Chapter 4

Outside, my mother completely lost her mind. She ran up to my bedroom door, kicking it hard and screaming profanities.

"Logan, I brought you into this world! I'm your mother!"

"If you dare call the cops on me, God will strike you down!"

I didn't utter a word. Numbly, I emptied the fifty thousand dollars from the duffel into my personal safe.

Suddenly, the door clicked open. Nicole slipped inside.

"Logan, what's gotten into you today?"

"You used to be so caring, so devoted to family."

"Look at me... I got into a car accident and hurt my leg, yet you didn't even visit me in the hospital."

Her voice dripped with wounded grievance.

"Were you really hurt in a car accident?"

I turned to face her, wearing a chilling smile. When she caught the absolute absence of warmth in my eyes, panic flickered across her face.

"Why... why are you asking me that? Of course I was hurt!"

"Nicole."

I raised my voice, sharp and cutting.

"I went to the hospital that afternoon. I stood right outside your door. Do you want to know why I didn't come in?"

She didn't answer. A visible tremor ran through her body as she realized I knew everything.

Seeing her pale, I laid it out bare.

"Because I heard every filthy word you and your friends said."

"You intentionally got me wasted on our wedding night. My mother tripped the breaker so you and Austin had an excuse to hop into bed together."

"And now, you're carrying his baby."

"Did I get a single detail wrong?"

Nicole froze in sheer terror. Austin and my mother, who had been lingering near the hallway, went pale as ghosts.

Nicole's eyes widened, her mouth opening and closing without a sound.

Austin tried to stammer out an excuse.

"Logan... it's not what you think..."

He couldn't even finish the sentence; no lie could cover the truth.

My mother, strangely, went quiet. She turned and walked away toward the living room.

A dreadful feeling knotted in my stomach.

Nicole reached out to grab my arm, but I shoved her away violently.

"Don't touch me!"

"Logan, please, just listen to me—"

Before she could finish, the sound of shattering glass echoed from the balcony.

"Auntie, stop! That's Uncle's framed portrait... wait, don't burn it!"

"Get out of the way, Austin!" my mother shouted venomously. "That useless man had it easy dying early, leaving this rebellious brat for me to raise! And the boy dares to disobey me!"

I charged out toward the balcony, horror seizing me as I saw what she was doing.

She was standing over a small metal brazier, holding the last portrait of my father over an open flame.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Put that down right now!"

That photograph was the only memory of my father I had left. If her fingers slipped, it would drop into the fire and turn to ash.

"Look at you, shaking like a leaf," my mother sneered, holding the photo inches above the flames. "A dead man is always more useful than a living mother to you, isn't he?"

My face burned with rage, but I dared not lunge forward, terrified the motion would make her drop it.

"Why are you burning my dad's things?"

"Because you're defying me! You're refusing to honor your mother!"

What on earth did she want from me? Did she expect me to become an emotionless puppet, letting them drain every drop of my blood?

Suddenly, Nicole's words from the hospital room flashed through my mind.

My gaze turned dead and cold.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to sign the divorce papers with Nicole tomorrow," my mother demanded without missing a beat. "That way, her baby can have a legitimate father. I won't have the neighbors whispering behind our backs."

She was using my dead father's final keepsake just to force me into a sham divorce for Austin's bastard.

I turned my eyes toward Nicole, who stood silent with her head down.

"And you? Is this what you want?"

"Logan... just go along with this for now," Nicole pleaded softly, not daring to meet my eyes. "Once the baby is born, we can—"

"Save it."

"I agree to the divorce."