He Took My Love 99 Times. The 100th Time, He Lost Me Forever. Chapter 06

He Took My Love 99 Times. The 100th Time, He Lost Me Forever. Chapter 06

On the day of the Aurelia Royal Ballet final audition, Serena gave a live-streamed interview.

The host asked what had carried her from shattered legs back to the top.

She faced the camera, smiling with gentle conviction.

“Passion. And Dante’s companionship, every day for ten years.”

“He taught me that what truly belongs to you, no one can take

The chat scrolled with blessings.

away.”

When someone pointed out that Dante was married, Serena’s eyes reddened and she explained:

“Nina knows how we feel.”

“She once said she was willing to use her love to make my dream come true.”

I watched the stream to the end.

Then I submitted the ninety-nine transaction records I had already organized, along with the

Exchange verification code, to the audition committee.

In this world, trading emotions is legal, but professional competition bans purchased courage,

confidence and focus.

It is no different from doping.

Serena’s ninety-eight non-medical transactions had never been declared.

Ten minutes into the final audition, the music cut off mid-note.

The big screen switched to an investigation notice:

[Contestant Serena Moretti is suspected of long-term use of purchased emotions in violation of competition rules. Eligibility suspended.]

The audience erupted.

Serena stood at center stage, her composure collapsing.

Dante charged backstage and called me.

“Did you submit those materials?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any idea how important this audition is to her?”

“I do.”

“Do you have to destroy her to be satisfied?”

“I only made public the records that belong to me.”

“You gave all of that willingly!”

“Then let the committee decide whether it counts as willing when my father was dying, when I was in the middle of a miscarriage, and when I said no.”

The line went quiet.

Half an hour later, Serena went live in tears.

She said every transaction had been a gift from me.

She said I had changed after losing my love, and that jealousy was why I was destroying her.

She said she was willing to walk out of Dante’s life if only I would not take dancing away from

her.

The Castellano Family put its media network to work and bought the trending topics

Public opinion flipped fast.

Strangers flooded my accounts with abuse.

[You agreed to it. Why play the victim now?]

[Saved someone and made an enemy.]

[No wonder her husband didn’t love her. What a cold heart.]

Reporters gathered outside the publishing house too.

Margarét, my editor-in-chief, asked if I wanted to take a leave of absence.

I assumed she thought I was trouble too.

Instead, she closed her office door and set a transfer request in front of me.

“A paid leave.”

“You’ve spent eight years fixing other people’s stories. It’s time to clean up your own page.”

“When this is over, the editorial desk has a seat waiting for you.”

I stared at her for a long time.

Every time I had been wronged, Dante had told me the same things: don’t affect other people,

don’t make a scene, don’t make this hard for him.

This was the first time anyone told me I could put myself first.

I did not take leave.

Instead I compiled a timeline of the transactions and made five of them public:

My birthday, my father’s final days, the miscarriage surgery, the time I refused outright, and

the final permanent-zeroing warning.

I didn’t plead for sympathy.

I added only one line at the end:

[Saving someone once is not consent to be used for a lifetime.]

Within an hour, the shares outstripped Serena’s tearful video.

For the first time, people began to ask: was continuous authorization a lifesaving permit, or

plunder wearing a legal disguise?

Dante sent a new agreement.

If I would state publicly that Serena had been unaware, he would agree to the divorce and give

me the apartment on Manhattan’s West Side.

I refused.

He came straight to the Exchange and blocked me outside the hearing room.

“Annalise, what exactly do you want?”

“The truth.”

“What is the truth worth? Take the apartment and you’ll live well from here on.”

“Then why didn’t Serena take ninety-nine transactions and keep quiet? Why insist it was all her own doing?”

His face went livid.

I walked past him.

Suddenly, in a hoarse voice, he said:

“You never used to push me this far.”

I stopped.

“The old me has already been wiped out.’

“By you.”