Chapter 2

Mom forcefully shook off Uncle Dan's hand and said in a loud, righteous, and resolute voice, "I, Diana Knowles, value my reputation above all else! And I will never allow anyone to speak ill of me behind my back.

"Now, Kevin Sanford, admit to everyone here that you indeed cut corners on this project by using inferior materials, or you will go straight to jail when the inspection team arrives!"

I held my stinging cheek and stared at the woman who gave birth to me. I then spoke slowly so that she could hear my every word, "I will never admit to anything that I've not done!"

The inspection team members were stunned when they arrived. It was obvious that they never witnessed a mother accusing her own son like this before.

The head of the inspection team frowned as he looked at me.

"Are you Mr. Kevin Sanford? Someone filed a formal complaint against your project for serious quality issues. Kindly come with us to the station for further questioning."

I took a deep breath and began to explain.

However, Mom immediately grabbed the leader's sleeve tightly and said, "You must investigate him properly, officer! He's been a wicked wrench since he was a kid! He'll stop at nothing for money!

"Arrest him at once, seal off the construction site, and don't let him destroy any evidence!"

I watched her, looking so eager to throw me into prison, and felt a sense of hopelessness washing over me.

"Fine. I'll go with you to the station," I said, refusing to look at Mom again before walking toward the police escort cars.

Mom was still shouting behind me.

"See this? This is the consequence of being a dishonest and unscrupulous man!"

…

The bright fluorescent light in the interrogation room was bright and blinding.

"Mr. Sanford, I will start by saying that the testimony your mother provided is very detrimental to you."

Officer Stanley Burton then pushed a written testimony toward me with a complex expression on his face.

"She didn't just accuse you of using substandard cement. She also accused you of embezzling three million dollars from the building materials budget."

I looked up sharply at once, staring incredulously at the written testimony with Mom's signature on it.

"Three million dollars? I even mortgaged my own house to secure the project's start-up capital! What proof does she have to back up her accusations?"

Officer Burton sighed and turned on his iPad, pushing it over to me.

"Just take a look at this. Your mom's a huge Internet celebrity now."

The screen lit up and displayed a live stream. The number of viewers in the upper right corner showed more than 100 thousand people were watching her live.

Mom sat on Uncle Dan's luxurious leather couch in his house, her eyes red-rimmed as tears streamed down her face.

"My heart is breaking, everyone. I've been a widow for half my life, raising my son all on my own and sending him to study civil engineering, thinking that he would be able to contribute to the country. But I never thought he would be so obsessed with money!"

She then thumped her chest with an utterly devastated expression on her face.

"Those are the resettlement houses we're talking about! They're our lifeline! The houses are meant for us poor folks! And look at what he did!

"He replaced cement with mud and steel bars with wire! How many people do you think will die when the buildings collapse?

"As his mother, I can't possibly sit here and do nothing about the situation! Was I supposed to ignore it and pretend that nothing happened? Was I supposed to help him keep it a secret from everyone?"

Comments flooded the comment section, filled with curses and insults directed at me and praises for her.

"Yes! You did the right thing! To hell with familial ties! You're doing it for the greater good!"

"You're such an icon!"

"Unscrupulous business men like your son should be shot in the head! Look at how even his own mother can't stand him anymore!"

"Don't cry, ma'am. We're all on your side. We swear that we will make sure your son stays in prison and never comes out!"

I stared intently at the comments, shaking all over.

Mom read the comments and continued dabbing away the tears in her eyes, a hint of smugness and satisfaction in them as she continued exaggerating things.

"My poor, poor nephew. He just went to the site for a look and accidentally cut his leg on those shoddy building materials! He nearly lost his life!"

The camera then panned to Marco, who was sitting next to her. His leg was thickly wrapped in bandages. He was even using crutches in an exaggerated manner.

Marco squeezed out a few tears for the camera and spoke with a pitiful expression on his face, "Please don't blame my cousin, everyone. I'm sure that he was just blinded by greed for a moment. Even though he never installed any safety nets, just to save money, I believe he'll change his ways in the future."

Uncle Dan also leaned into the camera, sighing and shaking his head.

"It's fine if Marco gets hurt, as long as it serves as a warning to the rest of the society. It would still be worth it.

"We also have our own construction company, and we've always been honest and hardworking, building houses responsibly.

"I really don't understand how Kevin could have turned out like this."

I watched the three of them performing in front of the camera and covered my face with my hands.

"This is ridiculous… This is utterly ridiculous…"

Officer Burton turned off the iPad and handed me a glass of water.

"Mr. Sanford, we've already sent a third-party testing agency to the site to take samples. However, there's too much public pressure on this case right now, and the state government is taking it very seriously. You must stay here until the results are in."

I looked up, my eyes bloodshot.

"Officer, that's a new type of slow-setting permeable concrete. Sampling must be done under specific conditions, and there's a thunderstorm warning for the next couple of days.

"There's also a batch of premium anti-seepage materials on the construction site that haven't been stored away properly yet. If they get soaked by the rain, the entire project's foundation will have to be torn down and rebuilt!"

I stood up anxiously, my cuffs clinking loudly against the table.

"Let me make a call and arrange for the workers to cover the site with waterproof tarpaulins, please!"

Officer Burton shook his head and pressed down on my shoulder.

"Sorry, but according to regulations, you're not allowed any contact with the outside world right now.

"As for the construction site, your mother has taken it over with your uncle's men. They said that they were going to atone for your sins on your behalf and watch over it for you for free."

My heart plunged into an ice cave when I heard that.

Mom took Uncle Dan's men to take over my construction site?

Uncle Dan's shell company didn't even know what a blueprint was! What could they even possibly do at the construction site?