Chapter 4

The blood drained from my face. I never imagined my mother-in-law could say something like that. "What did you say?"

Melody frowned, hesitant. "Mom, isn't this going a little too far..."

Anne waved her hand impatiently. "What do you know? Let him off today, and tomorrow he'll be walking all over you.

"Will you still have any say then? You're my daughter. If anyone's going to suffer, it'll be him."

Melody opened her mouth, then fell silent.

My mother stood frozen, unsure what to do, but she understood exactly what Anne meant.

She took off her bracelet and held it out to Anne. "Can we go now... Here's your bracelet back. I'll return the clothes once I get home."

Anne eyed it with disgust and let go. The bracelet shattered on the floor.

Seeing it in pieces, my mother's eyes reddened too.

Melody had bought it for her before the wedding. It wasn't expensive, only a few hundred dollars. But my mother had never worn anything that nice before. She treasured it every single day and wouldn't even let me touch it.

I thought it would end there. But Anne still wasn't done.

She turned to the bodyguards. "Strip the clothes off this one. Everything she's wearing belongs to the Millers. It's a waste on her!"

Out in the open, dozens of eyes locked onto my mother. Contempt. Mockery.

I shielded her with everything I had and glared at Anne, my eyes bloodshot. Then I turned to Melody, pleading with my eyes. "Melody, you can't do this to my mom!"

Melody instinctively took two steps toward me, but when she met her mother's gaze, she stopped. She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Beside her, Greg clutched his red, swollen face and wouldn't stop whimpering.

In the end, Melody looked away from me.

The bodyguards swarmed in and dragged my mother away. She screamed and begged.

I tried to save her, but a bodyguard kicked me hard in the stomach. Searing pain shot through my entire body. I clutched my stomach, my whole body convulsing, but I still knelt on the floor, begging them to let her go.

Anne sneered. "Finally decided to apologize? Too late."

My mother's clothes were torn to rags. She huddled on the floor, trembling.

I crawled over on my hands and knees and wrapped her tightly in my jacket.

A camera shutter clicked.

My heart lurched. My head snapped up, and I saw the Millers' servants and bodyguards. At some point, they had taken out their phones and recorded the whole thing.

Anne covered her nose. "Trash."

Melody looked down at me and sighed. "None of this would have happened if you'd been more sensible.

"I'm taking Greg to the hospital to get his injuries treated. You'd better swallow your pride and apologize. Otherwise, there's no place for you in the Miller family."

I didn't know how much time passed. Eventually, only my mother and I were left in the main hall of the old estate.

After I got my mother settled, I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. "I'm sorry, Mom. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be going through this..."

My mother managed a smile and shook her head. "I'm fine. It's not your fault. I'm just a little thirsty. Could you get me a glass of water?"

I wiped away my tears and went to get her some water.

My phone wouldn't stop ringing. It was the hospital. A wave of dread rose in me, and my fingers trembled as I answered.

"Is this Mr. Moore? I'm sorry, but we couldn't save your father. He has passed away, and his body is in the morgue. When would you be able to come and claim him?"

I swayed on my feet and couldn't recover for a long time.

As I hurried off in a panic to find my mother, a servant's scream rang out from upstairs. "Help! Somebody help! Someone jumped!"