Through the shock, I caught Maggie shooting me a weird little smile.

"Bianca! Didn't you hear Dave?"

She walked toward me while I just stood there, frozen. Then suddenly, she kicked the back of my knee.

My balance snapped instantly. The wine flew out of my hand and splashed straight across Jared's face.

A second later, I hit the floor hard, crashing into broken glass. Sharp pain ripped across my arm as several cuts split my skin open.

My eyes locked on the woman lying on the floor beside me—her face pale and twisted.

Then Maggie's shrill voice cut through the room.

"Bianca, if you didn't want to offer Jared a drink, you could've just said no. You didn't have to act like a psycho on purpose just to piss him off. Is this how Dave's wife behaves? Or are you just trying to humiliate him in public?"

Jared froze.

Then realization hit him. His eyes went wide as he stared at me.

"W-Wait... you're Dave's wife?"

I didn't answer.

I just sat there on the floor, barely able to breathe under the crushing pain in my body and chest.

Jared reached for me, but Dave grabbed him first.

Dave glanced at the blood running down my face, his expression turning cold fast. Then he looked at Jared through gritted teeth.

"Get out."

Jared instantly backed down. Guess even he knew when to stop acting like trash.

He swallowed whatever attitude he had left and rushed out. Before leaving, he muttered, "Dave, what the hell is wrong with you? If I knew she was your wife, I never would've touched her."

The second Jared disappeared, I forced myself up.

Then someone grabbed my arm again.

"Bianca, you got what you wanted now, right? Did that time on the island teach you nothing? All you had to do was hand him a drink and this would've been over. Why did you have to pull that psycho stunt? You knew I was trying to shut this down. Can't you read the damn room for once?"

I looked at the furious man in front of me, my eyes burning red.

For the first time, I didn't hold back.

"Dave Tarrett, I'm your wife. If you'd just told them who I was, this would've ended the exact same way."

The meaning couldn't have been clearer.

He stayed quiet because protecting Maggie's ego mattered more than protecting me while they humiliated me like some party prop.

Dave got called out instantly.

A flicker of guilt finally crossed his face.

Maggie immediately tried to defend him, but Dave frowned and cut her off.

"That's enough. Shut up and wait in the car."

The second her footsteps faded away, he let out a tired sigh.

"I'm sorry, okay? But I still need to explain something. I honestly didn't know what that egg challenge meant. If I had, I never would've agreed to it. And Maggie..." He paused. "I hope you can understand. She just got back and saw that I was mar—"

He stopped himself fast, but I already got it.

Maggie saw he was married, got jealous, and decided to take it out on me.

And now he wanted me to forgive her for it. Of course he did.

Our eyes met.

Dave must've seen the sarcasm in mine because he sighed again.

"Fine. You're hurt, so I'll have the driver take you to the hospital. Maggie's emotional right now, so I need to go check on her. We'll talk when I get back."

Without waiting for an answer, he added,

"Even if you didn't finish those two dares, I'll still count them as forgiveness tokens."

Then he just walked away.

I watched his back disappear while blood kept running down my forehead.

And suddenly, I started laughing.

Because none of this mattered anymore.

Just two more times.

Once I paid back what I owed him, I was leaving.

And after that, he'd never get the chance to hurt me again.

By the time the driver took me home, it was already late.

Dave still wasn't back, and I didn't bother asking where he was.

The next morning, his executive assistant showed up with another gift from him—two storefront property deeds.

He even made sure to explain them.

One was compensation for forcing me to lick the cream.

The other was an apology for the egg challenge.

Without a word, I marked them No. 287 and No. 288, then tossed them into the safe like they were junk mail.

The house staff beside me smiled brightly.

"Mr. Tarrett really adores you. He's giving you gifts more and more often."

I just smiled back without saying anything.

She didn't know those "gifts" were compensation payments every time Dave hurt me.

I looked at the safe stuffed with property deeds and knew I'd be leaving soon.

But before that, there was still one thing I needed to take with me.

A camera.

There were things inside it that needed to disappear forever.

Dave had always been into trying reckless stuff in bed. Sometimes, in the middle of it, he liked filming us.

Back then, those videos felt intimate.

Now they just felt dangerous.

If those clips ever got leaked, my life would be over.

I tore through the entire room searching for the camera, but it was nowhere.

Just as I was about to start looking again, my manager Claudia called, practically screaming.

"Bianca, have you lost your mind? Get online right now! Your sex tapes are all over the internet! You seriously slept with other sponsors behind Mr. Tarrett's back? If you want to ruin yourself, fine, but don't drag the whole agency down with you!"

My mind went completely blank.

All I could hear was Claudia screaming through the phone.

"You better explain those videos right now! And if Mr. Tarrett loses it over this, none of us are letting you off the hook!"

Then the call cut off.

My hands shook as I grabbed my phone.

The trending page was flooded with my leaked intimate videos.

And right at the top was the headline—

[International Supermodel Bianca Belmont Slept Her Way to the Top]

Dave's face had been blurred out.

Mine wasn't.

My flushed expression was displayed front and center for the entire internet to stare at.

Millions of people online ripped me apart, calling me a useless tramp who slept her way to fame.

My legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed onto the floor.

But before I could fall completely, Dave suddenly appeared and caught me against his chest.

"Don't look at it," he said quickly. "It's fine. I'll handle this. Trust me."

The second he finished comforting me, his expression turned terrifyingly cold.

He looked around the room and roared,

"Who did this?! Tell me right now! Who the hell did this?!"

I'd never seen him this furious before.

My eyes instantly started burning.

But then Maggie's casual voice drifted over from nearby.

"Dave, you mean the videos? I uploaded them."

The arm around my waist tightened instantly.

Dave and I both looked at Maggie.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she said with a smile. "I just saw the videos and thought Bianca looked pretty hot in them. Wouldn't it be a waste if only Dave got to enjoy that? So I posted them myself. Beautiful things are meant to be shared, right?"

My blood slammed straight to my head.

I lunged at her without thinking, but before I could touch her, Dave grabbed my wrist.

"Bianca! That's enough!"

Overwhelmed by anger and humiliation, I snapped, "But she—"

Before I could finish, Dave glanced at Maggie's smug face, then looked back at me with a frown.

"I'll get the posts taken down. Let's just end it here. Stop going after Maggie, okay? You know that, after all, she's still—"

"No!" I shouted. "Dave, why should I let this go? She destroyed my reputation and my career! Why the hell should I just accept it? I'm suing her for defamation. She's paying for this."

My eyes burned red as I stared at him, refusing to back down even an inch.

"Bianca, you—" Dave exhaled sharply, already gearing up to defend her again.

But Maggie grabbed his sleeve, her eyes instantly turning red.

"Dave, stop. I know this is my fault. If Bianca wants to sue me, then let her." She sniffled harder. "I shouldn't have gotten jealous. I shouldn't have been upset that Bianca married you. This all happened because of me. Maybe if I'd just held on a little longer back then..."

The more she talked, the harder she cried.

"Bianca, I really know I messed up. I'll do anything if it means you'll forgive me. Please don't make things difficult for Dave. If it'll make you feel better, I'll go turn myself in right now and clear your name. Worst case, my reputation gets ruined too. Just don't let this destroy your relationship."

Maggie's pathetic little act worked instantly.

Dave's expression turned cold again.

"Bianca, Maggie already admitted she was wrong. Don't drag this out any further." His voice hardened. "Besides, your reputation's already destroyed anyway. Why not just retire from modeling, stay home, and enjoy being a rich housewife instead?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

Even now, he was still protecting her.

I opened my mouth to argue again, but the next second, his hand slammed across my face.

Pain exploded through my cheek.

His palm was red. His breathing was rough. Rage twisted in his eyes in a way I'd never seen before.

Then he threw a waiver at me.

"Be good and sign it. Once this blows over, I'll help you go back to the industry." His voice turned icy. "But if you call the cops, don't even think about leaving this house."

"I'm not signing it!"

I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

But no matter how hard I fought or how fiercely I refused, Dave still forced my wrist down and dragged my hand across the waiver until my signature was written on it.

The second I collapsed onto the floor, a pain I'd never felt before spread through my entire body.

Helplessness.

Misery.

Like something sharp ripping straight through my chest.

The two of them walked away, still chatting casually while my world burned down around me.

Their voices drifted into my ears like poison.

"Dave, will Bianca be okay...?"

"She'll be fine. As long as she still wants a comeback, she has to listen to me." He sounded completely unconcerned. "Worst case, I'll just count this as another forgiveness token. There are still plenty left anyway. She'll behave."

No.

There weren't plenty left anymore.

There was only one.

Dave, I'm done being your puppet.

I sat there for a long time before finally going back to my room and pulling out my diary.

People always said the modeling industry was just as dirty as the entertainment world.

Maybe it was.

But I really loved this career.

The confidence I felt standing under the runway lights—that was the only time I ever felt like I truly mattered.

And now all of it was ruined.

Maybe this was fate telling me to let go already.

To stop holding on to something that was dead.

Crying silently, I wrote down everything that happened today in my diary.

Then at the very end, I added:

[289]

Every time Dave hurt me, I wrote it down to remind myself not to go soft on him again.

Then suddenly, his voice came from behind me.

"What does 289 mean?"

***

The second I saw him reaching for the diary, I snapped it shut and shoved it into the drawer.

"It's nothing."

He caught the panic on my face and seemed to realize something.

"You girls are all the same. Always keeping little grudge journals. This is that revenge notebook thing you talked about before, huh?"

He meant the time after our marriage registration, when he lost our rings during the wedding ceremony we held later.