Chapter 1

I returned to the Harlow family villa holding my daughter's incomplete corpse. Serena Harlow was in the garden, personally planting roses for Cain Westfield.

The blood-red roses bloomed lush and vivid.

Serena gazed at Cain tenderly, but the moment she spotted me, disgust flashed across her face.

"Adrian Westfield, look at yourself. What a mess. Is the Harlow family going bankrupt? Can we no longer afford to keep you? You look like a filthy beggar with that matted hair and dirty face."

"You think this will make me feel sorry for you? You can't even raise your child properly. All you know are manipulative little schemes. Why can't you learn something from Cain for once?"

Cain glanced at me with satisfaction, then said in a gentle voice, "Adrian is just worried about Jada. If I had kept my distance from Jada, she wouldn't have run into me. He must be blaming me. You should just bring Jada back home."

Serena frowned. "That child has been ruined by this waste of space. I sent her to the dog training facility to learn discipline. I'm saving her. This has nothing to do with you."

She turned to me. "Hurry up and go clean yourself up. Stop being an eyesore here."

I held Jada's corpse and stared at Serena, my face expressionless.

I was born with a curse. Whatever I said always came true in inexplicable ways. Ever since I became aware of it, I stopped speaking altogether.

I used to hate that this affliction fell on me. Now I only hoped my words would come true as soon as possible, so they would receive their punishment.

Because I had not spoken for so long, my voice came out hoarse and unpleasant. "Serena, you're right. The Harlow family is going to go bankrupt."

Serena's eyes widened in shock when she heard me speak. "Adrian, you can actually talk!"

Then her shock turned to fury. "What a scheming snake you are. To win my sympathy, you've been pretending to be mute all these years! What, can't keep it up anymore?

"Let me tell you, all of the Harlow family assets belong to me and the child Cain and I will have. Don't even think about it. If you even think about harming him, I'll make you pay."

She refused to look at me anymore. "Even seeing you disgusts me. Throw away that filthy thing in your hands and get lost."

My hands trembled as I held Jada's corpse. She was already dead, yet her own mother, the mother she loved, called her a filthy thing.

I remembered how every night she would lift her tender little face and ask me, "Daddy, if I'm a little more obedient, will Mommy be willing to tell me bedtime stories? On my birthday, will Mommy take me to the amusement park? She promised us before."

Agony tore through my heart. My hands shook uncontrollably as I held Jada's body. Tears streamed down my face as I roared, "Serena, this is not a filthy thing! This is the corpse of your daughter, Jada. She's dead, just as you wished!"

Serena froze for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. "Adrian, so this is why you stopped pretending to be mute? It was getting in the way of your little performance in front of me, wasn't it? To curse your own daughter like that. How vicious can you be?"

She snatched Jada's corpse from my arms and glanced at it carelessly. Cruelly, she said, "Since you claim this lump of rotting flesh is Jada, let's have the dogs identify it.

"We'll see if it's human flesh or just animal meat you found somewhere for your little show!"