Chapter 1

I pocketed the eight in one swift motion.

"Wow! You're amazing, baby. I didn't know you were this good at pool," Jacob complimented me.

Suddenly, his stomach began to ache, and he excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Naturally, I continued practicing. Ever since I'd started working, I barely had any time to play and had become slightly rusty.

All of a sudden, a group of women approached my pool table.

I looked up at them. The girls had multi-colored hair and numbered badges pinned to their shirts. They all looked at me with contempt.

"I don't need a teaching assistant, thank you."

I had just finished talking when the leader of the group snatched my cue stick from me and threw it on the floor.

My heart ached as it hit the ground. That was a brand-new cue stick that cost me tens of thousands of dollars.

"How dare you try and steal my man? Are you trying to be sneaky?" the woman barked.

Her man? Was she referring to Jacob?

"I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Jacob is my—"

I didn't get to finish my sentence before the assistants surrounded me and started beating me up. I wanted to fight back, but I was outnumbered.

A redhead wearing a badge labelled with the number nine yanked on my hair. Then, she slapped me across the face twice. "What a homewrecker! Don't you know that Jacob is Queenie's boyfriend? They're literally going to get married soon!"

Married? But Jacob had just proposed to me a while back. Why was she claiming that he was her fiancé?

The women forcefully dragged me to the other side of the room as the others continued yelling at me.

I looked toward a random pool player with a pleading look.

Upon noticing my silent cry for help, he was about to walk over and ask about the situation when the other girls began to berate him too.

"What do you want?" one of them snapped. "She's a homewrecker. We're just trying to teach her a lesson! Are you on her side?"

"She's not a victim—she's the perpetrator!" yelled another.

"Women who try to get involved with someone else's boyfriend should go to hell! There's nothing wrong with giving her the punishment she deserves!"

Chapter 2

The man who tried to help me fell silent. Not to mention, the onlookers were now looking at me with disgust.

My phone was still on the edge of the pool table. While the redhead was distracted, I broke free from her grip and lunged toward it.

The police—I had to call the police!

Just as I was about to grab my phone, a woman standing by the side tripped me with her leg.

My face hit the table as I fell. When I felt something drip down my face, I touched my cheek and realized that I was bleeding.

"You're violating the law! I'm going to call the cops!" I yelled.

The girl called Queenie marched over in her high heels and tapped on my phone. My wallpaper was a photo of me and Jacob. When she noticed this, her face contorted in rage. Subsequently, she threw my phone to the ground.

"No!" I exclaimed.

The phone screen shattered as the device hit the floor. Queenie then stepped forward and dug her heel into the phone, cracking the glass even further.

"You little bitch. You even went so far as to use a picture of you two as your wallpaper? How do you have the audacity to call the cops on us? I'd like to see how you'll manage that with a broken phone." Queenie laughed maniacally.

Angered by my actions, a redhead stormed over and pushed her cigarette into my arm.

I screamed from the searing pain.

"Go ahead—scream!" She yanked on my hair again. "Since you enjoy seducing people, let me give you a hand!" she yelled. "Let's all take a look at what this temptress' body looks like!

"Girls—strip her!"

The girls dashed toward me and began to rip my clothes off.

The onlookers were cheering them on. Some of the men in the crowd even began to record the incident with their phones as they cheered.

"Strip her! Get on with it!"

My body gradually grew cold as my clothes were violently torn apart. I tried my hardest to protect what was left of my dignity as they scratched and grabbed at my body.

"What on earth is going on?" a voice screamed out.

Chapter 3

At that point, I was horribly beaten up and barely had any clothes on. Upon seeing this, Jacob rushed over and hastily draped his jacket over me.

Queenie's expression immediately softened. "Did you abandon me for someone new, Jacob?" she asked.

She then walked over and clung to Jacob's arm. Her huge chest was pressing against him too.

Jacob didn't seem like he had strong boundaries. He looked solemn, but he didn't bother pushing her away at all.

"Did you already forget about the promises you made? How could you be so heartless and replace me with someone new? Is she a better pool player than me?"

Did she think I was an assistant too?

I stared at Jacob and observed his response. Once he caught me watching him, he slowly pulled his arm away.

"She's not an assistant. She's my girlfriend," he awkwardly said.

The entire room went silent, and Queenie's expression also soured.

"Oh, I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding," she said. "Why didn't you just say so?"

I wrapped the jacket tightly around my body. I could taste blood, so I spat out a mouthful of blood and tugged on Jacob's arm. "I want to call the police, Jacob. They need to be arrested!"

Jacob tensed for a brief moment. He then turned toward me and tried to calm me down. "I don't think we need to go that far, Sarah. Queenie just misunderstood things, that's all. I'll just get her to apologize to you."

Chapter 4

I stared at him in disbelief as I slowly let go of his arm.

"I'm barely acquainted with her. Which one of us is your girlfriend, Jacob? Look at how badly injured I am!"

Upon hearing this, the redhead piped up again. "Can't you just let it go? We had no clue you were his girlfriend," she snapped. "We're sorry, okay?

"Jacob is a great guy. How on earth did he land a girlfriend like you?" she added.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. This is all my fault," Queenie said with a pitiful look. "Please don't give Jacob a hard time. He really likes you. I'd hate it if you two got in a fight because of me."

Suddenly, she started to cry. Jacob was even looking at her with a heartbroken expression.

What an excellent actress. People that didn't know any better would probably have thought that they were a couple.

I exhaled deeply and turned toward Jacob. "Are you going to call the cops or not?"

Since I'd interrupted Jacob and Queenie's moment, he looked slightly displeased.

"Cut it out, Sarah. Can't you be a bit more understanding? Like I said, this is just a misunderstanding. Besides, she's already apologized to you!"

I felt like I finally saw Jacob for who he really was. I was the one who paid for his teaching assistants. How did he have the audacity to tell me to cut it out?

I tried to suppress the pain in my shoulder and reached for the phone peeking out of his pocket. To my dismay, Jacob moved away and tucked his phone further into his pocket.

"Why are you trying to grab his phone, Sarah? This is all my fault. Would you like to hit me so that we're even? Maybe I should get on my knees and apologize again." Queenie stepped forward and pretended to kneel down.

Chapter 5

Before her knees could even touch the floor, Jacob reached out and helped her up. Then, she stood behind him with a cocky expression.

"That's enough, Sarah. What are you trying to do? Stop causing a scene!" Jacob barked.

Causing a scene?

I'd almost got beaten half to death by those girls. Even though I was slumped on the floor, Jacob didn't even bother to give me a hand. On the other hand, he'd practically rushed over to help Queenie up the second she'd bent her knees.

I felt my heart grow cold.

Once the assistants realized Jacob wasn't on my side, they no longer looked nervous. Instead, they looked just as cocky as they were prior to his arrival. Now, they continued staring at me with contempt and disdain.

I looked toward the bystanders with a pleading expression. "If someone calls the police for me, I'll give them two thousand dollars as a thank-you."

Money talked. In the blink of an eye, they all became eager to help.

"Are you serious about that, lady?" a man who was holding up his phone earnestly asked.

I ignored Jacob's furious gaze and solemnly nodded.

Subsequently, the bystanders took out their phones and began to dial 911.

Immediately, Jacob and the assistants' expressions all began to sour.

Queenie hastily dashed over and knelt down in front of me. Then, she grabbed my hand and used it to hit herself.

Once I realized what she was doing, I followed her movements and slapped her across her face. While she was still stunned by what happened, I continued to slap her without caring about how disheveled I looked.

Soon, her face became red and swollen.

Everyone was dumbfounded by my actions.

Jacob shoved me aside and glanced at Queenie's face with a heartbroken expression. "What's wrong with you, Sarah Anderson? You can't just hit people like that!"

I stared at them emotionlessly. I felt stone-cold. "I wasn't even done with her yet. Besides, I only hit her because she told me to," I spat.

I continued, "You didn't seem concerned when they collectively beat me up. In fact, you wouldn't even let me call the police on them. This is nothing compared to what they did to me.

"Why are you so upset? Have you forgotten who your actual girlfriend is?"

Upon hearing this, Jacob took a small step away from Queenie. He softened his tone and said, "I'm just trying to solve the problem in an amicable manner, baby."

I ignored Jacob and kept my eyes on Queenie. I noticed that she'd turned around and shot someone a look.

I scanned the room and realized that the redhead was now nowhere to be seen. Then, through the glass, I caught her pointing her phone camera directly at me.

What was she up to now?