So, Who's the Prey Now

For Jimmy's financial support, I sold my first time behind his back.

My hands trembled as I handed him the envelope, still damp with sweat. Inside was seven thousand five hundred dollars—everything I had gotten in exchange for the one thing I had left to give.

Jimmy’s eyes reddened as he took the money. “Nessie… how many side jobs would it have taken you to save this much? I swear, I’ll treat you right.”

But when I went to visit him at the hospital, I heard laughter through the door before I even knocked.

“Damn, Jimmy! That idiot girl really did it!” a greasy male voice cackled. “She actually went out and sold herself. Listen to this—she’s bawling her eyes out in the video, moaning your name like some desperate freak.”

Another guy barked out a laugh. “Seven and a half grand? That’s it? Jimmy, even that Tibetan mastiff you used to have cost more than that!”

I stood frozen, trembling, peering through the crack in the door.

Jimmy was lounging on the hospital bed, twirling a glass of red wine in his hand—no trace of illness anywhere on his face.

“Damn, Jimmy, you’re cold. The video’s so clear, you can see every detail of her face…” someone snickered.

“She asked for it,” another chimed in. “She pissed off your girl—she had it coming.”

“By the way, Jimmy,” someone leaned in, “when are you dropping the video?”

Jimmy looked down at his phone and didn’t answer.

One of them nudged him playfully. “Don’t tell me you’re getting soft now? If it weren’t for her, Gina wouldn’t have been shipped off to the States.”

Jimmy casually set his wine glass down and said, almost offhandedly, “I’ll wait for Gina’s welcome-back party. That day just happens to be Agnes’s birthday. Perfect timing for a surprise.”

——

I stood outside the hospital room, clutching a thermal food container. Just as I reached for the doorknob, I heard a burst of laughter from inside.

"Jimmy, that move was genius! That idiot Agnes actually fell for it! Listen to her crying in the video—she keeps calling your name like it’s the end of the world!"

My hand gripped the handle so tight my fingernails dug into my palm. One snapped off, but I didn’t even notice.

Through the crack in the door, I saw Jimmy lounging casually against the hospital bed, swirling a glass of liquor in his hand. His cheeks were flushed, looking nothing like a sick man. A few rich, preppy guys surrounded him, their faces twisted in smug, disgusting grins.

I rubbed my eyes hard, convinced I must be seeing things.

"Man, Jimmy should’ve gone into acting," said one guy with bleached blond hair, clapping Jimmy on the shoulder. "She was totally fooled—selling her blood, even selling herself. Unreal!"

"Ha! You pulled it off for just $7,500? Hell, even that Tibetan mastiff you own cost more than that!" the blond guy laughed, slapping his thigh.

"Our boy Jimmy really went all in—pretending to be poor, pretending to be in love, pretending to be dying," another chimed in, laughing even harder.

"So, Jimmy, when are you dropping that video? She’s probably gonna throw herself off a building when it hits the net."

Jimmy glanced down at his phone and said nothing.

"Hey, don’t tell me you actually caught feelings for her?" someone nudged him, half-joking. "Don’t forget—if she hadn’t snatched Gina’s scholarship, Gina wouldn’t have been sent abroad by her family."

At the mention of Gina’s name, Jimmy’s expression suddenly turned cold.

“What’s the rush?” he said flatly. “The welcome dinner for Gina happens to be on her birthday…”

He paused, a cruel smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. “I’ll give her a surprise she’ll never forget.”

“Oh man, post that little video online,” the blond guy said, rubbing his hands together in excitement. “Let’s make sure she can never show her face again!”

I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted blood. Without thinking, I stumbled out of the hospital and into the street. The wind lashed against my face, sharp and stinging.

Back in my cramped apartment, I sank to my knees in front of the wall. There, taped above my mattress, was a photo of Jimmy and me. His smile in that picture was so bright, so warm—like it could melt snow.

Now, all it did was make my blood run cold.

Memories came crashing down on me like a tide.