Chapter 4

The moment I called for his mother, Mark panicked.

Alice Jefferson walked out. Her confused gaze shifted between the two of us before finally stopping on me.

She immediately stepped forward respectfully.

I looked at Cindy and sneered.

"Explain to her who the real heir of the Gunther family is, won't you?"

Alice answered without hesitation.

"Of course it's you."

Mark suddenly raised his voice and interrupted her. With a thud, he dropped to his knees in front of me.

"We grew up together. Why do we have to make things this ugly?

"Cindy fell in love with me. Is that really my fault?

"I'm kneeling in front of you now. Isn't that enough?"

Alice's brows furrowed. She clenched her fists.

Before I could react, she forcefully pinned me to the ground.

"You ungrateful child! How dare you make the heir kneel!"

I stared at her in disbelief, but the sharp pain from my knees reminded me this wasn't a nightmare.

Mark secretly sighed in relief.

Cindy couldn't help but laugh.

"Jason, don't think that just because you carry the Gunther family name, you're really the heir.

"Mark is the only son of the Gunther family. Not only has he treated you like a real brother, he also paid for your education and supported you all these years.

"You shouldn't be so ungrateful!"

She walked up to me and crouched down before lowering her voice.

"I received the Gunther Group job offer a few days ago. Mark arranged it for me.

"If you stop causing trouble, I promise you that after Mark and I get married, I'll keep you around.

"I can give you everything except for the title of being my husband!"

I endured the pain and looked up at her.

Was this the woman I had loved for four years?

I remembered when we had just started dating. She once held me tightly and promised seriously, "Jason, after graduating, we'll work hard and build a beautiful future together!"

Now, for the so-called Gunther family's heir, she had abandoned me without hesitation.

I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"Keep dreaming!"

Cindy's expression instantly darkened.

It was as if she had already imagined herself as the future mistress of the Gunther family. She turned to face Alice.

"Mrs. Jefferson, right?

"Even if he and the Gunther family's heir are close like brothers, there still needs to be a distinction between master and servant!

"If you don't punish him a little and make him understand his place, he'll keep hurting Mark without limits."

Mark looked conflicted. He stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

"That's not necessary–"

Cindy patted his hand gently.

"The Gunther family will belong to you in the future. You're too kind. I'm just teaching you how to manage the household."

Watching the two of them act so arrogantly, I only felt disgusted.

"You've acted this role for so long that you've started believing it yourself.

"Mark, you know exactly who you really are!"

The hesitation in his eyes disappeared. He looked at me with hatred and resentment.

He turned to Alice and shouted.

"What are you waiting for?

"Take him outside and make him kneel in the yard. Don't let him get up until he apologizes."

Alice wanted to stop him, but in the end, her gaze darkened and she called over the maids.

Under her pressure, the maids hesitantly stepped forward and forced me onto the hard stone ground in the yard.

Mark walked over and patted my face. The look in his eyes was full of hostility.

It was a side of him I had never seen before.

"Jason, look. Now I'm the one in charge of the Gunther family.

"Tell me, if I kill you here, after everything we've been through, do you think Mr. Gunther would take me in as his adopted son?

"Wouldn't I finally become the real heir of the Gunther family?"

The blazing sun burned against my skin. My knees felt like they were pressed against a furnace.

I glared at him furiously.

"Mark, you wouldn't dare."

He slapped me hard across the face.

"I'm sick of living off your charity.

"We were both born human. The only difference is that you had a powerful dad. I won't accept that. I won't–"

He slapped me again and again. Each sla[ was harder than the one before.

His punches and kicks landed on me without holding back.

He wanted nothing more than to beat me to death right there.

As my vision blurred, I thought I heard Katie's voice.

"What are you doing?"

Then came Mark's scream.