Chapter 3

"Those assets were always meant for Victor, not a worthless piece of trash like you. You'll burn your hands holding onto them."

Jessica, my ex-fiancée, held a one-year-old child, looking at me with undisguised contempt.

"Now that Rhea is awake, you should return Victor's fiancée to him."

"I'll reluctantly agree to marry you again. You'll even get an extra child. Consider yourself lucky."

So they had a child together.

And they wanted me to be a father for free?

"Aren't you going too far?"

"You forced me to marry a comatose woman, and now you've had your fun and want me to take care of your child? What do you take me for?"

Grandpa and Grandma Miller sat at opposite ends of the table. Hearing my words, they raised their canes to strike me.

I dodged. When they missed, they swung again, snarling.

As they struck, they glared at me with malice. "You beast, you stole Victor's good life, and now you want to slander us? Today I'll beat you to death!"

"If we kill you, that Rhea woman will be single again! Then no one will want her, and she'll have no choice but to marry our son!"

My back was covered in welts, one after another, until the restaurant staff noticed something was wrong and came to intervene.

"Sirs, ma'ams, this is a restaurant. If you want to fight, take it outside."

I didn't want to get tangled up with them. In the brief pause given by the staff, I bolted outside.

But at the door, a middle-aged man grabbed me firmly.

"You brat! You got rich and now you don't recognize your old man, huh?"

"Today, I'm going to beat you to death!"

It was my father and stepmother, Brenda.

They flanked me, dragging me into a narrow alley.

Brenda used to do farm work, and her grip was astonishingly strong. She pinned me down and told my father to whip me with his belt.

"A son who forgets his father deserves a good beating. One good beating will make him remember everything!"

The belt whistled through the air, each lash tearing into my back.

Ever since I moved in with the Hayes family, I hadn't been hit in ages.

Living a pampered life, I had long forgotten what pain felt like.

My father's belt strikes were full of viciousness, making me scream out.

"Stop! Stop, Dad!"

"I'm hurting, Dad!"

But after a few pleas, I stopped. I remembered.

When Brenda used to falsely accuse me of things, I'd get whipped too.

Back then, whenever I begged for mercy, they'd just hit me harder.

The worst time, they broke two of my ribs. They were literally trying to kill me.

I don't know how many times they hit me before I completely passed out.

My father pulled out my phone, using my thumbprint to unlock it.

He saw a message from Rhea.

"When are you coming home? I'm flying in tomorrow and have a gift for you."

My father sneered.

"She's really living the good life, bringing gifts back from business trips."

He replied simply and directly on my behalf.

"Come straight to my parents' place tomorrow. Time to meet the family."

Then he just dragged me into the trunk.

Grandpa and Grandma Miller also got into the car, still grumbling.

"Are we really taking him back?"

Facing Grandpa and Grandma Miller, my father's demeanor completely changed. He plastered on a fake smile, trying to butter them up.

"Don't we want Victor to get close to that Hayes woman? We need to get some information about her preferences from him."

"And the money he has? We can't let him have all those good days for nothing, can we? His money is Victor's money, isn't it?"