Broken for a Pretty Boy, and Now They Kneel

Three years ago, during a critical moment of a business negotiation, the proprietary data I personally compiled ended up becoming the weapon that secured the victory for my business rival.

I was taken away on the charges of leaking corporate secrets—and my girlfriend, Kelly Stone, smugly flashes the proprietary data at me, mocking me for my foolishness.

After being given a five-year prison sentence, I suffered endless torture behind bars and died from the internal injuries.

However, I got to witness everything that happened following my death. Whitney Evans, a college senior of mine who had a thing for me, did everything in her power to clear my name. She sold her company and pursued every avenue she could.

In the end, after losing everything, she cried herself unconscious at my grave.

Then, suddenly, my eyes opened again. I saw Kelly sneaking a USB drive into her handbag before turning to leave.

I grabbed the USB drive from her and looked her in the eye, warning, "What you're doing is against the law, Kelly. I advise you to watch yourself from now on. Also, it's over between us. Don't even set foot inside my office again."

Immediately, I went looking for Whitney.

Three years have passed since then. In that time, I've managed to secure success in both career and love.

It won't be long before I complete the acquisition of my company's business rival, Havenshire Group.

Yet, the night before the official signing, I drink a glass of milk that Whitney gives me. My body swiftly goes weak, and I collapse on the couch.

When I regain consciousness, I find myself lying on the floor with my hands and feet bound in metal chains. I can hear Kelly's and Whitney's voices ringing loud and clear.

"No one will be able to see that you forged Caleb's signature for the share transfer agreement with Sam as the recipient, right?"

"We'll just keep Caleb locked up here, so who's going to know that the signature is forged? His company has been expanding too quickly. We can't let him ruin Sam. It's all your fault, anyway, Kelly. I wouldn't have had to waste all those years on Caleb if you'd just stolen the data back then!"

Taking in my restraints, I let out a self-deprecating smile. All along, I believed that Whitney and I loved each other. Turns out I've just been deluded this whole time.

If Kelly and Whitney care about Samuel Gibson that much, they'd better spend every moment of their lives guarding him from now on. I'm going to do everything in my power to destroy him!

I looked down at my current state. My hands were bound behind my back. A self-mocking laugh escaped me.

All along, I believed that Whitney Evans and I truly loved each other. Alas, it was now clear to me that I was the only deluded idiot who believed that.

Since Kelly Stone and Whitney cared so damn much about Samuel Gibson, they'd better make sure they spent all their time protecting him. After all, I was going to be doing everything in my power to destroy him.

I tried to twist my wrists around, and the clink of metal echoed through the empty room.

The sound of approaching footsteps rang out, and a pair of legs stopped in front of me. When Whitney saw that I was awake, she cried out with faux concern, "Caleb! You're awake! You fainted from exhaustion just now, so we had no choice but to delay the signing of the acquisition for the time being."

I stared at her with bloodshot eyes and shook my wrists, the chains rattling noisily. "Explain this, then."

Whitney had prepared for that. In a tearful voice, she told me, "You got drunk last night and tried to harm yourself. I had no choice but to resort to this."

Not noticing the scornful gaze in my eyes, she kept the act going.

"Caleb, promise me that you'll tell me if something's wrong, okay? Don't carry all the burdens by yourself. What am I supposed to do if you take your own life? Even the psychiatrist said that your mood is extremely volatile right now. He says it's best if you stay like this a bit longer."

I looked at the woman standing in front of me right now. My own wife was spouting all those lies to me, acting like a complete stranger to me.

"Is that so? Here I was, thinking you're illegally detaining me for Samuel's sake. In that case, I promise I won't drink anymore. Now undo these chains."

All at once, the tender concern in Whitney's expression vanished, replaced by a sinister coldness that I'd never seen before.

"So you heard what we said."

She slowly crouched down and grabbed me by the jaw, squeezing so hard that it felt like she was trying to crush my skull.

"I'll be honest with you, then. From the day I first greeted you back in college to all those times I stayed up late at night while you worked on starting your company… Every single time I tried to help you with your clients and celebrated your successes over the last three years, it was entirely for Sam's sake.

"Your love, trust, and reliance have been nothing but burdens to me. You should've just handed over the company shares without a fuss, Caleb. You should never have tried to make things difficult for Sam!"

With bloodshot eyes, I glared at her and used every bit of my strength to struggle against the chains as I shouted, "I trusted you completely this whole time! Why are you doing this to me?"