Chapter 4

A wealthy woman, whom I had befriended for the sake of Grace's business, was calling me. She sent an invitation to a charity auction to me and said, "My husband's not in the country. Why don't you attend this auction with me?"

At first, I planned to reject her invitation. However, my heart skipped a beat when I laid eyes on one of the items that was being auctioned.

It was an emerald bracelet—the family heirloom that I had pawned to fund Grace's business. I had sold it for 1.2 million dollars at that time.

I wanted to get the bracelet back after Grace's business started taking off, but someone else had already bought it.

I clenched my fists. I had about 10 to 20 million dollars in the bank account where Grace transferred my allowance. I was determined to reclaim the bracelet no matter the cost.

…

I hadn't expected to see Grace and Clarence at the auction.

"I'll be moving into the villa tonight, Zack," Clarence said. "I'll be in your care from now on."

Grace also barked her orders at me, "Prepare chicken soup for me when you get home. Also, prepare meat stew for Clarence. His body is still weak."

I ignored both of them and anxiously waited for the emerald bracelet to be auctioned.

Grace's body jolted when the final auction item was presented on stage. She had recognized the bracelet in an instant, just like me. She turned to look at me and said, "I'll buy it for you."

However, before I could get a word in, Clarence tugged on her arm and said coyly, "That bracelet's so pretty. Mom will definitely love it. Can you buy it for me?"

Grace nodded without hesitation. She then looked at me again and said, "I'll give the bracelet back to you once Clarence's mother gets tired of it."

"No!" I blurted.

I immediately raised my paddle when the auctioneer asked for three million dollars for the bracelet. I didn't expect Grace to drive the price up to ten million dollars in the next second.

In the end, I failed to reclaim the bracelet.

I looked at Grace with pleading eyes and said, "You know how important that bracelet is to me. Please give it to me. I'll pay you back."

My words had just left my lips when Clarence raised his hand and slapped the bracelet to the ground, causing it to shatter into several different sections within seconds.

Consumed by rage, I punched him.

Clarence shrieked. He collapsed into Grace's embrace while crying. "I didn't mean to break the bracelet."

Grace was beyond furious and kicked my groin. She then grabbed her phone to bark out her orders.

"Throw Ruth Keaton out of the hospital right now! I guess I have no choice but to teach you a lesson to get you to behave, Zack."

Fear gripped my heart as I approached Grace to beg her for mercy, but the bodyguards grabbed me and threw me out of the auction.

It was storming outside, making it impossible to hail a cab.

I had no choice but to sprint like a maniac toward the hospital.

However, I was too late.

I found Ruth lying among the trash bags when I dragged my aching feet to the back of the hospital. She had already turned into an icy corpse.

"How can you be so heartless?" I demanded after I called Grace. "You wouldn't be where you are today without Ruth. How could you be so cruel and kill her?"

"Stop lying to me," Grace retorted. "I didn't actually tell the hospital staff to throw her out. Hurry home and prepare chicken soup for me. Behave yourself."

I laughed until my eyes turned bloodshot after I hung up.

I had planned to spend the next 30 days in peace until our divorce was finalized. However, since Grace decided to be so cruel and ruthless, I had no reason to hold back either.

After taking care of Ruth's corpse, I brought a stack of documents with me to the police station. They had been stashed away with my liver transplant consent form.

I was determined to send Grace into the pits of hell.