Chapter 2

When Cornelius saw Dorian arrive, the smile faded from his face, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He had warned his daughter more than once to keep her distance from Dorian, but she clearly had not listened.

Since this was his own birthday party, he did not want to make a scene. He simply kept his expression stony and said nothing.

Jacob's mother-in-law, Katherine Lennon, lit up with satisfaction when she saw Dorian. She had always felt that Jacob was not good enough for her daughter. In her eyes, a man like Dorian was the perfect son-in-law.

With everyone watching, Dorian opened the gift box before the crowd. Inside was a limited-edition Patek Philippe watch worth several thousand dollars.

The guests around him let out a collective gasp.

"Wow!"

"Mr. Blackwood really doesn't hold back."

"Mandy, you're really fortunate to have such a good friend."

Amid the flattery, Dorian smiled, though there was an edge to it.

His gaze swept past Amanda and settled on Jacob nearby. "Mr. Guldner, something like this is just a vulgar material possession. Anyone can buy one if they have the money."

He paused, then deliberately emphasized his next words. "It can't compare to something Jake made with his own two hands. That's real art, filled with genuine feeling."

He placed particular emphasis on "made with his own two hands."

The crowd burst into laughter again, and they looked at Jacob with undisguised contempt.

Amanda gazed at Dorian with open admiration and a trace of guilt she could not quite hide. She failed to notice how dark Jacob's expression had become.

When they took their seats, Amanda pulled Dorian into the chair on her left, while Jacob sat on her right.

Throughout the party, Amanda and Dorian talked and laughed in low voices as if no one else were there. They traded funny stories from the office and chatted about their shared interests, as though the two of them belonged to a world entirely their own.

Jacob sat beside them and listened to their easy laughter, his heart sinking lower with every passing moment. He silently lifted his glass and drank one after another, alone with his gloom.

At one point, Dorian raised his glass across Amanda and toasted Jacob. "Jake, there's been a misunderstanding. Mandy and I only ever talk about work. You really shouldn't be jealous."

Jacob held his glass without moving and stared at him coldly.

The atmosphere froze instantly.

Amanda's expression turned icy, and she shot Jacob a reproachful look.

She thought Jacob had no manners at all. Dorian had kindly offered him a toast, and this was how he responded?

He was humiliating her in front of everyone.

She picked up her own glass and clinked it against Dorian's. After taking a drink, she said, "Ignore him. He's getting pettier by the day."

Dorian merely smiled and shook his head as if it were nothing.

Jacob sat beside them and seethed, but this was his father-in-law's birthday, so he swallowed his anger. Still, he knew that with Dorian here, tonight's dinner would not end peacefully.

The party grew livelier as the night went on, while Jacob's expression grew steadily darker. He could only sit there and watch his wife and Dorian become increasingly affectionate with each other.

Dorian told a joke, and Amanda laughed so hard she doubled over, her shoulder brushing against his more than once.

When a drop of sauce landed at the corner of Amanda's mouth, Dorian pulled out a tissue and gently wiped it away.

"Thank you." Amanda accepted the gesture without a second thought.

She paid no attention to Jacob on her other side.

At the head table, Cornelius saw everything, and his expression darkened by the moment. He gave a heavy, pointed cough in hopes of reminding his daughter to mind herself.

Amanda seemed to sense her father's displeasure and glanced at him. But she quickly turned back to Dorian and resumed their conversation, though she restrained herself a little.

Jacob said nothing. He simply picked up the bottle of whiskey from the table, poured himself a full glass, and tossed it back. Then he poured another and did the same. But no matter how much he drank, the fire in his chest only burned hotter.

"Jake, drink less. It's bad for you," Amanda said with a frown. At last, she spared him a glance.

She thought Jacob looked pathetic, sitting there with nothing better to do than drink like some common drunk.

Just then, Dorian rose with his wineglass in hand. He walked straight over to Jacob and rested his right hand on his shoulder.

"Jake, I know you're upset and that you have some kind of misunderstanding about me." Dorian's tone sounded utterly sincere. "How about this? One of these days, I'll treat you to a drink. Just the two of us. We can straighten things out. What do you say?"

The scent of Dorian's cologne hit Jacob's nose, and his stomach churned.

"Take your hand off me." Jacob's voice was icy as he fought to restrain his fury.

Instead of pulling his hand away, Dorian patted his shoulder again. "Hey, Jake, what's this now? A man should have a bigger heart than this. Mandy is a kind person. I helped her once, so it's only natural that she's good to me."

Jacob could not hold back any longer. He jerked his shoulder hard to throw off Dorian's hand, but his arm brushed against Dorian's left arm.

"Ah!" Dorian let out a short, muffled grunt, and his face went pale as paper for an instant.

But he recovered quickly. His smile snapped back into place a moment later as if nothing had happened, though it looked as if he were forcing himself to endure the pain.

No one at the table noticed.

Then Dorian leaned close to Jacob's ear and said in a low, cold voice, "Jake, I heard your mother is in the hospital. That's an expensive place to be. You really shouldn't let the old woman leave too soon."

Something snapped inside Jacob.

His adoptive mother was the one person he could not bear to have anyone threaten, the most important person in his world. He could endure the mockery for living off his wife or his wife's indifference, but he could never tolerate anyone insulting his sick mother.

Jacob's eyes instantly turned red. Whatever reason and restraint he had left crumbled in that moment. "Go to hell!"

Jacob surged to his feet. All the fury he had suppressed that night, along with everything he had endured over the past two years, poured into his fist.

With everything he had, he drove it into Dorian's hypocritical face.

A dull, heavy thud rang out.

"Ahh!" Dorian screamed as the blow sent him sprawling backward.

As he fell, he instinctively braced himself against the floor with his left hand.

A sharp, clean crack followed. The sound of bone snapping echoed with terrible clarity through the suddenly silent banquet hall.

Dorian screamed again. He clutched his left wrist and writhed on the floor in agony. Veins bulged across his forehead, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his shirt.

"Dorian!" Amanda screamed and rushed over to help him.

The moment she saw the unnatural angle of his wrist, her heart clenched. She spun toward Jacob, her eyes red with fury.

"Jacob, have you lost your mind? Do you know his hand was already injured? Do you know that punch just ruined it for good?"

The entire hall erupted. Everyone rose from their seats and stared at the scene in shock.

After a brief, stunned silence, the guests began pointing at Jacob and murmuring among themselves.

"What is wrong with this man? Starting a fight at his own father-in-law's birthday party?"

"How savage! He's an absolute animal!"

"I saw the whole thing. Dorian kindly offered him a toast, and he just attacked him. Some people don't know when they're being treated well."

"How can someone like that even be allowed into the Guldner family? He has no manners at all."

Jacob stood frozen, his heart turning to ice. His wife knelt on the floor and cradled another man with such tenderness. All around him, the guests pointed and whispered, their faces full of contempt. It felt as if the whole world had cast him out.

He opened his mouth. He wanted to explain, to tell everyone that Dorian had insulted his mother first.

Before he could utter a word, a palm flew toward his face.