Chapter 3
He told me that my wife had cheated on me just two months after we got married. It hadn't been Dylan back then, but one of our old neighbors. I knew that man, though he had moved away a few years ago.
She started hooking up with Dylan only a year ago. According to the detective, they always met while I was at work. Their wildest days were when I went on a business trip.
There were many photos of her messing around with different men, which included the neighbor, Dylan, and several people I didn't even recognize.
I knew she cheated, but I didn't expect her to be this wild behind my back.
Aside from investigating my wife, I also asked the detective to look into Dylan.
It turned out that my best friend wasn't any better either.
I finally understood why his salary was so high when I saw the report. Besides my wife, he had also seduced his female supervisor at work. The supervisor was a married woman whose husband had been unknowingly cheated on, like me.
Dylan's rapid promotion was attributed to that supervisor.
One of the videos the detective had sent me was of him and the supervisor. It was even more explicit than the ones with my wife.
The detective felt bad for me, so he got a hacker friend to help investigate my in-laws' social accounts and found dirt on them as well.
This detective was quite helpful, and he didn't even ask for extra fees.
I added the hacker friend's number, and he immediately sent me a pile of screenshots.
The real show was just beginning.
What the hacker uncovered taught me the true meaning of birds of a feather flocked together.
It turned out that my seemingly dignified mother-in-law, Susan Moore, was actually a borderline-porn livestreamer. She went live around 11:00 pm every day, and the content she streamed was enough to get an account banned instantly.
The reason that my father-in-law never discovered this was that he went to bed early. He was usually knocked out around 9:00 pm, so he never had a clue.
He was no better himself. Behind that serious facade, he would spend his time online pretending to be a young man, flirting with young women and married ladies.
The hacker even sent me screenshots. One was from my mother-in-law's livestream. She was wearing heavy makeup and a skimpy outfit, dancing provocatively. My eyes nearly burned.
Another was a screenshot of my father-in-law's voice chat with someone who appeared to be a married woman. The way he talked was obsessive and disgusting. I felt sick reading them even as a man.
My brain couldn't process it all after taking all this in.
I finally understood that I was the only normal person in this entire family.
The next morning, my wife didn't even bother asking why I hadn't gone back to sleep. She simply made me breakfast and urged me to finish it quickly. I knew she just wanted me out of the house as soon as possible so she could meet Dylan.
Not only did I refuse to leave early, but I also deliberately ate as slowly as possible. I watched as her expression shifted. It was genuinely entertaining.
My father-in-law wanted to come with me when I was about to head out. My mother-in-law wasn't up yet.
Knowing what I knew, I simply smiled and said nothing.
He kept following me on the way to work, which was unusual as he had never done this before.
I was just a useless grunt worker to him. He felt embarrassed to have a son-in-law like me, so he normally pretended not to know me in public.
But today, he followed me relentlessly.
I pretended not to notice and walked even faster.
He panted behind me, struggling to keep up. A few minutes had passed before he snapped and yelled, "Why the hell are you walking so fast? Are you trying to rush to your next life?"
I stopped in my tracks at his words before I turned around and said in a deliberately aggrieved tone, "Tommy, I'm almost late for work. Didn't you tell me before that I should leave for work early? Otherwise, I'd get my pay docked."
I still remembered the time I almost got hit by a car on my way to work. He didn't show a shred of concern when he found out. Instead, he pointed at me and scolded, "So what if you got into an accident? You didn't die.
"Can't you even handle a few injuries? What kind of man are you? What if your pay gets deducted because you're late? Have you ever thought how that'd affect us? You're just irritating!"
Chapter 4
Now I was giving his words back to him.
As expected, my father-in-law touched his nose awkwardly after hearing my words. But it only lasted for a moment.
He immediately resumed that haughty expression and said arrogantly, "What late? How can you be so weak? My daughter really suffered marrying someone like you!"
He really knew how to twist the truth.
I complained silently but kept my face neutral.
He saw me stay silent and suddenly stretched out a hand before saying matter-of-factly, "Do you have any money? Give me 200 thousand dollars."
200 thousand dollars? He really thought I was his personal ATM.
"Tommy, 200 thousand dollars? That's a huge amount. I don't have that kind of money. You know everything I have is with Mori."
Mori was my wife's nickname. It made me nauseous to say her name now.
My father-in-law launched into another round of insults after hearing my answers, calling me useless, a leech, someone who lived off a woman, and every nasty word he could think of.
I let him rant. I had already felt numb to it after all these years. "Tommy, I really don't have the money…"
He looked speechless and as if he were about to say something. I suddenly looked up and raised my voice before he could speak. "I may not have money, but I know a way for you to get money!"
He asked impatiently as soon as my words fell, "What way? Tell me!"
"Tommy, you haven't told me why you suddenly need so much money. It'll be hard for me to give you any advice if I don't know the reason," I said.
He hesitated for a moment before mumbling, "I… A relative's kid has fallen sick and needs money urgently. I've known them for years, so I think I should help them."
I nodded knowingly. "Ah, I see."
Of course, I didn't believe him.
He didn't help us at all back when my family went bankrupt and when my mother was hospitalized. He even blamed her for dragging everyone down and wasting money.
"Tommy, I really don't have that much money, but I do have a friend who does. But you'd have to give up something. Would you be willing to do that?"
"What do I need to give up? I'm willing to do anything for the money!" he responded desperately, greed written all over his face.
I lowered my voice. "My friend is doing a real estate project. Their current target just happens to be people in our neighborhood—"
I spoke even more cautiously this time. "We can turn a huge profit within a month if you temporarily mortgage our house to him. It won't be just 200 thousand dollars. It'd be much more."
That hooked him immediately.
I pressed on. "Think about it, Dad. Our house is in your name. No one can stop you.
"Besides, my friend guarantees the risk is minimal. Honestly, I would've done it already if I had a house."
I even put on a regretful expression.
My father-in-law, who was desperate for money, didn't hesitate anymore. His weathered face was consumed by greed, as if he had already pocketed the money.
He urged me, "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
"I… still need to go to work. I might not have time right now," I replied.
He instantly flew into a rage at my refusal. "What work are you talking about? What's the big deal if you skip a couple of days from your crappy job? Help me get this done first!"
The paperwork with my father-in-law was handled surprisingly fast. After all, I had arranged all these people myself. How could it not be efficient?
I even hired a smooth-talking person to pretend to be my friend, which made the story even more believable.
He was grinning from ear to ear and hummed a tune when he left.
I stayed behind under the excuse of going to work, staring at the property deed in my hand. The first step of my plan had been done perfectly.
After that, I headed straight to the home of Cael Renard, who was the husband of the female supervisor who had been cheating with Dylan.