Chapter 1

I secretly brought my in-laws to our home for the holidays, hoping to give my wife a surprise.

But the moment my father-in-law, Arthur, stepped through the door, my wife's male assistant shoved him. Arthur slammed into the heavy shoe rack and groaned as his back gave out.

"What kind of trash thinks they can just walk into Mrs. Vance's mansion? You're so pathetic, you actually have the nerve to claim you're her family," the assistant sneered.

I shouted for the servants to help Arthur, but the assistant blocked them. He even went as far as to push my mother-in-law, Martha.

"You really think you're someone special? These are Mrs. Vance's employees. Serving a gold-digger like you is bad enough, now they have to serve your peasant parents too?"

Martha was so overwhelmed with rage that she had a heart attack on the spot. I frantically called my wife, Vivienne, telling her to get to the hospital immediately.

Vivienne sounded completely indifferent. Her voice was cold and full of contempt.

"Caleb already told me everything. I can't believe you had the audacity to bring those people to my house."

"Now you're making your mother fake an illness just to get me to show up? Get them out of there right now!"

"If she dies, she dies. It's the holidays―consider it a festive celebration."

1.

The call ended abruptly. Just as the line went dead, the doors to the emergency room swung open.

The doctor pulled off his mask, his expression grim. He handed me a critical condition notice.

My heart plummeted into my stomach.

A nurse stepped up beside me, quietly reminding me to pay for Arthur's admission fees as well.

I suddenly remembered that Arthur had also been injured when Caleb shoved him. He was still lying in a ward, waiting for treatment.

I pulled out my wallet to swipe my card, only to find it declined.

I tried three other cards. Every single one of them had been frozen.

There was only one person who could have done this. Vivienne.

Rage boiled in my chest as I dialed her number again. It took three tries before she finally picked up.

"Vivienne! Are you insane? You actually froze my accounts!"

"My parents are in the hospital! They need this money for life-saving treatment!"

On the other end, Vivienne's voice remained icy.

"Silas, this is a lesson for you."

"We had a deal. You were never to bring those hillbillies from your backwater town here. You broke that deal."

"That is your mother! This is a matter of life and death, Vivienne! Unfreeze the cards now!"

I was practically screaming. The anxiety and fury felt like a volcano erupting inside me.

She let out a dry, mocking laugh. "I knew it. You only married me for the money."

"Now you're using death as an excuse to get your hands on my cash. It's pathetic."

"I provide you with a roof over your head. Don't get greedy and start eyeing my fortune."

"You… you are completely unreasonable!"

"My mother is in critical condition! The doctor just issued the notice!"

"Just come and see for yourself! This… this might be the last time you see her alive!"

The line went silent for a moment. For a split second, I thought I heard a hint of hesitation in her breath.

But then, Caleb's voice drifted through the phone.

"Vivienne, babe, look at how they're dressed. There's no way they're your parents."

"Didn't you say they went on a trip to the Hamptons last week?"

"If you don't believe me, call the one who isn't 'sick.' Let's see if he sounds like your father."

Vivienne's voice instantly hardened. "Silas, I'm not coming to the hospital."

"If you claim that man is my father, put him on the phone."

I rubbed my temples, a wave of helplessness washing over me.

Arthur had fainted the moment he saw the first critical notice for Martha.

He was currently unconscious in his bed. How was I supposed to wake him up just to prove his identity to his own daughter?

But right now, I had no other choice.

"Hold on. He's unconscious. I'll try to wake him."

I hurried to Arthur's bedside. His face was pale, his lips trembling as he let out incoherent moans.

A doctor walked over and explained, "He's suffered severe emotional shock. It's a minor stroke. He needs rest."

I spoke into the phone, my voice cracking. "Your father had a stroke. He can't speak."

"Just unfreeze the cards so I can pay the bills. Please."

"Your excuses are getting worse," Vivienne scoffed before hanging up.

I was shaking with rage. When I tried to call back, I realized she had blocked me.

Suddenly, a notification popped up on my phone. It was a video from Caleb on WhatsApp.

In the video, he and Vivienne were in her office, kissing passionately as if no one else existed.

"Stop calling. Interrupting someone's fun is a sin," Caleb texted.

The words were dripping with provocation and mockery.

My eyes burned as I watched the screen.

The woman who used to be my tender, caring wife was now being intimate with another man.

But I didn't have time for heartbreak. Arthur and Martha needed me.

Even if Vivienne didn't care, I had to save them.

They had always treated me with nothing but kindness.

I started calling everyone I knew―friends, relatives, even distant business associates.

But every response I got was like a door slamming in my face.

"Silas, man, you know how it is. Business is slow, I don't have much liquidity right now…"

"I'd love to help, but my funds are tied up in a new project. Sorry."

One polite rejection followed another, leaving me exhausted and broken.

Finally, I pushed a close friend for the truth.

He told me that Vivienne had posted a status on her private feed.

She told everyone that anyone who lent me money was her enemy. She warned them they would never see that money again.

I couldn't believe she could be so heartless.

I swallowed my pride and begged my relatives, promising to pay them back double.

They still said no. Some even blocked me immediately.

Utterly defeated, I collapsed onto a cold plastic chair in the hospital hallway.