Daniel gulped nervously and shuffled closer, rubbing his hands together ingratiatingly. "I already helped you get back at Jasmine. Do I not deserve something in return, Mr. Fisher?"

Kendrick crushed the wine glass in his hand, spilling wine onto the carpet. He stared at Daniel with a chilling smile before saying, "You must be quite drunk, Mr. Ziegler. Who is this Jasmine? Is she someone I should know?"

I instantly felt tears welling up in my eyes. I still felt a wave of grief washing over me after hearing him say that, even though my heart had already shattered a million times before this.

Kendrick pulled a wad of cash from his inner suit pocket and casually threw it on the floor.

Those bills were scattered across the floor, a few landing right at Daniel's feet.

In that instant, the snickering of the guests throughout the venue came to a sudden halt.

Daniel's expression contorted, slowly dropping to his knees. He licked his lips, his eyes locked on the pile of cash. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Fisher. I've had too much to drink. What does that bitch have to do with you anyway? You're completely out of her league—she's nothing but garbage compared to you!"

He kneeled under the crowd's gaze and picked up the money in a panicked manner, scratching at the carpet.

I looked at Kendrick's stern profile, the weight in my chest finally lifting.

I saw Daniel slumped onto the floor and thought that he could no longer stir up any more trouble.

Kendrick furrowed his brow and strode out of the banquet hall without looking back amid the crowd's laughter and ridicule.

I saw Kendrick's convoy moving past from the direction of my home while I was still in a daze. I suddenly recalled that today was the day of my funeral, which meant that my hearse and his convoy had crossed paths once again.

I felt my heart tighten as I watched Mom get out of the car with her hair disheveled, throwing herself down onto her knees with a thud before Kendrick, under the stunned looks of the entire crowd.

"I'm begging you, Kendrick—please call off your people, stop smashing the coffin, and just let Jasmine be buried in peace!"

Mom's voice had grown hoarse, resembling the sound of sandpaper scraping.

In that instant, the bodyguards rushed forward, crudely grabbing her by the arms. "I'm sorry, Mr. Fisher—this woman is mentally unstable, so we'll take her away right now."

"That's enough!" Kendrick cut in sharply, his fists tightening at his sides.

He stared at Mom and said, "You first brought an empty coffin to disgust me, and now you're making up all this nonsense. Is it because you think I didn't retaliate against the Lawson family, so you think I'm being too kind?

"I saw Jasmine two days ago, and she was standing right there, alive and well! You want to pull a fake-death pity play to get me to go back just because I've made a comeback, huh?"

Kendrick's voice rang out through the funeral hall, his knuckles whitening as he gripped his hands. "Does she deserve it, though? Who does she think she is? She was the one who ripped up the love letter back then and said my heart condition would be a burden to her.

"She wants to crawl back to me now that Daniel has swindled her out of all her family's fortune and dumped her, huh? Why would I ever marry a bankrupt nobody who owes money to loan sharks?"

He grew increasingly unrestrained while speaking, his tie slipping out of place as years of pent-up hatred surged out of him.

Mom's back slouched further, a look of confusion crossing her clouded eyes. “You hate Jasmine? How could you possibly hate Jasmine when she was the one who gave her heart to you?"

She rose abruptly, and before the shocked eyes of everyone present, she reached out with a trembling hand and presented my death certificate. "You see this, Kendrick? Jasmine had given you her heart. You lived because of it, but she couldn't. Jasmine is dead now. You can't hate her—"