports car grew upset and jealous, questioning Austin with clear annoyance on her face.

“Tell me the truth, who is this woman?”

Austin glanced at me. “An old acquaintance.”

I lowered my head, eyes cast downward, feeling completely miserable inside.

I wanted to wait for Austin to loosen his grip on his own, but he didn’t move at all. I frowned and pushed him away.

“You scared away my client.”

I stayed by the streets for three nights before I finally found such a client.

“Client?”

Austin coldly laughed. “Belle, you’re unbelievable. You have arms and legs; what kind of job can’t you do? Did you really have to come out here and trade your body?”

I looked far ahead, my mind empty. Yes, during these four years, the thing I heard most was exactly that: you have arms and legs, what kind of job couldn’t you do?

Everyone stood on their moral ground, judging me and yelling at me.

But they had no idea that I had tried everything.

A girl who had just graduated from high school at eighteen. For over ten years, I had focused on studying and saw the world with simplicity and innocence.

My parents had given me a very comfortable life when I was young; I had never worried about money at all.

But in one night, both of them died.

Just to stay alive, I took endless part-time jobs, serving food, clearing plates, washing people’s hair, and feet.

I even worked three jobs every day.

Still, the money was never enough.

No place wanted to give me a normal job. Nobody would choose someone with only a high school diploma, and even less someone with a bad name following her.

Even when I pushed myself until I was worn out, even when I worked until I could barely stand, the small pay from odd jobs was still far from enough to take care of Tanya and me.

You may wonder, who was Tanya?

She was a child I rescued. She had a disability and was left behind by her parents on a main road. When I came across her, she was almost run over by a big truck.

That day, I had wanted to lie down on the road too and let my life end there.

But that child smiled at me.

I struggled for a long while, but in the end, I chose to keep living and to raise her.

Thinking about this made me suddenly become anxious. I had been away for so long; Tanya must be longing for her mother.

“Please step aside. How I sell myself is my own matter; it has nothing to do with you.”

“Austin, your life is so good. It really makes others feel bitter. The next time you see me, just act like you never did. Otherwise, I’m scared I won’t be able to stop myself from pulling you down into the dirt with me.”

I gave a small, bitter smile. Right when I was ready to turn and leave, Austin caught my hand.

“Belle, look at yourself now. Where is even a sign of the smart girl you once were?”

“If your parents could see this, see the daughter they cared for so much turned into a woman standing on the street, they would probably be angry enough to die again!”

I froze, then suddenly started laughing.

I laughed until tears came out.

Would they really see it?

If they could see it, then why didn’t they come back to life to help me?

Something felt off about Austin. He actually left his girlfriend behind and pulled me into a mall to buy clothes.

I stood by the clothing shelves, feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

“No need. These clothes cost too much. I can’t pay for them.”

Austin suddenly lifted his head and stared at me in surprise, then quickly frowned.

“Belle, can you stop acting?”

“When you were in high school, anything you wore without thinking cost more than this. Putting on a show like this just makes people annoyed.”

I showed a bitter smile. That was the past.

The past and the present were two totally separate lives.

Austin stayed as controlling as always. He frowned, stopped asking what I thought, and straightaway pulled a bright yellow dress set from the hanger, telling the shop clerk to have me try it on.

I shook my head.

Austin looked slightly angry. “Don’t act ungrateful. I remember you once liked yellow the most, like a sunflower.”

That also belonged to the past, back when I lived freely under my parents’ care, surrounded by plenty of friends, like a glowing little princess.

Yet in the video from that night four years earlier, I had also been dressed in yellow when I was harmed by those three strange men.

From that moment on, I wore only dark clothes. Even if I got hurt, no one could notice the stains.

Dark colors work best as a shield.

They quickly make men who stare with lust lose interest.

Austin ignored my refusal and stubbornly told the worker to pack everything up. He then asked me to get into his car. “I will drive you home.”

“No.” I declined without thinking.

Austin pulled his brows together and said again, “Get in the car.”

“Is it the same address?”

I shook my head. “That house was sold a long time ago.”

Then I gave him a different address.

Austin drove slowly and carefully. The ride stayed quiet the whole time. Only when we were nearly there did he finally talk.

“What happened back then was a rash mistake on my part. I carry a lot of regret.”

I softly answered, lowered my face, and stayed quiet.

Austin looked toward me more than once. Seeing that I did not speak, he swallowed the rest of his words.

“Just stop here.”

I pointed toward the candied hawthorn stand in front.

Austin stopped the vehicle right away. I thanked him, then spent the last few coins I had to buy one stick of candied hawthorn.

“You enjoy sweets?”

Austin’s voice made me jump. I thought he had already driven off. I did not expect him to step out and walk after me.

I shook my head. “My daughter enjoys them.”

Even though Tanya lived because I saved her back, she still had a difficult life with me and hadn’t eaten many good things.

This plain stick of candied hawthorn was something she had been hoping for for a long time.

As expected, Austin’s face turned very unpleasant. “You have a daughter? When did that happen?”

He let out a cold chuckle, his face losing color.

“So I even thought I owed you something back then. Belle, I didn’t think you would be this low, already having a child while still in college.”

“Looks like I thought too much!”

Austin slammed the car door and drove off fast.

Choked by the smoke and dirt thrown up by the car, I couldn’t stop coughing until tears streamed down.

I had done it on purpose when I mentioned my daughter earlier. Even though Tanya wasn’t my birth child, I wanted him to get the wrong idea.

I wanted him to understand that he and I no longer lived in the same place in life.

I didn’t know if what he did came from regret or sympathy, buying me clothes and giving me a ride back.

There was no promise that once we reached where I stayed, he wouldn’t suggest going inside to look around.

But how could I ever allow him to enter?

I walked all the way down the steps to the lower level, and in the deep darkness, pushed open the door to the old storage room.

Back then, to pay for Tanya’s medical care, I sold the house.

I lived like a bug, like a rat in a drain, barely staying alive in this dark, tight space underground.

Back when I was studying, I read in books that some people had already used up all their energy just to stay alive.

I didn’t believe it then. I thought it was simply because they didn’t try hard enough.

But people who weren’t lucky, each time, their luck was always just a bit worse.

In the end, people who had nothing didn’t think about luck at all. Life was already too harsh. Just staying alive already costs them everything.

When I returned home, Tanya was coughing badly.

Her face had turned blue and purple from it.

But when she saw me come back, she still dragged one leg and came over to hug me.

“Mom, I missed you so much…”

I held her tightly, my heart hurting. “Be good, Tanya. When Mom earns a little more money, I will take you to see a doctor.”

Tanya was as sweet as an angel.

But heaven often didn’t protect angels.