Chapter 1

While on their way to the wedding, Asher Pearce's parents, Oliver Pearce and Matilda Herman, collided head-on with the car carrying Regina Gleason's parents, Philip Gleason and Alicia Warner.

Oliver and Matilda were left in a persistent vegetative state, while Philip and Alicia died on the spot from excessive blood loss.

In an instant, Asher and Regina's relationship shifted from that of devoted childhood sweethearts to bitter, sworn enemies.

Asher found himself lost in thought as he kneeled before Regina's parents' graves in a daze, but eventually, he said, "Regina, I'm so sorry… I want to make up for my parents' actions. Please, just kill me and take my life. You can have your revenge."

He placed a knife into her hands and closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

However, Regina's hands trembled. She dropped the knife, her expression a mix of agony and lingering affection as she looked at him through a veil of tears.

"Asher," she called out. "I might hate everyone in the Pearce family, but I can't bring myself to hurt you. The wedding will go on, but things can never go back to the way they were."

She stayed true to her original promise to only marry him in her lifetime and went through with the blood-stained wedding.

After the wedding, Asher shed his reckless, carefree persona. He gave up his beloved street car racing, as well as smoking and drinking, and began learning how to take care of her.

One day, he placed a bowl of freshly made chicken stew on the dining table before her.

"I made this following the secret recipe Alicia left behind—"

But before he could finish, Regina, who used to be ever so gentle with him, suddenly swept the bowl of scalding stew off the table.

As the hot liquid splashed onto his arm, leaving red welts, he instinctively winced and exclaimed, "Why did you—"

Regina cut him off, her face as cold as ice, "Asher, a mere bowl of stew will never compensate for two human lives. Besides, this isn't something you're suited for. Let's just maintain a polite, distant coexistence with each other. That's already more than enough."

She stood up to leave but paused as she passed him.

"There's burn ointment in the first-aid kit. Apply it yourself."

With that, she walked away, leaving him alone to clean up the mess on the floor. As a shard of porcelain sliced ​​his finger, Asher's silence deepened even more.

The fresh blood seemed to mock his foolish delusions he'd been holding on to.

For the past three years since their marriage, he had tried everything to make amends with Regina, lowering his pride, pleading, and begging for her forgiveness. Yet, she was no longer the gentle, forgiving woman he once knew. Now, she met his every effort with cold indifference.

Even when her tone remained soft, he could still detect the underlying distance between them.

"Is this all we're reduced to now? Just mere polite strangers with each other?" he asked himself, but he didn't know the answer.

Suppressing the bitter ache in his chest, he closed his eyes and finished the rest of the stew alone.

Just then, a call came from the hospital, informing him that Oliver and Matilda had finally regained consciousness.

Asher rushed to the hospital at once, but he was met with the sight of his parents' aged, guilt-ridden faces and the aggressive, venomous words from Cody Gleason, who had been adopted into the Gleason family.

"If it weren't for you two old wretches crashing your car and killing Mom and Dad, Regina and I wouldn't have had to suffer like this! How dare you wake up? Why didn't you just die?"

Cody lashed out at Oliver and Matilda like a madman, while they could only repeat, "I'm sorry," in a submissive, broken tone.

Asher felt his heart tightening in his chest. Without a second thought, he lunged forward and shoved Cody away, shielding his parents behind him and snapping, "Enough! You can take your grievances out on me, but don't you dare hurt my parents!"

He knew his family was in the wrong, but he simply couldn't stand by and watch his parents be berated like this.

A mocking sneer crossed Cody's arrogant face. "Sure, I'd love for you to make up to us for what your parents did, but Regina keeps protecting you. She's in love with you, the son of the very people who destroyed her family! It must feel pretty good, doesn't it?

"Spare me your apologies, Asher Pearce. If you truly want to atone for their sins, you should just go and die along with your parents!"

Every word struck like a heavy blow, leaving Asher gasping for air and unable to utter a sound.

The familial bonds and the weight of his morality felt like they were tightening around his neck like a noose.

He slowly sank to his knees, hoping this gesture might extinguish Cody's rage. But the moment his knees touched the ground, a slender hand pulled him back up.

Regina's voice then sounded beside him, but she wasn't speaking to him.

"That's enough, Cody. Come home with me."

There was no reproach in her eyes as she looked at Cody. There was only a deep, aching sympathy in them instead.

She understood that Cody's extreme actions were driven by the death of their parents.

Logically, she ought to join him in condemning the Pearce family, but emotionally, she just couldn't bear to see Asher humiliated like that.

She felt both conflicted and strangely detached as she was caught between the tug-of-war between love and hate.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Matilda managed to piece together the events that had transpired while they were unconscious, and they sensed the growing rift between the once-devoted couple.

Unwilling to let the grudges of the older generation affect the next, they exchanged a glance, joined hands, and leaped from the hospital balcony while nobody else was watching.

The loud thuds immediately drew everyone's attention.

"Mom! Dad! No!" Asher shrieked as he rushed downstairs, collapsing beside his dying parents. "No… I'm going to get a doctor right now! You'll be fine… You'll be alright…"

Matilda shook her head, her voice trembling. "I hope you build a good life with Regina, Asher… We never wanted you to bear the burden of our sins. Let us pay the price with our lives instead…"

But before Matilda could finish, both she and Oliver suddenly fell silent as their lives slipped away.

The moment he realized that his parents were truly dead, Asher let out a hysterical, agonizing wail. His hands were stained with the blood of his own parents, and it was a sight as jarring as it was horrific.

Regina pulled the distraught Asher into an embrace the moment she caught up to him, letting him scream and vent all of his grief.

However, Cody simply smirked triumphantly when he saw this and mocked Asher without a shred of mercy.

"Ha! Good riddance! The murderers who killed my parents deserve to pay with their own lives!" He cackled. "Congratulations, Asher! As of today, you're an orphan, just like us. It's only fair that you get a taste of what it's like to have your family torn apart!"

These few words sent Asher over the edge.

He shoved Regina away and raised his fist, lunging toward Cody. But in the next instant, Regina immediately stepped in front of Cody, intercepting the blow.

She looked at him with a complex expression on her face.

"Cody is just stating the facts. I felt the exact same pain you're feeling now when my parents died."

In other words, she, too, believed that Asher's parents deserved to die. It was painfully obvious to Asher now.

When he grasped the implication, his raised hand slowly sank back down. He gritted his teeth so hard that his mouth soon filled with the taste of blood.

"We're even now, Regina. Let's get a divorce."