"Marina!" Yvonne said softly, approaching her side.


    Marina, like a wooden doll, took a long moment to react. She slowly lifted her gaze, her eyes unfocused as theynded on Yvonne.


    "Yvonne,” she whispered, her voice numb as fresh tears began to well up and spill down her cheeks. "What do I do? He knows everything. But he won''t listen to me, he doesn''t believe me... He said the wedding is off. He said he never wants to see me again... He called me disgusting. Yvonne, is he never going to forgive me?"


    "Marina, I believe you," Yvonne said, taking Marina''s cold hand in hers. "I know you were forced into this."


    At those words, Marina broke downpletely, sobbing like a lost child. Through her tears, she recounted the story of her and her fiancé, exining how George had lured and coerced her until she was trapped in this inescapable nightmare.


    Marina and her fiancé hade from the same small town, both moving to Istra with big dreams. He had used his parents'' life savings to start a smallpany, while she had signed with Nexus Media as an aspiring actress.


    Neither path was easy.


    As luck would have it, Marina had crossed paths with George Spencer, a predator in a bespoke suit. By the time she realized she was in a trap, the multi-million-dor breach-of-contract fee was far more than a fledgling actress could ever hope to pay.


    At first, it was just attending industry parties. In return, she got bit parts, rarely with any real screen time. Other actresses who had started with her either quit the industry in disgust or embraced the transactional nature of the business, trading their bodies for better roles and making a name for themselves. Marina had been envious, but she had held onto her principles, content to build a simple, happy life with the man she loved.


    But fate had other ns.


    A financial crisis wiped out her fiancé''spany. To make matters worse, his health copsed under the strain. At the hospital, doctors said he needed urgent surgery, or his life would be in danger. The cost was thirty thousand dors.


    To Marina at the time, it might as well have been a million. She sat alone outside his hospital room, crying for hours.


    When her fiancé found out, he insisted on being discharged, trying tofort her with a weak smile. Don''t listen to the doctors silly They''re just trying to scare us. know my own body. I''m just exhausted. A few days of rest is all I need."


    Seeing his pale face and the forced smile nearly broke her heart.


    It was then that George extended an offer: an endorsement deal for a brand


    campaign. The fee was exactly thirty thousand dors. Of course, nothing in this world was free. There was a price to pay.


    Desperate to save her fiancé, Marina tearfully epted the hotel key card from George. She walked into that hotel room crying and walked out crying But when she returned to the hospital, she had to pretend that nothing had happened, throwing her arms around her fiancé and telling him with forced joy that she''d gotten incredibly lucky andnded a major ad campaign.


    He had the surgery and made a full recovery. But Marina had taken her first step into the abyss.


    After the endorsement, George gave her a supporting role in a major film. For the first time, she started to gain recognition in the entertainment


    worldone got a taste of money and


    fame, and she found she could no longer be satisfied with a simple life. Cóntent