“Don’t bother, Dad. I want to be self-reliant. Let me do it myself.” 

Dad paused for a while, but eventually, he sighed and said, “Oh, you. No matter what happens, remember that I’m always your biggest supporter.” 

After ending the call, I took a deep breath and got ready to leave the house. Unexpectedly, I ended up running into Gigi and Donald. 

“Well? Are you satisfied now?” Donald snapped as he stormed up to me and stomped down hard on my foot. He did it with so much force that I had to bite my lip in pain. My head started spinning as well. 

On the day I met Donald, the strong typhoon winds nearly knocked him off his feet. The streets were flooded with rainwater that reached the ankles. 

In my attempt to save Donald from stumbling, I ended up stepping on a shard of glass, and that injury continued to cause me problems to this day. 

Startled, Donald paused, but after glancing behind him, the flash of guilt in his eyes instantly vanished. 

“Apologize to Gigi,” Donald demanded. “If not for you, she wouldn’t have been in such a rush to get here that she got into a car accident.” 

I looked over at Gigi, who stood behind Donald looking completely fine. I didn’t see any sign of injury on her. 

“I’ll have you know that the car nearly ran over Gigi’s foot! Thank goodness she’s alright, or else, I will never forgive you for this!” 

Donald continued to bellow at me, looking at me as if I had killed his father. 

“You better say what I want to hear, Jeanette, or else… I can easily get a country bumpkin like you blacklisted from the entire industry! Since you’re a nobody, you should learn your place. Haven’t you heard of the saying ‘the ant can’t move the elephant’?” 

Gigi wrapped her arms around Donald from behind and shook her head, saying, “Donnie, Jeanette didn’t receive much of an education, after all. Someone as highly educated as me shouldn’t be so petty as to hold it against her. Let’s just forget about it.” 

“What did you just call me?” 

I balled my fists to stop myself from slapping them. For the past five years, Gigi had been hanging around like a fly, constantly filling my life with her incessant buzzing. 

“I’ve been fed up with you for ages now, Gigi.” 

Instantly, the crisp sound of slaps rang out. Donald was pale with anger. Even his hand was trembling as he roared, “I told you to apologize!” 

My cheeks were stinging with pain. I could taste blood in my mouth. 

Gigi immediately started laughing. 

Feelings of rage, humiliation, and helplessness all swirled within me. 

“Is it so hard for you to apologize, Jeanette? You’re the one in the wrong!” Donald growled before grabbing the heel of his shoe and smashing it against my knee. 

“You should be glad that Gigi didn’t ask you to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness! How dare you kick up a fuss? Who do you think you are?” 

To think just a few days ago, I had sobbingly begged for his forgiveness. 

But now, I was done with it all. The only thing I wanted was to leave as soon as possible. It felt beneath me to even argue with him. 

“If you walk out of this house, Jeanette, it’s over between us!” 

When Donald saw my refusal to give in, an almost imperceptible flicker of panic flashed in his eyes. 

“So be it,” I replied with a nod. Calmly, I hobbled out of the house. 

The last five years had been such a waste of my time! 

All of a sudden, I felt a push that sent me flying down the steps. Automatically, I put out my right hand to protect myself from the fall. 

An agonizing pain rocked through me, and I instinctively retracted my hand, only to find that a large patch of skin had been torn off, revealing the flesh beneath. 

By the time I realized what had happened, I had already fallen to the foot of the steps and banged my head against the hard landing. 

Meanwhile, Donald, who was supposed to be my boyfriend, was anxiously protecting Gigi. 

He showed no care or concern for me at all. Instead, his expression made it clear he thought I deserved it. 

Pulling Gigi into the house with him, he declared, “Serves you right! You better kneel there and reflect on yourself! Don’t get up until you realize the error of your ways!”