Chapter 1Baiting the Hook

Under a TikTok video of me looking fabulous, I saw a girl tag her boyfriend.

[Move over everyone, my man loves this type, let him see first!]

I clicked on her profile and froze.

It was the girl who bullied me relentlessly in high school.

I'd recognize that face even if it were turned to ash.

I didn't sleep a wink that night. I went through every single one of her videos, then clicked on the boyfriend she'd tagged.

I sent him a DM.

[You there?]

* * *

Before seeing Chloe again, I'd imagined countless times what she would be like now.

I thought bad people would get their karma, that she'd be living a miserable, poverty-stricken life.

But no.

In the videos she posted, she was at a $5,000-a-night hotel in the Maldives one day, seeing the aurora in Iceland the next, and then driving a convertible into the sunset on the West Coast.

In her most recent photo, she was sitting in a black Rolls-Royce, wearing a Chanel suit, smiling brightly at the camera, not a care in the world.

She seemed to be living a truly great life.

But why?

I stared at her smiling face on the phone screen. Slowly, that smiling face turned into her in her school uniform, laughing while slapping me, over and over again. When her hand hurt, she let the people behind her take over. She laughed from the side, pointing a camera at my swollen, bleeding face:

"Smile, Lee. Don't you love being a little slut? Why aren't you smiling anymore?!"

She grabbed my hair forcefully, her smile widening:

"Smile!"

Chloe's malice towards me started when the boy she liked gave me a birthday gift.

On my birthday, he gave me a bag. I heard his mom brought it back from Paris, worth over $3,000. I was scared stiff and refused to take it. In a fit of pique, he threw the bag at me, saying he'd just trash it if I didn't want it.

While I was holding the bag, at a loss for what to do, Chloe walked in.

She snatched the bag away, looked at it for a while, and suddenly smiled. But that smile was twisted, making me shudder.

"I begged him for this bag for three months and he wouldn't give it to me. I didn't expect he wanted to give it to you."

She looked up at me, a look that made my hair stand on end:

"Lee, you're quite capable."

From that moment on, Chloe started targeting me constantly.

The thing I feared most every day was school ending, because I never knew when she and her clique would corner me in the bathroom, followed by beatings and humiliation.

During that time, I lived in fear every day and had nightmares every night, but I didn't dare tell anyone.

My parents divorced when I was young, and both had new families. Only my grandma, who had a limp, was willing to take me in.

She ran a small deli, working from dawn till dusk selling sandwiches to support my schooling.

I was one of the few students in that private school who was admitted on a full scholarship because of excellent grades.

I didn't dare tell the teachers because Chloe threatened me with my grandma. And I knew the school would turn a blind eye to Chloe, whose family had power and influence.

I could only study harder, thinking about testing out early and leaving this place.

But even that little hope didn't materialize in the end.

The night before the SATs, Chloe locked me in the bathroom again. This time, she had people strip me and take photos.

I was locked in the bathroom all night and couldn't leave, so I didn't know that those photos appeared in various local group chats that very night.

I also didn't know that Chloe deliberately had someone go to my grandma's store and show her the photos.

Grandma was anxious because she couldn't find me at home, so she limped her way to the school to look for me.

Then, because she was too anxious and didn't look carefully when crossing the street, she was hit and run over by a semi-truck driven by a drowsy driver. She died on the spot.

I only found out the news the next morning when the janitor let me out.

I saw stars, my head was spinning, and my mind went blank as I lay on the floor.

When I woke up, I was already in the hospital.

In one day, I lost the chance to change my destiny through the SATs, and my grandma, who was my only family.

I hardly remember anything about what happened after that day. Probably because the physical pain was too great, my body turned on a self-protection mechanism and sealed away that memory. I only remember a teacher coming to see me. I heard her saying regretfully to others in the hallway:

"She was ivy league material. What a pity."

Nothing happened to Chloe. She was just called to the principal's office and criticized.

Because her dad was a famous local entrepreneur and a major taxpayer, the principal didn't dare offend him.

I used the last bit of money my family had to handle grandma's funeral. I didn't have money to repeat the year, so I could only find a factory job to support myself.

Chloe, on the other hand, was sent to a university in California and started her wonderful life.

......

I sat on the bed. The lights were off in the bedroom, and I just stared blankly at the dark ceiling like this.

During the hardest years, I often stared blankly like this.

Actually, life got much better later. After I made money, I took adult education courses, saved some money, and opened my own online women's clothing store. I was my own model. Fortunately, I was good-looking and caught the trend. Business got bigger and bigger over time, and now I'm financially free.

I thought I had forgotten the past. I thought I could start a new life.

But the moment I saw Chloe's face, I suddenly realized that I had never let it go.

I hated her, hated her to death.

I sat there until dawn, my slightly stiff fingers finally clicking on the account she tagged.

It was a male profile with just a few simple lines, no videos posted.

But I quickly found out his identity.

Nate Quinn, Chloe's fiancé.

The Gu family nearly went bankrupt when she was in college, and finally came back to life through marriage. The Quinn family was the big tree the Gu family leaned on.

It was also the guarantee that Chloe could live such a privileged life now.

Chloe didn't remember me anymore. It's funny to say, she personally pushed me into hell. Her smiling face was in every one of my nightmares, but she didn't remember me anymore, and even tagged Nate in my comment section to see.

I clicked on the chat icon next to Nate's profile picture, thought for a moment, and sent him a DM.

[You there?]