Chapter 4

I stared blankly at the ceiling in silence.

For a civil engineer who needed to be at construction sites every day, this disability was tantamount to a death sentence for my career.

The hospital room door was thrown open violently, and Mom strode in with Uncle Dan and Marco behind her.

She didn't even look at my leg, which was cast in a sling midair. She also didn't ask me if anything hurt. Instead, she flung an agreement in my face.

"Sign this now that you're awake," she demanded in a condescending manner. There wasn't a trace of remorse in her voice at all.

"Now that you're crippled and your reputation is destroyed, the town will never let you be in charge of the resettlement housing project anymore. But your Uncle Dan magnanimously offered to take on this mess and clean up after you.

"Hurry up and sign the documents and hand over the official seal."

I took the document she threw in my face and glanced at it. It was a transfer agreement, and the amount was written as 0 dollars.

Moreover, the agreement also stated that I would personally bear the cost of all material losses and delay penalties in the early stages.

This was blatant robbery. They were literally trying to drive me to my death.

"What if I don't sign it?" I asked.

"You won't? What right do you have to refuse? Do you even know what the people outside are saying about you? You've already been blacklisted by the entire construction industry!

"If it were not for your uncle's kindness offering to cover for you, you would have already been killed by those workers demanding payment by now!"

Marco stepped forward and sighed in a fake way. "Just accept your fate, Kevin. Aunt Diana is only doing this for your own good. If you sign this, then our family will cover your medical expenses.

"If you don't sign, you won't even have any way to treat your crippled leg. Who'd be paying for all your medical costs, then?"

Uncle Dan lit up a cigarette and puffed out a cloud of smoke.

"You know, you should learn to be grateful, you brat. If you'll hand over the project to me now, I promise that I'll use premium building materials to build the strongest houses in town. That way, we'd be able to atone for your sins."

I knew they wanted this project simply because they saw a huge potential for making a profit off of it.

However, there was a hidden underground river beneath the resettlement housing site with a very complex geological structure. I had to revise the blueprints over and over, using special load-bearing designs to ensure that everything was foolproof.

But Uncle Dan's makeshift team of construction workers wasn't even licensed. Handing the project over to them would be akin to throwing the innocent townsfolk's lives away.

"Do you really believe that Uncle Dan can build these houses well?" I asked Mom one last time, trying to find even just the slightest bit of reason in her eyes.

Yet, she raised her voice at me and yelled, "Of course! Your uncle might not be as educated as you, but at the very least, he's an honest and trustworthy person with a conscience!

"Now, that's enough yapping. Sign it now, or else!"

She then tore off the IV drip from the back of my hand. Blood spurted out everywhere. She forced a pen into my hand and pulled it toward the signature line on the document.

"You're going to sign it today whether you like it or not! And if you dare to refuse, I will expose you and completely destroy you online so you'll never be able to hold your head up in society again!"

I looked at her face full of greed and vanity. The last shred of affection I held for her finally dissipated.

I took a deep breath and gripped the pen tightly. Then, I signed forcefully on the paper, making each stroke clear and precise.

Mom then snatched the agreement from me, checked it thoroughly, and finally smiled at me in satisfaction.

"You're finally being sensible now.

"From today onward, you will behave yourself and stay in the basement for the rest of your life. Don't you dare come out and embarrass anybody else again."

Then, she led Uncle Dan and Marco out of my room without even a backward glance.

…

One month later, I slowly limped my way out of the hospital after being discharged. My house had been forcibly auctioned off to pay for the damage cost for the ruined building materials, so I had nowhere else to go.

Meanwhile, Mom was going through the most glorious moment of her life.

She became a renowned moral exemplar in town. She wore a red hard hat in a video she posted online, pointing to the building slowly rising from the ground behind her, beaming proudly.

"See this? My brother only used the best materials after taking over this project. See how thick these pillars are? See how hard this cement is?

"This is a truly honest and trustworthy project. These are the houses built for the people by the people!"

The comments section was filled with unanimous praise for her.

"You sacrificed your own son for the safety of the entire town. Thank you so much!"

"You've made a huge contribution to society!"

"Boycott her heartless son! Let's support trustworthy businessmen instead!"

I stared at the so-called thick pillars in the video, and a cold smirk curled at the corner of my mouth.

It was a whole third thinner than the load-bearing pillars in my original blueprints. Uncle Dan hadn't just used lower-grade cement to cut costs. He'd even drastically modified my design to suit his own budget.

If the underground river level rose, the building would immediately collapse as though it were built on sand.