I wanted to clarify that Harper gave me the phone as a birthday present last year, intended as a peace offering to help me reconcile with our parents. But before I could say anything, the taste of blood filled my mouth. I coughed hard and put my hand on my chest.

As if taking advantage of the moment, Derek turned to the other parents and sneered. “Look at him! I barely touched the bastard, and he’s already down! Some tough guy, huh? No wonder he conned my girl out of her money! Blokes like him are the absolute worst!”

Feeling the heat of the crowd's judgment, my face turned red as blood vessels popped into my eyes. The parents' stares were as sharp as daggers.

Fighting back my frustration, I spoke up, “Are you deaf? I'm not some fucking prostitute, you moron! What makes you think that?”

After all, he was going to be my brother-in-law. I didn’t want to worsen things for my sister, so I tried to stay calm and reason with him. Maybe if he had some proof, we could talk it out. Heck, if my sister had done something wrong, I’d try to fix it. But hearing me talk only seemed to make him angrier.

Ignoring my attempts to reason, he shoved his phone camera even closer to my face. “Look at him, everyone! He still won’t admit it! Even now!”

“I swear, if I don’t make him suffer today, I’ve wasted my time coming here!” He lit a cigarette, pulled out another phone, and showed me photos of Theo and me at an amusement park.

“Now, what do you have to say for yourself?” Derek sneered. “I found these on my fiancee's phone! You really went all out trying to get close to my son, didn’t you? Let me tell you something—try it again, and I’ll bench press you!”

Completely at a loss, I furrowed my brow. Those were just pictures from my nephew’s birthday. My sister had been busy, so I took him to the amusement park instead.

But somehow, things had spiraled into this huge misunderstanding.

Seeing my silence, Derek snorted. “Got nothing to say, huh? Fine. Bro, get him! Leave the bastard conscious enough to talk!”

“Mess up his face—let’s see how he lands a sugar mama after this!”

Despite the pain, I forced myself to stand as his gym bro friends rolled up their sleeves and approached me. When I opened my mouth, the scab on my lip cracked, sending a sharp sting through my body.

“You’ve got this all wrong! I’m Theo’s uncle! Harper’s my goddamn sister!” I reasoned.

But Derek wasn’t buying it.

He shot me a look of pure disgust. “Uncle? His own mother doesn’t even know she’s got a son! I’m about to marry Harper, and I’ve never heard her mention a brother!”

He then scoffed. “What kind of ‘brother’ are you? Some fake one? You really think you can fool me? Let me knock some sense into you that you won’t forget!”

Those words left me stunned. I hadn’t realized my mom was so furious she would literally cut me off from the family.

In a panic, I turned to the other parents, pleading with them to call the police. But not one of them even looked my way. They seemed to be enjoying the show, and one person even threw a pencil at me. The pencil stuck into my scalp, snapping in half, sending a wave of pain through my head.

Derek’s expression darkened, his rage building as he prepared to hit me again.

Desperate, I shouted, “Wait! Let me call Mom, okay? I’ll put her on speaker—you can hear for yourself!”

For a brief moment, a flicker of suspicion crossed Derek’s face. He threw my phone back at me. “Fine. But if you’re messing with me, you’re dead!”

As I dialed, Derek’s friends watched me closely, ready to jump at any moment.

My heart pounded as the phone rang. Then, suddenly, the call disconnected, and I got a notification: Blocked.

Mom had cut me off. The phone slipped from my hand as despair washed over me.

Derek chuckled coldly. “Your mother-in-law probably thinks you’re some creep bothering her! Still gonna pretend you’re innocent?”

Desperation hit me hard. I suddenly thought of Theo and said quickly, “Wait, my nephew, Theo! He’ll vouch for me! I’m here to attend his parent-teacher meeting!”

But before I could finish, Derek stormed over and punched me square in the face. One of my teeth flew out, streaked with blood, and hit the floor with a sickening thud.

“Enough! I told you, don't even mention Theo's name! Stay away from him from now on!”

Among the gossip and banter of the other parents, I overheard Miss Lewis bringing the entire class to the office. She was busy looking after the children, so it made sense that she hadn’t shown up yet. At this point, no one dared to help me. My thoughts raced, but Derek wouldn’t even let me think as I trembled in pain.

With a quick glance, Derek signaled his gang to start destroying everything in the classroom. Their wild, out-of-control behavior drove the watching parents back, and the classroom quickly became a battleground.

Meanwhile, Derek panned the live stream camera around the room, capturing the broken desks and chairs and the paint peeling off the walls. In just five minutes, the once-pristine classroom was completely trashed. Red paint splattered across both blackboards, creating a chilling, chaotic scene.

Seeing the devastation, Derek laughed even more hysterically. “This bastard thought he could just waltz into my son’s parent-teacher meeting. Well, I’m making sure he won’t forget this day! I’ve been hitting the gym every day just for this!”

I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “If you keep this up, you’ll regret it when Harper shows up!” I warned him. “Do you even realize what you’re doing? You’ll be in a lot of trouble after she finds out what you've done!”

With a mocking smile, Derek curled his lip. “Did you hear that, everyone? He's threatening me. I’m shaking in my boots! He steals my girl and now wants to act tough!”

Before I could react, he walked up to me and swung his gym bag again at my head. After several heavy hits, my head spun, and I could barely think straight. Enraged, he stormed out of the room.

Outside the classroom, parents began to gather in increasing numbers. Neighboring rooms had come to watch, and several of them were now filming the scene with their phones pointed at me. Their laughter drowned out my limp screams for help. Even picking up my phone to call the cops was too hard.

After a few attempts, I managed to prop myself up and reach for my phone. But just as I touched it, I was struck hard from behind.

Standing over me with a dirty mop, Derek's face contorted with anger. “Running away from me now, huh? Where do you think you’re going? The only one walking out of here on two feet today is me! All my time in the gym’s been for nothing if I let you off!”

He struck me so hard that I collapsed onto the floor. My gaze fell on the crowd outside the window, and the spectators were all cheering for Derek.

I was the only one being treated like a criminal.

By now, the classroom was completely wrecked, with no corner untouched. One of Derek’s friends walked over and kicked me hard in the ribs.

Already weak and battered, my body went limp. Blood and dirt were all over my suit as I struggled to get back on my feet. The pain was unbearable, but I refused to give Derek the satisfaction of seeing me defeated.

“This is too easy for him! Didn’t he want to attend the parent-teacher meeting? Let’s give him a real chance!” Derek’s friend suggested.

Right then, Derek’s eyes gleamed with cruel excitement. “Drag him to the broadcasting room and make him confess to the whole school that he’s just a gold digger living off rich women!”

Hearing this, my eyes widened as I shook my head frantically.

Without hesitation, two burly men grabbed me by the armpits and lifted me. My legs dragged on the ground as my body went limp. Struggling to keep my posture, my car keys slipped from my pocket and fell to the floor.

Derek’s eyes bulged with rage. He retrieved the keys and hurled them at my face, causing the keyring to graze my temple and leave a bloody stain.

“What a gold digger! You let Harper buy you a car? She wouldn’t even get me one! Who the hell do you think you are?!” Derek spat, glaring at the Porsche 718 Cayman with growing hatred.

Suddenly, a nosy parent said, “I swear I saw him get out of it earlier! How does a guy like that drive around here without caring if he hits kids? No shame at all!”

Before I could react, Derek threw my car keys at the windshield. The glass of my Maybach shattered instantly. But that wasn’t enough for him. He swung his gym bag at my face, and the strap broke on impact. The bag hit the ground, revealing a 20kg dumbbell inside. I couldn’t believe he’d gone this far. He wasn’t planning to let me leave here in one piece!

While I was being dragged away, his gang pulled me toward the broadcasting room, and Derek went downstairs alone. Without hesitation, he grabbed a mop and started smashing my car, turning it into an unrecognizable wreck. Still unsatisfied, he stormed into the neighboring classroom, grabbed an intact chair, and threw it at my car with all his strength. With no windshield to stop it, the chair pierced through and lodged between the driver’s and passenger’s seats.

After the destruction, he dusted off his hands with a sense of satisfaction and pointed the live stream camera at the ruined car, showing it to the audience.

“Listen up, everyone! This is how you deal with a prick like him! You beat him down until he’s too scared to even look at a woman! That’s how you win! A manwhore like him, who can’t even lift a finger, dares to compete with me for a woman? What a joke!”

With his anger still boiling, Derek picked up the mop and stormed into the broadcasting room. There, I was pinned in front of the microphone, my swollen lips pressed painfully against it. Blood smeared across the mic, leaving a trail of red.

I used every ounce of strength to bite down and keep myself from speaking.

Seeing my defiance, Derek pushed his brother aside and grabbed the mic. Turning it on, he shouted angrily, “I’m going to take a moment to introduce the gold digger who tried to crash my son’s parent-teacher meeting!”

“This piece of trash ruined my family, spent my wife’s money, and messed with my son. He says he’s here for the meeting. Well, now I’m giving him a chance to talk to the whole school!”

With that, he grabbed my arm and pinched it hard. The pain twisted my face, but I bit down, refusing to cry out as blood seeped from my lips.

Derek leaned in close and whispered in my ear, his voice dripping with menace, “Speak up! Or I’ll strip you naked and drag you through every classroom. Say it! Admit you’re a manwhore living off rich women and that you love sleeping with married women and living off their money!”

Tears welled up in my eyes, and my teeth chattered from the force I was using to hold back. The humiliation and pain overwhelmed me, leaving me on the edge of passing out from lack of oxygen.

Finally, I gave in. “Fuck, fuck, I admit it! I admit it, alright? Just let me go!” I hissed, my jaw clenching in pain.

Derek then shoved the microphone into my mouth and cranked the volume to maximum.

With a cold laugh, he shouted, “Did everyone hear that? The bastard admitted it himself!” Turning to me, he sneered, “You better watch out from now on! You never know when you’ll run into someone like me who’ll beat you within an inch of your life!”

As if showing off his triumph, Derek tossed his phone onto a nearby desk. From the corner of my eye, I saw the screen lit up with a flood of virtual gifts. The number of viewers was skyrocketing.

'Damn it!' Anger and distress overwhelmed me.

Then, without warning, Derek swung the mop at me with both hands, hitting me repeatedly. I writhed in agony, unsure whether to protect my head or my body.

With a single brutal blow, my Rolex watch shattered, its sharp fragments embedding into my skin. Blood seeped from the cuts, only fueling Derek’s rage further.

His eyes burned red with fury, and he kept swinging, refusing to stop. Seeing things escalate, one of his friends tried to intervene, but Derek knocked him to the ground with the mop.

By then, the sound of approaching police sirens grew louder, but Derek didn’t seem to notice.

Exhausted and beaten, I lay there like a limping dog. My insides felt shattered, and my consciousness was slipping away.

Just then, I heard Harper’s voice. “Nate? Nathan, where are you?”