On the day I receive my Distinguished Service Medal, I also receive word that my grandma has passed away.

My superior grants me special leave to return to my hometown to mourn her death, so I rush to my ancestral home at once.

But when I reach the ancestral graveyard behind the hill, I witness something that makes my blood boil.

The graves of my deceased family members have been razed to the ground. Even my parents' graves have been brutally dug up. Their urns are now placed under flower pots filled with blooming red roses.

Grandma's coffin has been pried open as well.Her body now lies strewn on the ground and has started to rot.

I also see Lucy Stewart, my autistic younger sister. Melissa Abbott, my wife's assistant, orders Lucy around like a maid, forcing her to move heavy construction materials around.

Enraged, I grab Melissa by the throat and throw her to the ground.

"How dare you destroy my family's ancestral cemetery and make my sister do hard labor! Do you want to end up buried here too?"

Melissa coughs up blood before crawling back onto her feet, her expression vicious and scornful.

"I'm simply carrying out Ms. Fuller's instructions. She says that your ancestral cemetery is located in a good spot. It's also the perfect size to be turned into a private horse ranch and a garden for her future husband.

"Ms. Fuller calls the shots here in Joverton City. Who the hell do you think you are, huh?"

Resisting the urge to put an end to her life, I call up Eva Fuller, my wife.

"I heard you call the shots here in Joverton City. Well, I shall put that to the test today!"

Eva Fuller's haughty voice came through my phone's speaker.

"Who's this lunatic barking his head off at me? You've got some nerve. Go ahead and try me, if you dare. I'll prove to you just who has complete control over Joverton City! How dare you talk to me like that! I can have you executed a hundred times for that!"

The call was cut off without hesitation. Eva hadn't even recognized my voice.

We'd been married for just over a month when I was urgently recalled to the military for a top-secret mission, forcing me to cut off all contact with my family.

I was gone for seven years. When I left, I entrusted my family and the family business, Stewart Group, to my newlywed wife, Eva.

But in the end, my family had been humiliated and disgraced because of me. Even in death, they had no peace, their bodies not even laid to rest properly. I'd trusted the wrong person and invited nothing but danger into my family.

Melissa Abbott, Eva's assistant, could see that the call had been disconnected. The scorn and mockery in her eyes grew as she adjusted her ruffled outfit and declared, "Did you hear that? Ms. Fuller doesn't even recognize a madman like you!

"Did you seriously think you had any grounds to complain about me to her? And what's this nonsense about returning your family's ancestral cemetery, huh? How dare you impersonate Ms. Fuller's husband! That bastard ended his short-lived existence long ago!"

I froze. So while I was away on my mission, Eva actually had me declared dead.

Melissa flicked her hand, signaling a group of bodyguards to surround me tightly.

"Ms. Fuller only has eyes for the top superstar, Mr. Shawn Eckhart. If you're going to scam someone, at least do your homework. You tried pretending to be a dead husband, huh? There's no hope in that, you know. The dead should just remain in their coffins instead of crawling back out to get on the nerves of the living."

The surrounding residents also started passing judgment on me.

"He must've been so desperate to live off a woman that he has lost his mind. To think he's pretending to be a dead man, whose body must've turned to dust by now!"

"I know, right? I can't believe he's trying to pass himself off as the husband of the richest woman in the city! He should take a good look at himself in the mirror first."

Suppressing my rage, I ignored the chatter around me and walked toward my parents' urns, which had been used to prop up some flowerpots. I wanted to dig them out of the soil and rebury them properly, but Melissa beat me to it.

She kicked the urns with her sharp heels, and they shattered instantly. My parents' ashes spilled across the ground, mixing in with the dirt and fertilizer.

Scoffing cruelly, she declared, "The ashes of the dead make the perfect fertilizer for Mr. Eckhart's roses. I guess that means that even trash has some use to them after all. Mr. Eckhart said that, instead of letting such worthless junk occupy the land, it would be better to at least grow some flowers. It'll be far easier on the eyes that way."

My eyes turned red. The worthless junk she spoke of was my parents' ashes! Even though they'd died in service to the country long ago, that didn't stop Eva from using their reputation as national heroes for her own benefit.

But in the end, they couldn't even rest in peace.

When my younger sister, Lucy Stewart, saw our parents' ashes spilling on the ground, she let out an anguished cry and rushed over. She used her scarred hands to scoop up the ashes.

"No… No…"

Melissa kicked Lucy down in disgust, shrieking, "Get lost, you dimwit! Don't you dare sully Mr. Eckhart's roses! You think a moron like you can protect their ashes? Don't think so highly of yourself!"

Lucy stumbled and rolled on the ground, her palms sliced open by the shards. Even as blood flowed freely from her, she continued her desperate attempt to gather our parents' ashes.

I watched as she struggled on the ground, exposing the shocking bruises and cigarette burns that covered her arms. The murderous rage in my heart finally boiled over.

Like an enraged lion, I charged forward and smashed my elbow straight into Melissa's nose. The sound of cracking bone was unmistakable, and blood gushed out at once.

Clutching her nose, Melissa screamed as she staggered back. I seized the chance to pull Lucy up and roll back her dirty sleeves, then inspect other parts of her.

Her skeletal back was covered in whip marks and cigarette burns. New wounds were inflicted right on top of all the old scars, making it a rather horrifying sight. Some of the burns were still oozing pus and blood, giving off a rancid stench. The cuts on her arms had already scabbed over and become infected.

Lucy had autism, but she had always been gentle and sweet-natured, even as a child. She was our family's princess. I couldn't believe she'd been tortured to this extent.

"Who did this?" I asked, my voice heavy and murderous.

Lucy was trembling in fear. She covered her head and curled up in my arms, her voice barely a whisper as she cried out, "...No hitting… Lucy will behave… Move rocks…"

I couldn't imagine the kind of abuse she had suffered.

The nerve of Eva, that vicious and ungrateful woman! Even when I was still alive, she couldn't wait to cheat on me. She even allowed her subordinate and her boy toy to abuse my sister. Even my deceased family members couldn't be left in peace!

I clenched my jaw so hard that my mouth filled with the taste of blood, yet it still couldn't suppress the fury raging inside me.

Pulling out my phone, I was just about to call 911 when Melissa snatched my phone and threw it to the ground. She stomped on it with her heel, shattering it immediately.

"Calling the police, huh? I'll give you a little hint—it's pointless. Ms. Fuller rules over Joverton City."

She pointed to a deep pit nearby, which had been dug out to build an artificial lake for the horse ranch. It was filled with rubble, shards of glass, and rusty steel bars.

"You don't want your halfwit of a sister to suffer, right? Sure thing," Melissa said imperiously, her smile cruel. Her carefully dolled-up face couldn't hide her vicious heart. "Climb over to that pit and carry all the rocks out with your mouth. Do it, and I'll let her go. You should be the dog you are and use your mouth to clear the place for Mr. Eckhart."

The spectating residents whispered among themselves. Some had even pulled out their phones and started recording the situation.

I saw the terror in Lucy's eyes, and it felt as though my heart was being ripped to pieces. She was still shaking, but now that she'd recognized me, she gripped my camouflage uniform with those bony hands of hers, fearful that I would jump into that pit.

"H-Henry… I'll be good… Don't hit Henry…"

Just as I was about to move, Lucy suddenly broke free from my grip and stumbled toward the pit herself.

"I'll do it… Don't hit Henry… she mumbled as she was about to jump into the pit.

I saw red.

Grabbing a broken brick from the ground, I smashed it into the back of a bodyguard's neck. I snatched the stun baton from his hand and proceeded to swing it right against Melissa's thigh.

The crackling of electricity filled the air. She screamed in agony before collapsing onto the ground and convulsing, her makeup completely smeared. She looked miserable as she shrieked, "Are you people dead? Get him! Beat up that bastard!"

As soon as her words fell, more than a dozen bodyguards rushed forward. Even though I was a top special forces soldier with elite combat skills, I had to defend Lucy as well. In a battle against so many professional bodyguards armed with weapons, it was inevitable that I was at a disadvantage.

One bodyguard seized an opening and smashed a stun baton hard against my back. I let out a muffled grunt and stumbled. The rest of them seized this opportunity to pin me to the ground with the help of their riot shields and metal batons.

The batons began raining down on my back and waist. I felt as though my organs were being crushed. place. A metallic tang rose in my throat, and a mouthful of blood spilled from my lips.

"How dare you attack Ms. Abbott, you lunatic! You've got a death wish!"

One of the bodyguards pressed a baton against my neck, making it hard for me to breathe. My veins popped, and my vision started growing hazy.

Lucy wailed as she tried to help me, but they kicked her away.

Wincing in pain, she struggled over to Melissa. She dropped to her knees and grabbed onto Melissa's pant leg. "Don't… hit… I'll carry the rocks… I'll be good… Henry is in pain…"

My poor sister couldn't even speak properly, but she kept begging desperately in any way she could, just so that the bodyguards would stop hitting me.

"Then hurry up, dimwit. Why are you wasting your breath here? I'll tell them to let him go once you carry all of the rocks out with your mouth."

"Okay."

Lucy struggled to her feet and jumped into the deep pit. The exposed steel rebars sliced through her thin skin. Her blood dripped steadily, leaving a patch of dark red on the ground. She clenched her jaw and tried to pick up the rocks with her mouth, but their sharp edges tore her lips.

She forcefully tried to open her mouth wider, and her jaw dislocated from the strain. Blood and saliva both dribbled down her face.

"Lucy! Stop!" I howled, my eyes filled with anguish and tears.

But Lucy kept going. She was determined to save me, her brother.

Not only did Melissa feel no pity despite Lucy's pain and suffering, but she also grew impatient. "Why are you so slow? When are you ever going to finish carrying out the rocks? Mr. Eckhart will be here any minute!"

She barked at the bodyguards, "I've changed my mind. Tie up the madman and the halfwit. Throw them down together in front of the bulldozer. Ms. Fuller has said that we must flatten this plot of land by today. Their bodies can serve as fertilizer for the rest of the land as well."

My blood froze.

Several bodyguards brutally bound Lucy and me with steel wire to the front of the massive bulldozer, beneath the raised bulldozer blade. I could feel the icy metal pressing against my back.

As the engine roared to life, we were enveloped in a cloud of black smoke. Lucy trembled violently in terror, yet she still buried her head against my chest, trying to comfort me.

"Don't be scared… Henry… Don't be scared…" she mumbled indistinctly.

Just then, she suddenly pointed toward Grandma's exposed body in the distance and said in fear, "Pills… Grandma… ate… bitter…"

My entire body felt shaken to the core.

Grandma had always been in good health. How could she have abruptly taken ill and died? Could it be that Eva and the lot of them had something to do with her death?

The thought unleashed a burst of strength in me. Recalling the escape training I'd received from the special forces, I forcibly dislocated the joint of my thumb.

The pain was unimaginable, but I didn't make a sound. I slipped my hands free of the steel wire and quickly used my uninjured hand to reset the joint.

I swiftly reached for the dagger hidden in my combat boot and cut through the rest of the wires. Just a second before the bulldozer blade slammed down, I rolled to the side with Lucy cradled in my arms.

The huge blade crashed onto the ground, grazing my scalp and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Ignoring the pain, I charged into the cab of the bulldozer, shattering the glass with a kick, and yanked the driver out of the high seat. He screamed as he fell to the ground.

Alarmed, Melissa commanded the bodyguards, "Beat him up! Even if he dies, Ms. Fuller will take care of things. She wants him dead!"

More than a dozen bodyguards, armed with steel pipes and metal batons, charged toward us.

Holding the terrified Lucy, I was once again trapped with the men surrounding me.

A steel pipe slammed heavily into my back. I dropped to one knee, but I didn't fall to the ground. At that moment, my hand brushed against the satellite phone at my waist, which immediately dialed the emergency number of my immediate superior, General Liam Dunley.

"What's going on, Henry? Your vital signs are fluctuating all over the place!"