Chapter 3

Ian's head buzzed as his whole body trembled, leaving him unable to speak.

Ian thought, 'Mom's dead? No, that can't be true! She just held me and cried, saying she would protect me.'

She had even celebrated her 80th birthday in his previous life. How could that lovely old lady who loved dancing in the park die, just like that?

He sped 120 miles an hour like a madman, running countless red lights to arrive at the Mastiff breeding center.

The scene before him made him almost throw up.

Inside the iron fence, several Mastiffs with glowing eyes were gnawing on Gloria. He watched helplessly as his mother's face and body were bitten to pieces, leaving only a jumbled heap of bones.

"Mom! Mom!" Ian completely broke down. Crying hoarsely and tearfully, he picked up a stick and lunged at the Mastiffs. "Go away! Mom, wake up! I'll take you to the hospital. Please hold on..."

The mastiffs' hot breath blasted against his face, and their sharp teeth tore into his flesh, leaving him a bloody mess. The excruciating pain spread all over his body.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital bed.

Tammy stayed with him all night. Her delicate hands held the ointment and bandages as she carefully changed his dressings. "Does it hurt? You're seriously injured. Don't touch water while you're recovering."

Ian's voice trembled as he asked, "Where's my mom?"

Tammy paused. "I gave Mrs. Gibson a lavish burial. Anthony truly did go too far this time, but I've already punished him. You're not allowed to confront him."

'You punished him? Do you mean in bed?' Ian wondered.

Ian stared at the ceiling. His eyes stung, yet not a single tear would fall. "My mom is dead, yet you're still taking his side?"

Tammy frowned. "Anthony is innocent and kind-hearted. If you hadn't forced him to drink and gotten him drunk, he never would have acted without thinking. When it comes down to it, you and your mom brought this on yourselves. You have no one else to blame."

Ian felt as though his throat were being crushed. He was suffocating, unable to make a sound.

This was the woman he had loved his entire past life. In her eyes, Anthony's provocations and malice were merely innocence and kindness, while his mother's tragic death was something she had deserved.

After being given a second chance at life, he dragged his mother into this mess.

Ian tried every possible way to involve the police, but his evidence vanished without a trace, and the originals had been deliberately destroyed.

The Palmers wielded immense power. He could not even try to avenge his mother.

Driven to despair, Ian grabbed a fruit knife late one night and went to Anthony's hospital ward. Visions of his mother's gruesome death without even a corpse left behind flashed before his eyes, and his gaze filled with hatred.

Seeing the knife in Ian's hand, Anthony was filled with terror. "What are you doing?"

Screaming for help, he scrambled backward. "Ian, Tammy and Selena will never spare you if I die!"

Ian raised the knife and stabbed with all his hatred. "My mom is dead, and I have no reason to go on living, so let's just die together!"

However, before the blade could even touch Anthony, Ian was kicked away. His back slammed against the sharp edge of a table, sending a bone-deep pain through his body.

Selena glared at him and roared, "Ian! When did you become so vicious? You actually tried to stab Anthony?"

"I'm vicious?" Ian doubled over, laughing like a lunatic. "He sent my mom to a nightclub, and she jumped to her death after being violated by a dozen men. He even had her body fed to the dogs.

"He killed my mom. You protect a murderer like him, yet call me vicious?"

Shock registered on Selena's face, and her tone betrayed barely suppressed anger. "Have you lost your mind? How dare you fabricate such lies to slander Anthony? You're just out for revenge, aren't you?

"So, you like stabbing people? Someone, give him 99 cuts!"

A sharp pang pierced Ian's heart. His voice trembled violently. "Selena, I've been your boyfriend for five years. Does our past mean nothing to you at all?"

She knew that 99 cuts would be fatal.

Seething with anger, Selena barked, "Do it! Not one cut fewer!"