Chapter 3

My blood seemed to freeze in an instant.

It was over.

I had forgotten.

William was my best friend, the one I entrusted with the spare key to my office.

The moment the door opened, William grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the wall.

I tried desperately to protect my hair, but he drove his knee into my stomach. Pain flashed through me, and my vision went dark.

“Trying to hide now?” His thick fingers tangled in my hair and tore out a fistful. “If you’re innocent, what are you so afraid of?”

A searing pain tore across my scalp. I watched him shove the clump of hair, streaked with blood, into a sealed bag, and felt as though I had fallen into an ice pit.

I lunged at him like a madman. My fingertips had barely brushed the edge of the plastic bag when William twisted my arm behind my back and forced me to the floor.

“Now you’re scared? Why didn’t you think about the consequences when you got eighteen women pregnant?”

I struggled with everything I had, but could only watch helplessly as he tucked the sealed bag into his jacket.

The more William cursed, the angrier he became. Then he grabbed a solid wood chair nearby and swung it toward the back of my head.

Just as all hope left me, familiar footsteps sounded at the door.

“Mom! Dad! Please, save me!”

My mother stumbled inside and shoved William away in a frenzy. “Stop it! Who gave you the right to hit my son like this?”

My father rushed in behind her, his face livid as he stepped in front of me. “Can’t this be discussed properly? Did you have to resort to violence?”

William panted heavily and held up the sealed bag. “Sir, ma’am, ask him what he did! He got eighteen young women pregnant! Those poor girls are threatening to jump off a building and kill themselves!

“One test will settle whether he did it or not. If he’s been wronged, I, William Lee, will be the first to get on my knees and apologize!”

“No!” I fought desperately to pull away. “This is a trap!”

My mother seized my arm, tears streaming down her face. “Daniel, I believe you’re innocent. Let’s do the test. I’ll wait for the results with you.”

My father, his eyes red, had already grabbed my other arm. “You’re taking that test today, whether you want to or not! The Cooper family will not bear this kind of disgrace!”

They dragged me away between them.

As the blood-streaked lock of hair was fed into the testing machine, my mother held my hand tightly and told me, “I believe you.”

Then the screen flashed:

[Probability of Paternity: 99.9999%]

My parents’ eyes turned cold at once.

My heart felt as though it was plunged into an icy ocean.

The result was exactly the same as in my previous life, extinguishing my last sliver of hope.

“You disgraceful bastard!” My father slapped me so hard that I crashed into the wall. “There’s no place in the Cooper family for a coward who does the deed but refuses to own it!”

My mother snatched up her handbag and smashed it against me. “You’ve ruined the lives of eighteen young women! How could I have given birth to a beast like you?”

“Dad! Mom! Wake up!” I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

“How could I possibly have gotten eighteen women pregnant at the same time? For the past five years, I came home on time every day. Sarah was the only woman in my heart!”

“You ungrateful bastard!” My father grabbed a heavy paperweight from the desk and hurled it at me. I could not dodge in time. It struck my shoulder, and I sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.

“All eighteen of their medical reports are right here. The evidence is undeniable, and you still dare to deny it?”

My mother lunged at me, sobbing as she hit me.

“The Cooper family has always been respectable! How could we have raised a beast who does something so shameful and refuses to own it? You’ve humiliated us beyond repair!”

Still crying, she clawed at my face, leaving burning streaks of blood.

That only made my father angrier. He pulled off his belt and lashed it across me. “If I don’t beat some sense into you today, I don’t deserve to call myself your father!”

The belt cracked dully against my back. Curled up in the corner, I had nowhere to run.

My mother grabbed a mop and joined in. “This is what you get for sleeping around! For refusing to take responsibility! How are we supposed to face Sarah’s family?”

The mop handle slammed hard against my spine. Yet even that pain could not compare to the chill in my heart.

Again...

The moment that absurd test report came out, everyone turned into strangers driven mad.

I endured the pain and roared, “What has gotten into you? You’d rather believe that damned report than your own son?”

“You’re still denying it?” My father kicked me in the stomach. “The test results are right there in black and white, yet you expect us to believe your lies instead?”

My mother swung the mop handle viciously at my legs. “One test wasn’t enough for you? You want a second one now? You’re just too scared to admit the truth!”

“It’s not that I’m scared to admit it!” I curled up on the floor, shielding my head. “I want the truth! There has to be something wrong with that report!”

“The truth?” My father grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the floor. “Eighteen pregnant women are the truth!”

I did not know how long it lasted before they finally grew tired of hitting me. Then they turned to Sarah.

“Sarah, we support you. Make this beast leave with nothing. The house, the cars, the savings—everything goes to you.”