Chapter 1

My wife came home from her business trip and found me in a compromising position with the nanny on our living room couch.

She exploded. She called her family. They dragged me outside, tying me to a tree in our courtyard for a public shaming.

"Leo Thompson, why?" Chloe wailed in front of everyone. "Was I not enough for you?"

Her intern, Alex, hit me with a branch. Called me scum.

I tasted blood and tears. I looked straight at Chloe. "Does this scene look familiar, Chloe? It's just like the day Lily died."

Chloe froze. "You... you remembered?"

"Leo Thompson!" Chloe's voice was a raw, furious roar, her eyes blazing.

"Our daughter has been gone for a month. One month! And you're already screwing the nanny in our home? Do you have no shame?"

Chloe's eyes were blazing red, her voice a furious roar.

I calmly lit a cigarette. "Feel free to cheat too. I wouldn't mind."

"Stop acting so innocent. You're never home. You're probably already screwing someone else."

The nanny, Maya, pulled on her black stockings with a smirk, twisting the knife.

I chuckled.

Chloe completely lost it. She lunged at Maya, hand flying toward her face for a slap.

But I caught her wrist in a tight grip.

And I let Maya walk away.

"Leo! You're actually protecting some outsider? You scumbag! You bastard!"

Chloe's eyes were wide with shock. She started wildly punching my chest.

"Stop being crazy!"

I impatiently shoved her away.

Just then, Alex, Chloe's intern, arrived with her family.

They saw Chloe collapsed on the floor, and everyone erupted.

Alex charged at me, grabbing my collar. "Leo Thompson!" he snarled.

"Not only are you cheating, you hit your wife? Are you even a man?"

"Do you have any respect for Lily's memory?"

His spit sprayed across my face.

"You don't get to talk about my daughter!"

I snapped. My fist connected with his jaw, sending him stumbling back.

Chloe panicked. "Have you gone rabid? Why did you hit Alex?"

Her family saw I wouldn't back down. Rage burned in their eyes.

"My daughter gave you everything! he didn't care that you came from nothing, with no car and no house, and she still married you."

"How could you betray her?"

"We shouldn't have been soft-hearted! Even if you'd knelt in the rain until you died, we shouldn't have allowed this marriage!"

"Today, I'm going to let everyone see your true colors! And I'll make sure you can never work in the medical field again!"

All her relatives swarmed me.

I was overwhelmed. They dragged me, helpless, to the center of the complex and tied me to a tree.

They ripped my clothes off, leaving me in nothing but my boxers.

"Everyone, come look! Look at this cheating, wife-beating bastard!"

"Someone tell me," a relative wailed, "why is my niece so pathetic? She gave her all to her family, and her husband runs off with the nanny!"

"This animal was fooling around with the nanny right in front of his own daughter's memorial photo! It's an outrage!"

Chloe's family cried and screamed, drawing the entire neighborhood to crowd around.

When people heard what happened, they stared at me with pure fury, cursing me as subhuman, saying I deserved to die.

"You were hospitalized after your accident, and Chloe cared for you day and night! After just a few days, this is how you repay her? Where is your conscience?"

"You pathetic, weak pig! I'll kill you!"

Chloe’s parents slapped me wildly.

Encouraged by this, some in the crowd spat on me. Others grabbed dirt and rocks and started throwing them.