Chapter 3

As it turned out, Denise had already been planning to use the money as the down payment for Lakeview Mansion ever since then.

I swallowed the blood in my mouth, along with the rest of my stale buns.

"Really, Aiken Collins? What a waste of the last ten years of your life," I muttered to myself.

My phone buzzed again, and this time, it was a call from the bank.

"Mr. Collins, the repayment for the loan under your name is a day late. Kindly make the necessary payments as soon as possible, or it will affect your credit score."

I chuckled coldly.

"The property is not registered under my name. Go and chase after the person who actually signed your contract."

"But Mr. Collins, the loan you took out was a joint loan—"

"Then go ahead and sue me."

I hung up and blocked the number at once.

Less than two minutes later, Denise began calling me over and over again, one after another, and I never picked up a single one.

She switched to a different number after that and sent me dozens of voice messages instead.

The first one was of her screaming hysterically at me.

"Aiken Collins! How dare you fail to repay the loan? Do you know that the bank ended up calling Dimi instead? Are you trying to ruin him?

"Hurry up and make the payment at once! If the mansion gets repossessed because of you, I'm never going to forgive you, ever!"

I silenced my phone and stuffed it into my pocket. Then, I turned and walked through the company doors.

There was a massive crowd of people gathered in the lobby.

Denise was in the center of attraction, her hair all askew as she made a huge, dramatic fuss on the couch while mumbling nonsense under her breath.

"Look, everybody! This is Aiken Collins, from this company, and he's a horrible ingrate who abandoned his wife and sick daughter for no good reason!

"He abandoned his daughter, who has leukemia, at home, and instead spent all of his days in pubs and clubs with all sorts of women by his side!

"How could a company still want to hire a bastard like him? Are you not afraid of any repercussions?"

Nancy also cried along with Denise, her face as red as a tomato.

My colleagues began whispering among themselves and even pointing fingers at me.

I stood outside the crowd, looking at Denise and Nancy. They were the two people whom I'd nearly given up my life trying to protect. And yet, they took out all of our savings, used it to pay for Dmitri's down payment, and even tarnished my reputation to completely destroy my life.

I weaved through the crowd and marched forward.

"Are you done spouting nonsense?"

Denise immediately leaped up from the couch when she saw me. She rushed up to grab me by my collar.

"Aiken Collins! You're finally here!

"Give me the money! Dmitri's loan repayments cannot be interrupted! And give me the money for Nini's treatment next month!

"If you don't give me the money, then I will kill myself here! I'll show everyone what a heartless person you are—the man who forced his wife and daughter to their deaths!"

I ducked and neatly avoided her hands. She ended up grabbing air and nearly tripped on her feet.

Nancy threw herself at me instead and began biting my thigh.

"You're a horrible Daddy! Give us the money! Give us the money!"

I kicked her off at once.

It wasn't a powerful kick, but it was enough to shake her off.

Nancy was shocked. She didn't seem to think that the father who'd always given in to her biting and beating would actually fight back this time.

So, she began screaming and crying even louder.

Denise was outraged. "How dare you kick Nini! You're even worse than an animal, Aiken Collins! Nini has leukemia! Don't you have any conscience left?"

The murmurs and allegations around us grew louder. Some of them even began recording us on video.

I looked at Denise coldly and spoke in a clear voice, just loud enough that everyone could hear me.

"Leukemia?

"Denise Sheridan, Nini's health checkup report from last month proved that all of her indicators have long been normal.

"The so-called relapse you claim is just another one of your lies to trick me into giving you more money for your brother's renovation at his new house, isn't it?"

The entire lobby went silent. Only Denise's pale face and Nancy's broken sobs were left.

Denise quickly grabbed the phone in her pocket, her gaze wavering as she spat, "W-What nonsense is that?

"The doctor said that there was an error on the report! She would relapse anytime! We need to have enough savings for when it happens!"

I chuckled. "Savings? Well, what about the 10,000 dollars you got after my dad sold his kidney? And the 50,000 dollars compensation I received after breaking my leg while working at a construction site?

"They're all invested in both of Dmitri's mansions now, aren't they?"

I then retrieved a stack of financial transfer records I'd printed out and a photocopy of the housing purchase agreement I'd torn up and stuck back together with tape, throwing them into the air.

"Look at this instead, everyone! This is what she means by my 'abandoning' her and my daughter!

"She used the money from her husband and father-in-law to buy two massive mansions for her younger brother instead! Who would dare to keep around a woman like her?"

My colleagues picked up the documents from the ground, and their expressions changed dramatically.

Their judgmental gazes on me eventually switched to that of disdain and disgust as they shifted to Denise instead, treating her like trash.