Chapter 2

Tears filled Dad's eyes as he gripped my hand.

"Eli, what's going on? Didn't Victoria promise she wouldn't tear down the old house until after I died? Why did they suddenly decide to tear it down without even telling me?"

Then I got a notification on my phone. Ten million dollars had been deposited into my account with the remark "demolition compensation".

My eyes widened. That amount was far beyond the normal compensation. As the person in charge of the demolition project in this area, Victoria was the only one who could've approved such an exorbitant payout.

Sure enough, a message from her came through.

"Received the compensation yet? I know you're angry at me, so you refuse to take my money. Use this money to treat your dad instead."

I called her up at once. "Victoria! My dad is fine, so tell the crew to stop!"

But Victoria laughed and retorted, "You wouldn't be this mad at me if your dad's fine, Eli. The only way you can't return the money to me is if I make it compensation for the demolition. Just take it. As for the extra, just consider it my way of making it up to you for not informing you first."

"Victoria!" I shouted, but she dropped the call on me.

But just before the call ended, I heard her say to someone else, "That husband of mine is stubborn. Use extreme measures if necessary."

"Victoria! You can't do this…"

I kept trying to call her, but Dad suddenly shouted, "Stop! You can't demolish the house!"

He lunged toward the house, trying to retrieve Mom's memorial portrait. But the foreman grabbed him and shoved him violently to the ground.

Dad was old, and his bones were already fragile. After being thrown down like that, he couldn't even get up anymore.

"Dad!" I shouted.

The foreman didn't even spare Dad a glance.

"Ignore the old bastard. Ms. Richards said we can resort to extreme measures if we must. This row of dilapidated dumps has to be completely demolished today!"

"No, you can't! My wife's things are still inside… You can't tear it down…"

Dad stretched out a trembling hand, trying to stop them, but he was nearly struck by a falling brick. I threw myself over him and shielded him from it, my shouts swallowed by the clouds of dust.

"Stop! This is an illegal demolition! Stop!"

The moment the house finally collapsed, Dad's breathing suddenly hitched. He slumped onto the ground, going limp.

…

Fortunately, it wasn't a heart attack. Dad only passed out from the emotional distress. However, he had several broken bones and needed to recuperate for some time, so I brought him back to my house.

I was sitting beside his bed when Victoria showed up. She took one look at Dad and gave me an exasperated smile. "You said your dad was fine. You call this fine?"

Gritting my teeth, I snapped, "He only ended up like this because you demolished the house without permission!"

She shook her head, finding it absurd. "If that's the case, why were you so desperate to get money from me before? You threw such a huge tantrum at me over a measly five million dollars!"

"Victoria Richards!" I ground my teeth so hard that they felt like they might crack. "I already told you that it was your dad who died! My dad only came over to help take care of him!"

The smile faded from Victoria's face. "Eli, no matter what kind of fight we get into, you shouldn't be dragging my dad into it and joking around with his life like that! He has always been nothing but kind to you!"

I knew there was no point trying to explain the truth to her, so I simply ignored her.

She made a few more attempts to appease me, but when none of it worked, she left me alone.

But as she was leaving, something caught her eye—a framed portrait lying face down on the table. Curious, she picked it up, and her face instantly darkened.

"Eli Jamison!"

She threw the memorial portrait onto the floor, shattering it. Without caring that Dad was still asleep on the bed, she grabbed me and put me in a chokehold.

"How dare you make a funeral portrait of my dad! Are you that eager for him to die?"

She was choking me so hard that I could barely breathe.