Chapter 1

Tiffany froze where she stood.

Her eyes went red in an instant, tears dropping one after another, the perfect picture of misery.

The movers hauling boxes through the hallway stopped what they were doing.

A middle-aged woman from down the hall, a thick gold chain around her neck, sidled over and started scolding me, her finger pointed in my face.

"Good lord, how can you be this cold-blooded!"

She bellowed it out, as if terrified someone might not hear.

"This poor girl's out here renting a place all on her own, it's not easy, and all she wants is for your son to lend a hand. It costs him nothing. What is wrong with you!"

Tiffany took the cue and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders trembling.

"Ma'am, please don't blame her. It's all my fault."

"I lost my mom and dad when I was little. I just paid six months' rent today, and I don't even have twenty-five dollars left for a repair. Otherwise, why would I ever beg like this..."

The moment she started crying, more and more neighbors gathered around.

A few young guys in tank tops wandered over, sizing up my son Ryan, then turning their contemptuous stares on me.

"Yeah, seriously, your son's built like that and doesn't have an ounce of a man's decency or backbone."

"Too scared to even fix a water heater. What kind of man is that? Like he'll ever amount to anything."

Ryan got worked up and opened his mouth to fire back.

I squeezed his wrist hard and pulled him behind me.

I swallowed down the bottomless hatred over my son's terrible death in my previous life, fixed my eyes on the woman, and let out a cold laugh.

"You're so warmhearted, so why are you standing here making snide little comments?"

"Twenty-five dollars is only a meal to you. If you feel so sorry for her, then you can cover the twenty-five dollars yourself."

The woman's voice caught in her throat.

Her face flushed red, and she stammered for a long moment.

"I... I'm nothing to her, why should I pay her bill! You're completely unreasonable!"

I couldn't be bothered with her. I turned and pointed at the young guys who'd been running their mouths.

"Aren't you the ones with backbone? Aren't you real men?"

"Go on in and fix her water heater right now. It's shorting out, so make sure you grab the live wires to check whether it's fixed."

Shut down, the young men shrank back, ducking their heads.

"We're not professionals. If we break it, who's paying for that?"

"Right, right, I've got soup on the stove, and I don't know a thing about repairs. I'm heading back."

In the blink of an eye, every one of the would-be heroes had slipped back into their apartments, and even the woman went inside, still muttering curses.

Only Tiffany was left in the hallway.

Seeing that no one was speaking up for her anymore, Tiffany glared at me, grinding her teeth.

She forgot to even keep up the crying act, and her voice turned sour and mocking.

"If you look down on poor people, just say so. Don't stand here humiliating me on purpose!"

I wasn't about to indulge her. I just grabbed Ryan and pulled him back inside.

Back inside, Ryan looked completely confused.

"Mom, it wouldn't have been a big deal to help her out. She does seem pretty pitiful."

I looked Ryan dead in the eye, my voice more serious than he'd ever heard.

"Listen to me carefully. From now on you are never to have any contact with that girl next door in private. Not one single word!"

"Don't ask why. Do you hear me!"

My expression frightened Ryan, and though he was still puzzled, he nodded without arguing.

He turned and went into his room.

I sat on the couch, cold sweat soaking my back, my eyes fixed on the front door.

Eleven o'clock at night.

A piercing fire alarm suddenly went off outside the door.

Then thick smoke came rolling down the hallway, the sharp stench of burning seeping in through the crack under the door.