Casey's eyes suddenly locked onto my neck, and they lit up with malice. "This emerald necklace looks expensive. Did you spread your legs for some sugar daddy to buy this too?"

As soon as she said that, she ripped the necklace off my neck.

Casey was too fast and aggressive. Before I could even react, the necklace was already clutched in her hand.

My face fell instantly. "Give that back!"

Seeing my panic, Casey let out a cold smirk. "Why so nervous? This thing must be worth a fortune."

"It's not worth anything," I said, panic tightening my chest. "But it's incredibly important to me. Give it back right now!"

I reached out to grab it from her.

Emerald was my birthstone. That emerald necklace was a lucky charm Mom had given her life to get for me.

I was a sickly child. When I was four, I was hospitalized in critical condition, slipping into a deep coma.

The doctors told my parents to start preparing for a funeral.

Refusing to accept it, Mom went to a sacred mountain sanctuary to pray for me.

To show her devotion, she climbed the mountain in the sweltering 104-degree summer heat, kneeling and praying with every single step from the base to the peak.

By the time she reached the top, her knees were bloodied down to the bone, and she was barely conscious. She dragged herself to the altar, where an old priest pressed an emerald necklace into her trembling hands. "God bless you," the priest said to her.

Maybe God was moved by her sacrifice. I miraculously woke up from my coma.

But Mom collapsed and never recovered.

On her deathbed, she placed the necklace in my hands and told me to never lose it.

I cherished it above all else, keeping it with me every day of my life.

It was something Mom had given her life for and the one boundary no one was allowed to cross.

I couldn't let anyone ruin it.

"The more you want it, the more I want to destroy it." Casey sneered.

Before I could even touch the necklace, she slammed it down onto the marble floor.

With a sharp, brittle crack, the emerald shattered into pieces. Fragments scattered everywhere across the floor.

"No!"

Watching the emerald necklace Mom traded her life for smash into pieces broke something inside me.

My chest tightened so hard I could barely breathe.

"You monster!"

Driven by pure rage, I swung my hand and slapped Casey across the face.

"You fucking bitch, how dare you slap me!"

Casey clutched her red cheek and shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Beat her up! Teach this bitch a lesson! Whoever does the best job gets a million bucks!"

At those words, her friends' eyes lit up with greed. They swarmed me, raining down punches and kicks.

"You think you can touch Casey? She's about to be the wife of Apexion Group's CEO! You're nothing compared to her!"

"Exactly! It's just a broken necklace. You probably bought it with hooker money anyway. Just sleep with a few more guys to buy a new one. Why get so worked up?"

"Shameless whore. Seducing Casey's man wasn't enough; now you're putting your hands on her? You're asking for it."

I was knocked to the floor. My body trembled with rage as I spat out through gritted teeth, "You'll regret this!"

A chorus of mocking laughter erupted in the room, as if I had just told the funniest joke in the world.

"Hahaha! Casey's boyfriend is the CEO of Apexion Group. Who the hell do you think you are to make us regret anything?"

"Exactly. You're just a low-level corporate nobody who tries to sleep her way to the top. You're selling your body, and you have the nerve to threaten us?"

"A whore needs to know her place. Lie down and take your beating."

They pinned me down onto the cold floor, hurling insults and mocking me without restraint.

Surrounded by her cheering crowd, Casey grabbed my hair and said arrogantly, "Regret? I've never regretted a single thing in my life. I can't wait to see how a piece of trash like you is going to make me start!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, a line of luxury cars tore up the driveway and came to a stop right outside the front door.