Chapter 2

"She's already dead. Please, just let her go!"

A woman suddenly collapsed at my feet, her voice breaking into a wail. "I'm begging you. Let my daughter rest in peace."

Her voice trembled as she looked up at me with red, swollen eyes.

I gave her a look of disgust and shook off her grimy hands.

"And who are you supposed to be?" I asked, my voice dripping with impatience.

"That's obviously Cynthia's mother. Wait, how does Henry not recognize his own mother-in-law?"

The woman quickly spoke up. "It's only natural he doesn't know me. In all the years he was married to my daughter, he never came to see me once."

After saying that, she turned her tearful gaze back to me.

"Henry, every time Cynthia came to see me, she would tell me how loving you were and that you were only too busy to visit. But I knew she was afraid my feelings would be hurt.

"You look down on me. I disgust you. Cynthia loved you, so I was willing to turn a blind eye to everything. But now, she gave her life for you! You can't humiliate her like this now that she's gone!"

Her cries were gut-wrenching.

Realization dawned on me. I looked down at her with cold indifference and asked, "Are you sure you're her mother?"

"You heartless bastard! You're a monster! You couldn't even recognize your own mother-in-law after all these years, and now you have the nerve to question her?"

"Exactly. How can he let an elderly woman kneel on the ground like that? I feel so bad for her!"

The woman's eyes were red as she shouted at me, "Of course I'm her mother! I carried her for nine months and raised her with everything I had. Even if she were nothing but ashes, she's still my daughter!"

She threw herself over Cynthia's grave and sobbed, asking why Cynthia had left her behind.

The crowd's fury continued to mount.

I simply stood there with an eyebrow arched. She had no idea she was the person I had been waiting for.

"You bastard! How could you still stand there and smile?"

All of a sudden, a shovel slammed into my head.

My head buzzed. When I reached up to touch the wound, my hand came away covered in blood.

The attacker was the woman with the scarred face, who had been leading the charge in the name of justice.

Even after the bodyguards stopped her, she continued to struggle with everything she had. "You coward! You had the nerve to cheat on your wife and keep a mistress on the side, but you don't have the guts to face me?

"That poor woman is crying her heart out, and you're grinning? Clearly, your parents raised you wrong! I bet you're a bastard your mother had with some other man!"

I clenched my fists, wanting nothing more than to tear her apart right then and there.

"You've got quite a mouth on you for someone claiming to be so well-bred," I said, walking toward her. "Shouldn't you be at home looking after your own family instead of sticking your nose into my family's business? Are you really that bored, or are you just as useless as Cynthia?"

She slammed her weight into my chest before spitting at me.

"You asshole! I just can't stand people like you! Cynthia was so good to you. Despite being a top graduate, she turned down an invitation from the National Academy of Sciences just to stay home and help you with your company!

"Every time something went wrong with the company, she stayed up all night trying to solve it so you wouldn't have to worry as much. And what were you doing? While she was working overtime for your company, you were sleeping with Irene!

"She was coughing up blood while you were away on a trip. You accused her of faking it for attention, and you'd rather take Irene's dog to the vet than take your own wife to the hospital while she was doubled over in pain from the cancer!

"How did such a kind soul end up with a scumbag like you?"

As she finished, the people around us raised their metal clubs, looking ready to strike.

On the livestream, the insults in the comments were flying by too fast to read.

Finally, someone asked, "But why would he treat Cynthia like that?"

That person was instantly attacked by countless others. "Because he's a piece of trash! Why are you even asking that? Are you just as bad as he is?"

Instead of getting angry at the comments, I laughed.

Then, I looked at the woman with the scarred face and asked, "You seem to know an awful lot about my family's business. What, did she tell you all this in a dream?"