I Was the Wrong Girl in His Bed, Now I Own His Empire Chapter 04

I Was the Wrong Girl in His Bed, Now I Own His Empire Chapter 04

Probably because of Bryson’s casual little line back then.

“Just classmates.”

From that day on, the entire university seemed to silently agree on one thing.

I liked Bryson. And Bryson had absolutely no interest in me.

So the malice people used to hide behind my back gradually became shamelessly open.

In the hallways, people would deliberately whistle at me.

“Fatty, I swear you only keep clinging to Bryson because he’s too nice to tell you off.”

“Seriously, look in a mirror. Girls standing beside Bryson are goddesses like Alina. What do you even have?”

“Hilarious. You think the future heir of the Ventresca family would ever look at you?”

Back then, Bryson had already become the brightest figure at all of Westbridge University.

Not only was he the youngest student council president in the finance department, even the school board treated him with extreme respect.

Because everyone knew one thing:

One of Westbridge University’s largest overseas investors was Ventresca Capital.

And Bryson was the Ventresca family’s sole heir.

As for Alina?

She was the acknowledged campus beauty of the media department and Bryson’s constant companion.

Rumor had it her father had long-term overseas arms deals with the Ventresca family.

In everyone’s eyes, they belonged to the same world.

One time, Alina showed up outside our classroom in heels with several of her friends.

Standing at the door, she smiled brightly and called out,

“Bryson, can you come out for a second? I saw Donna Ventresca at my dad’s company this morning, and she asked me to bring your jacket back to you.”

The second the words “Donna Ventresca” came out, the entire classroom exploded.

“Oh my god, that sounds like meeting the parents already.”

“Wait, are Bryson and Alina actually dating?”

I crouched silently around the corner of the hallway, holding the paper I’d just printed.

Then I heard Alina complain in a spoiled tone from inside the classroom.

“What’s Jasmine’s problem anyway? She keeps secretly staring at you all day. It’s honestly annoying.”

The air froze instantly.

My nails dug hard into my palms.

Then Bryson’s low, indifferent voice rang out.

“Don’t say stuff like that.”

He sounded like he frowned slightly.

“She and I are just classmates.”

Just one sentence.

But it stabbed straight into my chest like a knife.

I stood there blankly while a loud ringing filled my ears. Whatever they said afterward, I couldn’t hear anymore.

My chest hurt so badly I could barely breathe.

Covering my mouth, I turned and ran.

Honestly, I’d always known Bryson could never like me.

But hearing him deny it with my own ears…

At that age, it still felt like a public execution.

From that day on, I started deliberately avoiding Bryson.

I didn’t want to keep being everyone’s joke.

But the more I retreated, the more entertaining those people found it.

Later, during a swimming class, I was about to head into the locker room when a girl suddenly stopped me.

“The downstairs girls’ locker room lock is broken. Coach told everyone to change upstairs in the second-floor lounge.”

Without thinking much about it, I carried my swimsuit upstairs.

The lounge door on the second floor was slightly open.

I pushed it open. And instantly froze.

There was a man standing inside.

More accurately…

a half-dressed man changing clothes.

A broad, straight back came into view first. Sharp shoulder lines. Lean muscles shifting slightly with movement. The faint outline of defined abs disappearing beneath his waistband.

My breathing stopped instantly.

I shut my eyes on reflex.

“Sorry! I didn’t know someone was in here…”

The other person paused briefly before casually grabbing a black T-shirt nearby and pulling it on.

Then he turned around.

And I finally saw his face clearly.

Bryson.

It was actually Bryson.

My mind went completely blank.

But before I could even react, the lounge door suddenly slammed open from outside, followed by a burst of laughter as a crowd rushed in.

“Holy shit, Jasmine, you’ve got balls! You actually came here to watch Bryson change?”

Humiliation crashed down over me instantly.

Only then did I realize this had all been a setup.

My face burned bright red.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Someone told me the downstairs locker room was broken, so I came up here…!”

“Broken?” someone immediately laughed exaggeratedly. “I literally just saw girls going in there.”

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Honestly, now I’m scared to change clothes alone too. What if Fatty gets desperate one day?”

The room instantly exploded with harsh laughter.

I was shaking with anger. Tears nearly spilled from my eyes.

And then, Bryson, who’d stayed silent the entire time, finally spoke coldly.

“That’s enough.”

His voice wasn’t loud.

But the entire room instantly fell silent.

Bryson lifted his eyes and swept his gaze across everyone.

“Get out.”

Nobody dared laugh anymore.

The group exchanged awkward looks before quickly leaving the lounge one after another.

And I finally broke completely.

Eyes burning red, I turned and ran.

That day was the last time I saw Bryson before graduation.

Later, complications from long-term medication forced me to take a leave of absence and finish the rest of my studies from home.

Until graduation prom.

That night, I got completely drunk. By pure accident, I picked up the wrong room key.

And somehow…

I ended up sleeping with Bryson.

The next morning, I fled the hotel in panic.

A week later, Bryson flew overseas and officially entered the Ventresca family’s core power structure abroad.

After that, we never saw each other again.

The next evening, I arrived at the private club owned by Ventresca Empire right on time.

Before I went inside, Vera grabbed my hand anxiously.

“If anything feels off in there, call me immediately, okay? I’ll figure out a way to get you out.”

“People in their world can get seriously twisted sometimes. There’ll always be other opportunities. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself.”

I smiled softly and patted the back of her hand reassuringly.

But I knew perfectly well that newcomers flooded the entertainment industry every day.

This might’ve been my only chance.

Before pushing open the private room door that night, I’d already imagined Bryson humiliating me.

Or trying to sleep with me.

What I hadn’t expected…was for him to introduce me to resources instead.

Besides Bryson, several famous directors were present at the dinner that night, along with a few men who never introduced themselves, yet everyone clearly knew exactly who they were.

After several rounds of drinks, my face had already turned red from alcohol as I sat dizzily beside Bryson.

Without drawing attention to it, he quietly poured me a glass of water while speaking casually to the person beside him.

“It’s not easy for newcomers filming their first project. I’d appreciate it if you could keep an eye on the movie for her.”

“Don Ventresca, don’t worry. Whatever needs changing will be changed. Once it’s fixed, it’ll pass review naturally.”

The other man glanced at me knowingly before smiling.

“Ms. Davenport’s quite fortunate. I heard Don Bryson doesn’t even give award-winning actresses the time of day, yet he’s willing to personally look after you.”

After the dinner ended, I told Vera to head back first while I got into Bryson’s car alone.

The resources Bryson had introduced me to tonight…were opportunities most newcomers in the entertainment industry would never encounter in their entire lives.

The implication behind it all couldn’t have been clearer.

He was the man I’d secretly loved throughout college.

And we’d slept together before.

I didn’t think of myself as someone overly dramatic.

The only regret was this:

The person Bryson wanted now was the glamorous Sienna Davenport.

Not Jasmine Bellrose.

Not the girl who once only dared hide in dark corners secretly loving him.

Inside the backseat, the silence felt unbearably tense.

Just as I was about to speak, Bryson suddenly broke the silence.

“I heard we went to the same university.”

His deep voice brushed against my ear, carrying a casual kind of danger.

“And yet, did you really never see me back then?”

As the last word left his lips, his long fingers hooked beneath the strap of my evening dress.

The black strap slowly slipped from my shoulder.

Revealing a scar.

His gaze settled on the mark, lingering for a long moment.

“What a coincidence.”

His fingertips traced lightly over the scar, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous murmur.

“I knew a girl once. She had a scar exactly like this on her shoulder.”

He paused deliberately, then slowly lifted his eyes to meet mine.

My breath caught as our gazes collided.

“What was her name again…?”

“Oh, right.”

Bryson leaned closer, his warm breath ghosting across my ear.

“Jasmine Bellrose.”