Chapter 4

Before he could finish, Rachel burst in, panting.

"Matthew, I heard something happened at the pool..."

She saw me kneeling on the ground in a disheveled state, with a small body covered by clothing beside me. All color drained from her face.

"What... what on earth happened?!"

Her voice trembled as she stumbled forward.

This scene was almost identical to my previous life. But I only felt it was ironic.

In my previous life, when she saw our son's disfigured state, she'd also looked like her heart was shattered and her world had collapsed.

But when she learned the killer was the son of her company's chairman's only daughter, that pitiful bit of maternal love seemed so laughable when weighed against her own career prospects.

Sure enough, the next second, her eyes landed on Cameron nearby, and her expression instantly filled with panic.

He bowed slightly, his voice unable to hide his flattery and nervousness.

"Why are you here too?"

Cameron raised his chin proudly, glossing over what had happened.

"Since the other party is Rachel's son, our family is reasonable. Out of humanitarian concern, I can increase the compensation to two hundred thousand. That's more than fair."

"But your husband is emotionally unstable and unreasonable, insisting on making a big deal out of this."

"Rachel, I called you here because I believe you're a sensible person. You can't destroy several children's futures—and the adults' careers—over an accident with someone who's already dead, right?"

Rachel's body trembled almost imperceptibly.

Then she turned to me, her face showing complex emotions.

"Honey, listen to me..."

I knew what she was going to say and cut her off coldly.

"Shut up. You don't get to decide this!"

Rachel thought I was throwing a tantrum and her voice changed pitch in panic.

"Honey, we can't bring the dead back to life. We still have our own lives to live!"

"The other party is just a child too. What bad intentions could he have? It was just playing that went too far."

She glanced at Cameron's expression and moved closer to me with a pleading tone.

"They're willing to compensate us two hundred thousand. We can negotiate the exact amount later."

"Take the money, give Ashton a proper funeral, and then while we're still young, I can have another child. Everything can start over..."

Looking at this woman I'd shared a bed with for years, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Start over?"

Despite my best efforts to control it, my voice still trembled.

"Start over with money bought with our son's life? I'm not as cold-blooded and cruel as you!"

"And I told you—you don't get to decide this!"

Seeing I was about to dial again, Rachel actually snatched the phone from me.

"Give it back!"

I got up to grab it back, but she pushed me forcefully backward.

My back slammed against the cold pool wall, the pain making my vision go dark.

Rachel looked at me, struggle in her eyes, but ultimately threw the phone into the pool.

"Can you stop making a scene! You just lost your son. Do you have to make someone else's child lose their freedom and ruin their life over this?!"

So in her heart, our son's life wasn't as important as someone else's freedom.

I took a deep breath and nodded calmly.

"Fine. I won't call the police."

My gaze swept over Cameron and Derek, who were both smiling like victors, and I continued.

"Just don't regret it later!"

After all, calling the police might have saved their lives. Not calling means it just depends on how tough their luck is.

My well-intentioned warning made Cameron think I was being provocative. He spoke with a threatening tone.

"Rachel, looks like you don't have much standing in your family. You can't even make decisions about your own son?"

"An emotionally unstable, unreasonable employee's family member like this... makes it hard to trust that you can properly handle projects and manage your own team, doesn't it?"

Rachel's face instantly turned deathly pale.

Derek also adopted the tone of adults, speaking with sarcastic mockery.

"Just now this uncle was whispering in Ashton's ear saying 'don't be afraid, your mother will be here soon.' But now she's really here and he won't listen to her?"

He seemed to realize something and covered his mouth with an expression both innocent and malicious.

"Oh my, could it be that uncle has more than just Ashton as his biological son? So uncle..."

This sentence made the naturally suspicious Rachel, already threatened regarding her career, whip her head around to look at me.

The emotions in her eyes were instantly replaced by shock, humiliation, and rage.

"Matthew, is what he said true?!"

"Why did you say I can't decide about our son? Who are you waiting for?!"

Looking at that face twisted by suspicion, I only felt absurd and desolate.

"He was never our son in the first place. What right do you have to make decisions for him?"

Rachel's eyes widened.

"Not our son—what does that mean?"

A flash of confusion crossed Cameron's face, followed by a light laugh.

"This is the first time I've seen someone admit so righteously to being cuckolded."

He turned to Rachel, his tone exaggerated.

"Don't you get it? He's saying this dead child isn't yours!"

"So whose son have you been raising all these years? Doesn't that make you... a living cuckold who's been raising someone else's kid for over ten years?!"

Cameron's words made Rachel's face go from white to red to blue.

Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she clenched her fists and stared at me hard.

I knew she'd misunderstood and tried to explain.

"Rachel, calm down. This boy..."

Before I could finish, she lunged at me and wrapped her hands tightly around my throat.

"Matthew! I'll strangle you, you bastard!"

"You had an affair? You had a child with another woman and brought it into our home?"

"Is Ashton even my son?! Answer me!!"

I instantly couldn't breathe, sharp pain shooting through my throat.

"Let... go!"

The air in my lungs was rapidly squeezed out, my cheeks flushed red from congestion and oxygen deprivation.

Oxygen grew scarcer and scarcer. Just when I thought I would really die at this woman's hands—

A woman, flanked by several black-suited bodyguards, strode in quickly. Her voice wasn't loud but carried a chill.

"Where is my son? What happened to him?"