My Fiancée Turned Me Into a Scandal

On our last trip before the wedding, someone drugs me and leaves me in another woman's bed. When my fiancee, Sophia Sullivan, and my brother, Sean Jefferson, rush in to save me, I hear Sophia suddenly ask Sean in Lutenian, "Did you get enough footage?" "Yeah," he replies. "But isn't this bad for Ethan? Everyone's going to think he's a rapist." Sophia's expression hardens. "It's all an act. Nothing actually happened. We're just getting some footage. I just have to make sure I don't abandon him. Once you run this story, you'll win a Pulitzer. That's what matters the most." Lying in Sophia's arms, I feel a chill run through my entire body. Afraid I might've misheard her, I ask, "What are you two talking about?" Sophia wipes the tears from my eyes. "We're talking about what happened to you," she says, her voice as gentle as ever. "Why don't you let Sean report what happened to you? He can clear your name." Thinking I still don't understand Lutenian, she turns to Sean and starts talking about how they can get more attention for the story. She has no idea that I've spent the past year learning Lutenian just to fit in with them. I never expect that the first time I finally understand what they're saying will be the moment I discover that they're betraying me. Chapter 1 I could barely stay on my feet as I stumbled into the radio station where Sean worked. He was in the middle of an interview and was dressed in his usual professional attire. "I'm heartbroken over what happened to my brother. I can't believe he's capable of something like that. As a journalist, I'll do everything I can to report on what happened and clear his name." He covered his face and sobbed. He seemed as if he were truly innocent. Sophia consoled him, then turned to the cameras. "My fiance's case hasn't been settled yet, so I hope everyone will give him some privacy. I hope you'll all support Sean's work as a journalist." The room erupted in applause. I leaned against the wall. My stomach twisted, and I nearly threw up. They were sacrificing my innocence and reputation just so Sean could get his story. I couldn't take it anymore. With bloodshot eyes, I pushed the door open. Every head in the room turned toward me. Sophia looked at me in shock. "What are you doing here? Your wounds haven't healed yet. What if they open up again?" She grabbed my arm and tried to lead me back to the hospital, but I yanked myself free. "Stop pretending that you care! I heard everything!" She stared at my red-rimmed eyes and stammered, "How do you understand Lutenian?" I used to have no idea what they were saying and would ask them what they were talking about like an idiot. They would always brush me off with a casual, "Nothing." Not wanting to be left out or continue feeling like an idiot, I threw myself into learning Lutenian to surprise them. I never imagined that what awaited me was such an ugly truth. Sean hurried down from the stage. His eyes were red as he grabbed my arm. "Don't get the wrong idea, Ethan. We're really trying to help you…" Sean and I grew up together in an orphanage. He'd worked hard to become a journalist because he wanted to find our biological parents. "You're my dearest little brother. I managed to grow up without parents, but I can't bear the thought of you doing the same." The brother I'd once been so proud of was lying to my face. I couldn't accept that he was deceiving me. I shoved him away. He stumbled, but Sophia caught him immediately. "Can't you help your brother for once? He took care of you all these years! He's already done more than enough for you!" she roared. "We're not going to think any less of you because of this!" "But I think you're disgusting!" I spat back. Sophia and Sean froze. On the day I proposed to her, she cried and promised that she would never let me shed another tear. Yet now, the people who had hurt me the most were the very ones who had promised to protect me. Seeing them protect each other made my stomach churn. I couldn't stay on my feet any longer. As I collapsed, one thought ran through my mind—I was done with both of them. Chapter 2 When I opened my eyes again, the hospital room was packed with reporters. Sean was there, too. He held a microphone, ready to interview me. The constant flashes made it impossible to keep my eyes open. Sophia hurried over and leaned down beside me. She whispered, "They're all here to interview you. Just answer their questions, and it'll be over soon." I lay in the hospital bed while every reporter in the room looked at me with contempt. My body was exposed to the cameras for everyone to see. I grabbed the cup beside me and hurled it at the door. It shattered, sending glass flying across the floor. "Get out! I'm not giving any interviews!" Sean quickly ushered the reporters out, then sat down beside my bed. "We're doing this for your own good. Trust me. Once the story comes out, everyone will know you're innocent." I couldn't believe that the person I trusted the most would force me to reveal my wounds and watch while everyone judged me. It felt like someone had torn a hole straight through my chest. I ripped the IV from my arm and shoved him away with all my strength. Sean stumbled backward and fell into the medical cart. His white shirt quickly stained red. Glass scattered across the floor. "Sean!" Sophia instinctively rushed to him and scanned him for injuries. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Then, she frowned at me. "Sean's just trying to help you. He wanted to teach the people who hurt you a lesson. How could you attack him?" Her words brought back a memory. Once, I'd gotten a tiny cut from a kitchen knife. She panicked and rushed to bandage it herself. Now, all she cared about was whether Sean was hurt, even though I was covered in injuries. She gave me a disappointed look before taking Sean to a doctor to treat his injuries. Meanwhile, one of my wounds had split open. Pain shot through the places where my skin had closed back up. I collapsed onto the floor as the cameras crowded in on my battered face. Reporters bombarded me with questions. After the interview, Sean's report quickly went viral. I, on the other hand, was met with neither justice nor sympathy. "I knew he was a predator. What kind of person does something like that? He's a disgrace to society!" "He ruined the victim's reputation, yet he still has the nerve to claim he's innocent. Who's going to believe him?" "He's a rapist. I hope he rots in hell!" … My phone was flooded with threatening calls and messages. I tightened my grip around it. Meanwhile, Sean and Sophia were being showered with praise at a press conference. "Mr. Jefferson really lives up to his reputation. He didn't let his relationship with his brother affect his reporting." "This case wouldn't have gotten this far without Ms. Sullivan's support. Now that predator's finally going to pay for what he did!" Sean and Sophia stood in front of the cameras, soaking up the praise, while I lay curled up in my hospital bed, afraid to move. It didn't take long for people online to start shipping them. "Ms. Sullivan has been secretly funding Mr. Jefferson for five years? She even did it anonymously. That's straight out of a romance novel!" "Wait, is Mr. Jefferson the man she said she's marrying? That's definitely him in her engagement photos!" That was when I realized that Sophia was the anonymous benefactor that Sean had fallen for five years ago. I had even encouraged him to tell her how he felt, hoping he would find someone he truly loved. I never imagined the two of them would build their future on my blood and bones. I checked myself out of the hospital and bought a plane ticket. Before leaving, I stopped by the house Sean had abandoned to collect the stuff I'd left there. The moment I opened the door, a three-year-old girl came running toward me. "Daddy!" Chapter 3 I froze. The nanny hurried over, picked up the little girl, and apologized awkwardly. "I'm sorry. You look so much like her father that she must've mistaken you for him." I looked past her and saw a family portrait of Sophia, Sean, and the little girl hanging in the living room. Then, my gaze fell on the girl in front of me. I could feel the chill run through my body. Just as I started to wonder if there had been some kind of mistake, Sean appeared in a bathrobe and scooped the little girl into his arms. "Emily, why are you—" The moment he saw me, his face went completely still. I parted my lips, but it took a while to get the words out. "What's going on?" Sean looked like he wanted to say something, but Sophia appeared before he could. The smile on her face vanished the second she saw me. "Ethan, let me explain," she began. "This child was an accident. Back then, I thought Sean was you when I got pregnant with her. I've kept her away from you ever since. She doesn't change anything between us." We had a child together once, too. I remember lying against Sophia's stomach, talking to our baby, and trying to think of names for him. She looked at me with so much hope in her eyes. "Our baby is going to be just as handsome as you." Yet now, she was holding another man's child with the same tenderness. Through the open doorway, I could see that the living room was an exact copy of ours. It had the same couch and the same paintings on the walls. The only difference was the happy family portrait. They had built another home behind my back. "How long has this been going on?" I asked, my mind going numb. Sophia looked away guiltily before lowering her voice. "Three years ago. We ran into each other when Sean went abroad." I did the math in my head. That was precisely when Sean told me that he had tracked down our parents abroad. I had been waiting hopefully for the only family I had left to return with news of them. I thought we'd finally be reunited. But while I was waiting, Sean and Sophia had a child together. Because of them, I lost my chance to find my biological parents. Anger clouded my judgment. I raised my fist and punched Sean in the face. He clutched his swollen cheek and stared at me in shock. The next second, Sophia grabbed my wrist. "Ever since everyone started accusing you of being a rapist, you've completely lost your mind! You're impossible to reason with!" I froze. I couldn't believe those words had come from her. She was the one who had put me through all of this, yet somehow, I was the one to blame for losing control. I couldn't even feel the pain when the wound in my abdomen split open. Realizing she'd gone too far, Sophia opened her mouth to say something, but the little girl in Sean's arms, Emily Jefferson, shoved me. "Go away!" I instinctively raised my arm to block her. She immediately burst into tears. Sophia panicked. She glared at me. "She's just a child! You can't just take it out on her! If you've got something to say, say it to me!" She shoved me hard, sending me crashing to the floor. Every wound on my body tore open. Blood seeped through them. But I barely felt it. I just watched her shield Sean and Emily. They looked more like a family than we ever did. The anger I'd been holding onto finally drained away. "Sophia, we're over." Shock flashed in Sophia's eyes, but she quickly scoffed. "You love me more than anyone. Sean is the only family you have left. You'd never be able to walk away from us. "You know I don't take threats lightly." She was so sure that I'd never leave her that she felt like she was free to destroy my life just to clear the way for Sean. But this time, she was wrong. "I mean it—" Before I could finish, Sean suddenly panicked when Emily started crying. "I think she's running a fever. She must've been scared. We need to get her to the hospital." Sophia rushed over in a panic. She didn't even notice when she knocked me aside as she hurriedly carried Emily to the car. I tumbled down the steps. Everything went black. A chill ran across the back of my neck. Chapter 4 The doctor studied the scans and helplessly shook his head. "That was dangerously close. If you had landed just a little differently, you could've died." Only I knew that the person who nearly killed me was the woman I once loved. Tears silently slipped down my cheeks. It felt like my heart was being stabbed over and over again. Just then, my phone started vibrating nonstop. "That predator is unbelievable. Mr. Jefferson was only trying to help, yet he tried to kill his child?" "He's obviously trying to break up their family. He's a homewrecker! What a disgrace." The messages flooded in from all directions. My already weakened body was pushed to its limit when one of my wounds split open again. Before I could react, Sophia called me, furious. "Ethan, where are you? Emily's fever hasn't gone down. It's all because you scared her!" I forced myself to speak. "I'm at the hospital. I just suffered a concussion and—" "Are you pretending to be in the hospital just to avoid taking responsibility? The doctor already said you were fine!" she spat. "We're in the hospital too. You can't fool us!" I looked around and finally realized that a kind stranger had brought me to a nearby clinic instead. Before I could explain, Sophia spoke through clenched teeth. "You're going to have to accept Sean and Emily eventually. Think about what you've done. I hope that by the next time I see you, you'll have reflected on what you've done." She hung up, but the notifications on my phone didn't stop. I covered my ears, but the constant notification sounds still came through. It wasn't until midnight that a frantic figure suddenly appeared in my hospital room. I switched on my flashlight. It was the woman who had tried to frame me. I backed away as she slowly closed in on me. She clenched her teeth in fury. "When they hired me, they promised that they wouldn't make this public. Now that the story's everywhere, my reputation's ruined!" She hit me in the head with a brick over and over again. My head was a bloody mess. Coldness spread across the top of my skull, and blood blurred my vision. I desperately reached for my phone, trying to call Sophia and Sean. All I got was a cold automated message. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on my head. Then, I accidentally opened the home surveillance app. The live feed showed Sophia and Sean tangled together in bed. Sophia's slender back was turned toward the camera. "I'm glad Emily's fine. It's just a normal fever. If he can't accept her, I'll give you the marriage certificate. Then, at least, she'll have a real family. He always listens to me. He could never bring himself to leave me." With that, Sophia pulled Sean into a passionate kiss and continued embracing him. Meanwhile, I lay dying in a pool of my own blood. I didn't even have the strength to fight back. The woman attacking me screamed in fury. "You lying bastard! I'll kill you!" She brought the brick down on my head again. Everything went black. … Sophia slipped on a white shirt and left the bedroom. Just then, she noticed all the missed calls from me on her phone. Her breathing stopped for a moment. As she was about to call me back, the hospital called her.