LOGINGone were his vigor and spirit of days past.When he saw me, a flicker of light ignited in his cloudy eyes.“Peri...”He trembled as he pulled a grimy box from his chest.He opened it, and inside lay a ring.It was our wedding ring.I had lost it back then and looked for ages without success.He had been keeping it all along. “Actually... I’ve always kept it.”Edwin gave a bitter laugh.“Peri, if I told you that I actually fell for you long ago, would you believe me? I was just too foolish, blinded by gratitude, and unable to tell love from obligation.”“Does saying all this now even matter?” My expression remained calm as I did not reach for the ring. “Edwin, what we had ended long ago.”Edwin’s hand froze in mid-air. The light in his eyes slowly faded.“Yes... It ended long ago. I destroyed it all with my own hands.”He slowly withdrew his hand and clutched the ring tightly in his palm.“Efim... Is he treating you well?”“Very well.”At the mention of my brother, I su
The leader among them was an elderly man. His hair was white like snow, but he was remarkably alert and vigorous.He strode swiftly to my brother’s side and bowed respectfully.“Sir, I apologize for my tardiness and for causing you alarm.”The entire hall fell silent once more.Edwin stared wide-eyed at the old man.“Th-That’s the butler of the overseas conglomerate, Sanders Group?”“Sanders Group? That mysterious family controlling half the world’s shipping and energy?”“His name is Efim Sanders... Sir?!”The crowd stared in utter shock at my brother, who was wearing his worn hoodie.The man they had scorned as a penniless good-for-nothing was actually the heir to Sanders Group’s financial empire. Their expressions were full of disbelief.My brother took the handkerchief the butler offered and casually bandaged his wound.Then, he typed a line on his phone and handed it to Edwin.[I don’t need money.[I wear old clothes because my sister bought them for me.[I live in a
“Is this what you call loving me too much?“Is this what you call the Gough family blood?”Juvelia fell to her knees with a thud. She clutched onto Edwin’s leg.“Edwin! It’s fake! They swapped my face with AI! Peri framed me! That mute framed me! I didn’t! I really didn’t!”I coldly watched as she struggled desperately.“Whether or not it’s fake, we’ll know. We just handed the original video over to the technical analysis department.”“Also, that Mr. Smith. He was present earlier, wasn’t he?”My gaze swept across the crowd.A potbellied middle-aged man was trying to slip away unnoticed.“Mr. Smith, there’s no need to rush off.”My brother flashed forward, instantly blocking Mr. Smith’s path.He grabbed him like a sack of potatoes and hauled him before Edwin.Mr. Smith’s legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.“Mr. Gough, spare my life! This wrench seduced me! She said you couldn’t satisfy her...”“Pfft!” Someone could not hold back a laugh.Edwin’s face
She knew that with Edwin kneeling, her dream of marrying into wealth was shattered forever.“No! Edwin, you can’t kneel before him!“He harasses people! Even without a tongue, he could still harass someone!“He tore my clothes! He inflicted these wounds on me!“He must have used some kind of tool!”Juvelia lunged forward hysterically, trying to pull Edwin up.Edwin flung her away. His eyes darkened with fury.“Get out! Juvelia, you lied to me for three years!“You trampled my savior underfoot and made me torture him with my own hands!“Why don’t you just die?!”Edwin shoved Juvelia into the corner of the table. Blood began trickling from her forehead.She suddenly burst into laughter. Her smile was twisted and grotesque.“I deceived you? Edwin, you’re the fool! You deluded yourself into thinking I saved you! I merely went with the flow! And…”Juvelia fixed a venomous glare at my brother.“Even if he did save you, so what? He’s nothing but a cripple now! A mute! Whereas I-
Juvelia collapsed to the floor, shaking her head frantically.“No... I must have remembered wrong... Maybe it was fingers... Yes! Fingers!“Not a tongue! I was so terrified that I must have hallucinated!”She rambled incoherently, grasping at the last straw.“Hallucinated?” I sneered coldly, slapping the dagger against her cheek.“Then, explain this. You claimed he asked you to please him if you wanted to get into the Gough family. Is that right?“How could someone without vocal cords or a tongue utter those words? Through ventriloquism? Or telepathy?”Juvelia’s mouth hung open, but she could not utter a sound.Her lies were too crude. They had been utterly shattered by ironclad facts.Edwin stood beside us. He looked like his soul had been drained from his body.He stared fixedly at the burn scar on my brother’s face. Then, he gazed at his empty mouth.A long-buried memory burst from the depths of his mind.Three years ago, before he lost consciousness during the fire, he
That was the souvenir he received for saving that ingrate.It had become a symbol of his humiliation.“Take it off! What are you dawdling for?!” Juvelia shrieked from the side. Her eyes brimmed with vengeful glee. “Too ugly to show your face? Or are you afraid someone will recognize you as a wanted criminal?”My brother’s fingers trembled slightly.Then, he ripped off the mask.“Whoa—”The entire crowd gasped.The prepared taunts and insults instantly got stuck in their throats.The face beneath was actually sharply defined. He was exceptionally handsome.However, from the left corner of his mouth to his ear, a hideous burn scar ran like a dark red centipede, coiled across his pallid skin.It was a horrifying sight to behold.Edwin froze.Why did that scar look so familiar?He quickly suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and sneered coldly.“You really do look like a monster. No wonder you’re a psychopath who tried to attack Juvelia. Since you won’t speak, I’ll o







