Chapter 3

I originally wanted to give that marriage a dignified ending.

However, that night, Suzanna held a press conference.

Facing countless cameras, she spoke with complete confidence.

“Eric and I truly love each other. Shane forced me to marry him. I earned my position through my own abilities. However, when I tried to save someone, Shane cared more about my virginity than a human life. He even tried to pressure me into becoming nothing more than a baby‑making machine. I am an independent woman. Why should I be treated like this?”

In an instant, I became the so‑called homewrecker in her relationship with Eric.

The two of them turned into tragic lovers in the public’s eyes, a couple torn apart by fate.

Online opinion became one‑sided.

Everyone supported Suzanna.

The insults aimed at me grew worse.

Some extremists gathered outside the Charlton estate. They splashed red paint across the walls and sprayed large black words on the front gates:

“Trash, get out.”

I did not want to respond. However, Suzanna came to find me first.

“Shane, I only said those things so people would stop attacking Eric. However, you spread rumors online calling him a shameless bastard. Eric was bullied so badly that he ran away from home. Are you happy now?”

She suddenly turned on a nationwide livestream and shoved the camera toward me.

“Apologize to Eric right now. Admit you are the third party in our relationship. Promise that you will never interfere with us again, then beg him to come back.”

The entire situation was absurd. I pushed her away.

“You cheated. I did nothing. Why should I apologize?”

I was about to throw her out when she sneered and shoved her phone in front of my face.

The moment I saw the screen, all the blood drained from my body.

My mother hung above a rapidly spinning industrial grinder.

“You have always been petty and vicious. If you did not spread those rumors, then who did? Shane, if you do not apologize, your mother will be ground into pieces because of you.”

I watched in horror as the rope slowly lowered her closer to the blades.

My eyes burned.

“I did not do it. If you want revenge, come after me. Let my mother go.”

Suzanna refused to believe me. She grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the floor.

Blood splattered across the ground. Pain exploded through my skull, and my vision darkened.

Even then, I gritted my teeth and did not fight back. I feared that if Suzanna lost control, she would truly harm my mother.

“Shane, if you refuse to do as I say, I will make you watch your mother suffer a fate worse than death.”

That sentence shattered the last of my dignity. My body stiffened as I lowered my head in front of the livestream camera.

“I was wrong. The Charlton family was wrong. We threw our weight around and acted shamelessly.”

Only after I apologized did her men bring Eric back.

Suzanna rushed to him and checked him from head to toe. When she confirmed he was unharmed, she relaxed.

Then she turned toward me with impatience.

“Enough. If you had done this from the start, things would not have become so ugly. Why did you insist on acting so pathetic?”

She reached toward me when she noticed how pale I looked. Eric stepped forward first and whispered into my ear with a smug tone.

“I disappeared on purpose. I wanted to test how much Suzanna cared about me. Shane, the woman you treasured for five years loves me so much she has gone crazy for me. Being a man like you is worse than death.”

He pointed the livestream camera at me with a grin.

“Tell everyone. Does it still bother you that Suzanna gave me her first time? That she wants to have my child and make you the second dad?”

My chest felt as if it were being cut open.

For my mother’s sake, I swallowed every ounce of humiliation and forced myself to speak.

“You can do whatever you want. I do not care anymore.”

The livestream comments exploded with mocking messages.

Only then did Suzanna tell me where my mother was.

When I found her, she hung less than an inch above the spinning blades, trembling and sobbing.

I rushed toward the machine and tried to stop it, only to realize the controls were locked with a password.

Panicked, I called Suzanna. She responded with impatience.

“I was only scaring you. The grinder is a prop. It will stop on its own in a minute. Shane, stop overreacting and come back to cook. Eric loves your cooking.”

Before I could reply, she hung up.

A second later, the rope snapped.

My mother screamed as she fell. I lunged forward, trying to shield her with my own body.

I was too late.

My mother died right before my eyes. A broken scream tore from my throat.

“Mom!”

The flesh on my hands was shredded.

Even that pain was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

Memories of all the sweet moments I once shared with Suzanna flashed through my mind.

Regret and hatred twisted inside me until I coughed up blood and collapsed.

As my consciousness faded, I whispered,

“Suzanna, from this moment on, we mean nothing to each other anymore.”