"You’re going to die!"

The little beggar who once begged me to take him in.

The rural child that Sophie James despised so much she wouldn't even spare him a glance is now an upper-class person who can yell at me without hesitation.

I watched Ethan King and then turned to Sophie James, whose softened gaze at Ethan King made me laugh aloud, clapping for them in praise.

"Actually," I smiled at Ethan King and Sophie James, "you two really suit each other."

"There's a saying, how does it go?"

I thought for a moment.

Then, I realized.

"Trash matches with a dog, what's it called again?" I looked at Sophie James, whose face had fallen: "Eternal love, hahaha."

"Isn't that right, Sophie?"

"Hahaha."

"You're asking for death!"

Sophie pushed Ethan away and tried to rush at me, but it gave me time to react. I grabbed the knife from the ground and lunged at Sophie James. The knife plunged deep into Ethan King's body, and as I saw Sophie’s expression crack, the calm person she once was lost control, screaming.

"Ethan!"

"Ethan!"

Ethan King turned pale, collapsing into Sophie James’s arms. His eyes remained soft, stroking her face, gazing at her with deep affection.

"Sophie."

"I’ve protected you."

"Sophie..."

Ethan King lost consciousness, and Sophie James, now out of her mind, lifted Ethan King and shouted, "Doctor!"

"Where’s the doctor?"

Before Sophie James rushed Ethan to the hospital, she turned to meet my gaze, filled with murderous intent.

"Liam Carter!"

"There’s something I wanted to tell you five years ago," Sophie James said, her eyes bloodshot as she looked at me. "Before you signed the divorce papers, I should have told you your brother was still alive."

"I lied to you."

Sophie turned away, leaving me with those words.

"Your brother had already died long before you signed the papers."

"Sign."

"All I wanted was for you to leave Seaside City."

Thunder rumbled across the sky.

Lightning split the clouds, and I thought I heard my brother’s weak voice calling me, "Big Brother," just before I saw the truck racing toward me. My brother pushed me out of the way with all his strength, then collapsed under the truck, his eyes soft as he reached out toward me, calling out to me.

"Big Brother."

"It hurts," I crawled desperately to my brother’s side, holding him as I neared breaking, but my brother gently gripped my hand and said, "But I protected you."

"It was worth it."

That day, I lost my only close relative in this world.

My brother fell into a deep sleep, forever separated from me by the thick hospital door, as Sophie James dragged me, throwing me outside the room. She pointed to the brother lying asleep in the room, asking.

"Liam, do you know why your brother ended up there?"

"Wasn't it because he saw the compromising photos?"

"Liam, did you ever think that before you hurt me, the one you hurt the most was your own brother?"

"Liam, sign the papers."

Sophie James threw me to the ground.

It felt as though all my strength had been drained, and I collapsed, staring at the agreement. I heard Sophie say, "Sign the papers, and I guarantee your brother won’t die."

"As long as you agree to leave Seaside City, I’ll promise to take care of your brother."

But later.

I had just boarded the plane when I received a video from Ethan King. In the video, my brother was hastily buried, without even a proper gravestone, and Ethan’s voice was filled with mockery.

"Liam, this is what happens when you cross me."

"The car accident was never an accident," Ethan’s voice pierced my heart, and the sharp vines of pain grew in my chest, twisting with every word: "It was just Sophie’s way of teaching you a lesson, but she didn’t expect your brother would risk his life for you."

"Who’s to blame?"

"Blame yourself."

I went mad, trying to rush off the plane, wanting to return to Seaside City, but I realized the cabin was already filled with Sophie’s eyes watching me.

I couldn't escape the plane, I couldn't return to Seaside City.

I spent five years abroad.

Five long years.

I watched those vines grow into a towering tree, and with every breath I took, the pain nearly suffocated me. I didn’t expect the signature to be a lie as well. I wanted to rush at Sophie James, but I was pinned to the ground by bodyguards, helplessly watching as Sophie hugged Ethan King and left.

I screamed in madness.

"Sophie!"

"I’ll make you pay!"

"Sophie! I will kill you!"

"I will kill you!"

Countless bystanders laughed and mocked: "He’s just a madman! Who doesn’t know that in Seaside City, Miss James calls the shots!"

"I heard about that incident," one person whispered. "They say Miss James took care of Liam Carter’s brother in the harshest way—grinding him to dust after he crossed her. Ethan even did a live stream about it."

My head rang with a buzz.

I heard someone say,

"Wow, grinding him to dust? So ruthless?"

"Otherwise, what? Miss James said, whoever made Ethan unhappy, she’d make them a hundred times more miserable, even if it’s her own husband."

"But Miss James made her fortune thanks to her ex-husband, didn’t she?"

The voices grew fainter.

Heavy rain poured down.

I was drenched in the downpour, as though the world itself had turned into a storm. The mocking words—grinding to dust, the live stream—looped in my phone, and Ethan's voice from five years ago echoed.

"I don’t want Sophie to love me this much, but Sophie said, anyone who crosses her will pay ten times more."

The box with my brother’s ashes was easily opened.

I hoarsely screamed, "No!"

But no one heard.

I had no choice but to watch as the box was cruelly opened, and Sophie James tossed a handful of ashes into the air. It felt like my brother’s warmth, the warmth replacing the cold rain, giving me a painful sense of warmth.

"No!"

I screamed, madly, "Please, don’t do this to my brother!"

The ringtone yanked me back to reality, and through my tears, I cried to the person on the other end, "I will have my revenge! I will make Sophie pay! I want Ethan dead! I want them both dead!"

Ethan, however, wasn’t really badly hurt. He was just pretending to be weak, wanting Sophie’s attention. He looked at her, not caring about his own wounds, just to stay with her, and smiled.

"Sophie."

"After this is over, let’s get married, okay?"

Even after five years.

Sophie lavished him with all her love, but she wouldn’t give him a formal title. No matter how much he begged, he could never get that recognition.

He held Sophie’s hand.

"I don’t want to miss this."

"Sophie," Ethan’s voice cracked, "I just want the right to stand by your side officially."

Ethan acted like a bird in her arms, softening Sophie’s heart. Before she could reply, I kicked open the hospital room door.

Covered in blood, dirt staining my clothes, and the knife in my hand, I met Sophie’s stunned face as I heard her speak.

"You really won’t die—"

My heart couldn’t finish speaking.