Chapter 4

Cody's body convulsed with agony, but he was pinned down so firmly that he couldn't move an inch. The hellish torment dragged on for what felt like an eternity until the word "Jennifer" was finally carved into his scarred, battered back.

The burly men then packed up their tools and left, abandoning Cody on the floor like a heap of trash.

In a daze, the scene before his eyes shifted.

He felt as though he had returned home. He was back in his own small bedroom.

A lush parasol tree stood grandly outside the window, its interlacing branches obscuring a portion of the sky. From beneath the tree came the cheerful voices of his parents, Dominic and Selena Hooper, calling out to him.

"Cody! We're making homemade burgers for you and Jennifer today! Come out and give us a hand!"

Cody reached out instinctively toward them. "Mom… Dad…"

"Still calling for your Mommy and your Daddy?" Anna asked as she entered to clean the room. She sneered as she looked down on him and said, "Take a look at yourself. What kind of parents would ever acknowledge a homewrecker for a son?"

Her voice snapped Cody back to reality, and he stared blankly at his own hands, suddenly remembering that he had lost his home long ago. Everything he'd just seen was nothing more than a hallucination.

His inflamed wounds burned with searing pain. In a hoarse voice, he pleaded with Anna, "Could you please ask Dr. Rogers to come over?"

Anna's expression turned even more contemptuous. "Do you think this is a soap opera? You think you get to play the victim here just for fun?

"Dr. Rogers is with Mr. Sweeney right now. If you've got the nerve, why don't you ask Ms. Harvey to summon him over yourself?"

Anna always took Titus' side whenever she could, and Cody had long grown accustomed to it. Years ago, he might have argued back, but now he simply fell silent.

Forcing himself up, he made his way back to his own bedroom.

There was no point in looking for Jennifer anyway. He'd known for a long time that Titus would always come first, and he always last.

Gritting his teeth, Cody managed to apply some medicine to his wounds, but by the next morning, he was burning with a high fever.

He lay in bed and moaned weakly, "W-Water…"

Ice-cold water splashed across his face. The water went inside his nose and throat, and he bolted upright, seized by a fit of coughing and choking.

Jennifer set down the glass and rolled her eyes. "You can stop the act. I had the doctor check on you while you were asleep. You're perfectly fine.

"I've been more than good to you, Cody. I've given you everything—except for marriage. I honestly don't understand what you're trying to pull. Is marrying into the Harvey family the only way you'll ever be satisfied?"

Cody's lips curled into a faint, bitter smile. "That's right.

"Didn't you say I only cared about money, Ms. Harvey? Becoming your husband is the only way I could get an endless supply of it."

"You're a disgrace to your parents," Jennifer remarked with a sneer. Yet, seeing his frail, gaunt frame, her resolve softened. "Fine, I'll pay you more. Get up and come out with me now."

Though his temples still throbbed with a sharp, needle-like pain, Cody didn't refuse and got up.

Jennifer wasn't entirely wrong. His every thought and focus was now consumed by the need to scrape together more money for Cayo's treatment.

However, Cody hadn't expected her to bring him to the Strawford University annual gala.

Amidst the elegant crowd in the banquet hall, a familiar figure caught his eye. His eyes widened, and he instinctively took a half-step forward. "Professor—"

"Professor Johnson!"

Titus walked in, brushing past him, and stepped forward to embrace Clint Johnson with effortless, poised grace.

Clint smiled, pulled him over, and introduced him to his friends. "Everyone, this is Ms. Harvey's husband, Titus Sweeney—also my favorite student!"

Titus' eyes flickered as he cast a smug glance at Cody. "But Professor, didn't you once say that Cody Lawson was your favorite student? As it happens, he's here too. You two—"

Clint's expression darkened. "Cody Lawson? So many people fight tooth and nail to get into Strawford University, and yet, he chose to drop out just to live the life of a hooker and even ruin your marriage… The one thing I regret the most is having been so good to him back then!"

"Let's not talk about him anymore. You're scheduled to give a speech as an outstanding alumnus today, aren't you?"

Cody had thought his heart had long since gone numb and cold, but at this moment, he froze in place, his eyes stinging with tears.

Jennifer had brought him along to help him clear his head. However, when she saw his reaction, she assumed he was simply jealous of Titus, who was about to take the stage.

She warned, "Titus earned his degree through his own hard work. You're different from him. Don't you ever wish for the kind of treatment he gets."

But that wasn't it.

Cody's mind drifted back to the year he attended the Strawford University orientation dance. Jennifer had come along with him, too, wearing a mask, and she had invited him to dance.

Back then, Clint had pointed at him and said to his colleagues with a touch of pride, "That's him, Cody Lawson, the most brilliant student I've ever taught. I wonder who that young lady in the mask is? She's certainly a lucky one…"

Cody, too, had once known such bright, triumphant, and carefree days. But it was all in the past now.

Forcing himself to pull away from the memory, Cody said in a low, meek voice, "I understand."

Just then, the projection screen behind Titus on the stage flickered, and a video began to play.

A woman appeared onscreen, pinned down by over a dozen men. Her desperate cries and pleas for mercy echoed through the room, plunging the entire banquet hall into a deathly silence.

Cody shuddered violently and looked up.

The woman in the video was Selena, his mother!