After I Fell Into the Story, My Fiancé Went Mad With Regret

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1: 1

I woke up inside an ancient story, and when I opened my eyes I was in a brothel.

At first I had a spine. I refused to take clients, so they broke my ribs and starved me until my stomach bled.

Half a month later, the madam killed my personal maid right in front of me.

I ran a fever for three days. When it broke, I took off my own clothes.

After that I became the top girl of the brothel, eight clients a day.

Until one night, a patron was too rough, I hemorrhaged, and I fainted.

Half-conscious, I saw a car parked outside the door. A Bentley, a car that had no business being there.

My fianc Jackson Gilbert's voice was calm.

"Sophia, since you've already seen it, I'll just say it plainly."

"You always bullied Meryl Pruitt, looked down on her for selling herself. But if it weren't for her, the Gilberts would have collapsed years ago."

"Now you're not clean either. You've lost any right to look down on her."

Something roared through my head, and I froze where I lay.

So the story I thought I'd fallen into had been a lie, start to finish.

When I woke, I was lying in a soft, white hospital bed.

The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant.

Jackson raised his hand as if to stroke my hair.

Almost on instinct I leaned into it, rubbing my head against his palm, like a dog begging for scraps.

He clearly flinched. Something like disgust surfaced in his eyes, and he sneered.

"Half a year on a film set and you really think you're some ancient courtesan?"

My body jerked with fear, and I stuck out my tongue and licked his fingers.

He snatched his hand back like he'd been burned, his voice turning irritated.

"You don't have to put on this act!"

"Sophia, you always bullied Meryl. You thought she was for sale, thought she was filthy."

"You're the one who forced me to this. Now you're filthy too, so what right do you have left to look down on her?"

He pulled out a stack of photos, me being intimate with different men, and threw them on the floor.

My throat tightened. I couldn't get out a single word.

Two more people came in through the door.

Meryl looked at me, wiping her tears.

"Sis, you've gotten so thin... Jackson said you went to a care facility. You've suffered so much."

My father stood beside her and picked up the thread.

"She does look steadier, not as showy as before. A little hardship builds character. That's a good thing."

I clenched the corner of the blanket and forced down the sting in my eyes.

Those unbearable scenes played back frame by frame in my head.

Six months ago, Jackson had taken Meryl by the hand and laid it out for me.

"Meryl's carrying my child. I'll still give you the whole wedding, but the marriage license goes to her."

I slapped both of them across the face right there.

"You two whores!"

As Meryl was leaving she yanked at me on purpose, then threw herself down the stairs, and the child in her belly was gone.

Not long after, I fell unconscious.

When I woke, I found myself inside an ancient-style building, and a crowd of people in period costume told me this was a brothel.

There were even lines of subtitles drifting across the sky, saying I had fallen into a book.

At first I didn't believe it. I thought it was a prank.

They broke my ribs, wrenched my hands and feet, starved me until I threw up blood.

The pain nearly drove me insane, and still I gritted my teeth and refused to take clients.

So they violated the maid who served me, right in front of me, until she died.

Terror sent my fever soaring, and the moment it broke, I took off my own clothes.

I knelt on the floor, crying so hard my whole body shook.

"I'll do what you want, just please stop killing people, please."

After that I became the top girl, eight clients a day.

They tortured me down to skin and bone, until I could barely speak above a whisper.

But I still fought to stay alive, telling myself that one day I would get back to my own world.

Half-conscious, I saw a car parked outside the door. A Bentley, a car that had no business being there at all.

I saw Jackson Gilbert.

And I saw that little maid who should have been long dead, sitting nearby, calmly eating fruit. Not dead at all.

So all of it was fake.

The brothel was fake. The story I'd fallen into was fake.

Everyone had followed Jackson's orders and put on a show for me.

The person I loved most had shoved me into hell with his own hands.

I pulled free of the memory, breathing in the disinfectant, and slipped back into a heavy, muddled sleep.

The next day at noon, Jackson brought over a meal.

"The doctor says you won't eat. Is this a performance for me?"

I bit down hard on my lip and turned my face away.

He set down the food container, his brows knitting.

"Listen to me. Back when my family went bankrupt, if it weren't for the money Meryl earned selling herself at that underground bar, I never would have gotten back on my feet."

"But you couldn't stand her, called her filthy, and pushed her down the stairs, killing my child."

I turned to look at Meryl by the bed, all timid on her face, and my stomach lurched with nausea.

"Jackson, when your family went bankrupt, it was clearly me who"

Before I could finish, Meryl suddenly threw herself down at the foot of my bed and knelt.

She pulled two marriage licenses out of her pocket.

"Sis, I'm sorry, I just love Jackson too much. No matter how much you look down on me, you can hit me, curse me, I don't care. I won't give him up..."

My eyes didn't move at all, as if I hadn't heard a word she said.

Jackson pulled Meryl up.

"Enough. Why are you kneeling to her?"

He turned to me, his voice going cold.

"Sophia Pruitt, I'll hold the wedding for you. But if you cause a scene again, you can forget about getting anything."

Slowly I shrank down into the blanket and wrapped it tight around myself.

Jackson frowned, as if something felt off to him, but he took Meryl's hand and turned to leave anyway.

2: 2

The heavy door of the hospital room shut with a bang.

I shot upright in the bed, curled myself into a ball, shaking all over.

Jackson Gilbert stood outside the door, watching me through the glass, his eyes darker than anything.

Ever since I came back, I couldn't keep any food down.

In the brothel, before the madam sent me out to a client, she always forced strong aphrodisiac drugs down my throat.

My stomach had long since been wrecked, and now the sight of food alone turned everything inside me over.

The doctors couldn't do anything with me. They kept me going on IV nutrition.

One nurse sighed.

"It's a sin, really. A perforated stomach, malnutrition, wounds all over her body. These rich people think they can do whatever they want."

The other nurse quickly tugged at her sleeve.

"Shh, watch your mouth. This whole hospital belongs to Mr. Gilbert. You want to lose your job?"

The two of them exchanged a glance and said nothing more, dropping their eyes back to their work.

I lay in the bed as if I hadn't heard a word, staring blankly at the ceiling.

My sleeve had been pushed up, the scars on my arm crossing over one another, layer on layer.

The needle went into my flesh, and I felt nothing at all.

The day I was discharged, Jackson came to pick me up.

Once we were in the car, Meryl Pruitt turned around from the passenger seat and handed a bag back to me.

"Sophia, you haven't eaten well in the hospital lately. I lined up at Reuben's Deli at five this morning to get you a breakfast sandwich, your old favorite. Go on, try it!"

The greasy smell of meat drifted over.

My stomach heaved.

"I'm not hungry."

She pressed the sandwich into my hands anyway, giving me no say.

The next second, those terrible images came surging up.

My stomach cramped, and I threw up on the spot.

Jackson slammed on the brakes and turned around, snarling.

"Sophia Pruitt! You did that on purpose, didn't you!"

Meryl looked down at the filth on her clothes, and tears rolled down her face.

"Sophia, do I really disgust you that much?"

Once we were home, the anger was still on Jackson's face.

"Apologize to Meryl. Or you can forget about ever eating again!"

My knees buckled, and I dropped straight to the floor in front of Meryl, flattening myself down.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I was wrong."

Meryl stepped back half a pace as though frightened, then rushed to help me up.

"Sophia, what are you doing? You're scaring me."

I stayed kneeling, hunching my shoulders in as far as they would go.

Jackson's face was ugly.

"Sophia Pruitt! Stop the act! I don't think you'll be having dinner tonight either."

He took Meryl by the hand.

"Meryl, go change your clothes and clean up first."

I slipped quietly back to my room.

I pushed the door open and froze in the doorway.

The room was piled high with junk.

On the table where my mother's memorial plaque sat, there was a big bag of dog food.

Meryl came up behind me and stood in the doorway, speaking carefully.

"Sophia, I rescued a stray dog a while ago, and I had nowhere to put the things I bought for it, so I left them in here. You won't be mad, will you?"

I stared at that bag of dog food on the table, my fingers twitching, but I didn't dare touch it.

I only nudged it aside, clearing a little space.

I wiped my mother's plaque clean, then folded the cloth and set it back where it belonged.

Jackson came over and swept a glance around the room.

"Meryl, let's eat. Never mind her."

After they left, the clink of dishes and the sound of laughter drifted up from downstairs.

Then, out of nowhere, someone dropped a plate, and it shattered with a sharp crack.

My whole body went rigid.

The next instant I yanked the closet door open and hid inside.

Head down, bent low, arms around my knees, door pulled shut, all in one motion.

In those days at the brothel, every time someone smashed something, it meant someone was about to be beaten.

The closet was the only place I could hide.

Even if it was only a single broken plate, my body remembered the fear before my mind did.

After a while came a burst of urgent knocking at the door.

Jackson's voice was sharp.

"Sophia! Your sister cut her hand. Come out and take her to the hospital!"

I didn't move. I only curled myself tighter.

The knocking came a few more times, then a rush of furious footsteps.

Suddenly the closet door was wrenched open.

Jackson stood there, his expression turning ugly again.

"What are you doing hiding in the closet?"

I lifted my head, my eyes red, my hands over my head.

"You found me again. Don't hit me, don't hit me."

He stopped short, about to say something.

Then from downstairs came a cry of alarm.

"Miss Meryl! What happened to you!"

3: 3

Jackson's face changed in an instant. He grabbed my hand and dragged me all the way downstairs.

Meryl was on the floor, foaming at the mouth, her whole body convulsing.

Jackson rushed over and pulled her into his arms.

"Meryl!"

The housekeeper cowered in the corner, not daring to make a sound.

Jackson lifted his head, his voice cold as ice.

"Before the ambulance gets here, I want to know exactly what happened."

The housekeeper spoke carefully.

"Miss Meryl said her sister was home, and she was happy about it, so she ate a little extra. But there was mango in her food."

"We all know Miss Meryl is allergic to mango. No one ever buys it"

Meryl lay in Jackson's arms, her face going gray.

She looked at me with effort, her voice weak.

"Sister I was just happy you came back if this is what it takes to make you feel better then I'm glad to do it"

I shook my head desperately.

"I didn't! It wasn't me!"

Meryl was taken to the hospital and had her stomach pumped through the night.

When she came back, Jackson came to my room, his face dark.

I trembled all over with fear.

Then he suddenly snatched up my mother's memorial plaque.

I screamed, panicked.

"No"

He tightened his grip and slammed it hard against the floor.

The wooden plaque broke in two.

"The doctor said Meryl almost didn't make it. Sophia, you're as vicious as ever!"

He turned his head and gave orders to the men behind him.

"Take her up to the villa on the hill. No one lets her out without my permission."

I was sent to the hilltop villa.

No one had lived there in a long time. The dust was thick, but at least it was quiet.

The servants had been called away. In the whole villa, there was only me.

When I woke, there was a commotion outside.

I pushed open the door and saw Meryl standing there with a glass in her hand, smiling at me.

"Sister, I won't hold yesterday against you. Today is a welcome dinner for you. Go get changed and come out."

Jackson went around with Meryl, toasting everyone.

I stood in the corner, silent, saying nothing.

A few of the women who usually ran around with Meryl came over to me with glasses raised, looking me up and down.

"Well, if it isn't the eldest Pruitt daughter. Haven't seen you in half a year. What have you been so busy with?"

One of them covered her mouth and laughed.

"How about we play a game? If you win, we'll give you this. If you lose, you take off your clothes right here, in front of everyone."

I turned to leave.

But when the woman in front lifted the thing in her hand, I froze where I stood.

It was my mother's necklace.

The one she had fastened around my neck with her own hands before she died, the one that was stolen from me my first day in the brothel.

I thought it had been lost long ago.

4: 4

I looked up. A little way off, Meryl was standing there, giving me a smile.

I pulled my eyes back to the group in front of me.

"Give it back."

The noise drew Jackson and my father over.

My father spoke first.

"What's going on here?"

Meryl jumped in before I could answer.

"Dad, my friends are just playing around with my sister."

My father waved a hand.

"They're all Meryl's friends, right? You young people have fun."

I pointed at the necklace.

"Dad, that was Mom's necklace when she was alive. Don't you remember?"

He cut me off, irritated.

"Enough, enough. Why bring up your mother? She's been dead more than ten years now."

Then he turned and walked away.

I let my eyes move over the group in front of me and made myself speak through my teeth.

"Fine. I'll play with you."

The woman holding up the necklace suddenly laughed.

"Oh, I've changed my mind. This necklace seems to mean a lot to you so go ahead and take it off, and I'll give it to you."

Jackson looked a little startled.

I gave him and the rest of them a scornful look, reached up, and undid my buttons. One, two, three

My fingers reached the fourth, baring the underwear beneath and a wide stretch of skin.

Jackson's voice cracked out.

"Enough!"

He rushed over, dragged me into the lounge next door, and the moment the door shut he pinned me against the wall.

"Sophia Pruitt! Are you really this cheap? Someone tells you to strip and you just strip?"

I laughed, but my voice stayed calm.

"Jackson, isn't this what you wanted?"

"You threw me into a place like that so I'd rot all the way through. You finally got your wish."

Jackson froze where he stood, as if something were slipping out of his grip.

I went back to my corner, and before I'd even steadied myself, someone groped me from behind.

I turned. It was one of the rich boys who used to chase after me.

He leaned close to my ear and smiled.

"Miss Pruitt, you turned me down before. But I just heard your sister say you're nothing but a slut now. So how about it, in the mood to have some fun with us?"

His hand moved up to my face.

The sickening feel of it crawled over me.

I dropped straight to the floor and screamed.

"Ahh"

The man jerked back a step.

"The hell! Fine, no means no, what are you throwing a fit for?"

The few others beside him backed off too.

"She's sick in the head."

I crouched on the floor, shaking all over and unable to stop.

The party broke up in a hurry. A doctor came and gave me a sedative, and slowly everything went quiet.

I lay on the bed, wrung out, the ceiling light glaring into my eyes.

The phone by the bed buzzed once.

A message from Meryl.

"Sis, guess where I am right now?"

Before I could reply, the call came through.

Meryl was laughing on the other end.

"Sis, I've got a surprise ready for you. Over here, over hereit's not all dug up yet, dig it out cleaner."

Something turned uneasy in me.

"What are you doing?"

Meryl laughed harder.

"You don't know yet, do you, Sis? Jackson made a deal with the James family's foundation. We're developing a big stretch of land, putting up a mall. Your mother's grave? I had them dig it out."

A photo landed on my phone.

My mother's grave had been torn up every which way, nothing left of what it used to be.

I gripped the phone, my voice trembling.

"Meryl, why are you doing this? What is it you actually want?"

Her voice went cold all at once.

"No reason. I just can't stand you."

I hung up, curled up on the bed, clenched my fist, and hit my own chest, once and again.

"Why? Why?"

I got up and went to the window, pushed it open. The night wind blew in, cold.

All I wanted was somewhere quiet to be, and this world wouldn't leave me even one corner.

Mom, I miss you so much.

Under the same night sky, in the most luxurious five-star hotel in the city, Jackson was hosting a pair of honored guests from New York.

Byron James sat on the sofa, his wife Lorna Sawyer beside him, gentle and poised, a charity foundation file resting by her hand.

Lorna glanced around the room and suddenly asked,

"How come Sophia didn't come?"

Jackson paused, his tone cold.

"What would she come for? To make a fool of herself?"

Lorna set down her glass, her voice rising a little.

"What kind of thing is that to say? Back when the natural disaster hit Ashford County, Sophia went in on foot with the search-and-rescue team ahead of everyone, and afterward she donated money and helped a lot of people. People in Ashford still remember her to this day."

Byron threw back a full glass of liquor, his voice a little hoarse.

"My daughter happened to be traveling in Ashford at the time, and it was Sophia who dug her out of the rubble. If not for Sophia, my girl would be gone. Sophia saved the people of Ashford, and she saved my daughter. Setting up this foundation later was my way of passing that kindness on."

Jackson's grip tightened on his glass.

The Sophia Pruitt in his mind was proud, willful, even cold and selfish.

Back when his family went bankrupt, he'd swallowed his pride and begged her for help, and she hadn't said a single word.

It was timid, quiet Meryl who'd taken out the money and pulled the Gilberts back from the edge.

Byron looked at him and added one more thing.

"When your family was in trouble before, Sophia quietly wired you five million to help you through it. You didn't know?"

The glass in Jackson's hand dropped to the floor.

Crash.

His phone started buzzing wildly.

A bad feeling rose in him, and he answered.

The voice on the other end was very soft, as if she'd finally set everything down.

"Goodbye, Jackson."

A huge explosion went off.