The Listing

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I stumbled across a post online.

Selling an online girlfriend5'7, 100 pounds, absolute knockout. We already agreed to meet at Aureline Hotel. She's a virgin too. Just transfer me 8000.

At first, I thought it was some ridiculous troll post, but when I clicked in, I realized the guy was serious. Quite a few men in the comments had already messaged him privately.

My stomach churned, and I exited the post in disgust.

Right then, a message came in from my long-distance boyfriend, Hayden Clarke.

Naomi, you don't need to pick me up at the station. Just go straight to Aureline Hotel, Room 1008."

I could not stop thinking about the post I had just seen, so I went back and read it carefully again.

That was when I realized the "online girlfriend" they were talking about was me.

Before I could even reply to Hayden, I received a threatening text from his female best friend instead.

"You slut! You're the reason Hayden ditched us on Thanksgiving! Tell me, where are you two going?!"

I quirked a brow in response.

This was not the first time his so-called best friend had tried to ruin our dates.

But since she was so desperate to know, the big surprise Hayden had prepared would just have to be saved for her instead.

Chapter 1 Six Years of Lies

'Playing dead, huh? Want to bet I can make Hayden dump you?'

Kiera Zellman kept bombarding me with texts. Still, I was a little surprised. As Hayden's most trusted homegirl, he actually hadn't told her about this plan.

Hayden and I had been together since freshman year of collegesix whole years.

He had always been attentive to me in every possible way. Because I was not comfortable with sleeping together before marriage, he had held himself back for all six years.

That was exactly why I had let my guard down completely when he asked to meet at a hotel.

Not only had Hayden always respected me, but he had also constantly compromised for me in everyday life. He knew I liked ambitious men, so he pushed himself hard, fighting for every possible chance at a promotion.

He had told me countless times that long distance was only temporary, that it was all for the sake of building a better future together. He promised he would become the kind of husband I wanted.

And yet this same man, after a month of arguing between us, had decided to come see me in personnot to fix our relationship, but to set me up instead.

I frowned as memories from the past six years flashed through my mind. No matter how hard I thought about it, I still could not understand why he would do something like this.

But before I could sort it out, Kiera called me.

"Naomi Saville, what is wrong with you? Are you blind, or are you just pretending to be? Hayden has been buddies with us for years. We're family. You're the outsider here. How dare you make him skip Thanksgiving with us just because you're jealous?

"Do you even have a conscience? What, are you an orphan or something? Do you seriously have to spend Thanksgiving with someone else's family? I'm warning you right now. Tell me where you two are meeting.

"I still haven't forgiven you for that fight last time, and now you're trying to lure him over again to be your little lapdog? As long as I'm around, nobody's bullying him!"

Kiera went on a nonstop tirade, but her words reminded me exactly why Hayden and I had fought the last time.

A month earlier had marked our sixth anniversary together. Hayden had rented out a villa for the occasion, but when I arrived, I realized it wasn't just the two of us thereKiera was there too, along with a whole group of his trashy friends.

Kiera was the textbook definition of a pick-me girl, ordering a bunch of men around while they massaged her legs and catered to her every whim.

By the end of the night, they started playing Truth or Dare and even tried to force me to kiss another man.

When I refused, she sneered. "Hayden, where the hell did you find this delicate princess? She can't even take a joke. How's she supposed to fit into our group acting like this?"

What shocked me most was that Haydenwho had always respected my boundariesactually let himself get influenced by a few words from her and pressured me to kiss another man too.

That was the last straw.

I walked out on the spot and even canceled our engagement afterward. Yet Hayden still called me later, accusing me of looking down on his family background. He claimed that was the real reason I had called off the engagement.

His background had indeed been one of my concerns, but his filthy social circle had always been the bigger issue.

At first, I had only feared those people would corrupt him. However, after seeing that post online, I finally understood the truth.

They had not led him astray. They were rotten from the start.

I smirked, listening to Kiera practically scream herself hoarse over the phone. Since she was so desperate to know where our date was happening, maybe I should let her go in my place.

Chapter 2 The Trap at Room 1008

"I can't possibly tell you where we're going on a date, can I?"

Kiera exploded at once. "Naomi, someone as antisocial as you is never getting my approval to marry Hayden! In our circle, none of these boys gets married unless I say yes first. Don't think dating Hayden for six years means you're secure. You still haven't passed my evaluation yet!"

I let out a mocking laugh. "Once we've already slept together, do you really think you'll still be able to stop it? Losing my virginity in a luxury ocean-view suite sounds pretty exciting when you think about it."

"Naomi, have you no shame at all?" Kiera screamed.

Then, a second later, she suddenly laughed. "You really are an idiot. I already know where you two are going. I swear I'll never let you marry into this family."

The call disconnected immediately afterward.

Looking at the darkened screen, I smiled too.

In all of Ebonford, only Aureline Hotel had luxury ocean-view suites. Of course, I let slip on purpose. Just imagining Kiera rushing over there with that smug look on her face made me look forward to tomorrow's show even more.

Right after the call ended, Hayden updated his post again. When I read it, my whole body started trembling, and a sharp pain twisted through my chest.

He had already found the men.

Not one.

Six.

All six of them were leaving excited comments under the post.

"I'm already losing it just jerking off to her photos."

"Can't wait for tomorrow. Guys, let me go first, alright?"

"But with this many of us, what if something goes wrong?"

The moment someone expressed concern, Hayden immediately replied, "Just hide in the bathroom first. One person opens the door, and once she comes in, lock it behind her and make sure she can't leave. I'll tell her I prepared a surprise for her and that I'll be wearing a mask.

"My relatives work at the hotel, so no matter how much noise you make tomorrow, nobody's going to disturb you. I also put a special aroma diffuser in the room. Once she goes inside, she won't be fully conscious anymore."

Looking at the words he had typed out himself, I shook with rage. I did not even dare imagine what would have happened to me if I had not seen that post.

My heartbeat grew faster and faster as six years of love shattered completely in that instant.

Then, Hayden's message suddenly popped up on my phone. "Naomi, I prepared a surprise to apologize to you properly. I'll be wearing a mask then, so don't get scared, okay?"

I clenched my teeth and forced my trembling hands to type a reply. "Okay. How sweet of you, baby."

Once I closed the chat window with Hayden, I immediately contacted my secretary. "Pull up every expense record from the past six years related to Hayden and his family. Make it into a document and send it to my phone before tomorrow."

Hayden's family had always been fairly ordinary financially, and over the past six years, I had spent a huge amount of money on all of them.

If we had simply broken up peacefully, I never would have asked for any of it back. But since he had crossed such a disgusting, shameless line, he could not blame me for going all in either.

My secretary worked fast. In less than two hours, I received a nearly endless list. Without even realizing it, I had already spent 5.6 million on him.

I slowly let out a long breath. 'Hayden Clarke, get ready to lose everything paying me back.'

Chapter 3 The Queen Bee

Early on Thanksgiving morning, before it was even six, Hayden had already started bombarding me with messages, urging me to leave the house.

"Babe, I'm already at the hotel. Are you still asleep?"

"I'm so excited, babe. You're definitely going to love this surprise!"

I stared at the messages on my screen and clenched my fists tightly. "Oh, yes, Hayden. You'll definitely love this surprise!"

To make Hayden and Kiera believe everything was going according to plan, I deliberately dressed up before heading to Aureline Hotel.

Just as expected, the moment I arrived at the lobby, I ran straight into Kiera and their gang.

Surrounded by a crowd of men, Kiera sneered at me. Before I could react, she raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. The blow landed sharply against my cheek.

The moment I tried to slap her back, several men grabbed my wrists and pinned me in place.

Kiera spat at me in disgust. "Shameless slut. You havent even married Hayden yet, and youre already trying to get a room with him? Hayden has always listened to me. Hed never forget what I taught him. Unless I approve it first, hes not allowed to sleep with any woman. You must have gone out of your way to seduce him.

Even though I had already prepared myself mentally, her words still made my skin crawl. "Kiera, are you insane? Forget the fact that I never planned on sleeping with Hayden in the first placeeven if I did, we're dating. What does that have to do with you?"

"I'm his queen!" she shouted furiously. "Of course, I get a say in who he sleeps with. Look at the way you're dressed today. You seriously expect anyone to believe you weren't trying to seduce him?

"Let me tell you this. If you want to marry Hayden, the first thing you need to do is learn how to serve all of us properly. Especially me.

Kiera looked at me arrogantly while the men around her stared at me in a way that made my whole body tense.

One of them even swallowed visibly as he looked me over. "Honestly, Hayden marrying her wouldn't be bad. We could all get a taste on the wedding night too."

"Get lost. Haven't you ever seen a woman before?" Kiera shot him an annoyed look. Shes such a slut. Shell corrupt you idiots. You all need proper discipline from your queen.

Every word out of their mouths made me sick. I struggled desperately to break free. "Let go of me already. Hayden's waiting for me. You people keep ruining our dates over and over again. Sooner or later, he's going to cut all of you off."

Kiera burst out laughing. "You really think you understand him that well? I already know he's in Room 1008 now, and I'm about to bring everyone upstairs to teach him a lesson!"

As she spoke, she unscrewed a bottle of water and dumped it all over me. "As for you, drowned rat, hurry up and go find somewhere to wash off. You reek."

At that, the men shoved me hard to the ground before following her.

Once they disappeared, I immediately slipped into the hotel through the back entrance and booked the room right next to Room 1008.

After quickly opening the hacker's livestream link, I successfully pulled up the surveillance feed from Hayden's computer. And sure enough, the instant Kiera knocked on the door, a masked man opened it from inside.

Grinning, she called out to him as she walked in. Then, one after another, the rest of the guys followed her into the room.

Meanwhile, the men already inside had long since been affected by the aroma diffuser. Their faces were flushed, their breathing uneven, and the moment Kiera entered, they stopped caring about anything else and immediately started grabbing at her.

Kiera screamed, "Hayden, take a good look! It's me, Kiera! This isn't the time for feeding! And you idiots, hurry up and help me already! I'm on my period!"

But the second she turned around, she froze completely. Every single man she had brought with her had already been overpowered by the men inside the room.

Chapter 4 Hayden's Real Motive

While I was backing up the video files, I could still hear the screams and chaos coming from next door. Just like Hayden had promised in his post, no matter how loud things got, nobody came to knock on the door or interfere.

My best friend, who had been keeping watch downstairs, informed me that Hayden had rushed over in a panic.

I slowly closed my laptop.

Before I even had time to dry my hair completely, I headed out. I wanted to see for myself exactly why he had gone this far to destroy me.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, I ran straight into Hayden and his parents.

Without a word, Hayden raised his hand and tried to slap me, but I grabbed his wrist before it could land. "Hayden, are you insane? How dare you try to hit me?"

"How dare I? The nerve you have to question me!" Hayden snapped. "We've been together for over six years. We were about to get engaged, and yet you came here to sleep with another man?"

I frowned tightly. "What proof do you have to accuse me of that? Besides, didn't you ask me to come here?"

Before Hayden could respond, his mother exploded first, pointing at me as she cursed, "You shameless woman! Your hair's still wet, and you're still trying to lie? My son caught you cheating red-handed, and now you're trying to frame him instead?"

She trembled with rage, her pointing hand revealing the two bracelets I had bought her on her wrist. And when Hayden's father rolled up his sleeves, the expensive watch I had bought him immediately showed too.

And yet none of them felt the slightest guilt as they stood there insulting me.

"You've completely disgraced our family! I told Hayden long ago that he should find a girl with a clean background, someone pure and proper like Kiera. But he was completely bewitched by you! Either way, after what happened today, you'll never marry into our family!"

Before I could even speak, Hayden interrupted. "Mom, don't say that!"

He took a deep breath and looked at me with trembling eyes. "Naomi what you did today crushed me completely. You cheated on me, and honestly, I feel like my whole world's fallen apart. But I really do love you. Maybe I'm pathetic, but I still want to marry you.

"I've already compromised this much for you, so after we get married, you can't restrict my freedom anymore. And we're absolutely not doing any prenup agreement. If you agree to those two conditions, I'll still marry you."

Finally, I understood why Hayden had done all thishe wanted leverage over me. He wanted to force me into giving up every condition I had previously insisted on.

Looking at the way his whole family stood there condemning me with such self-righteous confidence, I let out a bitter laugh.

The last trace of pity I still had for them vanished completely.

Yet Hayden's mother continued yelling, "You still have the nerve to laugh? You shameless slut! The fact that Hayden is still willing to marry you is already a huge loss for our family. You'd better serve us properly after you marry in, or we'll leak today's video online!"

I smiled calmly at her. "Mrs. Clarke, what video are you talking about?"

"The video of you fooling around with those men in Room 1008!"

Her expression was full of certainty, as if she was convinced I would panic the second she said it. But the next second, the door to Room 1008 opened.