Chapter 6

A deafening crash of thunder sounded overhead, and a torrential downpour began.

Cody stumbled into the cemetery, only to see several workers toppling a headstone and unearthing an urn from inside a coffin.

"No!"

He lunged forward like a madman, but it was too late. The urn was smashed, and the ashes were quickly washed away by the rain.

Cody scrambled desperately to catch them, his fingers scraping raw and bleeding against the ground, yet he couldn't save a single trace of Dominic or Selena.

Why was this happening to him? Hadn't he been obedient enough? Why did Jennifer still have his parents' grave destroyed?

Titus came up behind him just then, holding a black umbrella over his head. He let out a soft, mocking chuckle.

"I met a fortune teller at the annual gala who told Jennifer that your parents' star signs clashed with mine. She didn't really believe in such things, but since she was pregnant with my child, she had the grave dug up just to make sure that our baby would be born healthy."

Cody's shoulders shook violently. His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice, hoarse and strained, tore through the air.

"Haven't I conceded enough? Why won't you just let me be?"

Titus' smile vanished, replaced by deep-seated malice.

"Enough? Never!" he roared. "Jennifer and I were childhood sweethearts from families of equal standing! Everyone knew I was destined to be her husband, but that year, she actually endured the Harvey family's harshest disciplinary measures just to marry you.

"She was even ready to abandon her family entirely, just to become the daughter-in-law of your pathetic, destitute parents!"

Cody froze.

"What, you're surprised to learn she once did something like that?" Titus asked, curling his lips in a cruel sneer. "Well, too bad. I orchestrated things so you'd end up at that club, appearing in her eyes as nothing more than a gold-digger who nearly got me killed. So, the thought of marrying you never crossed her mind again after that."

He expected Cody to be enraged. However, Cody quickly regained his composure and picked up the shattered urn.

"Whatever. None of it matters anymore. If you're satisfied now, Mr. Sweeney, then I'll be taking my leave…"

A flicker of surprise crossed Titus' face, followed by a look of realization.

"Aha, you don't dare to get angry when your parents' graves were dug up all for the sake of that younger brother of yours, right?"

He opened the photo gallery on his phone and held it out to Cody. "In fact, your brother committed suicide once he found out you'd sold your body to pay for his medical treatment.

"I had a heart condition, and it just so happened that your brother's heart was a perfect match. So, Jennifer arranged for me to have a heart transplant…"

Cody's gaze, now nearly vacant, fell upon the photograph.

In the image, Cayo's chest lay split open, his wide eyes fixed on the sky, as if waiting for Cody to come and see him.

Cody staggered backward. "Suicide? No… No, how could that be…"

Cayo had still tried his best to smile at him when he was first taken to the hospital. He'd even told Cody not to worry because he would get better soon.

"Honestly, your brother dying was probably for the best," Titus said with a malicious laugh. "Unlike your parents, his death served a real purpose in the end. Wouldn't you agree?"

Cody's head snapped up. He lunged and grabbed Titus by the throat, his grip tightening in fury. Titus was caught completely off guard.

"You… You've lost your mind!"

"Yes, I have!" Cody roared, his eyes bloodshot and his voice raw with desperation. "Cayo was all I had left! He was the only one I had! He was just a child! How could you do this to him?"

Titus hadn't expected him to act with such reckless abandon and struggled with all his might.

Just then, a loud voice rang out.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Jennifer arrived in a rush and swung her hand, striking Cody hard across the face. With a sharp crack, he collapsed to the ground, and a red, swollen welt appeared on his cheek. His lip also split and began to bleed.

Jennifer then helped Titus up. But when she saw how Cody was struggling to even move afterward, she reached out to steady him instead.

"Does it hurt?" she asked. "Who told you to bully Titus—"

"Don't fucking touch me!"

Cody swatted her hand away violently, his eyes burning with hatred.

Jennifer was taken aback by the hatred in his eyes. She then let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.

"I pulled you out of that club and provided you with everything you could want—food, shelter, and all the money you ever asked for. And now, you have the nerve to give me an attitude?"

Cody let out a manic, hysterical laugh. "If I had the choice, I would rather have rotted away in that club forever! I wish I'd ​​never met you at all!"

Provoked by his words, Jennifer snapped, "Rot away in that club, you say? Fine. Have it your way."

She hauled Cody into her car and ordered the driver, "Take us to Nirvana Host Club."

The car soon pulled into the club's underground level. Jennifer dragged him into the illegal fight ring and had him tied up in the center of the boxing ring.

"You were the star attraction at Nirvana, but I bet you didn't know they also used people as punching bags here, did you?" she said, glaring down at him. "Apologize for what you said earlier, and I'll take you out of here."

Gone was the docility he once showed. Cody simply spat out, "Fuck off!"

"You—Fine! You'll get exactly what you wished for!"

Jennifer's chest heaved with rage as she turned and walked away from the ring.

Several fighters closed in on Cody, raining hard punches right into his abdomen. The pain was so intense that Cody couldn't even cry out as the metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth.

Jennifer stood outside the ring, waiting for him to break and beg for mercy.

As the seconds ticked by, her expression grew increasingly grim. However, the submission she demanded never came.

She looked at Cody, now covered in wounds, and said, "Stop—"

A phone call cut her off right at that moment.

It was Titus, cooing and begging her to come back and spend Christmas Eve with him.

Her attention shifted at once. She tossed a quick instruction to the manager, saying, "Just go easy on him and don't actually hurt him."

Then, she turned to leave.

She didn't see Cody open his mouth as blood continued to spill from it.

"It hurts… Mom… Dad… It hurts so much…"

He would lose consciousness, only to be jolted awake by a splash of cold water, and the torture continued all over again.

The fighters broke every one of his ribs before finally letting him go, tossing him into the corner like a heap of trash.

Cody's phone suddenly lit up, and a video began to play automatically. It was a recording he had made ten years ago.

In the video, an 18-year-old teenager smiled brightly at the screen and chirped, "Hey, future Cody! How's life treating you? Are Dad, Mom, and Cayo doing well?

"Have you married Jennifer yet? Are you two happy? She promised Mom and Dad that she'd take good care of me, you know!

"Anyway… Merry Christmas to you, 28-year-old Cody!"

As the cheerful greeting played from the video, the sound of Christmas bells and fireworks rising into the sky echoed from outside the window.

Another year had almost passed.

Cody slowly closed his eyes as he listened to the lively commotion outside.

Just as he heaved his last, he thought, "If there ever is a next life… I hope that I never meet Jennifer again."