Chapter 2

Stella cried out in terror, covering her face.

"Hymen, please don't let her call the police. My daughter and I would be completely ruined. We might as well just die now!"

3

Hymen's face suddenly changed.

In a moment of desperation, he didn't even think. He grabbed a garden hatchet from the ground and swung it towards my arm.

"Ah!"

The excruciating pain felt like my arm was almost severed.

Blood splattered onto both our faces. As my consciousness faded, I thought I saw his panicked expression.

When I woke up, I found myself locked in the attic of the house.

The bone-deep wound on my arm was still gushing blood.

Weakly, I crawled to the attic door and retrieved my phone.

The moment I turned it on, a news headline popped up, trending: "Philanthropic Entrepreneur Hymen, A Man of Integrity and Heart."

My trembling fingers tapped on it.

It turned out someone had leaked the news of Hymen's anonymous support for Stella. Now, they were on site, being interviewed live.

Staring at the screen, at their intimate, picture-perfect image of a happy family of three, I violently smashed my phone.

He probably didn't even know my daughter was dead, or that Stella's daughter wouldn't live much longer either.

I escaped by smashing the window glass.

Picking up Lily's empty urn, which had been abandoned in the yard, I rushed straight to the live broadcast event.

Hymen was about to receive a government award, being honored as one of the Top Ten Outstanding Entrepreneurs of the Year.

Stella and Chloe, dressed to the nines, stood beside him, as proud as two peacocks.

Covered in blood, I pushed through the crowd, holding up Lily's empty urn, and exposed everything: how Hymen had deceived me, indirectly causing our daughter's death.

"I'm Grace, Hymen's wife! I'm here to report that Hymen is a hypocritical liar who teamed up with Stella to kill my daughter!"

"My daughter needed that specialty medication too, but Hymen was too stingy to give her even one dose. The doctors said that even just one dose would have saved her life!"

By this point, my voice was choked and broken.

The entire audience was in an uproar.

Unanimously, they cast doubting glances towards Stella and Hymen on the stage.

"Nonsense!"

Hymen quickly stepped off the stage and pulled me aside into a corner.

He hissed in a low voice:

"Grace, stop making a scene! Let's talk about this at home. I was just…"

But when his gaze fell upon my swollen eyes and the bone-deep wound on my arm.

A flicker of remorse crossed his eyes, and he swallowed the harsh words he was about to unleash.

Stella suddenly ran down, her eyes red, and knelt before me.

"Grace, I swear I never intended to ruin your relationship. If you mind Hymen helping me, I can leave him and go far away. Please, have mercy on me. I can't take this anymore. I'll just take my daughter and die right now!"

Everyone gasped.

Stella stood up, pulled Chloe, and ran towards the balcony of the banquet hall.

"Stella!"

Hymen's face was horrified as he rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace.

After comforting Stella, Hymen came back to me and slapped me across the face more than ten times.

"Grace, you crazy woman, you're so consumed by jealousy! You couldn't take care of your own daughter, so you can't stand to see Stella's daughter do well."

"What bone ash? If you dare to spout such nonsense again, I won't hesitate to send you to a mental hospital!"

At his words, the way people looked at me changed.

I was dizzy from the blows but still desperately tried to explain.

"Please believe me, I'm not crazy! He really gave my daughter's bone ash to her daughter!"

I didn't expect the onlookers to point and whisper about my sorry state, their faces full of mockery.

"Is this woman really insane?"

"Mr. Hymen is such an honorable man. Why would he use his own daughter's bone ash?"

Clutching Lily's urn, I was pushed to the ground, utterly helpless.

Someone stepped on the gash on my arm, and the pain made me sweat profusely, almost fainting.

Hymen watched, coldly indifferent, not moving a muscle.

Suddenly, Stella's terrified scream erupted from the edge of the crowd.

"Hymen, my daughter is throwing up blood!"

Hymen whipped his head around, seeing the girl, Chloe, lying on the ground, barely alive, with blood continuously spilling from her mouth.

He instantly panicked.

"How could this happen?!"

Hearing this, my gaze slowly fell to the empty urn in my hand. I let out a slow, knowing smile.

Now, your comeuppance has arrived.