The guards scrambled back, startled by the murderous look in my eyes.

"Come on!" I brandished the shard, blood dripping from my forehead. "If you're not afraid to die, come and get me!"

No one wanted to risk their life against a madman. They parted like the Red Sea.

I wasted no time. I scooped my mother up and sprinted for the exit.

Olivia chased after us. This time, she didn't block the way—the "auspicious hour" had passed. She even handed me her phone to call the ambulance.

"Husband, you two go home first." Her voice was breathless. "I wanted to discuss this with you yesterday, but I knew you wouldn't agree to the body display."

She grabbed my arm, eyes pleading. "But do you know? I owe Spencer a life debt. Years ago, when I was dragged into that alley... he saved me from being raped. He was severely injured in the process. He can never have children because of me."

Spencer Delgado was castrated saving her?

I paused, stunned. The revelation was heavy, but reality didn't offer the luxury of processing it.

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth. "Just help me get Mom to the hospital."

Before she could answer, Spencer rushed out and grabbed her wrist.

"Olivia! Get back in there. The customers are saying they'll leave if the model doesn't return."

He wanted her to go back and lie on that table?

I looked at Olivia, certain she would refuse. My mother was critical. Surely, she would choose us.

But she nodded solemnly, as if facing a war. "Okay. I'll go back and stabilize the situation."

"Olivia!" I shouted.

She didn't turn back.

She walked away decisively. Cleanly. Without a single glance at her dying mother-in-law.

At that moment, I finally woke up.

The bond between us was severed.

***

The wait at the emergency room was an eternity of torment.

Two hours later, the doctor emerged. His expression was grave.

"Your mother has had a heart condition for a long time. The extreme anger triggered a massive attack. She... she might not make it."

The words struck like lightning. A heart condition? I had no idea.

I rushed into the ward. She was awake, but her complexion was gray, her breathing shallow.

She looked at me and offered a weak, bleak smile. "Chris..."

"I didn't tell you... I was afraid you'd worry." Her voice was barely audible. "I knew you'd borrow money, beg people... do anything to save me. I didn't want you and Olivia to fight over the cost. So... cough, cough..."

I broke down.

I fell to my knees beside the bed. I grasped her rough, weather-beaten hand and pressed it to my tear-streaked face.

"Mom, Dad left when I was a baby. You raised me alone. How could you ever be a burden?" A sob tore through me. "I have to save you. I will save you."

She shook her head slowly, tears leaking from her eyes. "My lamp is out of oil, son. Don't do anything foolish for me."

She squeezed my hand weakly. "Back then... it was because I pushed you that you married Olivia. I made you give up your career to stay home and care for her. It's my fault. I ruined your life."

"I only ask one thing..." She gasped for air. "For the rest of your life... live for yourself."

Her hand went slack.

Her eyes slid shut.

"Mom? Mom!"

I screamed her name, shaking her shoulders. No response.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, dragging me away from the bed as the monitors flatlined.

*Live well.* That was her last wish.

But as I watched them work on her, a desperate thought flashed through my mind.

A heart transplant.

It was the only way. But a new heart required money—an astronomical amount of money I didn't have.

My only option was to sell the house. It was my premarital property—legally, Olivia Swanson didn't need to know.

I explained the situation to the doctor in a rush of breathless words, but the hospital's policy was carved in stone: full deposit before they could proceed with the heart transplant.

No hesitation. I sprinted home, ready to put the property on the market that very hour.

*Mom is only fifty.* My chest constricted. *She has decades left. I can't let her die.*

An old classmate had once mentioned wanting to buy my place. My fingers shook as I dialed her number.

"Do you still need a house?" The words tumbled out.

"Actually, yes."

Relief hit me like a wave. A shaky laugh escaped my throat. "Great."

But the moment I hung up and reached my front door, my feet stopped moving.

Strangers. Inside my living room. Inspecting my walls like they owned them.

"Who the hell are you?" I stepped inside. "Why are you breaking into my house?"

One of the men sneered. "Breaking in? Don't make me laugh. From this moment on, this house belongs to us."

"Excuse me?"

"Your wife sold it to us." He looked bored, like I was wasting his time. "Something about needing cash to save her lover's business. Transaction's done. Money's transferred. So get the hell out."

The words didn't compute. Not at first.

Then they did.

Shock curdled into something cold. Something hard.

I yanked out my phone and dialed Olivia. But the voice that answered wasn't hers.

"Looking for Olivia?" Spencer Delgado. Dripping with smug satisfaction.

"Put her on."

"She's still sleeping." A lazy drawl. "Last night was... exhausting. I didn't let her get much rest, if you know what I mean."

My grip tightened until my knuckles went bone-white. "Wake her up. Now. What right does she have to sell my house?"

"Oh, that? My idea." A chuckle. "You trashed my shop. Ruined my business. Consider this compensation."

"Compensation?"

"Olivia feels guilty. Thinks she owes me." His voice turned silky. "So, to make it up to me, she sold the house. Gave me the proceeds."

Red crept into the edges of my vision. "Make him return the money." My voice shook. "That house is my premarital property. She had no legal right to sell it. That's fraud."

"Yeah, yeah."

The line went dead.

Before I could redial, hands shoved me through my own front door. I hit the pavement hard.

I was about to storm off—find Olivia, find Spencer, drag the money out of them myself—when my phone rang.

The doctor.

His voice was grave. Mom had found out about me selling the house. She had refused the surgery.

"She gave up," he said softly. "She only wants to see you one last time. Hurry."

Terror, cold and sharp, pierced straight through my chest.

I dialed Olivia as I ran. Mom had loved her like a daughter. I hoped—God, I hoped—despite everything, Olivia would come to the hospital to say goodbye.

But before the call could connect, a notification appeared.

Olivia had sent me a video.

The thumbnail alone made my stomach turn.

My fingers trembled as I tapped it open.

"Hold me tight." Olivia's voice, whimpering. "Don't let go."

"Baby, you smell so good."

"Do you know who I am?"

"I know... you're Spencer!"

On the screen, Spencer's cruel smile as he kissed her bare skin. What followed—

Bile rose in my throat.

I killed the screen.

Despair crushed the last of my resolve. I couldn't call her. Not now.

I rushed to the hospital.

A hollow shell.

But I was too late.

Mom's eyes were closed.

They would never open again.

I didn't speak.

I didn't cry.

I just sat by her bedside, keeping a silent vigil for a day and a night.

Then I arranged for her cremation.

When I walked out of the funeral home, her urn cradled against my chest, the numbness began to fade.

Something else took its place. Cold. Calculated.

Fury.

I called a lawyer friend. Filed two lawsuits.

One for divorce.

The other to sue Olivia Swanson for illegal asset disposal. The house was mine; she had no right to sell it. I hired a security team to forcibly evict the new "owners" from my property.

I had just finished these arrangements, preparing to leave the city for good, when my phone rang.

The police.

"Mr. Dickerson," the officer said. "We've found him. The culprit who raped your wife years ago."

"Send me the photo."

My voice was devoid of emotion.

When the image loaded, a cruel smile touched my lips.

*Olivia Swanson.*

I stared at the face on my screen.

*I hope you can maintain your composure when you see who really destroyed you.*

I instructed the police to notify Olivia directly. Then I turned off my phone, placed Mom's ashes in the passenger seat, and drove away.

I didn't look back.

When the police found Olivia, she was still in Spencer Delgado's bed.

"Have you found the man?" She sat up, pulling the sheets around her.

"Yes, Ms. Swanson." The officer's voice was solemn. "We promised we wouldn't stop until we caught him."

"It's the man in this photo."

He handed her the printout. She took it, her expression expectant, ready to hate a stranger.

But when her eyes focused on the face—

She froze.

The color drained from her skin. Left her ghostly pale.

On the Winter Solstice, I delivered a son for the Miranda family.

My mother-in-law rushed all the way from her hometown to care for me during my confinement month. Gratitude warmed me at first.

It curdled fast.

The clash between her archaic confinement rules and modern medical advice left us constantly at each other's throats.

New Year's Day brought the tension to a breaking point. While she went downstairs, I sneaked some grapes from the refrigerator. Just something fresh. Something that wasn't gray soup or boiled cabbage.

The door clicked open behind me.

"Mila Fox, you simply won't listen!"

Her voice could shatter glass. "Fruit is cold energy. Eating it will ruin your body and taint my eldest grandson's milk!"

She snatched the bowl from my hands and dumped the grapes onto her niece Stella Chavez's plate.

Ten days of obstruction flashed through my mind. Ten days of being told what I could eat, when I could sleep, whether I could hold my own child.

Something inside me snapped.

I marched to the refrigerator, grabbed every piece of fruit inside, and hurled it all into the trash.

"If I can't eat it, why buy so much? It takes up space and wastes electricity. Get rid of it all!"

She froze. Her mouth hung open.

Then her legs gave out—or pretended to. She collapsed onto the floor, limbs sprawled, and began clapping her hands rhythmically as she wailed.

"What kind of daughter-in-law is this? She's a tyrant! A bully!"

——

Stella's eyes went wide. She scrambled out of the apartment and fled across the hall to her own home.

Spencer had been sleeping in the bedroom. The commotion dragged him out, eyes bleary, hair a mess.

"Mila, did you upset Mom again?"

He didn't ask what happened.

He didn't check on me.

He just slapped the blame squarely on my shoulders.

Was this the man who had promised to cherish me for a lifetime?

Before I could defend myself, my mother-in-law unleashed a torrent of accusations. "Tell me, how cold are those grapes? She just shoves them in her mouth! A woman's body is fragile during confinement. I stopped her for her own good, didn't I?"

She spoke with the absolute conviction of a martyr. In her mind, she could do no wrong.

"If you won't let me eat them, why buy them?" My voice shook. "The fridge is stuffed full."

For days, she had banned me from eating anything fresh or cold, yet she kept the refrigerator stocked. I had watched her daily ritual: selecting the best fruits and delivering them to Stella, her daughter's child.

My sister-in-law, Madeline Miranda, lived directly across the hall. When we bought this apartment, my mother-in-law had insisted on the location. *It's convenient for family to visit,* she had said.

Now I understood just how convenient.

Earlier, while Stella devoured the fruit, my mother-in-law had instructed her, "Stella, tell your mom to turn off her fridge. She can use your uncle's. It'll save your family some electricity."

At the time, I had laughed it off. The old woman certainly knew how to pinch pennies—as long as it benefited her daughter.

I had endured it all. She forbade fruit; I endured. She forbade me from washing my hair until my scalp itched maddeningly; I endured.

She forced me to drink soup swimming with a thick layer of grease, claiming it was best for lactation. "I have to fatten up my grandson," she'd say. I drank it, choking back the nausea.

On the fifth day, the greasy diet caused a blockage. My breasts became engorged, hard as rocks and radiating heat. A high fever followed.

The pain was blinding.

My mother-in-law told me to suck it up. She told Spencer to use physical cooling methods instead of medication. I begged him to call a doctor.

He wavered.

Ultimately, he sided with his mother. "Medicine will get into the milk. It's bad for Little Treasure."

That was the moment my love for Spencer Miranda began to die.

Before marriage, I had ignored my parents' warnings and followed him a thousand kilometers away from home. I thought I had found a partner who put me first.

Confinement revealed the true face of this family.

Desperate, I found a lactation specialist online and hired her to come to the house.

The moment she stepped through the door, cold glares from both my mother-in-law and Spencer greeted her. They tried to drive her away immediately.