The Ruined Bride of Velvet Nights by Brick Moving Ant

Chapter 2

While the nurse dressed my wounds, I caught fragments of conversation between Caspian and Dad in the hallway.

“Jesus, Dad,” Caspian whispered harshly, “Val’s already destroyed. Do we seriously need to leak the assault footage to TikTok and Twitter?”

After a calculated pause, Dad responded with chilling detachment.

“Post it. No reputable ballet school will touch a student with that kind of viral scandal.”

Something shattered inside me as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Am I hurting you?” the nurse asked, alarmed by my sudden reaction.

I couldn’t even form words, unable to separate the searing pain in my legs from the gaping wound in

my soul.

The two men I’d built my entire world around weren’t satisfied with breaking my body–they were methodically erasing everything I’d ever been.

My entire existence reduced to collateral damage.

Within minutes, my phone exploded with notifications. Hands trembling, I unlocked it to find clips of my torture trending on TikTok, spreading across Twitter, and dissected in gruesome detail on multiple university subreddits.

beneath them

so perfect at Manhattan Dance Academy. Karma’s finally caught up! #FakePrincess

confirm she’s TOXIC af. Constantly undermining other dancers, sleeping with instructors

child crash and burn this

91.5%

I was hyperventilating, my vision tunneling as

brother role. He gently covered my screen. “Jesus, Val.

snatched my phone away, his Academy Award–worthy performance beginning: “Caspian, what the

brother, equally convincing in his remorse: “I had our tech team scrubbing everything, but someone must’ve saved footage. Don’t panic, Val–I’ve already called in

flawless–practiced, precise, and utterly convincing.

made bile rise in my

exact same shade of blue as mine–locked onto my face with practiced sincerity: “Valentina Catherine

squeezed my hand: “We’ll destroy anyone who tries to hurt you,

does.”

videos disappeared

they’d already been downloaded thousands of times, reposted, remixed with cruel commentary,

had worked perfectly–even if my body somehow recovered, Valentina Dagonet as I knew her was

at SAB had evaporated like morning

physician returned with my chart, his expression grim: “Ms. Dagonet has sustained compound fractures to both tibias, two broken ribs, second–degree burns on approximately

her arms.”

the facial lacerations. Fifteen distinct knife wounds, methodically inflicted. We’re looking at significant permanent disfigurement without extensive