Chapter 2 Humiliation

I widened my eyes, wondering if I was hearing things. I asked Gideon, "What… did you just say?" Gideon stared intently at me, his gaze as deep as the ocean. It made me panic for some reason. He didn't say anything, though. He just lowered his gaze as his slender fingers hooked around the strap of my slip dress. Then, he pulled it downward. My face instantly turned red, and I quickly shoved him away. I said in anger, "If you're not going to help us, forget it. I never expected you to help my family, anyway. But even if you're not helping us, you have no reason to humiliate me like that." Gideon looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite decipher. He looked like he was mad, but he also seemed to be smiling. He asked, "Did you think I was humiliating you?" "Aren't you?" I retorted. His heart belonged to someone else, so with his actions now, what was he doing if not humiliating me? Gideon suddenly turned around and sat back in his office chair. When he looked up at me again, I was surprised to see a hint of coldness in his gaze. Smiling, he said, "Your outfit seems sincere enough, but there isn't a shred of sincerity in your attitude. Well, if that's the case, you can leave now." I'd already surmised that he wouldn't help my family, so I turned around and left without another word. As soon as I walked through the main entrance of Gideon's company, my parents came up to me. Dad asked anxiously, "How did it go? Did he agree to help us?" I shook my head. Dad immediately cursed in fury, "What an ingrate! He's pretending he doesn't know us now that he's rich! I should never have let you marry him in the first place. This is too much!" Mom also said angrily, "Exactly! He's usually so polite and submissive. I never thought he would be such an ingrate!" I sighed in exasperation. "Please don't say such things about him. He never made use of our connections or our wealth, so you can't really call him an ingrate. Also, it's actually reasonable that he doesn't want to help us. We used to treat him horribly, after all." My parents pursed their lips. They didn't say another word, but worry was written all over their faces. I felt even more troubled at the sight of their expressions. That night, Joshua called up every one of his close friends, hoping that they could help us out. Sadly, even though those guys would rush over without hesitation when Joshua called them for a drink before, none of them dared to answer Joshua's calls now. Joshua was so mad that he threw his phone on the floor, cursing those guys for their disloyalty. Curled up under the blanket, I comforted him. "Forget it, Josh. Relationships don't mean much these days." Mom was sobbing nearby. Judging by our family's current situation, it was impossible for us to return to power. The tricky part was settling the debts we owed. As of late, people came over and urged us to pay up almost every day. Those debt collectors were so annoying that we couldn't even live a normal life anymore. Dad tried to persuade me again. "Andrea, why don't you try talking to Gideon again? He's rich now, so it should be fine if you borrow some money from him, right?" Mom added, "That's right. Even though you're divorced, you can still get some of his assets, right?" I curled up into a ball under the blanket. I didn't dare tell them that Gideon had kicked me out with nothing to my name. If not, they would definitely curse him like there was no tomorrow. Joshua said furiously, "Enough! Can't you stop asking Andrea to make a fool of herself? We treated Gideon like dirt back then, and now you're asking Andrea to plead with him? That's no different from getting her humiliated!" Mom seemed to have realized something. She hastily asked, "Gideon didn't humiliate you earlier, did he?" I hastily shook my head. "No, he didn't." Mom muttered to herself, "That makes sense. Gideon has always been so honest and simple, and he used to do everything you said. We may have fallen to ruin now, but it's also true that he adores you. He wouldn't possibly humiliate you for real." I smiled awkwardly, staying silent. Dad sighed forlornly as he gazed at the open balcony. Once again, he began saying things like he didn't want to live anymore. As soon as Dad said that, Mom burst into tears again. I felt my head aching at the sight of them. Our main priority right now was to collect funds. We had to pay back as much debt as possible. … Several days later, I began looking for work as soon as I recovered. Normal jobs only offered low and slow pay, but I knew that liquor promoters at certain luxury clubs could earn a lot. When I used to go to clubs with my friends for drinks, we would tip the liquor promoters generously when we felt like it. I went to the club I used to frequent. The manager at the club knew me. He quickly hired me for the sake of old times, and he even arranged for me to be in charge of the private rooms influential figures booked. If I served drinks to those prominent figures, I could definitely get tipped a lot. However, I never thought that I would bump into Gideon in the private room. He never used to come to places like this. At the very least, he'd never done it in the three years we'd been married. He'd even strongly opposed me coming to such places. When I'd come here with my friends back then, he'd even tried to stop me several times, telling me that I shouldn't frequent such shady places. Of course, I'd degraded him every time and yelled at him until he'd left. When I recalled the past, I realized that Gideon was really great at playing the role of a responsible and caring man. But at that moment, Gideon was sitting in the center of the room. He crossed his slender legs while holding a cigarette between his fingers. There was a half-smile on his lips, and he looked darkly seductive. As it turned out, he'd merely been putting on a submissive and polite front back then. Gideon looked quietly at me, his high-and-mighty attitude making me feel a little embarrassed. If I'd known that he was in this room, I wouldn't have come. While I was overwhelmed by awkwardness, wishing I could just disappear, several playful whistles rang out in the room. I subconsciously turned to look. It was only then that I realized that the people around Gideon were the same guys who used to hang out with Joshua. Oh, so they were all sucking up to Gideon now, huh? They all knew that I'd mistreated Gideon back then, so now, to get on his good side, they would definitely try to humiliate me. I knew then that my best odds were to just walk away. I pushed the drink cart, intending to leave as if nothing had happened. Just then, a man spoke up. "Well, well, if this isn't Ms. Slater, Gideon's sweet little wife! What's the matter? Are you here for a drink? Hold on… If you're just here for a drink, why are you wearing the staff uniform?" As soon as he finished speaking, laughter resounded in the private room. I tightened my grip on the cart. Then, I took a deep breath. Forget it. They'd already bumped into me anyway, and since they were set on humiliating me, I couldn't escape even if I wanted to. I decided to just grit my teeth and face them head-on. I figured I might even get some tips from them. The debt collectors had been showing up every day, and Dad kept saying that he didn't want to live anymore. Mom was also crying every day, and Joshua was always out and about doing food deliveries. Why would I care about fleeting things like pride and dignity? I pushed the drink cart over to them, trying my best to maintain my stiff yet polite smile. I smiled at them. "What a coincidence! Since you're all here, do you mind supporting my business? If you enjoy the drinks, feel free to tip me." Jake Carter immediately clicked his tongue, shaking his head as he chuckled. Back then, he would always suck up to Joshua and I, trying to act like we were close friends. But now that our family had fallen to ruin, he was acting all gleeful about it. I wished I could just slap him across the face. Still, this wasn't the time for whims. My utmost priority was earning money. I didn't say a word as I remained smiling. Suddenly, Jake leaned in close to me. Then, he said in a gloating voice, "Look at her! Is this still the same Ms. Slater, who used to be so arrogant? What happened to you while we weren't looking? Goodness…" In an instant, laughter burst out in the private room again.