Chapter 3

"Silly girl, signing a contract isn't a one-person decision. How can I blame you?"

Ethan tenderly pulled Lyra up from the floor and held her tightly in his arms, then looked at me firmly:

"I was the one who initiated the contract with Lyra. Her body has flaws, she's different from you. Without a master's protection, she'd be bullied by other mates."

My lips parted as I watched the man I loved most protect another woman like a rare treasure.

Years ago, Ethan refused to sign a contract with me, using his rising career as an excuse, saying he was afraid people would use it as a weakness against him.

I understood how difficult things were for him and waited year after year.

I thought he just wasn't ready.

But now, to protect another woman, he could hand over his soul without hesitation, then turn and look at me with cold eyes.

The contract I'd begged him for countless times, he easily gave to someone else.

The tightly wound string in my heart finally snapped.

I removed the diamond ring from my ring finger and hurled it at Ethan. The sharp edge of the ring cut a bloody line across his face.

I ground my teeth viciously:

"Ethan, you violated our vows today — cheating and giving the contract to someone else..."

"Since you won't give me an answer, I'll show you both my attitude with actions!"

Ethan touched the blood on his face, clearly thinking I was joking, and snorted dismissively:

"Enough, Vesper. Stop making a scene. I still need to accompany Lyra to the Vesper gala to give her face. Be good and go home. I'll come back tonight to explain."

I stared hard at their intimate backs, slowly tearing the pregnancy report in my pocket to pieces and throwing it in the trash.

Leaving the hospital, I called Kyle, the capital's golden boy:

"I'm allowing you to pursue me now, but I have one condition — I need you to help me destroy someone!"

Even after ten years, I was still the object of every man's pursuit.

The most perfect elite mermaid in the eyes of the powerful.

With just one sentence, countless men scrambled to please me.

That very night, I received a bloody koi scale.

In the surveillance video, Lyra was surrounded by a group of men in black, pinned to the ground, as they forcibly plucked her most prized natal golden scale.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me!"

"Ethan will kill you all, kill every last one of you!"

Her furious curses turned into blood-curdling screams as the pliers came down.

"Why? Because you offended the golden boy's sweetheart."

The video faded to black amid mocking laughter.

At the same time, the villa door was kicked open.

Ethan, wearing a haute couture suit and originally holding roses to appease me, approached me with murderous intent.

"Still angry about what happened during the day?"

He originally wanted to control his temper. He tossed the flowers on the table, his voice carrying helplessness and condescension:

"You're an elite mate — why get angry with a defective product?"

"I'm only with her because I pity her. If you don't like it, I won't let her appear in front of you anymore, okay?"

For once, he lowered his head, thinking this would appease me.

I laughed too, laughing until tears nearly came: "You're absolutely right — a defective mate really isn't worth getting angry over!"

Ethan froze, seemingly not expecting me to be so agreeable.

I then threw the bloody golden scale in front of Ethan, smiling sweetly at him:

"Enjoy a good look at your poor little thing's natal scale."

Ethan's eyes widened as he stared at the bloody scale. When it registered, he grabbed my collar, his eyes bloodshot:

"Vesper, you actually dared to touch her? You're looking for death!"

I smiled provocatively, meeting his eyes without backing down: "I also have the video. Want to hear her screams? I said it before — neither of you cheating bastards will have it easy!"

A crisp sound echoed through the entire living room.

My face burned with pain, the force whipping my head to the side, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of my mouth.

I covered my face, looking at Ethan in disbelief.

Since his comeback, countless low-grade mates had tried to climb into his bed.

The bold ones would provoke me directly to my face. In my volatile temper, I'd taught them lessons and ruined faces.

But Ethan had always turned a blind eye, even helping me hand over the knife.

This was the first time he'd raised his hand against me for another woman.

"You'd better start praying Lyra's okay, or I won't be polite to you!"

Ethan glared at me like I was an enemy, then stormed out angrily.

I stood there alone, the servants' sighing and mocking gazes hurting more than the slap on my face.

In just one night, news of rising business star Ethan Hunt storming the black market in a fury to save his beloved made it to the top of trending topics nationwide.

[Oh my god, isn't this just like the domineering CEO heroically saving the beauty in novels? I'm dying from this ship!]

[But isn't this unfair to Vesper? She stayed with Ethan for ten years.]

[If you can't manage your man, who else can you blame? Besides, wasn't she always proud of being Ethan's only sweetheart? Getting a slap in the face now, isn't she?]

However much I'd once prided myself on Ethan's favoritism, I was now equally humiliated.

The entire city knew that the once most noble elite mermaid had lost to a genetically defective reject.