Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Oh~" I said slowly. "Who dragged her into this? Was it me? Did I take the initiative to send her a message? Did I bring her here?"

Benjamin Lin's face grew more and more ugly. Ella Liang spoke up in a tearful voice, trying to explain. "Miss Shaw, don't be angry. It's my fault—all of it is my fault. These days, I've seen Mr. Lin lose weight day by day because of you, and he often drowns his sorrows in alcohol. I felt so bad for him. So the other day, when he was drunk, I used his fingerprint to unlock his phone and found your contact information. I didn't have any bad intentions, Miss Shaw—I just wanted to persuade you to turn around and look at Mr. Lin, to help you two get back together. If you don't like me and want me to leave, I can leave on my own."

I had to admit—Ella Liang was really good at pretending. If I were a man, I might have felt sorry for her delicate little act too. Benjamin Lin was absolutely devastated—he had never looked at me with that kind of gaze before.

"Serena Shaw, you have to apologize to Ella Liang this time."

I picked up the half-finished cup of coffee on the table and poured it over Ella Liang's head. "Fine. But even if I have to apologize, I should do something first, right? I didn't push her just now—how can I apologize for that? You can check the surveillance if you don't believe me. But this—this is what I just did."

Looking at Benjamin Lin and Ella Liang, who were both stunned, I put the coffee cup back on the table, laughed, and said casually, "Oops, sorry, Miss Liang. My bad~"

Ella Liang took the opportunity to collapse into Benjamin Lin's arms and sob. Did she think this would make me jealous? How ridiculous.

I picked up my bag and left. Mia Moore quickly followed me out. "Wow, did you leave your love-struck brain abroad? I can't believe you talked to Benjamin Lin like that, Serena Shaw! You were amazing—you left both of them speechless."

After that day, Benjamin Lin didn't come looking for me for a while. But my peaceful days didn't last long. Suddenly, a three-minute obscene video went viral online. In less than half an hour, it had over a million views.

The title of the video read: "Shaw Group's Heiress Can't Keep Her Hands to Herself—Secretly Meets a Married Man Late at Night."

The comments below were even more filthy:

"Tsk tsk, so this is what a rich young lady is like? She has a nice body, though."

"She moans so lewdly—come to my place, baby, I'll play with you."

"Hey, watch it—don't break our precious young lady."

"So this is how rich people live? They play so wild, even going for married men. The upper class is really messed up."

The lighting in the video wasn't very bright, but you could still see the girl's face clearly—and she looked exactly like me.

I scrolled through the vile comments online, feeling both angry and anxious. My sister rushed back from the company in a hurry. When I first saw the video, I thought, "The innocent will remain innocent—I don't need to care about this." But as soon as I saw my sister, I couldn't hold back my tears anymore.

My sister hugged me tightly. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I've already called the police—we'll definitely find out who's behind this."

I didn't even need to think about it. The only person who looked this much like me and was desperate enough to ruin my life was Ella Liang. But Benjamin Lin hadn't come looking for me anymore—why was she still so determined to go against me?

The police took Ella Liang in for questioning. From start to finish, she denied everything, saying she had no idea about the video at all. Without evidence, the police could only question her and couldn't arrest her.

When Ella Liang walked out of the police station, she gave me a provocative look—as if to say, "I did it. What are you going to do about it?"

My sister spent a lot of money hiring a private detective. They found the hotel in the video and checked the recent guest records. They didn't find Ella Liang's name, but they did find Benjamin Lin's.

Was this a case of "if I can't have you, no one can"? My sister took me to Benjamin Lin's house. He looked surprised when he saw me.

"Serena? Why are you here?"

"About that thing online..." Benjamin Lin glanced at me, hesitating to speak.

I slammed the hotel receipt I had found onto Benjamin Lin's face. "How dare you even mention it? Wasn't this all your idea—telling Ella Liang to do it? Benjamin Lin, you're really ruthless."

He picked up the receipt and looked through it, a confused look on his face. "No, it's not me. I don't know anything about this—I never checked into that hotel."

My sister stared at Benjamin Lin, her tone cold. "Are you sure?"

"How could I ever hurt Serena? I really love her. I've been staying at home almost every day these days," Benjamin Lin explained. "If you don't believe me, you can take me to that hotel and ask the staff there if they recognize me. Or check the surveillance to see if I ever drove to that hotel."

My sister and I exchanged glances. It seemed like he really didn't know anything about it. Benjamin Lin asked, "Are you suspecting Ella Liang? She's such a gentle, delicate person—how could she come up with such a cruel plan to hurt someone? It can't be her."

We ignored Benjamin Lin's words and walked out of the Lin house. We went back to the police station, and the police found Ella Liang's consumption record at that hotel. They brought her in for questioning again, but she dropped her usual gentle act.

"Officer, is it a crime to have a hotel bill?" she snapped. "Did you take money from the Shaw family to deliberately pick on me?"

She kept messing around and refusing to cooperate—until the police found the man in the video. Only then did she start to panic.

The man admitted that he had met Ella Liang at a bar. She had invited him to check into the hotel with her, but he had no idea that Ella Liang had secretly filmed the video and posted it online.

Ella Liang still kept denying everything, but the man even said that Ella Liang had a red mole on her chest. How could he have known that if he hadn't slept with her? Faced with the evidence, Ella Liang had no way to defend herself.

I sued her in court. As she was being led away, she screamed at me at the top of her lungs. "Serena Shaw, why? Why do you get to have everything without doing anything? You just have to stand there, and Beichen can't see me anymore. I worked so hard to be like you—copying your style, copying the way you talk. But why? As soon as you come back, Beichen tells me to leave. We look so much alike—why can't he just see me as you?"

She squatted down on the ground and cried. "Beichen even said he would marry me. But as soon as you came back, he told me to go. Why? We look so much alike."

I sighed. "The person you should hate isn't me—it's Benjamin Lin, the one who treated you like a substitute."

Ella Liang was convicted of malicious slander and sentenced to less than three years in prison. My sister took my hand and we left the police station. But as soon as we walked out, we saw Benjamin Lin standing there.

He lowered his head. "Serena, I'm sorry. All of this happened because of me. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I really can't live without you—I..."

"You know you don't deserve my forgiveness, so get lost," I cut him off. "Benjamin Lin, do you even like me? What you like is my unlimited tolerance for you, my selfless dedication to you. You just like the feeling of being admired. If you really loved me, why didn't you go abroad to see me? Don't give me excuses like you were busy or you were waiting for me to come back. Do you think those excuses are believable? Don't come bothering me anymore—otherwise, I'll make sure you never see me again for the rest of your life."

My sister pushed Benjamin Lin aside, protected me as we got into the car, and said, "Alright, stop thinking about all this. I'll take you to eat seafood."

I nodded and glanced at Benjamin Lin in the rearview mirror. He stood there blankly, watching our car drive further and further away. There was no going back—not since the day he used me.

People always have to move forward. Someday, I'll meet someone who really treats me well.

【The End】