8
889words
Listening to them twist the truth, I shot them a cold glance. "Are you done? If you're done, get lost."
After a pause, I pointed at Ryan, who was completely broken. "Take him with you."
They stared blankly, as if seeing me for the first time.
After all, before this, I had always greeted them with a smile, and I had been nothing but good to Ryan.
But soon, someone snapped and yelled at me angrily, "Vivian, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Ryan did so much for you, and you just walked away without a word on the proposal day? And you left that disgusting piece of flesh to disgust us!"
"Now Ryan's here himself, willing to forgive and forget—what more do you want?"
"But someone like you, who would even abort her own child, doesn't deserve Ryan's love!"
This time, before I could even respond, Ryan was already on his feet, throwing punches at the person who had insulted me.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"Don't you get it? That was my child!"
He pinned the guy down, throwing punch after punch without holding back.
"It's all your fault! All of you! You're the reason she lost the baby!"
"I'm the one who wronged her—why are you targeting her?"
The guy was soon beaten bloody and passed out on the ground.
The friends who had always sided with Ryan slowly changed their expressions seeing the brutal scene.
Finally, the one who had always treated me the worst spoke up indignantly, "We came all this way to stand up for you, and this is how you treat us? For this piece of trash?"
"Ryan, you've gone too far! We're not brothers anymore!"
Ryan, his face splattered with blood, looked up with a deranged glare. "Who said you could insult her?"
He charged at them like a madman, and they all started brawling.
I watched the chaotic fight unfold, everyone getting injured.
Ryan was hurt the worst but kept fighting tirelessly.
But I had no interest in watching any longer.
I took out my phone, called the police, and then walked away without looking back.
That night, Ryan showed up at my door, covered in injuries.
This time, he didn't try to convince me to go back with him. He just looked at me, his eyes full of sorrow and pain.
He asked me, "Did it hurt when you got the tattoo?"
It really did.
Back then, I'd asked the tattoo artist to use special ink that wouldn't fade easily.
So I had to go to the hospital and have the flesh carved out.
But I looked at him and shook my head. "Compared to the pain you caused me, that pain was nothing."
Ryan closed his eyes in agony, smiling bitterly. "The medical report said you miscarried due to depression—you knew everything by then, didn't you?"
"You left on your own but left our child's remains with me—was it to punish me?"
"Viv, I'm sorry. I made you suffer, and I caused our child's death!"
"But I never told you—I'd already fallen for you. I really wanted to marry you and spend my life with you."
Hearing these words that came far too late, I suddenly felt exhausted.
I looked at him calmly and said, "Ryan, I used to put you on a pedestal, thinking I had to cherish you no matter what."
"Even the people around you—I didn't like them, but for your sake, I tried to get along."
"But it was too exhausting, Ryan."
"I don't love you anymore, and I don't want to see you again. I'm letting you go—now you let me go too."
I thought I had made myself clear, but Ryan still refused to give up.
That day, after hearing me out, he was clearly heartbroken and barely standing, but he stubbornly begged me, "Viv, I know I was wrong. Give me one more chance—I'll make it up to you."
"Viv, wait for me!"
After that, he disappeared for a long time.
Just when I thought it was all over, I got a call from an unknown number.
I answered, and a not-unfamiliar voice spoke on the other end.
"Vivian, you win."
I didn't respond.
The voice continued, unconcerned, "For you, he turned against all of us—the friends he grew up with. He's made everyone's lives miserable."
"Just to get back at us for you, he even cut off business collaborations. Now everyone's facing bankruptcy—are you happy now?"
By the end, she could no longer maintain her elegance, her voice tinged with resentment.
But I just said flatly, "So what?"
Annie Taylor fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a low laugh. "What are you so proud of, Vivian?"
"Who do you think put you in Ryan's life in the first place?"
"Ryan loved me so much back then—all because I said I liked assertive men, he went after you just to prove to me he could change."
"So even if it wasn't you, it would've been someone else keeping him company those seven years waiting for me. You were nothing special!"
"He loved me so much! I just never thought he'd actually fall for you…"
I gripped my phone tightly and laughed scornfully.
