Chapter 3 The Life They Destroyed

Gareth was furious when he saw this. He took two steps forward, intending to pull Willow to her feet.

But Willow remained on her knees.

Gareth clenched his jaw and turned to me.

"Orson, Willow gave up on you back then because she was trying to save me. She's married to me now. But if you can forgive her, I'll divorce Willow. I'll step aside and let the two of you have each other."

He lowered his head, looking deeply unwilling to accept it.

And just like that, the two people who had destroyed my life were standing before me.

Aveline finally lost her temper. "Orson, how much longer are you going to keep this up? Willow's already on her knees, and Gareth is willing to divorce her. What more do you want?"

I found the whole thing absurd.

Was Willow kneeling really worth that much? Could it make up for the three years I'd lost and my mother's life?

Back in my senior year of high school, Willow had changed my college applications three times.

The strain eventually became too much for my mother, and she fell seriously ill and was hospitalized.

Feeling guilty, Willow spent some time trying to comfort me.

But when Gareth saw her by my side, he couldn't stand it. He took videos of himself sleeping with Willow and used them to provoke my mother.

"If it weren't for the fact that you're sick, why would Willow ever come back to your son? Your whole family is pathetic. All you know how to do is play the victim and try to steal someone else's woman. Let me tell you something: that future daughter-in-law you're so fond of? She's already slept with me."

The moment he finished speaking, my mother suffered a sudden attack.

Doctors and nurses rushed into the room.

Gareth wanted to destroy the evidence and make sure he could get away, so he set fire to the hospital room.

I fought my way inside, but I still couldn't save my mother.

After I called the police, they arrested me instead.

Willow had accused me of starting the fire to protect Gareth.

Thrice, she changed my college applications for Gareth and brushed it off as a joke.

The last time, I had finally managed to get into Veridia University. But Willow had once again protected Gareth, accusing me of killing my mother and leaving me behind bars.

When she came to visit me, I screamed at her, demanding to know why she'd done it.

Willow only looked at me, her expression torn.

"Orson, you've already repeated your senior year three times. A little more time won't make much difference. And your grades are good. But Gareth can't afford that. He can't afford to carry the blame for murder. If he does, his whole life will be ruined."

"What about me? What about my life? What about my mother's life?" I screamed until my eyes burned.

Willow only looked at me guiltily. "I'll make it up to you, Orson. I'll have plenty of money someday. You won't have to work. I'll support you, even if you end up an ex-con."

I felt all the strength drain out of me.

Willow had planned everything from the beginning.

She wanted me to take the blame for Gareth and watch the man who killed my mother walk free. Meanwhile, her compensation for me was nothing more than promising to support me.

In the end, the police released me since they didn't have enough evidence.

But my life had already been destroyed. I was expelled from school, and my mother was dead.

Willow and Gareth had vanished without a trace. Everyone turned against me and treated me like I was worthless.

Desperate and with nothing left to lose, I used every means I could to lure Gareth to my house.

He hadn't changed a bit. The moment he saw me, he burst out laughing.

"Orson, look at you. You're a pathetic mess. You know what? When your mother died, she looked at me with the exact same expression you're giving me now."

Gareth laughed mockingly as he spoke.

Then, he pulled out photo after photo of himself with Willow, along with videos, and shoved them in front of me.

"The woman you've been trying to woo all these years? It took me only a month to get her into bed. And let me tell you, she's pretty damn good. Even after I set fire to your mother's room and killed her, she helped to cover my tracks.

"Too bad you weren't lucky enough to enjoy any of that. You spent all those years kissing her ass, and you couldn't even protect your own mother."

Gareth put on a feigned look of sympathy.

I finally snapped.

My face twisted with rage as I lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat. "Gareth! You're going to pay for this with your life!"