Chapter 1

“What are you laughing at?”

Edwin Gough’s brows furrowed. His eyes were full of disgust.

I wiped my face and smiled even more calmly.

“I’m laughing at how blind and foolish you are. I’m also laughing at how Ms. Shaw spins tales without a single draft.”

“Peri Sanders! You’re done for, and yet you’re still talking back!”

Peri cowered in Edwin’s embrace. Tears were streaming down her face like rain. She pointed at me as her voice trembled.

“Edwin, look at her... She shows no remorse whatsoever!

“She’s jealous that I saved your life; jealous of the bond we shared growing up together.

“That’s why she sent her thug of a brother to ruin me... She said as long as I was defiled, you wouldn’t want me anymore...”

The surrounding guests erupted in an instant.

“How vile! How could this kind of woman become Mrs. Gough?

“Not only is she a lowlife herself, but her family members are also scoundrels!

“What good could come from that backwater village the Sanders are from? I hear her brother’s a good-for-nothing who loafs around all day.”

Edwin listened to the surrounding murmurs. His expression was as dark as a thundering storm cloud.

He raised his hand and seized my chin. His grip was so tight it felt like he was trying to crush my bones.

“Peri, make that animal of a brother of yours come here immediately.

“Make him kneel before everyone and beg Juvelia for forgiveness.

“Then, I’ll personally rip out his tongue, so he’ll spend the rest of his life knowing what it’s like to be silenced!”

Rip out his tongue?

I stared at Edwin’s face, the face I once loved with all my being, and felt nothing but bitter irony.

Three years ago, amidst a raging inferno just like this one.

My brother had rushed into the flames to save Edwin, who had been trapped in the fire.

Edwin was unconscious. My brother carried him on his back while inhaling toxic smoke and enduring scorching heat.

In order to rouse the unconscious Edwin and clear a path for him, my brother’s vocal cords were completely burned away. His tongue was necrotized and removed.

When Edwin awoke in the hospital, he saw only Juvelia by his bedside.

Juvelia claimed the credit and became the “savior” that he cherished deeply with all his heart.

Yet the one who truly saved Edwin was despised and reviled, just because he was disfigured and disabled. He was denied even the right to appear before him.

Did he actually dare to cut out the last bit of tongue from the man who saved his life?

“Why? Afraid to call him over?”

Edwin sneered coldly. His eyes were filled with unchecked malice.

“Since you won’t, I’ll have someone drag him here!

“That shabby Sanders residence? I’ve had it under surveillance for ages.

“Guards! Haul that beast, Efim Sanders, over here!”

“There’s no need.”

I cut him off while slowly pulling out my phone.