Chapter 4

Matthew's POV

I suppressed my anger and painstakingly recounted, word by word, the entire process of how Janice and I met and got married, in the comments section.

The memories that once brought a smile to my face now felt like sharp knives digging into my chest. The thought that she'd been lying to me the whole time, despite creating these beautiful memories with me, just made me grind my teeth in anger.

I'd just typed out the last word and hadn't even managed to press the "post" button when I suddenly realized that my account had been temporarily suspended.

Then, I received a text message from Janice.

"Saul's emotions are unstable right now. Just ignore all the things he's saying on social media. Take it as him just venting his frustrations."

After that, I received a notification from my bank app, telling me that I'd just received 100 thousand dollars in my account.

"The people online will forget about this soon. Just stay at home with Timmy for the time being. My promise still stands as long as you behave yourself. I'll bring you both to live with me after I've taken over the company."

I read her text message and found myself curling my trembling hands into fists.

Back then, I had taken up a part-time job as a bricklayer at a construction site to afford Timmy's formula and accidentally fell from the scaffolding. Yet, I chose to endure the pain by treating myself at a clinic without seeking any reimbursement from the construction company for fear that they would blacklist me entirely from the industry.

My eyes turned red when the attending doctor poured alcohol on my wounds to clean them up, and I couldn't stop the sweat from drenching my clothes.

Janice cried her eyes out and even nearly fainted from shock after learning that I was at risk of permanent disability if I didn't get myself treated at the hospital.

However, after hearing that it would cost a few thousand dollars at most, she still kept up with her poor act and said that she couldn't afford it.

And yet, she had transferred 100 thousand dollars into my account so easily just to keep my mouth shut and appease Saul.

The comment with photos of me and Timmy went viral, and soon, the front door of my apartment was splashed with red paint, sewer water, TP, and even rotten vegetables.

I had no choice but to stay at home with the doors and windows tightly shut and locked for the sake of keeping Timmy safe.

Just as I was desperately waiting for the hate storm to pass, Janice suddenly kicked the front door open and slapped me hard across the face, her eyes bloodshot.

"Matthew Powell! I clearly told you that Saul suffered a brain injury while saving me in the past and couldn't handle any more stress! Are you trying to drive him to his death?"

I ignored the ringing in my ears and looked at her phone screen that she'd shoved before my eyes.

An anonymous account had posted about my relationship with Janice and appealed to the public for help, stating that "I" was being pressured and cyberbullied by Saul.

I widened my eyes in shock. "This wasn't me! Someone else—"

She slapped me again before I could get another word out. "Who else would need to stoop so low to hurt Saul like you? You must pay for your ridiculous behavior!"

She then got Nicole to take Timmy away and told her bodyguard to drag me into her car before forcefully taking me to the hospital. Then, she forced me onto my knees before Saul's hospital bed.

Saul's face was pale.

"You schemed and plotted to get close to my wife and seduce her, and now, you've ruined me like this. Are you finally happy now?"

He wasn't even done speaking when Janice ordered someone to livestream me kneeling by Saul's bedside.

"Apologize publicly to Saul on livestream now, or you will never see Timmy ever again."

I trembled hard as though my strength had been completely drained.

"You're threatening me with our son?"

She looked away, her face grim.

"You owe Saul this."

The corners of my lips tugged upward bitterly. I then faced the livestream, which was already rolling with insulting comments, and said, "My name is Matthew Powell. I never should have repaid Saul's kindness with enmity by seducing his wife.

"I shouldn't have deliberately fabricated lies and spread rumors about him, slandering him on my anonymous account. I apologize to everyone for my actions."

And then, at Janice's signal, I bowed deeply to the camera, on my knees.

When I looked up again, I still saw the malicious comments coming in, but they were all commenting about the previous videos that had supposedly already been removed from the internet years ago.

"So, this jerk actually spread his legs for other people in the past. No wonder he's so shameless now!"

"Yeah, his dad even killed himself too, and he's still trying to be some homewrecker gigolo? This family is nothing but bad luck."

The videos that Janice once removed from the internet had resurfaced again and were now spreading like wildfire. I just stared at her incredulously. Yet, I didn't have the energy to even question her anymore.

"Give me back my son."

When she saw the ashen look on my face, she was stunned for a second. She opened her lips, yet said nothing in the end. Instead, she had Nicole take me to a VIP ward where Timmy was being held captive and locked me in there with him.

…

Third-Person POV

Three days later, she pushed the door open.

"The public opinion is finally under control. As long as you admit your faults, we can still—"

The only thing she saw was a completely empty ward.

At the same time, a text message popped up on her phone, and Janice's expression changed drastically almost immediately.