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.