I wasn't able to leave with Winona, Heather, and Terry immediately because the furious netizens tracked me down sooner than expected.

I had just agreed to leave with them when a group of young men burst into the auto repair shop.

"Murderer! Leave this place!"

"You sick bastard! How dare you stand on the sidelines and do nothing when you can save a life? You should just die!"

The young men hurled rotten tomatoes and eggs at my signboard. One of them rushed into the shop and kicked over a mountain bike that I had painstakingly assembled, sending parts scattering across the floor.

Terry and Heather did nothing as the young men vandalized my shop, watching the chaos unfold with icy gazes. In fact, I could pick out a hint of glee flickering in their eyes.

From their perspective, I would only obediently listen to their orders after I was forced into a corner.

Terry glanced at the bodyguards behind him. His tone was glacial as he barked out his orders, giving off the impression that he was dealing with trash.

"Jamie has already agreed to help us. We can't let him delay any more of our time. Tidy up his place for him."

The bodyguards leaped into action. Instead of "tidying up", they began wrecking my shop. They destroyed my toolbox and stomped on my old radio until it was nothing but broken pieces.

The radio had been my only connection to the outside world during my time in prison.

Quinn Forester had given it to me. She was also the sister of the victim of the medical malpractice case.

When everyone turned their back on me, she was the only one who kept investigating the case to find out the truth. She had also been helping me rehabilitate my ruined hand in the past three months.

I held the broken remains of the radio close to my chest and hissed in a low voice, "You're going to regret this, Terry."

"Regret?" Terry scoffed. "The only thing I regret in my life is bringing you back from the slums. Just look at the state that you're in. You look nothing like a Lachman!"

Winona approached me brandishing a high-voltage stun baton. There was a manic glint in her eyes when she said, "Stop wasting time, Jamie. Matthew can't wait anymore. I won't mind ruining your other hand if you try to escape while we're on the way to the hospital."

Blue electricity pulsed through the air, letting out a buzzing noise that sent a chill down my spine.

Winona didn't hesitate for even a second before she drove the baton into my back.

Excruciating pain coursed through my entire body. The air was punched out of my lungs, and black spots exploded in my vision. I crashed to the floor that was covered with oil stains and metal shavings.

Right before I lost consciousness, I heard Heather hiss in an irritated voice, "Hurry up. Don't dirty the ambulance. He's so troublesome. Giving birth to a piece of trash like him is truly the humiliation of the Lachman family."

They dragged me out of the auto repair shop as if I were a rag doll.

The livestream was still recording everything that was going on.

The viewers cheered, feeling ecstatic that justice was being served. They had no idea that the filthy auto repair shop harbored a secret that Matthew would never find out in his lifetime.

I opened my eyes to the blinding glare of a shadowless lamp.

The familiar scent of disinfectant permeated the air. There was also the beeping from a heart rate monitor that made one anxious.

I had been trapped in an operating room.

Matthew was lying on the operating table. He was deathly pale. His chest had been cut open, but the surgery had been temporarily stopped because of the excessive bleeding.

A few young doctors were huddled in a corner, wearing matching helpless expressions. It was obvious that Terry had spent a fortune on them to be my assistants.

Terry, Heather, and Winona were staring at me through the observation window. They didn't look concerned at all for my well-being. In fact, I could tell that they wanted me to get started as soon as possible.

Winona's voice echoed from the speakers in the operating room. The tone of her voice made it clear that there would be no room for compromise.

"The surgical tools are next to you, Jamie. You're the only one who can stitch up Matthew's aorta. Stop playing dead. If you fail to save him, I promise that you'll be trapped in this operating room for the rest of your life."

I looked down at my trembling right hand. I slowly picked up a scalpel and murmured, "I bet you never expected this to happen, huh, Matthew?"

Matthew remained unconscious even as I leaned down next to his ear. I lowered my voice so that only the two of us could hear what I was saying.

"You took everything from me in my previous life and left me to die in prison. In this life, I'll be personally sending you to the pits of hell."

Terry furiously slammed his fist against the glass when he noticed that I was stalling. "What the hell are you waiting for, Jamie?" he roared. "Hurry and stitch up the tear in his aorta! He's going to die if you don't do something soon!"

I lifted my head and shot a radiant smile at them through the glass.

A chill ran down Heather's spine when she looked at me. She subconsciously gripped the hem of her shirt.

"What's the rush?" I asked as I lifted my shaking hand. "You know that my hand is ruined, don't you? Every move that I make will be testing the limits of Matthew's survival."

I intentionally slowed down my movements, using my left hand to clumsily pick up the needle.

Truth be told, I had already trained my left hand during my time in prison. In fact, my left hand's precision far exceeded my right hand's.

But I had to pretend that I was struggling with the procedure. I wanted them to personally witness how their precious Matthew was led away from hope and toward destruction.

Most importantly, I was waiting.

I was waiting for the drugs coursing through Matthew's veins to take effect.

…

A month ago, through the dark web, I used the persona of an overseas medical expert to send a "God's Reagent" to Matthew, who was desperate for success.

I knew that Matthew would be consumed by his own greed. He wanted to captivate the entire world once again during next week's international academic conference, so I knew that he would inject himself with the reagent.

The drug that I sent him caused terrifying hallucinogenic effects under certain high-pressure circumstances.

"Jamie Lachman, you lunatic! What the hell are you doing?" Winona shrieked.

Matthew had started spasming violently on the operating table. Although he was supposed to be under the effects of a heavy dose of anesthetic, his eyes suddenly flew open. His eyes were hazy and filled with terror.

"Stay back! Don't kill me! I've learned my lesson, Leon!" he shouted.

His voice sounded particularly shrill in the silence of the operating room.

I set down the scalpel so I could take a good look at Terry, Heather, and Winona. They were wearing matching horrified expressions.

"The show's about to begin!" I exclaimed.