The Good Girl's Vengeance

"Be a good girl and check out of the room for me." Dominic chuckled. He stepped over the unfamiliar lingerie and stockings scattered across the floor.

We had been together for five years. I always played the good girl and endured whatever he did on the side.

His friends took bets on how long I would last this time. "She's such a good girl. Give her two days and she'll be over it," he said. He waved it off like it was nothing.

He probably expected me to beg him not to leave, just like always. But Dominic didn't know something about us good girls.

When we reach the age to settle down, we listen to our parents. So, while he was full of himself, I gathered my courage and looked at my blind date. "The kid takes my last name.

Can you accept that?" Chapter 1 I rang the doorbell to the room Dominic sent me. No one answered. I pulled my hand back and leaned against the wall.

I hoisted my bag up from the bottom. The fourteeninch laptop inside dug into my shoulder. It ached. A moment later, the door finally cracked open.

Dominic wore nothing but a towel around his waist. Water dripped down his bare, sculpted chest. The tall man leaned one hand against the doorframe.

He frowned. "Why didn't you just wait until tomorrow?" I gripped my bag with both hands and looked up. "I'm so sorry.

We had a sudden bug in the project, so I had to work late." Dominic dropped his hand and turned inside. "How much does that trash job even pay?

You should just quit." I slipped inside right before the hotel door clicked shut. I froze. Dominic had booked a suite. A long hallway stretched from the entrance to the bedroom.

I rounded the corner. Shredded stockings draped over the living room sofa. A bra and a flimsy thong laid scattered on the floor. I knew Dominic liked to play around.

I knew he never stopped seeing other women during the years I stood by his side. I always thought it was fine as long as I didn't see it.

I actively avoided looking at any proof of his intimacy with others. If I didn't see it, I could keep lying to myself.

Like a goldfish, I gave myself a sevensecond memory to numb the pain. I looked at Dominic. He was already leaning against the bar counter, watching me. He held a glass of liquor.

The faint sound of running water echoed from the nearby bathroom. His eyes held no panic. No guilt. "You're late," he said. His voice was perfectly calm. I gripped my bag tighter.

If I let go, my laptop would hit the floor. That $1,500 laptop cost me nearly half a month's salary. I opened my mouth to speak. The bathroom door swung open.

A stunning woman with long legs stepped out. She wore a loose bathrobe. She glanced at me with zero surprise.

It was like a third person standing in the room was entirely normal. "Mr. Liang—" Her voice dripped with sweetness.

She pressed against Dominic, exposing a generous amount of skin. "What about my endorsement deal…" Dominic shifted away slightly and took a sip of his drink. "Talk to Thomas.

You can leave now." "Thank you, Mr. Liang," the woman said sweetly. By the time she emerged from the bedroom, she was fully dressed. I stared at her back. It finally hit me.

She was Lexi, that rising starlet everyone was talking about. I stepped aside as she walked to the door. Maybe she just wanted to stroke Dominic's ego.

She stopped in her tracks and looked me up and down. Chapter 2 Lexi looked over her shoulder and flashed a smile. "Mr. Liang has such a great eye.

Hiring an assistant with that toptier innocent look. She'd eat them up in the entertainment industry." Dominic didn't look up. He didn't deny it.

Impatience bled into his tone. "Get lost." Lexi slung her bag over her shoulder. She swayed her hips and walked out, looking thrilled.

After throwing on some fresh clothes, Dominic walked over and took the heavy laptop bag from my hands. It was a practiced, familiar motion. His expression was completely natural.

Just like the countless times before, he acted like nothing had happened. His free arm snaked around my waist. "Hungry? I'll take you out to eat.

Whatever you want." I stood frozen in place. He raised an eyebrow. Realization seemed to dawn on him. A lazy smile touched his lips.

His fingers traced slow circles on my waist. "Upset? Do you want it? I can have them open another room next door." It had always been like this. I knew it. I had always known.

I knew his playboy ways. I knew how reckless he was. But I had walked right into his trap without a second thought. I was the pathetic one.

I was the one who handed him the knife to cut me. So, I never blamed anyone. Not even Dominic. I always knew there would come a day when we completely parted ways.

I just kept hoping for a little longer. Just a little longer. Now, that day had arrived. Surprisingly, my chest didn't cave in. My breathing didn't stop.

I just felt an overwhelming sense of release. Maybe my heart had already been stabbed so many times it was completely numb. I peeled his fingers off my waist.

Keeping my eyes locked on the floor, I snatched my bag back. "Dominic, I want to break up." My voice was low. But it was rock solid.

A courage I never knew I possessed anchored the words. The air in the room flatlined. The seconds stretched out. I finally looked up. Dominic was studying my face.

He searched my eyes, trying to figure out if I was serious. A soft, mocking laugh escaped his throat. "Break up?" He leaned in. He bent down until his face was inches from mine.

Two tiny reflections of me stared back from his dark pupils. "Harper." He clicked his tongue. He looked like he was trying to remember. "How old were you when you first met me?

Nineteen? Twenty?" He shook his head. "I don't remember. But you didn't stand out at all. You were just a good girl." "Thick bangs.

Heavy blackrimmed glasses covering half your face." "I asked if you wanted to give us a try." He straightened up and casually adjusted his cuffs. "You blushed and nodded.

You didn't hesitate for a second." "I even warned you. I told you I was a piece of trash.

I don't force anyone to be with me, and no one can force me to love only one person." He looked at me with fake sympathy. He let out a soft sigh. "Do you remember what you said?

You said you were willing." "And now you're throwing around a breakup to threaten me." His thumb brushed a stray tear off my cheek.

Genuine confusion masked his features. "Don't you think that's a bit unfair to me?" "Alright, stop crying. Haven't you adapted perfectly all these years? This time was my slipup.

I won't let you run into this next time." His hands clamped down on my shoulders. He spun me around and rested his chin heavily on my shoulder.

A massive floortoceiling mirror stood directly in front of us. It reflected his absolute arrogance.

It reflected my tearstreaked, shattered face. "Do you know how old that girl was just now? Twenty.

If I remember correctly, you're twentysix this year, right?" His breath brushed against my ear. "Instead of using a childish trick like breaking up to keep me, you should spend more time at the salon.

Go to the gym." "After all, we click the best. Everyone else is just passing through. You don't need to take them seriously." He was rotten to the core.

But his viciousness was buried under such a beautiful face. Even when he spewed absolute poison, it sounded like a heartfelt confession. I had no strength left to struggle.

No energy left to fight. I stood there like a puppet on a string, completely trapped in Dominic's hands. Chapter 3 I shifted slightly.

My voice stayed rock solid. "Dominic, we're breaking up." He laughed. A careless, empty sound. "Alright. I got it.

You go ahead and break up." He checked his watch and grabbed his suit jacket.

Before I could blink, he leaned down and crushed his lips against mine in a suffocating kiss. "Be a good girl. Remember to check out of the room.

I have a meeting." "I'll have the new season's shoes and bags sent to your place." "As for the rest, I'll make it up to you properly tonight." Maybe the words break up had been thrown around too many times between us.

They had lost every ounce of their weight. In the beginning, Dominic was the one who always brought it up. He figured out the destructive power of those words long before I did.

Harper, if you can't take it, we can break up. You know I hate seeing you upset. I was too easy to handle. He would just smile, toss me a few sweet words, and reel me right back in.

Then, he would wipe the slate clean like nothing ever happened. But this time, I made a promise to myself. Don't cave. Don't step back.

Besides, a breakup didn't require his permission. Emotional trauma always hits the hardest. Right after I dragged myself back from the hotel, a violent fever spiked.

In the hazy, suffocating depths of my sleep, I slipped back in time. I saw the nineteenyearold me. The one Dominic had completely forgotten.

Dominic had a dangerously beautiful face. Even if he were dead broke, women would still line up for him at the snap of his fingers.

But as fate would have it, he was also born into ridiculous wealth. He favored glamorous, highmaintenance women. From celebrities to supermodels, no exceptions.

No one ever thought he would look twice at a good girl like me. I had nothing going for me except being obedient and following the rules.

But it just so happened that he had tasted every delicacy the world had to offer. Right when he was getting bored of it all, his eyes landed on me. Dusk was falling.

We were on a quiet, secluded campus path the first time I saw him. A girl had her arms wrapped tight around his bicep. Caroline.

She was so stunning that even though those tacky prom queen votes were a thing of the past, everyone still called her the prom queen by default.

He threw his money around without blinking. Even though people only knew his first name, his reputation echoed through the entire school.

Every time Caroline went out with him, she came back with gifts worth hundreds of thousands. She wanted to live out her Hollywood dreams.

He just waved a hand, and Caroline—with zero acting credits—was suddenly shooting magazine covers and signing endorsement deals.

While Caroline was clinging to him and whining for attention, I glanced up. Dominic's face was completely blank. A cigarette burned between his fingers. Maybe he was just bored.

He jerked his chin in my direction, shifting her attention. "Who's that?" Caroline went on high alert instantly. She reached up to block his line of sight. "She's a good girl.

Not our kind of people." I kept my head down and hurried past them. Dominic just gave a careless laugh and didn't say a word.

Growing up, I was always the flawless good girl everyone talked about. Sharon raised me all by herself. Her love came wrapped in layer after layer of suffocating rules.

My curfew was always nine o'clock. My hair couldn't touch my shoulders. My bangs had to be cut above my eyebrows.

Inside her airtight bubble of protection, I grew into the most obedient mold. Rigid. Submissive. Clinging to every established social rule.

If I checked a book out from the library, I would drag my sick, feverish body out of bed just to return it on time.

I thought my life would follow that straight, narrow path forever. Until Dominic reached out his hand to me. His hand was no different from the forbidden fruit. Pure temptation.

Total ruin. A toxic fog I couldn't escape. When Caroline found out later, she was completely stunned. She said the exact same words, just directed at someone else.

Chapter 4 "Dominic isn't our kind of people," Caroline had said. "Don't fall for him." I told her I wouldn't. But later, that impossible, unrequited love turned into thin iron wire.

It wrapped around my bones, loop by suffocating loop. I thought a man as rotten as Dominic would be easy to leave.

I thought if I just tried it, just endured the pain, I could walk away without a shred of regret and get my life back on track. But he wasn't completely rotten.

He left behind a tiny sliver of genuine heart. That was the most fatal part. I didn't know if he was just a natural smooth talker, or if he actually treated me differently. Cars.

Houses. Countless designer gifts were just the baseline. I once told him my family was strict. There were so many things I had never experienced. Never watched the sunrise.

Never chased the sunset. At four in the morning, he hauled me out of bed. He drove for over an hour just to stand on a mountain peak and wait for the sun to come up.

Another time, I was out of town for a project. I casually mentioned I couldn't sleep because I left my favorite stuffed animal at home. He was overseas.

He clamped a cigarette between his teeth and laughed through the phone. "Oh, what are we going to do about that?" Two hours later, a private jet under his name hovered over my hotel.

The flight crew personally delivered that old stuffed toy, tied with a beautiful bow, and wished me sweet dreams. I knew that didn't count as love.

A man like Dominic would never understand how to love someone. So, I indulged myself. I gave him a pass. But I still hunted for traces in the tiny details.

I tried to prove that, even for a split second, his feelings matched my own.

Just a few days ago, at the end of a long, exhausting session in bed, a scalding heat inside me jolted me awake.

I shoved against his chest. "You didn't use a condom?" Dominic pinched my earlobe. He played it off like a joke. "Forgot." "If you get pregnant, we'll keep it.

Are you afraid I can't afford a kid?" A flash of tenderness crossed his eyes.

It was almost like he actually looked forward to a future together. "How could we—" I pushed him off and scrambled for the emergency pills. How could we have a baby?

We were never going to last. Bringing a child into this meant nothing but ruin. Dominic's face darkened. As if deliberately punishing me, he clamped his hand around my wrist.

He popped the pills out of the blister pack, one by one, and flushed them down the toilet. "Harper. If I catch you taking pills, you're dead." My breath hitched.

For a second, I wavered. But the illusion shattered instantly. My mind turned to ice. I waited until Dominic wasn't looking and took the pills anyway.

I jolted awake from the fever dream. The room was dead silent. Dominic hadn't come back. My phone vibrated. I answered it.

Sharon was back to her usual nagging. "Whenever I think about you, I can't sleep…" She had no idea about Dominic.

In her eyes, I had already reached the age where I was going to be left on the shelf. "If you don't find someone now, you won't even have the upper hand on blind dates in a few years." "Karen's son is right there in New York City.

Just make some time to see him. It won't kill you…" In high school, she was so terrified I'd date early that she chopped my hair into an awful mess.

Now, she was so terrified I wouldn't get married she practically wanted to auction me off online. I exhaled a long breath and cut her off. "I'll see him." "Just get to know him.

When you meet—" She froze. "What did you say?" I repeated myself. "I said, I'll see him." I needed a catalyst. A catalyst to leave Dominic for good.

I would find out later that Dominic had left his corporate building late that night.

He had promised to come back and make things right, but Finn threw a party and blew up his phone until he agreed to go.

Chapter 5 I didn't know it then, but Dominic hadn't cared at all. He had laughed off the argument and driven straight to his private club.

When he arrived, Finn slung an arm around his shoulder and peeked behind him. "Well, this is rare.

Your girl didn't follow you tonight?" Usually, I followed him everywhere like a docile little rabbit. I had no other tricks. I just stayed glued to his side.

Dominic actually loved that about me. He let me tag along to any gathering, never feeling like I embarrassed him. Dominic handed his coat to a waiter. "She ran into Lexi today.

She's throwing a tantrum." Finn clicked his tongue. "I thought it was something serious. But you took it too far this time. You know she can't stand seeing your other women.

Why shove it right in her face?" "Even a cornered animal will bite.

Aren't you afraid you pushed too hard and she'll actually bolt?" Dominic casually lit a cigarette. "Women are no fun without a little temper.

Let her throw a fit for a couple of days." Finn smacked his forehead. "My birthday party is the day after tomorrow.

Are you two still coming?" Someone nearby laughed. "We still have two days.

Based on her track record, she'll probably come crawling back tonight to apologize." Dominic spoke lazily. "I don't care either way.

As for her… figure it out yourself." "That's easy. Give me Harper's number." Finn pulled out his phone. "Usually, if someone just mentions breaking up, she's terrified.

I'll bluff her. I'll tell her if she doesn't show up, I'll make you dump her." The line rang. Dominic warned him, "Don't scare her too much. She's timid—" Finn said hello.

A moment later, an unfamiliar voice answered on the other end. Finn would later tell me how he froze in place, staring at Dominic in absolute disbelief. "I dialed the right number.

Why is a man answering her phone in the middle of the night?" Dominic's gaze shifted over. Through the haze of cigarette smoke, his eyes narrowed.

When I woke up, someone was crushing my hand