At midnight, my high school’s former ‘Banhua’ suddenly called me.
“Kira Maxwell, what’s your deal? I’m getting married tomorrow, and everyone else from our class agreed to come. Why are you playing dead in the group chat?”
I work for a highly classified agency, and getting cleared to leave is extremely difficult, so I forced myself to stay awake and politely refused.
“I’m sorry, but my agency doesn’t grant leave for personal events.”
Tiffany Bell’s voice immediately sharpened.
“What kind of trash agency doesn’t give you leave?!”
“Let me tell you, my fiancé is the richest man in the entire state! You can quit your job, but you *will* come. I want every single one of our old classmates to know that all your good grades meant absolutely nothing. I can live off my looks and still beat you a hundred times over!”
“If you don’t show up tomorrow, I’ll tear your house down!”
She hung up without waiting for my reply, then sent me a digital invitation via SnapChat.
When I saw her fiancé’s picture, I froze.
Isn’t this Victor Thorne, the man who only became the richest and most powerful in the state because of the strategic alliance our marriage represented?
My sleepiness vanished instantly. I immediately SnapChatted Tiffany back: “Fine. I’ll be there for your wedding tomorrow, right on time.”
The next morning, I received a message from Victor.
“My dearest wife, I have an important event today. Too bad you’re not here.”
“Remember to come home and see me when you get your vacation. I really miss you.”
Due to the sensitive nature of my work, I rarely have contact with the outside world.
So, for three years, my marriage to Victor has been mostly long-distance.
But he always shared his daily life with me and expressed his longing.
I thought he genuinely loved me.
Now, thinking back, it all just feels ridiculous.
After securing special leave from Director Hayes, I drove my agency’s specially assigned vehicle, which he personally approved for my use, to Tiffany’s hometown, following the wedding location on her digital invitation.
From a distance, I could see a huge red banner hanging above Tiffany’s family home.
“Warmest welcome to Mr. Victor Thorne, CEO of Thorne Industries, for the groom’s arrival!”
Beneath the banner, Tiffany was dressed in a pristine, custom-designed white wedding gown, eagerly awaiting her groom’s arrival.
She was surrounded by a group of our old high school classmates.
“Tiffany, you kept this quiet! We had no idea your man was the richest person in the state until your wedding!”
“Seriously! I heard Mr. Thorne isn’t just wealthy; he wields absolute power, virtually untouchable. You’re truly something, landing such an excellent, top-tier man!”
“Tiffany, you’re about to be the richest man’s wife! Don’t forget us old classmates when you’re living large!”
Even our high school homeroom teacher, Mr. Harrison, fawned over Tiffany.
“Tiffany, the first time I saw you, I knew you’d achieve great things.”
“That’s why, even when your grades weren’t the best in high school, I never criticized you. I knew you were destined for a life of luxury and power; you never needed grades to prove yourself!”
Bathed in everyone’s compliments, Tiffany’s lips curled into a wide smile, her eyes sparkling with pride and enjoyment.
Victor wasn’t actually that capable.
If it weren’t for the strategic alliance our marriage provided, keeping his powerful rivals at bay, he would have been completely devoured, leaving no bones behind.
He certainly wouldn’t be sitting in the position of the richest man.
It was ironic that this was now Tiffany’s capital for showing off and being praised.
When they saw me arrive, the classmates who had been enthusiastically flattering Tiffany instantly frowned, looking at me with disdain.
Brittany, one of the popular girls’ followers, saw the car behind me and immediately scoffed.
“Oh, look, it’s Kira Maxwell, the academic superstar! Haven’t heard from you in ages. I thought you’d be doing so much better, but you’re driving some cheap, junky domestic car?”
The others burst into laughter.
“Hilarious! I’d rather die than drive such a low-class piece of junk!”
“But why does her license plate have those special digits? Those are federal plates, you can’t just buy them!”
“It’s clearly a fake plate she bought to show off! How could her old beat-up car have such a plate?”
“No wonder she had the nerve to show up; she probably put on a fake plate to try and act important! What a joke!”
Facing their insults, I remained expressionless.
“The license plate is real.”
“And this isn’t a junk car. It’s a specially armored federal vehicle.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when Tiffany suddenly strode up to me.
She slapped me hard across the face.
“Of course, that plate is real! Because it’s my husband’s car!”
“I’ve suspected my husband was keeping a mistress, but I never thought it would be you, you tramp!”
“You shameless home-wrecker, how dare you drive my husband’s car to my wedding to provoke me, his *real* wife?!”
Tiffany’s words made the classmates’ eyes widen.
“Tiffany, this car is your husband’s? Really?”
Tiffany looked smug. “What do you mean, really?!”
“My husband used to drive this car to pick me up. I even took a few pictures of its unique license plate back then!”
With that, she pulled out her phone and showed several photos of her and Victor.
There were intimate, cheek-to-cheek selfies taken inside the car, and photos of them leaning against each other on the hood.
The car’s interior details and the license plate were clearly visible in the photos.
It was identical to my car.
Seeing this, everyone instantly gasped. “It really *is* Tiffany’s husband’s car! No wonder it has such a badass plate!”
“In that case, Kira Maxwell is definitely the mistress!”
Tiffany’s eyebrows shot up in anger, and she spoke with a cold fury.
“No wonder you’ve been out of touch all these years; you’ve been busy being a mistress.”
Hearing that, the others glared at me.
“I can’t believe it! Kira Maxwell looks so prim and proper on the outside, but she’s doing despicable things like being a mistress!”
“Exactly! I even thought she was a cool, high-achieving student in high school and wrote her a love letter. Thinking about it now makes me sick!”
“Some people act all cold and pure on the surface, but secretly they’re probably just a slut, throwing themselves at any rich guy who looks her way!”
“And she even dares to drive her sugar daddy’s car to provoke the official wife! I bet she’s just jealous that Tiffany is marrying well, and she’s here to ruin the wedding on purpose!”
Even Mr. Harrison looked at me with disdain, disgust plain on his face.
“Kira Maxwell, from now on, don’t ever tell anyone you were my student.”
“I’ve never taught such a morally corrupt student!”
The crowd’s gossip and accusations drew many onlookers, who pointed fingers at me.
Some even took out their phones to photograph and record me, even spitting at me.
I took off my jacket and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
Then I faced Tiffany directly.
“You’re assaulting someone in public before getting the facts straight. You truly have no regard for the law!”
Tiffany was arrogant.
“So what if I hit you? So what if I have no regard for the law?”
“I’m about to be the richest man’s wife; I can do whatever I want in this city!”
With that, she looked at the car behind me.
“Just thinking about my husband’s car being driven by a cheap hussy like you makes me sick!”
“Something that’s been dirtied, I’d rather destroy it than let a low-life like you use it!”
Saying that, she picked up a brick from the roadside and started smashing my car with all her might.
The windows, headlights, hood—nothing was spared.
“Tiffany is about to be the richest man’s wife! We can’t let her be bullied by a low-class mistress like Kira Maxwell!”
Someone in the crowd of classmates yelled.
Everyone then grabbed whatever they could find and enthusiastically started smashing my car.
But my car was bulletproof. They smashed it for a long time, only managing to add a few scratches. There was no other damage.
This infuriated them.
“What kind of car is this? Why is it so tough?!”
I looked at them and warned them seriously.
“I advise you to stop. This isn’t just any car. Damaging it isn’t something you can just pay your way out of.”
Hearing this, Tiffany grew even angrier.
“This is my husband’s car! I’ll smash it if I want to! What’s the big deal?”
The next second, she and the others yanked open the car doors, clambered inside, and started wildly slashing at the seats and interior.
The originally neat and clean car interior was instantly shredded.
Watching this group of lawless lunatics, I silently pulled out my phone and dialed Director Hayes’ number.
“Director, the specially assigned vehicle my agency provided me has been vandalized.”
Before the person on the other end of the line could speak, Tiffany’s follower suddenly snatched my phone and smashed it to the ground.
“Still trying to tattle? You’re just a mistress who only knows how to seduce men, where do you get off being so arrogant?!”
“Are you going to call your sugar daddies to come crush us all? Hahaha!”
“Seriously, she’s so addicted to pretending. We’re all old classmates, who doesn’t know what you’re really about?”
“Exactly, were you born in a dumpster? So full of trashy pretense?”
The old classmates once again burst into arrogant laughter, freely mocking me.
I looked at my shattered phone on the ground and said coldly,
“I hope you’re all still laughing as happily in a little while.”
Hearing that, Tiffany grabbed my collar.
“You tramp, still trying to threaten us?”
As she spoke, Tiffany suddenly noticed the jade pendant necklace around my neck.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly reached out and yanked it off.
“This necklace looks expensive. Did you buy it with my husband’s money too?”
Seeing this, my face changed dramatically. “Give me back my necklace!”
Noticing my sudden tension, Tiffany smirked at me. “So nervous? This necklace must be worth a fortune, huh?”
I was desperate and quickly said, “It’s not worth much money, but it’s very important to me. Give it back now!”
With that, I reached out to snatch it.
This jade pendant necklace was the only memento my parents left me.
They were heroes, and they were my role models.
The last time I saw them was the day before my eighteenth birthday.
They said that once they completed this mission,
they would come back to celebrate my birthday.
But I waited and waited at home.
I never saw them again. Instead, I only received two urns of ashes and this necklace.
Director Hayes told me that before they died, my parents instructed him to give me this necklace.
My parents sacrificed their lives for our country.
They left this necklace for me.
It was their belated birthday gift.
And it was my most cherished, deepest vulnerability.
I would never allow anyone to destroy it!
“The more you want it, the more I’ll destroy it!”
Before I could even touch it, Tiffany violently slammed the necklace onto the ground.
With a crisp sound, the jade pendant shattered into a million pieces.
Pieces scattered everywhere.
“No!”
Watching the only memento my parents left me shatter like that,
my heart twisted in agony, and I found it hard to breathe.
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