[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-260322724E0B-555":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},555,17,"Chapter 17: \"Come Back to South City With Me?\"","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Lawson Price finally stopped.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He looked down at the wet patch on Damon Meyer’s trousers and then at his face—a map of absolute, shattered humiliation. A sneer, cold and undisguised, flickered in Lawson’s eyes.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He slowly withdrew the dagger and straightened up, pulling a clean handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He glanced at the bodyguards. \"Get him to the hospital. Treat him well. And make sure to take a few photos of his current state. Send them to Albert Meyer. Tell him this is the Spencer heir's first 'gift' to the Meyer family.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Understood.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The bodyguards moved in, dragging the broken, sobbing Damon away like a bag of trash.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Olivia Hayes watched the whole thing. It wasn't just physical revulsion; it was a psychological hammer blow.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She stood frozen, watching Ethan Spencer walk away, paralyzed by her own confusion.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Lawson stepped toward her, his gaze sharp and icy. \"Ms. Hayes, I hope you understand: debts to the Spencer heir don’t go unpaid. You’d best watch your step from here on out.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The silence in the luxury apartment was suffocating.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Olivia slumped to the floor, her clothes clinging to her, damp with cold sweat.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Her makeup was a ruin, streaked and smudged. She had never felt this pathetic, this undone.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The air still reeked of blood. Her stomach churned with bile, dry heaves racking her frame, but nothing came up.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The Spencer heir...\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Five years of marriage, and she hadn't had a clue who he actually was!\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Regret, sharp as a rusted blade, sliced through her chest.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Why had she been so blind? Why hadn't she seen him for what he was? And why, in God’s name, had she bullied him?\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She had even stood by while Damon degraded him, while he hurt him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">It was all too late. There was no going back.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Olivia sat in the dark, pain pulsing from her very core.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She remembered the moment she first saw Ethan—it was love at first sight.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Back then, she had been reeling from Damon’s betrayal, and her family’s hotel business was hitting a wall. She had wanted this man—clean, talented, and seemingly so easy to control—to be her husband.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She had used him as a pawn, a safety net, convinced she held all the cards.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Over these five years, she had actually fallen for him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">But that love had been smothered, twisted by the complicated pull of Damon coming back into her life. She had assumed Ethan loved her enough to tolerate anything, assuming that even if she played games with Damon, Ethan would never leave.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She had been dead wrong.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I was such a fool.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Olivia’s eyes were bloodshot, her chest aching with a hollow, suffocating emptiness.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She forced herself to move, her limbs stiff and unresponsive. She clawed at the wall to pull herself up and stared into the mirror. She tried to smile, but it looked like a grotesque grimace.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Olivia Hayes, this is just your karma.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The next day, she stood outside the Spencer estate.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She was dressed in a pristine, champagne-colored suit, her face meticulously made up, her heart hammering against her ribs.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">After a quick check-in, the housekeeper led her to the gazebo in the garden.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Ethan walked toward her. He wore a simple white button-down, his gaze cold enough to freeze blood.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Something you need?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Olivia’s heart contracted. Her voice felt thin and strained. \"Ethan... I’m here to apologize.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Ethan stared at her, saying nothing.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I was wrong about everything. I hurt you.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Every word felt like needles pressed into her heart. \"I shouldn't have treated you that way. I shouldn't have let Damon... I know it’s too late to say these things, but I am so sorry.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She looked up, her eyes rimmed with red, pleading. \"Can you forgive me? Can we start over? I’ll change anything. I’ll make it up to you—if you’d just give me one more chance...\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Will you come back to South City with me?\"\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272910588]