We Were Once Called Losers Chapter 02
Julian and I were shoved onto the red carpet of the banquet hall.
Arleth walked onto the center stage of the hall.
“Everyone, quiet down.”
The entire venue instantly fell dead silent.
Everyone’s eyes focused on me and Julian.
Arleth snapped her fingers.
The massive LED screen behind her instantly lit up.
On the screen was a blurry photo of a woman’s back.
The woman in the photo was wearing a white haute couture gown,
getting into a black Maybach.
Arleth pointed at the screen, then pointed at me.
“This woman is the slut in the photo who seduced my husband!
Already married but still fooling around, using her idiot husband as a shield.”
“Does she really think everyone in Seattle is blind?
Take a look, everyone. Doesn’t it look just like her?”
I happened to be wearing a white dress today as well.
But anyone with a bit of a discerning eye in the room could tell.
The fabric and tailoring of my dress were infinitely more luxurious than the one in the photo; it was specially airlifted from Paris for me by my second brother.
Yet in this hall, no one dared to speak the truth.
“The dress is exactly the same, and even the hairstyle is similar. It must be her.”
“Tsk tsk, morals are really going down the drain these days. She looks so innocent, but she’s such a slut to the bone.”
“That fool is pitiful too, being cheated on and still blindly defending her.”
Those vicious whispers surged over us in waves.
Julian was already extremely sensitive to bright lights and loud noises.
The surrounding clamor and stares made him cover his ears in agony.
“Chloe…..”
He curled up on the ground, his breathing growing increasingly rapid.
His lips were visibly turning a bruised purple.
I threw myself at him in an emotional breakdown, pulling him into my arms.
“Julian!
Look at me!
Take a deep breath!”
My hands trembled as I rummaged through Julian’s pockets.
He always carried his emergency medicine and portable oxygen pump with him.
The oxygen pump was a device personally developed by his second sister, Eleanor Vance, specifically for Julian’s heart condition.
Right at the moment my fingers brushed against the medicine bottle,
Arleth stepped down from the stage, stomped her foot viciously on the back of my hand, and snatched away the medicine and the oxygen pump.
“Want this to save his life?”
Arleth tossed the oxygen pump lightly in her hand.
“Beg me.
Get on your knees and admit you’re a mistress, and I’ll give it to you.”
“Chloe… don’t beg her…”
Julian forced the words out with great difficulty.
“Arleth!”
I looked up, glaring at her fiercely.
“My oldest brother is Alexander Rothschild, from The Rothschild family of the elite class!
If you dare to touch a single hair on his head, The Rothschild family will absolutely not let you off!”
Arleth froze for a second, then burst into a fit of maniacal laughter.
“Alexander?
The heir of wealthy families, Alexander?”
She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes.
“Have you been reading too many novels?”
“If you’re Alexander’s sister, then I’m God’s own daughter!
You should really do your research before you lie!
No one from The Rothschild Family is even here today!”
It was true. My oldest brother hadn’t planned on attending the banquet tonight; I was just bored hanging out in Seattle, so I brought Julian along to join the fun and grab a free meal.
Seeing my silence, Arleth’s smile grew even more mocking.
“What?
Run out of lies to spin?”
She tilted her chin up. “If anyone from The Rothschild Family had actually come, my father would have cleared the venue to welcome them long ago!”
The butler, watching Julian’s complexion worsen by the second, finally couldn’t help but step forward.
“Miss, he can’t be off this oxygen pump. It looks like he’s really not going to make it.”
The smile on Arleth’s face vanished instantly.
She shot the butler a vicious glare.
“I said, if he dies, I’ll pay for it!”
Right in front of everyone, she smashed the oxygen pump violently onto the floor.
With a loud crash, it shattered into pieces.
“No!”
I lunged forward in a total breakdown, only to be pinned down hard by two other bodyguards.
Arleth grabbed a handful of my hair, forcing my head up.
“Does your heart ache for him?
Then be a good girl, get on your knees, and apologize on a live stream to all of Seattle!
Admit that you’re a shameless mistress, admit that you seduced my husband!”
“As long as you kowtow, I’ll show some mercy and have someone send this idiot to the hospital.”
Julian struggled to open his eyes and shook his head at me.
“Chloe… don’t kneel.”
But how could I not kneel? That was Julian, the boy I had grown up with.
Just as I was about to drop to my knees, a heavy, muffled crash suddenly echoed from outside the tightly shut doors of the banquet hall.
“Miss, are you in there?”