"So many years have passed and you haven't changed your bad temper at all! I've already apologized to you, what more do you want? Why are you so stubborn?" A fierce argument erupted in the cramped little room.

This time, I didn't speak, silently pushing open the small door behind me. The ashes of burnt paper money drifted in the sunlight. All the questions instantly stopped. I lit a cigarette in my hand, using the flame of the incense.

Leaning against the corner of the table, I smiled and offered my belated blessing, "Happy wedding."

If it weren't for Rachel's arrival, I would have almost forgotten. Today marked her tenth year with Thomas Lincoln. It was also the tenth year since my family was destroyed.

Ten years ago, Rachel wanted a divorce because of Thomas, whom she had raised herself. She disregarded our three-month-old child. She disregarded our years of companionship. She ignored the advice and pleas of her family. She even disregarded her own reputation and honor.

She was determined to divorce me. She said she had met her true love, her soulmate. She was willing to give up everything to be with him. I couldn't accept Rachel's betrayal and infidelity. Even more unacceptable was that the person she cheated with was Thomas— the child we had raised.

Years ago, an old friend entrusted his son to us on his deathbed. He left his only son with us to care for. The responsibility of raising a life was too heavy for Rachel and she hesitated.

But Thomas took my hand and timidly said, "Uncle, I'll be good."

In an instant, my heart softened. Rachel and I had been trying to have a baby for years without success. We thought that having a child around might bring some luck. Perhaps he had a knack for children and could bring siblings to our side. So I did everything I could to give him the best.

Rachel and Thomas were fifteen years apart. In Rachel's and my eyes, he was both a child and a younger brother. Thomas was also very well-behaved, taking on most of the housework and keeping both our elders happy.

Back then, Rachel always said... "You were born with the temperament of a young master."

"I don't expect you to be like Thomas, I just hope our child will be as well-behaved and sensible as him." Rachel's words proved prophetic.

In the fifth year after Thomas came to our home. After countless hardships, we finally had our first child. The child was born weak and sickly due to congenital developmental deficiencies. But I still cherished him dearly, seeking medical help everywhere.

One day, I finally connected him to the best cardiac surgeon. I was about to tell Rachel this news.

I opened the door and saw her and Thomas embracing. On the large bed in the master bedroom, the two were making love, oblivious to everything else. The necklace around Thomas's neck were the ones I had gotten for him when he was eighteen.

I was stunned speechless for a long time. I slapped Rachel across the face, asking her why she did this, why she had hurt me for Thomas.

"He's just a child! He's the child we raised! Rachel, you beast! You inhuman beast!"

At that time, I thought Rachel had seduced Thomas. I even considered calling the police to seek justice for him.

But then Thomas grabbed my hand, grinning and said to me, "Don't be angry, Uncle, you're getting wrinkles around your eyes. Rachel and I are in love, please don't break us up."

At that moment, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I didn't know when they got together. I had no idea how I'd raised such an ungrateful child.

In the years I'd cared for him, I'd been tireless. When he said he missed home and couldn't sleep, I stayed with him night after night. When he said he was bullied at school, I stood up for him. He said Rachel seemed to dislike him, so I encouraged Rachel to spend more time with him. Unexpectedly, the kind of liking he spoke of was sexual intimacy.

I was so angry that I fainted. My child's condition dropped rapidly without my care. During my hospitalization, Thomas kept sending provocative messages.

He sent me videos of the two of them together. He sent me Rachel's sweet words of love and vows. He sent me a divorce agreement that Rachel had already prepared. When I saw that thick stack of videotapes, I vomited for three days and three nights.

I just couldn't connect this heartless bastard in front of me with the timid little girl I first met. During that time, I almost cried my eyes out. Rachel never visited me once.

When I returned home from the hospital, I saw her directing people to move my belongings. In front of the enormous wedding photo, Rachel tightly gripped Thomas's hand.

"Steven, you didn’t understand, you'll never understand. Thomas is the rose I raised myself, my confidant, my soulmate. He's different from you. He's thoughtful, profound, someone I can discuss life with!" As she spoke, her gaze swept disdainfully over my designer clothes.

She coldly uttered, "Vulgar."

Those words shattered the last shred of my defenses. I didn't know how Thomas, who hadn't even finished high school, could discuss the length of life with her.

I only knew that back then, to be with Rachel, I gave almost everything. I almost broke with my family for Rachel. I drank myself into a hemorrhage countless times at the dinner table for Rachel. But they, just when I thought my suffering was over, dealt me ​​a fatal blow.

I remembered the traces they left all over the house. I remembered Thomas's parting words, "So what if you're rich and have everything in life? You don't know, do you? While you were working hard to earn money, Rachel was lying beneath me, moaning. From now on, this is my home. Your woman, everything you've worked so hard to earn, is mine."

My anger reached its peak. In a fit of rage, I set fire to the villa. The fire wasn't big and was quickly extinguished.

But Rachel filed a lawsuit against me for this crime. She gave me two choices: Divorce or go to jail. I also gave her two choices: Die or face complete disgrace.

She was a law professor who had lived a life of aloofness. What she couldn’t let go of most was her scholarly integrity. I could accept her leaving me because of incompatibility. But I couldn’t tolerate her using my money to support a gigolo.

We were arguing so badly that both of our parents came to mediate. When the elderly women, tears streaming down their faces, asked me why, I couldn’t even answer.

How could I begin? The child I raised had become a homewrecker. And my wife of many years, whom I’d loved for years, wanted a divorce for this bastard.

I couldn't utter a single word. Just thinking about it made me feel nauseous.

Finally, my mother gleaned a clue from Rachel and Thomas's intimate behavior. She threatened the Godman Family with an explanation, or she would withdraw all investments and cancel all cooperation.

The Godman Family elders panicked and apologized to me. They said Rachel had only been confused for a moment, unable to judge people and had been misled by Thomas. They advised me to give Rachel another chance for the sake of the child.

"You know, Rachel isn't a bad person, she's just been too protected by her family since childhood, making her a bit naive. For our sake, forgive her this once."

Keeping mistresses and having extramarital affairs wasn’t something new in their circle. But someone like Rachel, who disregards ethics and shame, was the first. Rachel’s parents couldn’t afford to lose face. I couldn’t swallow this insult either.

At the same time, they also knew. The Godman Family was just a newly rich family. To put it bluntly, their whole family depended on me for support. Over the years, I've managed almost everything in the family, big and small.

The Godman Family's business, with over a hundred employees, also relied entirely on my family's financial support. Whether from a status, emotional, or financial perspective, they didn’t want Thomas to replace me as the head of the Godman Family.

But no matter how much the family tried to persuade her, Rachel seemed possessed, determined to be with Thomas. She smashed the furniture in the house. She crashed the decorations we bought for our wedding. She broke everything connected to us.

She yelled at me in front of the mediator, "You don't understand, you understand nothing! All you people see is money, how can you understand the chemistry between Thomas and my soul? Heaven brought us together and I will overcome all difficulties to be with him. Age, status and interests cannot stop our love!"

Rachel became the romantic poet in her own defend. She became Romeo and Juliet, recklessly devoted to love. She regained her lost youth, regained the thrill of her youth. She completely forgot the husband who had supported her all along, working hard to earn money to support the family.

To express her determination for Thomas, Rachel moved out of her home. She took my money and bought Thomas a luxurious villa, naming it True Love. The two of them lived together openly like this.

These years of hard work had already taken a toll on my health. This shitty affair further worsen my condition.

When Luke was four months old, we were both hospitalized. My parents were so worried about me that they couldn't eat or sleep. They stood firmly by my side.

They declared that no matter the outcome, both of our families would be lifelong enemies. That divorce match turned into a huge mess.

The entire business world was shaken. New money fought with old money families. The wife fought the mistress. But just when the drama reached its peak, it suddenly ended.

My parents were in a car accident. The person in charge of the case said it was caused by fatigue driving and no one could be held responsible. But someone else told me that Rachel had deliberately hired someone to kill them so she could be with Thomas.

I didn’t know what the so-called truth was. I only remember being overwhelmed by anger and grief. Looking at my unconscious parents, watching Thomas’s constant provocations. I held a knife, intending to take this scumbag and his slut down with me.