Chapter 3

Seeing the stalemate drag on, I finally stepped forward to play the "reasonable" son-in-law.

"Chloe, stop yelling at your dad. Dad isn't the type of man to abandon his own blood for a woman! Besides, he's our elder."

Arthur broke into a wide grin and looked at me approvingly.

"Lucas, finally, some common sense out of your mouth!"

I returned a faint, polite smile.

Go ahead, old man. Smile all you want. Very soon... you won't be smiling ever again.

Over the next few days, Arthur treated Chloe and me like personal servants, ordering us around to massage their shoulders, rub their feet, and fetch tea.

Unable to handle the annoyance, Chloe dumped the entire burden on me, spending all her time hanging out with friends and barely setting foot in the house.

Since Arthur was getting on in years, he spent most of his days resting in the guest room.

That left Tiffany and me crossing paths in the house constantly.

I knew this woman was rotten to the core, and her fingers were sticky.

Over the past couple of days, she had been sneaking around, eyeing my master bedroom.

Thinking back to my previous life, around this exact time, Chloe had lost an expensive necklace. There was no doubt in my mind who took it.

I secretly installed a pinhole camera in the bedroom and deliberately came home late from work. Sure enough, looking at the live feed on my phone, Tiffany was tearing through our drawers.

She grumbled aloud as she rummaged.

"Damn it. Chloe acts all high-and-mighty, so why isn't there anything valuable in this dump?"

"No way. She wears gold and diamonds all day. There's gotta be something."

"Aha... found it!"

Half an hour later, Tiffany emerged from the room with a wide smirk, clutching a shimmering gold necklace, looking thoroughly satisfied.

Seeing her pocket it, I let out a slow breath of relief.

Tiffany didn't know, but as Chloe's husband, I knew her habits inside and out.

That necklace was Chloe's absolute favorite, her most prized possession.

She rarely wore it outside, keeping it locked away in the bedroom, checking on it almost daily.

I took a slow drag from my cigarette outside. The show was about to start.

The moment Chloe got home, she started tearing the room apart. Before long, she marched out with a thunderous expression, demanding answers.

"Lucas, where's my necklace?! The one with the pink diamond?!"

I held up my hands innocently.

"I have no idea. I've been working overtime at the office for the past three days. I haven't even been home."

She narrowed her eyes with suspicion, then slowly turned her glare toward Tiffany and Arthur.

"Did you two go into my room?"

Seeing Chloe's accusing face, Arthur's temper flared instantly.

"Who the hell do you think you're interrogating, Chloe?! I'm your father, and this is your Aunt Tiffany! We are your elders! How dare you speak to us like that?!"

Tiffany lowered her head, looking guilty.

"Exactly, Chloe... you can't just throw accusations around."

Chloe locked her eyes straight onto Tiffany, pointing a finger right at her nose.

"I knew there was something shady about you! You're a thirty-year-old woman in your prime.”

“Instead of marrying a normal guy, you hook up with my seventy-year-old dad claiming you want to take care of him forever and give him a son?”

“Nobody with half a brain would buy that garbage! Tell me the truth—did you steal my necklace?!"

Tiffany pulled a tearful, heartbroken face and waved her hands frantically.

"Chloe, I swear I didn't! I would never touch your things! I'm with your dad because I genuinely love him, not for anything else!"

"Hmph! Not for anything else? You love that he's half in the grave? You love that he doesn't bathe? Or do you love the cash in his pockets?! You know damn well what you're after!"

SLAP!

A vicious slap cracked across Chloe's cheek.

Arthur's face was flushed purple with rage as he pulled the sobbing Tiffany tightly into his arms.

"Don't you dare slander my Tiffany! Lucas sleeps in the same bed with you every single night! He's the closest to your jewelry!”

“You control every cent of his paycheck, so it's entirely possible he got desperate for cash and stole it!"

Instantly, everyone's eyes snapped to me.

"Lucas, if you took it, you better hand it over right this second, or I'm calling the cops and having you arrested!"