Chapter 2

Cindy's screeching was closely followed by Harley's voice, now taking on a measured, manipulative tone. "Cindy, I've heard of a fortune-swapping curse from the countryside. If a short-lived person uses items belonging to a healthy person, they'll absorb the latter's life force—"

Cindy exploded with rage before Harley had even finished speaking. "Ian, you shameless country bumpkin! What are you trying to do to Dad?"

I was forced to listen to her cursing and screaming at me for the next five or six minutes.

Cindy was just like that—all beauty and no brains.

My mother-in-law, Mandy Teller, had died from complications during childbirth, leaving behind her daughter, Cindy. Because Eason was terrified that a stepmother might treat Cindy poorly, he chose never to remarry.

Cindy was his only child, and she grew up naive and sheltered. As the years went on, Eason became deeply concerned about who would take over the reins of the company he had worked so hard to build.

He decided he needed someone with good business acumen and moral integrity to marry into the Chapman family. By chance, he met me while I was working part-time as a waiter at a business dinner.

After looking into my family background and fully understanding my nature, he decided I was the one. He arranged for me and Cindy to go on a blind date, then had me join Chapman Group as an entry-level employee after I graduated.

Of course, things didn't go as smoothly as he intended.

Cindy had a boyfriend at the time—Harley—but Eason only took a single glance at him before labeling him as a lazy, silver-tongued liar. Naturally, Cindy didn't believe him, and she got into an intense fight with him over the relationship.

In the end, Eason froze all her credit cards. In less than three days, Harley disappeared without a trace.

Having lost that fight, Cindy had no choice but to reluctantly marry me. Unexpectedly, Harley showed up again three months ago, and shortly after that, Cindy began staying out all night.

I suppressed my anger and waited for her to finish her rant before I spoke again. "Cindy, I know you have something against me, but I wouldn't joke about something like this. Your father really is in the back seat right now. He suddenly suffered a heart attack, so I—"

Harley interrupted me mid-sentence. "Don't fall for it, Cindy. Doesn't your father practice yoga every day? He's still going strong, so how could he possibly have suffered a heart attack?"

Cindy, always naive, found Harley's logic reasonable and became even more convinced that I was lying.

"Dad always praised your morals, Ian, but so much for that. You're now cursing him into an early grave for your own selfish desires! Do you not have a conscience? Don't forget that if not for our family giving you an opportunity, you'd be nothing more than an employee for life!"

When I heard Cindy starting to go on another rant, I lost my patience and hung up.

The traffic light at the upcoming intersection turned red, so I stepped on the brakes. Suddenly, there was a bang; a violent impact from behind sent the car sliding forward. The rear window cracked from the force, and several glass shards rained down on Eason's face.

The hospital was just past this intersection.

As I stared intently at the traffic light, I said to Eason, "Please hang on a little longer, Eason. We'll reach the hospital in a minute!"

Eason's assistant, Anthony Leigh, had already contacted the hospital in advance. The moment I pulled up at the entrance, stretchers and medical personnel would be waiting to rush him to the operating room.

Just as the traffic light was about to turn green, Harley drove over the double yellow line to cut in front of my car.

I was so focused on the traffic light that I didn't notice him pulling ahead on my left. When the light turned green, I floored the accelerator.

With a sickening crunch, my car collided with the sports car deliberately blocking my way.

My forehead struck the windshield, and blood started running down my face. My chest slammed into the steering wheel, sending an intense jolt of pain through me.

I reached up to wipe the blood from my eyes, gritted my teeth, and kept driving.

Time was running out. My current priority was getting Eason to the hospital.

When Cindy saw me continuing ahead, she turned and yelled at Harley, "After him! Keep going! At most, we'll just end up killing him, but the settlement for one life is a few million dollars at most. Our family has plenty of money!"

Harley, for his part, actually had some brains. As he watched me disappear into the distance, he smiled sinisterly and said, "There's no need to go after him. Just call the police on him for a hit-and-run!"