Chapter 1
Linnea's POV
I stayed in this city for Dorian, pushed my way into his company, and saved every penny for three years just so we could build a home together.
But an anonymous flash drive shoved a video of him cheating in our bed right into my face. The next day, a promotion announcement handed the position I’d bled for to the very woman who seduced him.
With my dignity crushed to dust, I had only one person left to rely on—my gentle, almost obsessively devoted stepbrother, Ambrose.
He promised to make those scumbags tear each other apart. He promised Dorian would crawl back to my feet like a dog.
He offered me a "secret recipe" with immediate results.
I expected a deeply satisfying revenge. I never imagined what that so-called recipe actually was...
"Linnea, package for you. No return address," the front desk intern Sarah casually handed me a yellowed manila envelope.
I tore it open. A nameless black USB drive dropped into my palm.
The conference room was empty. I plugged it into my laptop.
The screen flickered, and a video file popped up. The moment I clicked, the sight of two naked, tangled bodies slammed into my eyes. The woman's high-pitched moans violently pierced my eardrums.
I held my breath, staring at the screen. Dead center, Dorian—my boyfriend of three years—was thrusting wildly on top of another woman.
The timestamp was his birthday night.
The night he claimed he had to stay late at the office to review quarterly reports. The night he told me not to wait up, guiltily sending my calls straight to voicemail.
This was his overtime? Celebrating his birthday in our bed with someone else?
I quickly raised my phone and recorded the obscene footage playing on the screen, then headed straight for the director's office.
Dorian was on the phone. Seeing me storm in, he scowled in annoyance.
"I'll call you back," he hung up. "Linnea, are you crazy? Didn't anyone teach you to knock?"
"Where were you the night of your birthday?" I shoved my phone right up to his face.
His eyes flicked over the screen. The panic vanished as fast as it appeared, replaced by a chilling arrogance.
"Did you put a hidden camera in my room?" He scoffed.
"You slept with another woman, and now you have the nerve to question me?!" I raised my hand to slap him.
He caught my wrist effortlessly mid-air and shoved me back. I stumbled, my back slamming hard against the doorframe.
"Don't scream like a hysterical bitch. Save yourself some dignity, Linnea." Dorian straightened his luxurious cuffs, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. "Since you saw it, let's not waste time. Yeah, I fucked her."
"Why..." I stared at the man I'd loved for three years, the heartbreak suffocating me.
"Because you're so fucking boring." He leaned back in his leather chair, looking at me like an expired product on a shelf. "You're as obedient as a nodding doll. You're like a dead fish in bed, treating sex like a chore. You dry me up!"
"Then why didn't you just break up with me?!" I screamed, tears finally breaking through. "I stayed in Lira City for you! I squeezed into this company for you! What am I to you?!"
"You're a useful maid, that's it." Dorian sneered, walking up to look down at me. "I need real entertainment. You're just a tool to kill my boredom. Don't think so highly of yourself. You want a breakup? Fine. Now get the hell out of my office!"
My brain exploded. Three years of youth and pathetic compromises, crushed like garbage right to my face.
I don't know how I fled the building. My mind was just dead, echoing static.
When I finally came to, I was standing outside Ambrose's villa. The moment I pressed the doorbell, it was like the bones had been sucked out of my body. I collapsed.
The door flew open.
"Linnea? Jesus, what happened to you?" Ambrose bent down and scooped me into his arms.
"He cheated... Dorian... He's a liar..." I grabbed his shirt collar, crying so hard I couldn't breathe.
Ambrose's body went instantly rigid. His arms tightened around me, almost crushing my ribs. He half-carried me inside and kicked the door shut.
"Shh... take a deep breath, Linnea. I'm here." His long fingers repeatedly combed through my messy hair. His voice was incredibly gentle, but I could feel his chest heaving violently.
"He said I'm boring... a tool just to dump his lust into..." I choked out incoherently.
Ambrose grabbed my face, his thumbs almost brutally wiping my tears away. He looked straight into my eyes. In his usually gentle gaze, I saw a dark, incomprehensible obsession burning.
"He's blind! You are the purest, most precious thing in the world. Who the fuck does he think he is to call you a tool?"
Ambrose grabbed my wrists, forcing me to look at him. He leaned in close. His warm breath brushed my neck, his voice soft but piercing:
"Linnea, do you even know who the woman in his bed is?"
