Chapter 4

The security footage showed that Terrence was the one who had pushed my mother down the stairs.

My blood seemed to surge backward all at once.

I called Terrence. "You dared to push my mother? I'll make sure you go to prison for this!"

Melody answered instead, her voice sharp with reproach. "This isn't Terry's fault. He came to the hospital to be with me for my prenatal checkup. Your mother saw him and went over to curse him out. Terry got scared and accidentally pushed her away."

I was on the verge of breaking down, and I nearly screamed, "My mother has bleeding in her skull! She's in emergency surgery right now! Melody, how can you still defend the man who tried to kill her? Do you even have a heart?"

She immediately hung up.

When I tried calling again, I discovered that she had already blocked me.

I sat outside the ICU, completely drained, until the attending physician finally came out.

Regret was written all over his face. "Mr. Sorloth, please accept our condolences."

The world spun around me. Everything went dark, and I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

My mother was dead. I no longer had a single family member left in this world.

Hatred nearly tore through my chest. I took a cab straight to Avalon University. If they wanted to call me crazy, I would show them exactly what crazy looked like.

…

By the time I reached the school, Terrence was in the middle of giving a speech.

I stormed up to the stage, grabbed him by the hair, and slapped him hard across the face. "Murderer! You're going to pay with your life!"

The crowd erupted into an uproar.

"Ah! Ms. Harper, help me!"

As soon as Melody came to her senses, she rushed onto the stage and kicked me hard enough to knock me down.

Melody shielded Terrence behind her and glared at me with open hatred. "Anthony, what are you doing here? Have you lost your mind?"

"Mr. Sorloth, why would you ruin my speech?" Terrence broke down sobbing.

Then he suddenly dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together. "I'll go die right now. Please, I'm begging you to let me go. I really can't take this anymore!"

I didn't miss the flash of satisfaction in Terrence's eyes. With his eyes red from crying, he stumbled toward the rooftop.

By the time Melody caught up with him, Terrence was already standing outside the railing. His body swayed precariously, as though he might fall at any moment.

"Terry, don't do anything reckless. As long as I'm here, we can work anything out."

Two lines of tears slid down Terrence's face and made him look utterly broken and pitiful. "Ms. Harper, I have no other way out. He's driving me insane. I already come from a poor family, and now I have to deal with people bullying me like this, too. I really don't want to live anymore."

From the crowd, I let out a cold laugh. "Then jump!"

A vicious slap struck me across the face.

Melody's expression darkened. "Anthony, shut up! Are you trying to drive him to his death?"

She grabbed me by the hair and dragged me in front of Terrence. "Kneel in front of Terry and apologize right now. Promise him you won't lose your mind like this again."

I wrenched her hand away. "Keep dreaming!"

Melody pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. Security footage from the funeral home appeared before me, and I saw my mother's body on the screen.

She stared at me, her tone leaving no room for argument. "I'll give you 10 seconds. If you don't kneel, I'll have someone bring your mother's body here and make her kneel in your place."

I stared at her in disbelief and searched her eyes for even the slightest trace of hesitation.

There was none. She simply began counting down, calm as a machine. "Five. Four..."

Then I watched as they actually dragged my mother's body out and dropped her onto the ground.

I couldn't hold out any longer. I dropped to my knees in front of Terrence. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I won't ever do it again..."

A flash of triumph crossed Terrence's eyes. He glanced timidly at Melody. "Ms. Harper, I don't think he means it."

The moment he said that, Melody grabbed my head and slammed it against the ground. Warm blood streamed down my face.

She leaned close to my ear and murmured an explanation. "Just bear with it, honey. We'll worry about everything else once we've talked Terrence down."

Only after I had bowed all the way to the ground 99 times did Terrence finally come down from the rooftop and pull Melody into his arms.

He shot me a defiant look.

Unexpectedly, the very next instant, a swarm of police officers rushed in and slapped handcuffs on both of them!