“You really take me for a fool.”

Just then, her assistant called.

“Ms. Carter, that one-million-dollar check—Mr. Carter refused it. He said you should handle the funeral yourself.”

“I understand.”

After hanging up, Olivia smirked at me and tossed several more checks in my face.

“Don’t be ungrateful. A million is more than enough for one life. Your brother was useless anyway, couldn’t do a single job right. Dying isn’t a loss.”

“If you think that’s not enough, here’s another five million. Satisfied now?”

I didn’t even look at the checks, only stared at her coldly.

“My brother, useless?”

I was baffled.

My younger brother had just been admitted to MIT, known as a top student far beyond the reach of most.

Her words made no sense.

Olivia flung a report at me.

“See for yourself. This is what your brother produced—an absolute mess. If it weren’t for you pulling strings to sneak him in, I’d have fired him long ago.”

Then I remembered—two months earlier, Daniel had failed his college entrance and couldn’t find a job. Under crushing pressure from family and society, he came to me.

“Brother-in-law, can you let me work at your plant? Please, don’t tell my sister. If she finds out how useless I am, she’ll tear me apart.”

Out of pity, I agreed. I told everyone in the company he was my brother, so they’d look out for him.

Over time, the story spread, and everyone believed he was truly my blood brother.

Olivia sneered again.

“People like you, sneaking family into the company through back doors—if everyone did this, how would I run a business? Now that he’s dead, at least it saved me the trouble of firing him.”

I almost laughed in fury.

It was her brother who had begged me to let him work. If she cared at all, she wouldn’t have gone two whole months without realizing he was there.

And when he died in the mixer, she was busy flirting with Ryan.

I narrowed my eyes. “If you knew the one who died was your own brother, would you still say this?”

Olivia cut me off with a sharp, mocking laugh.

“How could it possibly be my brother? He’s not that stupid. He’s away at college. There’s no way he’d be at my factory. Your little fantasy is impossible.”

Her certainty made me sick.

Daniel had never been admitted anywhere. He lied about going away to school just to avoid her scolding.

With a gambling addict for a mother and a violent sister, he’d been living under threats his whole life. She even told him flat out: if he didn’t make it into college, he should just marry someone and be done.

Daniel didn’t want to lose his freedom so young, so he worked odd jobs while continuing to study.

And yet, on an ordinary day, his own sister had driven him to death.

Standing nearby, Ryan gloated.

“Mr. Carter, why curse Ms. Carter’s brother like that? Not everyone dies so young…”

Before he could finish, I glared at him and slapped him hard.

“Do you think you get a say here?”

Olivia panicked, rushing forward to shield Ryan.

“Michael, are you insane? Talking is one thing, but hitting him?”

“Ryan, let me see if it hurts. I’ll blow on it for you…”

Her tone, as if soothing a child, made my stomach turn.

Ryan’s eyes filled with tears, his voice trembling.

“It’s all my fault. I was too clumsy. If only I’d noticed sooner, no one would’ve died…”

“I spoke foolishly, and now I’ve angered Mr. Carter. I might as well resign!”

He sobbed and tried to run, and Olivia hurried after him in distress.

At first, I thought she was only playing with this young assistant.

But she really cared.

“Olivia, I’ll ask you one last time—”

I tried to remind her kindly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see for yourself whether that was your brother?”

She spat at me.

“Your family’s the cold ones. Last time my company needed help and I went to your father, do you remember what he said?”

“He threw me a cold ‘handle it yourself’ and did nothing. And now it’s your family in trouble—why should I care?”

Her words froze my heart. A chill crept from the soles of my feet upward.

Had she deliberately ignored the accident in the control room to take revenge?

“Olivia, no wonder something felt off. Now your true colors are showing.”

“You call my father cold? Have you forgotten how you got where you are today?”

“Without him propping you up, would you have made it this far? Would you have this wealth—or the spare time to keep a young assistant?”

My mockery enraged Olivia. She slammed documents to the floor.

“So what if I do? You’re infertile, a useless man who couldn’t give me a child for over ten years. Why shouldn’t I enjoy myself with younger men if I have the money?”

“And I’ll tell you now—your brother’s death, even if he turns to ashes, has nothing to do with me. I’m going to see my assistant right now.”

“If you can’t stand it, pack your things and get out. If you can’t stand it, then divorce me!”

With that cruel declaration, she grabbed her coat and stormed out.

I clenched my fists. Divorce was inevitable.

But letting her toy with me like a fool—this wouldn’t end so easily.

Olivia, this divorce will strip you to the bone.

I had my lawyer prepare the divorce agreement.

Looking at Daniel, so young and so pitiful, with a violent sister and a mother who favored sons over daughters, I felt a deep ache.

Olivia had made so much money, but spent it all on others. Neither her brother nor her husband saw much of it.

In life, Daniel had suffered in silence.

In death, he was treated with cruelty by his own sister.

I couldn’t bear it. I ordered the mixer and the control room shut down and had the workers recover his remains.

They spent two hours trying.

My assistant approached awkwardly.

“Mr. Carter, he’s been shredded too much. There’s hardly anything to recover.”

“Recover what you can.”

Though I was divorcing Olivia, at the very least, he was family. I wanted him to leave this world with some dignity.

Daniel’s funeral couldn’t just have me alone.

I pulled out my phone, ready to call Mrs. Johnson, my mother-in-law.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed with a message.

It was from Ryan Lee.

The video opened to a dark room where a man’s moans could be heard.

“Sis, slow down… what, your husband doesn’t satisfy you at home? Take it easy, don’t forget—this is the ‘courtroom.’”

The camera shook, but it was still clear that the woman in the frame was Olivia Carter.

She wore a business suit, while Ryan, seen from the side, was dressed in a ridiculous “servant costume,” playing the defendant.

She laughed lightly, tugging on his collar.

“You little demon, someone accused you of committing a crime in the control room. Do you plead guilty?”

Olivia’s tone was exaggerated, dripping with mockery.

Ryan immediately begged.

“Your Honor, I was wrong! Punish me however you want, I’ll never dare again…”

The shameless video almost made me vomit.

Then Ryan added smugly:

“Mr. Carter, about your brother dying in the industrial mixer—Olivia already punished me for it.”

I couldn’t stomach another second. I blocked him on the spot.

Then I called Mrs. Johnson.

“Your son is dead. What about the funeral?”

She was gambling at the poker table when she answered, and instantly erupted.

“Michael Carter, you bastard, who are you cursing? You’re the one who’s dead! Your whole family is dead!”

“I’m busy—if you call again to harass me, I’ll make sure you regret it!”

The line cut off with a series of harsh beeps.

Looking at Daniel Carter’s photo, my eyes softened with pity.

Now I finally understood why Daniel had hidden the fact that he worked at his sister’s factory, begging me not to tell anyone.

With a mother addicted to gambling, and a family like this, his life had been nothing but a lonely battle.

Just then, my lawyer sent over the divorce agreement. I called Olivia.

“Come home when you have time. First, attend the funeral. Second, sign the divorce agreement.”

For the past two years, Olivia had been punishing me for refusing to have children, constantly running around with other men. Ryan was only the latest in a long line.

At first, I thought she was just acting out of spite, only pretending. But after Ryan repeatedly taunted me, sending endless indecent photos and videos, I knew there was no doubt left.

This marriage was already dead.

“The funeral? I don’t have time. And so what—it’s only your brother. Your parents are still alive. If you divorce me now, won’t that kill them from shame?”

I fell silent. She knew my parents well—too well. She thought she could control me because they hated the idea of divorce, because they’d prefer me to endure.

But she forgot—my life is mine alone.

“Olivia, you’d better make sure you understand whose brother really died.”

Standing at the entrance of the crematorium, watching the furnaces lined up for use, my voice was ice.

“If you have time, you’d better come this afternoon. At four o’clock, he’ll be cremated.”

She only sneered.

“I’m too busy making money. Who has time for such nonsense? Cremate him if you want. A funeral? Handle it yourself. He was short-lived anyway—just toss something together.”

The call ended abruptly.

So be it.

If she said there was no need for anything elaborate, then so it would be.

In life, even though his sister was worth millions, Daniel never even had a place of his own. He’d still been renting.

I had his belongings gathered and brought to my marital home with Olivia.