Chapter 3

3

I immediately dialed 911, but before the police could arrive, my front door was kicked off its frame.

Chad charged in like a raging bull.

Without giving me a single chance to speak, he swung the bat squarely into my side.

I screamed and collapsed onto the floor, cold sweat instantly drenching my back.

"You piece of trash! You dare lay a finger on my girl?!"

Chad swung like a lunatic, putting deadly force into every single blow.

"If I don't peel your skin off today, my name isn't Chad Miller!"

All I could do was curl up and protect my head, weak whimpers escaping my throat.

Nobody stepped in to stop him.

In fact, someone stepped directly onto the back of my hand just to get a better camera angle.

They shouted excitedly into their livestream:

"Look, everyone! Here is the predator! Take a good look at this face!"

"Top gifter is a beast! He says he will drop ten grand for every broken leg! Chad, did you hear that? Someone is paying for his legs!"

"Beat him to death! Scum like this are just wasting oxygen!"

Candice stood right in the center of the crowd with her arms crossed.

Not only did she not stop the beating, she threw fuel on the fire.

"Chad! Break his hands! Those filthy hands touched me, shatter them!"

"Kick him between the legs! Ruin him so he can never be a man again!"

The sickening crunch of breaking bone made the air turn cold.

The blinding agony made my vision go black, and a rush of metallic sweetness surged up my throat.

I spat out a mouthful of blood and foam.

Clinging to my last shred of consciousness, I glared at Candice's hypocritical face.

My voice was as raspy as a broken bellow. "Candice... karma will come for you!"

Hearing that, Candice only looked down at me with pure disdain.

"Karma? Ha! Darcy, when you attacked me, why didn't you think about karma?"

"Just die already. Seeing you breathe makes me sick."

Sirens finally wailed in the distance.

When the police dragged Chad off me, he was still thrashing wild, spitting a glob of phlegm right onto my face.

"Pui! Disgusting bastard! You ruined my hands!"

I was carried out onto a stretcher like a dying stray.

Before darkness swallowed me whole, I saw Candice instantly transform into a fragile, weeping angel for the cameras.

"I am so sorry for taking up public resources... My boyfriend was just being impulsive because he wanted to protect me..."

"I wanted to be kind, but who is going to feel sorry for a victim like me...?"

I lay in the hospital for three days.

Three broken ribs, a shattered left hand, and a severe concussion.

Meanwhile, Candice became the city's "bravest anti-assault warrior."

She pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars through livestreams in just three days, idolized by millions.

And I became the nation's most hated monster, a pervert, a vile predator.

My phone exploded with endless death threats and hate messages.

Even the nurse changing my bandages treated me with pure hostility.

She violently ripped off the gauze that was stuck to my raw flesh, completely ignoring my trembling.

"Hiss..." I gasped from the searing pain.

The nurse gave me a frosty glare full of disgust.

"What are you whining about? Does this hurt?"

She intentionally pressed down hard on my open wound.

"When you ruined that poor girl, didn't it hurt her a hundred times worse?"

I wanted to explain, but my throat was too damaged to make a sound.