Chapter 3

Jonas took off his blood-stained jacket and carefully gathered the ashes onto it. He wrapped them up and looked at Erica.

"He's your brother. How could you do this?"

"Well, he made Mr. Lane sick," Erica said nonchalantly. "He was annoying when he was alive. Even after he died, he was still causing trouble for others. He deserves it!"

Jonas slapped her.

"Am I wrong?" Erica clutched her face. "Why did you come back? If you hadn't, Mr. Lane would be my dad!"

Jonas raised his hand again, only to let it fall limply to his side.

How could he have forgotten? Erica was just as cold-blooded as Serena.

Jonas had stood by Serena as they built her business from the ground up. To raise the money she needed to get started, he had worked five jobs a day and slept only four hours a night. To secure projects for her, he had gone days without sleep.

After years of pushing himself too hard, he had been diagnosed with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy not long after George was born. Every time it flared up, his heart felt like it was being clenched and torn apart over and over, leaving him in unbearable pain.

The doctor said medication could keep his condition under control, but he'd need a heart transplant to recover.

Serena went all out to find a suitable heart for Jonas.

Three years later, when she heard a suitable donor had been found in a small town, she immediately put aside a contract worth hundreds of millions and went there herself.

But two weeks later, she brought Henry back with her and said, "Jonas, Henry saved me in town."

When Henry, who had only graduated middle school, said he wanted to become a doctor, Serena arranged for him to work at one of the hospitals under her group, where he interned under Jonas' father, Richard Black.

Six months later, on George's third birthday, fireworks lit up the entire city all night, but they were actually a celebration for Henry securing a permanent position after his internship.

Serena went to Jonas and said, "The donor has already passed away. But Henry has just been made a permanent employee. He needs a major success story to establish himself at the hospital. You've had that heart condition for years, so you should be used to the pain by now. I'll find you another heart next time."

And so, the heart that Jonas had waited three and a half years for was given to Henry so they could fabricate a medical record of a heart transplant.

Because of this, Henry became a so-called genius attending physician at the hospital. He only had to show up for work and never had to see patients.

Jonas' heart condition flared up again on the day Richard was killed by a patient's family in a dispute at the hospital.

Everyone online thought Richard had it coming because the hospital statement claimed that he had been drunk during surgery, which had caused the operation to fail and the patient to die.

But Richard wasn't a drinker.

When Jonas went to confront Serena, he overheard her talking to her assistant, Matt Dunn.

"Henry only wanted to prove himself by performing that surgery. But he did intern under Richard, so Richard was practically his mentor. The patient's family wasn't wrong to take revenge on him. Besides, it's Richard's fault for reporting Henry. Get these stories trending, and make sure there's no trace of Henry's involvement in that surgery."

Jonas' blood ran cold. He barged in and demanded that Serena tell the truth, wanting to clear Richard's name.

But she said that Richard was already dead, so he might as well take the blame for Henry. That way, his death wouldn't be in vain.

Jonas vowed to make Henry pay, but Serena just confiscated his phone and locked him inside the house.

It was then that Jonas realized that the girl who used to be deeply in love with him was long gone.

A few days later, George suddenly came down with a high fever. Jonas begged Serena to take their son to the hospital, but she assumed he was lying.

"Kids get fevers all the time. Just give him some fever medicine. It's Henry's birthday today. I can't let anything go wrong."

In desperation, Jonas carried George in his arms, grabbed a knife, and forced his way out. He had just reached the highway when an excruciating pain burst out from his chest. He used the last of his strength to hold George tightly before he collapsed.

And just like that, his son died in his arms from an airway obstruction.

On the day of George's funeral, Henry was kidnapped and nearly drowned. He insisted that Jonas was the mastermind behind it.

When Jonas refused to admit it, Serena, in a fit of anger, took him out on a boat and threatened to throw him into the sea to feed the fish.

That night, the six-year-old Erica went to see Jonas. "Daddy, Mommy said, as long as you kneel and apologize to Mr. Lane, she won't throw you into the sea."

He looked at her. "What do you want me to do?"

She tilted her head and asked, "Daddy, if they feed you to the fish, will you come back?"

"No," Jonas replied.

Erica smiled, her eyes full of hope. "Then I hope you'll go. Mr. Lane will be my new daddy. He's way better than you!"

The last thread holding Jonas together finally snapped.

"Okay."

Then he threw himself into the sea, died, and returned to his original world.

…

"Erica did it because of me. Don't hit her. If you must, come at me!" Henry shielded Erica protectively. His voice pulled Jonas out of his memories.

Serena immediately stepped in front of Henry. "This is all George's fault."

"Yeah!" Erica said, "Mr. Lane is the best. I wish you were my dad."

As she spoke, she took out a protective charm and put it in Henry's hand. "Take this. It will keep you safe and sound."

Jonas' eyes landed on the charm.

He had gotten it for Erica when she was three and seriously ill. He'd climbed over 1,000 steps on his knees, praying for her safety.

Watching the three of them acting like a family, Jonas laughed. "Fine, since you like him so much, he'll be your dad from now on."