A sudden windfall from a government buyout made me rich overnight.

Within just three days, my wife was kidnapped.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $3.5 million.

I refused to pay.

My wife’s parents clawed at me in rage, cursing me as a heartless beast.

They said I was so desperate to keep that money that I didn’t even care about my wife’s life.

Even my own parents urged me to pay for my wife’s safety.

I refused again.

A few days later, since they didn’t get the money, the kidnappers released my wife anyway.

Sarah Miller came back bruised all over, bleeding, and completely deranged.

The moment she saw me, she went mad, lunging at me with the eyes of someone facing their mortal enemy, sinking her teeth into my shoulder.

I looked at the bite mark on my shoulder with cold indifference and said, “Our marriage has run its course. I’ve decided to divorce you.”

Smack!

Robert Miller slapped me hard across the face, his eyes bloodshot as he shouted, “You beast, are you even human anymore?”

…

In the living room, relatives from both sides stared at me in disbelief.

Sarah had been tortured into madness, yet I felt no pity for her.

Instead, I announced I was divorcing her.

To them, I was no longer a man. Not even an animal.

Under the furious glares of the Miller family, I coldly told Sarah, “The divorce will be handled entirely by my lawyer.”

“Ah!”

Sarah screamed shrilly, sweeping everything off the coffee table onto the floor before storming into the bedroom.

She smashed our wedding photo, along with the makeup I had once gifted her.

I just stood there calmly, watching her break down.

“My poor daughter…”

Linda Miller rushed forward to embrace Sarah, tears streaming like a river.

Sarah struggled violently, her features twisted, her eyes wild.

Linda tried to restrain her, but Sarah was too strong. She shoved Linda to the ground and even grabbed a chair, ready to smash it down on her.

Gasps filled the room as relatives scrambled to intervene.

“Daughter, that’s your mother!” Robert roared.

Sarah froze for a second—then bang! The chair came crashing down on Linda’s body.

Linda writhed in agony on the floor, screaming.

But Sarah, completely out of her mind, kicked her mother several more times until Robert rushed over and restrained her.

“Mom!” Jason Miller hurried to help Linda up.

“Sarah, are you crazy? How could you attack Mom like that?”

Sarah gave no answer, only continued struggling madly. But against Robert’s strength, she couldn’t break free.

Everyone present sighed heavily. Before the kidnapping, Sarah had been fine. But since her release, she had become utterly insane.

Soon, all eyes turned toward me.

Sarah’s madness, they believed, was my fault.

“David Miller, do you see what’s happened? Because you refused to pay the ransom, the kidnappers drove Sarah insane!”

“She’s your wife! You cared more about money than her life—you’re not even human!”

“Even animals aren’t this cold-blooded!”

“Marrying you was the worst mistake of Sarah’s life.”

Faced with their accusations, I didn’t bother to argue.

My mom tried to persuade me to take back what I’d said.

She felt that refusing to pay Sarah’s ransom was already wrong.

And now, with Sarah losing her mind, to bring up divorce again was nothing but pushing her further into despair.

I shook my head. “The divorce must happen.”

“You beast!”

Linda’s pent-up fury finally exploded. She lunged at me, clawing wildly.

I dodged, and she fell hard to the ground, chipping a front tooth.

“My tooth…”

“Mom!”

“David, my sister became like this because of you—I’ll fight you to the death!”

Jason charged at me in a rage.

I kicked him away with one swift strike.

My action ignited the fury of the Miller relatives.

In an instant, a dozen people swarmed me.

I was outnumbered. Within seconds, I was beaten to the ground, covering my head as blows rained down.

Moments later, bloodied and battered, I forced myself back onto my feet.

I pulled out my phone to call the police—only for my dad to snatch it from me.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling the cops!”

The Miller relatives froze in panic. They had all laid hands on me—if I called the police, none of them would get away with it.

“Daughter, what’s wrong with you?”

Just then, Sarah collapsed unconscious!

Robert rushed to call an ambulance, and Sarah was taken to the hospital. After the doctor’s examination, the shocking news came: Sarah was pregnant.

“Doctor, terminate the pregnancy.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

My dad stared at me in disbelief. The Miller family, too, was stunned. They had already seen how ruthless I could be, but this decision shattered what little humanity they thought I had left.

No wife. No child.

“David, are you insane? That’s your child! How could you tell the doctor to get rid of it?”

Jason grabbed me by the collar, eyes blazing with fury as if he wanted to tear me apart.

“Sarah is already insane. How could she possibly be a fit mother? Instead of letting the child suffer after being born, it’s better to end it now.”

I explained calmly.

“You bastard!”

Jason punched me square in the face.

“You beast!”

Even Robert lost control, but fortunately, the doctor stepped in to stop them.

“This is a hospital. Please control yourselves. Who is the father of the child?”

“I am,” I answered.

“Then please come with me.”

“David, don’t do something you’ll regret for the rest of your life,” my mom pleaded.

“You’re a man—you must take responsibility as a husband and father. And besides, Sarah may not stay insane forever. There’s always a chance she could recover. Think carefully before you make this decision,” my dad said grimly.

Not long after, I returned. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on me.

My mom asked what I had decided.

I told them I had signed the papers authorizing the doctor to terminate Sarah’s pregnancy.

The room fell silent as if struck by lightning.

Seconds later, Robert and Linda lunged at me in a frenzy.

But this time, I stepped back and warned coldly, “Anyone lays a hand on me again, I’ll call the police. If you’re not afraid of prison, go ahead.”

“You beast!”

My dad cursed me furiously and stormed off.

“David, you… you’re out of your mind.”

My mom’s tears flowed endlessly. She couldn’t believe her son had become so utterly heartless for the sake of money.

“I hope you don’t regret this one day,” she said before leaving too.

The Millers were seething with anger but didn’t dare touch me again.

“You murderer! Without our daughter’s consent, you forced the doctor to kill her child. We’ll sue you for murder!”

“Go ahead, sue me.”

I smirked indifferently and walked out of the hospital.

On the way home, I called Mark Johnson, the underground boxing champion I once trained under.

“Brother, I already had my people investigate. The kidnappers were all locals—and they’re closely tied to your brother-in-law Jason. They’re in the same gang. After what they did to your wife, they went into hiding. My men are still searching, I’ll let you know when we find them.”

“Thanks, Mark.”

I narrowed my eyes and hung up.

Jason was a hot-tempered fool.

He didn’t have the brains to orchestrate such a kidnapping.

At most, he just acted as the middleman with the kidnappers.

The real mastermind had to be someone else.

Could it be Sarah herself?

If I wanted the truth, I had to find those kidnappers.

Just then, Kevin Brown, an old friend who ran loansharking, called me.

He said he’d checked with other loan companies—Jason had been keeping two cam girls on the side. To maintain his flashy lifestyle, he had borrowed half a million dollars.

“Jason is unemployed. A loan company lent him that much?”

“He mortgaged their family house.”

“No wonder he’s been dripping in gold lately. Dig deeper. See which of his other relatives are in debt to loan sharks.”

“Got it.”

At first, I thought Jason was just a minor pawn in this staged kidnapping.

But now, maybe I had underestimated him.

The next day, Robert called me, furious. He demanded I rush to the hospital.

Sarah had woken up, learned the child was gone, and ran up to the rooftop threatening to jump.

“Yeah, I know.”

I hung up and dozed for a few more minutes—until my dad kicked open my door and dragged me up.

“Your wife is about to jump, and you’re still sleeping?”

“She won’t jump. She’s just bluffing.”

“You beast!”

My dad ground his teeth in rage.

When I finally arrived at the hospital, it was exactly as I expected.

Sarah stood on the rooftop’s edge—but she hadn’t jumped.

“Sarah, David is here. If you have anything to say, say it to him. Just don’t do anything stupid!”

Linda was crying so hard her eyes were swollen.

“Don’t provoke my daughter any further,” Robert whispered in my ear. “If she slips, I’ll come for your life.”

I walked forward.

Sarah seemed lucid for a moment, staring at me in despair as she cried, “David, why did you tell the doctor to kill our baby?”

“Everyone saw it—you’ve lost your mind. You’re not fit to be a mother.”

“I’m not insane! You refused to pay the ransom, the kidnappers tortured me because of you! It wasn’t enough that you wronged me—you also murdered your own child!”

“They asked for too much. If I had paid, I would’ve ended up broke.”

My words enraged the entire Miller family.