2026-04-02 21:33:30Jason slowly lifted his head and looked around the glittering ballroom, his chest rising and falling as he searched the crowd for a single face that showed kindness. But everywhere he looked he saw only smirks, cold stares, and people whispering behind champagne glasses.
Then his eyes landed on someone near the back of the room.
Claire Rotterdam, Melissa's stepsister.
She stood partially hidden behind one of the tall marble columns, her elegant blue dress blending into the crowd of wealthy guests. Unlike everyone else, she wasn’t laughing.
Her face looked pale.
Her eyes looked sad.
When their gazes met, Claire immediately lowered her head and looked away, as if the shame of the moment was too much for her to bear.
Jason swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to step forward again.
“Please,” he said softly, turning his desperate gaze toward Eleanor Rotterdam. His voice trembled as he added, “Please, ma’am… I’ve never asked you for anything before.”
The elderly woman sat calmly in her ornate chair, holding her champagne glass like a queen observing a servant.
Jason’s hands trembled as he spoke.
“My mother raised me alone after my father died,” he continued hoarsely, his voice thick with emotion. “She worked three jobs just to keep food on the table. She’s a good woman... and she doesn’t deserve to die just because I’m poor.”
His voice cracked as he finished.
“Please… help her.”
Eleanor took a slow sip of champagne before lowering the glass, her eyes studying Jason like he was an insect pinned under glass.
“Jason, dear,” she said calmly, her voice smooth and cold, “let me explain something about the Rotterdam family.”
She tilted her head slightly, her diamond earrings catching the chandelier light.
“We didn’t become rich by throwing money at hopeless problems,” she continued with quiet disdain. “Your mother’s illness is unfortunate, but it isn’t our responsibility.” A faint smile appeared on her lips. “You should have chosen wealthier parents,” she added coolly.
The room exploded with laughter again.
Guests shook their heads in amusement while others whispered jokes behind their hands.
Jason stood frozen in the center of the ballroom, humiliation burning through him like acid.
“However,” Eleanor continued, raising a single finger as the laughter slowly died down, “I’m willing to make you a small offer.”
Jason looked up weakly, hope flickering in his chest.
“Sign the divorce papers right now,” she said smoothly, gesturing toward the envelope at his feet, “then apologize to Melissa for ruining her evening.”
She took another sip of champagne before finishing.
“And I’ll give you five thousand dollars,” she said with casual generosity. “That’s quite generous, considering you’ve been living in our house like a parasite.”
Jason’s stomach twisted.
Five thousand dollars.
It might as well have been five dollars.
It wouldn’t even cover a tenth of the surgery.
Before he could respond, his phone suddenly began ringing in his pocket.
The sound felt strangely loud in the silent ballroom.
Jason fumbled for the phone with shaking hands and answered it.
“H-Hello?”
“Mr. Luther?” Dr. Patel’s voice came through the speaker, gentle and heavy with regret. “I’m very sorry to call with bad news.”
Jason’s heart stopped.
“We did everything we could,” the doctor continued softly, “but without the surgery… your mother’s condition deteriorated rapidly.”
A pause followed.
“I’m sorry,” Dr. Patel finished quietly. “Your mother passed away three minutes ago.”
Jason’s vision blurred.
“She didn’t suffer,” the doctor added gently. “She just… went to sleep.”
The phone slipped from Jason’s numb fingers and crashed onto the marble floor with a sharp clatter.
“No…” Jason whispered weakly, shaking his head as the world spun around him. “No… no, no…”
His knees nearly gave out.
“Mom,” he choked, his voice breaking as grief tore through his chest. “Mom… please…”
“Oh,” Melissa said casually, her voice slicing through the silence like a blade, “did she die?”
Jason slowly lifted his head.
Melissa shrugged lightly.
“Well, that solves the problem, doesn’t it?” she said with cruel indifference. “Now you don’t need the money.”
She gestured toward the papers on the floor.
“Just sign the divorce papers, Jason,” she added impatiently. “It’s over.”
Something inside Jason shattered.
Not just his heart.
Something deeper.
Something that had once believed people were capable of kindness.
Slowly, he lifted his head and looked around the room.
At the glittering chandeliers.
At the smiling guests.
At the family who had just laughed while his mother died.
And for the first time, he saw them clearly.
They weren’t people.
They were monsters wearing expensive clothes.
“I hope you all rot,” Jason said quietly, his voice low but filled with a strange calm.
The laughter faded as several people frowned.
Jason looked from face to face, his eyes burning with hatred.
“Every single one of you,” he continued coldly. “I hope you lose everything you have.”
His fists clenched.
“I hope one day you end up with nothing,” he finished bitterly. “And I hope you feel every bit of the pain you’ve caused me tonight.”
Marcus Rotterdam’s expression darkened instantly.
“Security!” he barked angrily, slamming his glass down on a nearby table. “Get this lunatic out of my house!”
Two large security guards immediately rushed forward.
“And throw that pathetic motorcycle in the garbage where it belongs,” Marcus added with contempt.
The guards grabbed Jason roughly by the arms.
“Come on,” one of them muttered as they dragged him toward the doors.
Jason didn’t resist.
As they passed Claire, she took a small step forward, her face filled with distress.
“Wait—” she began softly, her voice trembling as if she wanted to say something.
But Catherine Rotterdam shot her a sharp warning look.
Claire froze instantly.
Her lips pressed together as she lowered her head again.
The guards dragged Jason out of the mansion and shoved him violently onto the wet lawn.
The rain had turned into a violent storm.
Thunder roared across the sky as lightning flashed above the mansion.
The guards tossed the unsigned divorce papers after him before slamming the doors shut.
The papers scattered across the soaked grass.
Jason lay there in the mud, staring blankly at the sky as rain poured over his face.
Water soaked through his clothes, washing away the blood and tears.
But it couldn’t wash away the pain.
Nothing could.
His phone began ringing again somewhere beside him.
Jason reached out slowly and answered without even looking.
“Mr. Luther?” a professional female voice said on the line. “This is Jennifer from the hospital billing department.”
Jason didn’t respond.
“I’m calling to inform you,” she continued in a rehearsed tone, “that your mother’s body will remain in the hospital morgue until the outstanding medical bills are settled.”
Jason closed his eyes.
“The current balance is forty-seven thousand, six hundred and twelve dollars,” she added calmly. “Payment is required within thirty days.”
A brief pause.
“Otherwise,” she finished, “the account will be sent to collections.”
Jason lowered the phone slowly.
He didn’t say a word.
He didn’t have the strength.
He didn’t have the will.
He simply lay there in the cold rain while thunder rolled above him.
His mother was dead.
His wife had betrayed him.
His dignity had been crushed.
Everything he had ever loved was gone.
And for the first time in his life…
Jason truly had nothing left.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 70: The Impossible Choice
The safe house looked like an ordinary suburban home from the outside, but beneath the clean white walls and trimmed hedges, it was built like a military bunker. Bulletproof windows sealed every room. Reinforced steel doors protected every entrance. Security cameras watched every inch of the property without a single blind spot. A panic room sat hidden beneath the basement, stocked with enough supplies to survive a siege. Cole’s team had swept the house three separate times before allowing anyone inside.Even then, nobody truly relaxed.At four thirty in the morning, the house sat in heavy silence.Melissa remained curled in an armchair in the living room, wrapped tightly in a gray blanket as exhaustion weighed on her body like concrete. Across from her, Claire slept on the couch beneath the dim glow of a table lamp, her breathing uneven but peaceful enough to calm the room slightly. Jason sat beside her, alert despite the exhaustion carved into his face, one hand resting protectively
Chapter 69: TOTAL WAR!!!!!
Two hours later, Melissa sat on a hospital bed while a doctor stitched the deep cut along her arm. The sharp smell of antiseptic filled the room, mixing unpleasantly with the lingering scent of smoke still trapped in her hair and skin.Her hands trembled slightly from adrenaline withdrawal.Cole stood near the window with his arms crossed, his face dark and unreadable beneath the harsh fluorescent lights. He looked exhausted, but there was something colder beneath the exhaustion.Anger.“It was a professional job,” Cole said quietly, his voice grim and controlled. “Remote-detonated explosive planted directly at the gas line. Whoever did this timed it carefully. They wanted the blast to happen while Claire was asleep.”Melissa stared at him through red, smoke-irritated eyes. “Someone wanted her dead?” she asked weakly, her voice rough from smoke inhalation.Cole gave a slow nod. “Yes,” he admitted heavily. “And whoever planned it knew exactly what they were doing.”A sick feeling twist
Chapter 68: The Explosion
The explosion ripped through the night at exactly 3:47 a.m.Melissa shot awake as the windows in her room rattled violently, the sound of shattering glass and screaming alarms tearing through the silence. Her bed trembled beneath her, and for one confused second, she thought she was trapped inside a nightmare.Then the smell hit her.Smoke.Fire.Her heart lurched violently as she threw off the blankets and stumbled toward the window. The moment she looked outside, her blood turned cold.The guest house was burning.Flames climbed the walls in furious waves of orange and red, swallowing the building piece by piece. Thick black smoke curled into the dark sky while sparks exploded into the air like fireworks from hell.And then she remembered.Claire.Claire was inside.Melissa did not stop to think. Fear erased every rational thought from her mind. She did not think about danger or consequences or whether the building might collapse. All she could think about was the pregnant woman tra
Chapter 67: Who Is She
The hospital looked cold and intimidating beneath the gray afternoon sky.Towering glass walls reflected the clouds overhead while security guards moved quietly through the lobby like trained soldiers. The entire building smelled faintly of antiseptic and polished steel.Melissa followed an escort through restricted corridors, her heels clicking softly against spotless white floors.Every step made her nerves tighten further.When they finally reached the consultation room on the fifth floor, the guard opened the door silently and stepped aside.Claire sat beside the window wrapped in a pale cardigan over her hospital gown.She looked exhausted.Fragile.But there was something different about her now.Something steadier.Stronger.The terrified woman Melissa remembered from the kidnapping was still there somewhere beneath the surface, but now there was steel mixe
Chapter 66: Claire's Request
Melissa didn’t sleep that night.She lay motionless beneath the blankets, staring at the ceiling while silver moonlight crawled across the room in slow, shifting patterns. Shadows stretched and twisted every time clouds passed overhead, making the dark corners breathe like living things. The ticking clock beside her bed sounded unbearably loud in the silence.Three-fifteen.Four-twenty-seven.Five-oh-two.Every minute dragged across her nerves like sandpaper.Claire was pregnant.The thought kept returning no matter how hard she tried to push it away. It circled her mind like a vulture feeding on something already dead.Claire was carrying Jason’s child.A baby that should have been conceived in happiness. A child that should have entered a warm home filled with celebration, wedding photos, and parents deeply in love.Instead, the baby would be born into chaos.Into scandal.Into a marriage built on legal pressure and emotional ruin.And Melissa stood in the center of it all like a st
Chapter 65: Everything Changes Now
Jason went pale so fast it genuinely frightened Melissa.“What kind of incident?” he demanded sharply.“She collapsed,” Cole replied grimly. “The ambulance is already on the way.”Melissa felt her stomach drop.“But she was conscious when they found her,” Cole added quickly. “She kept asking for you.”Jason was already moving toward the hallway when Cole spoke again.“And for Melissa.”Both of them froze.Melissa blinked in confusion. “What?” she whispered.Cole nodded once. “The medics said she keeps insisting she needs to speak to both of you.” His expression tightened slightly. “Apparently she said it was urgent.”Jason exchanged a stunned look with Melissa before turning and sprinting toward the guest house.Melissa hurried after him, her pulse pounding
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