Supreme God Reborn as the Disgraced Son-in-Law

Blood on the Marble

"Get out of my way." Ye Tian pushed past the gates of the Lin family estate.

"Watch your tone beggar." The estate guard sneered and shoved Ye Tian by the shoulder. "You only live here because the young miss pities you."

Ye Tian ignored the guard and sprinted up the driveway. His lungs burned with every step. His fingers dug into a glossy photograph crumpled in his right hand.

It showed his wife walking into a luxury hotel holding hands with another man.

He tripped over the step of the main porch but caught his balance. Sweat dripped down his face and stung his eyes.

For three years he had scrubbed their floors and cooked their meals. He endured the whispers and the mocking stares from the servants. He did it all because he believed in the sanctity of his marriage vows.

Old Madam Lin was a fierce traditionalist. She punished a cousin severely just last month for a public scandal. Ye Tian knew she would never tolerate infidelity.

She would see his loyalty and she would finally recognize his worth.

"Grandmother, you must see this." Ye Tian shouted as he burst into the main reception hall.

He froze. The air left his lungs in a sharp gasp.

In the grand hall, Old Madam Lin sat comfortably on the velvet sofa. Across from her sat Lin Ruoxue.

His beautiful wife wore a pristine white dress and a soft smile.

Sitting right beside Ruoxue was Zhao Feng. He was the billionaire heir from the photograph. Zhao Feng was casually pouring a fresh cup of tea for the Matriarch.

"What is the meaning of this shouting?" Old Madam Lin slammed her teacup onto the glass table. "Look at your shoes Ye Tian. You are tracking mud onto the marble."

Ye Tian stood on the Persian rug. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe. He looked at his wife and then at the man sitting intimately close to her.

"Why is he here?" Ye Tian asked. His voice trembled with barely contained emotion.

Lin Ruoxue sighed and crossed her elegant legs. She looked at Ye Tian like he was a stain on the floor.

"Zhao Feng is an honored guest of this family. Lower your voice." She picked up her own teacup.

Ye Tian marched forward and slammed the crumpled photograph onto the glass table. "An honored guest? Is that what you call him when you check into the Royal Suites together?"

The photograph lay flat on the glass. It clearly showed Zhao Feng wrapping his arm around Ruoxue.

Silence filled the room. Ye Tian waited for the explosion of anger from the Matriarch. He waited for Ruoxue to beg for forgiveness on her knees.

A low chuckle broke the heavy silence.

Zhao Feng leaned back against the cushions and laughed. He did not look embarrassed. He looked amused.

A moment later Old Madam Lin shook her head and picked up her tea again. She did not even glance at the photograph.

"You ran all the way here like a wild animal to show us a picture we already know about?" Old Madam Lin took a slow sip.

Ye Tian felt a cold weight drop into his stomach. "You know about this?"

"Of course she knows." Ruoxue set her cup down gracefully. "Do you think I hide my actions from my own family?"

"We are married." Ye Tian clenched his fists at his sides. "I am your husband."

"You are a piece of paper." Ruoxue stared at him with dead eyes. "You are a shield my grandfather forced upon me before he died to protect the company shares. You are nothing more than a convenience."

Ye Tian stepped closer to the table. "You married me in front of hundreds of people. You swore an oath."

"Grandfather forced that oath." Ruoxue replied coldly. "If I refused he would have given the company to my cousin. You were a pawn. Pawns do not get angry when they are moved across the board."

"I served this family for three years." Ye Tian pleaded. "I nursed you when you had pneumonia last winter. I stayed awake for three days making sure you could breathe. Did Zhao Feng do that?"

Zhao Feng smiled and adjusted his diamond watch. "If she gets sick with me I will hire the best doctors in the world. I will not feed her peasant soup and hold her hand in a dark room. Wealth solves problems. Poverty just watches them happen."

Old Madam Lin pointed a wrinkled finger at Ye Tian. "Listen to him. Learn from your betters. You offer cheap sentiment. Zhao Feng offers concrete security. Sentiment cannot pay the wages of ten thousand factory workers."

"You are talking about business." Ye Tian shook his head. "I am talking about my life. I am talking about my wife."

"Stop saying that word." Ruoxue rolled her eyes in deep annoyance. "It makes my skin crawl. You were a charity case. I gave you designer clothes and a warm bed. All I ask in return is that you turn a blind eye to my real life. Why must you be so difficult?"

"Because I have pride." Ye Tian spat the words out.

"Pride?" Zhao Feng laughed loudly. "Let me buy your pride right now."

The billionaire reached into his tailored jacket and tossed a thick stack of cash onto the floor. "There is fifty thousand yuan. Pick it up and leave us to finish our tea in peace."

Ye Tian stared at the money scattered across the rug.

"Pick it up Ye Tian." Old Madam Lin commanded. "Do not be foolish. That is more money than you have ever seen in your miserable life."

"Is this true?" Ye Tian ignored the money and looked directly at Ruoxue. "Is this what you want?"

"It is true." Ruoxue smoothed a wrinkle on her pristine dress. "Zhao Feng provides resources you could never dream of touching. He secures our family future. I am officially demanding an open marriage."

"An open marriage." Ye Tian repeated the words aloud. They tasted like bitter ash in his mouth.

"Do not be dramatic." Ruoxue picked up a crystal nail file from the table. "Nothing changes for you. You will still live in the servant quarters. You will still get your monthly allowance. You will just stop asking questions about where I spend my nights."

"You want me to smile and nod while you sleep with another man in our city?" Ye Tian felt his heart tearing apart inside his chest.

Old Madam Lin slammed her wooden cane against the marble floor. "You will do exactly that. You will accept your place. You are a useful dog to this family."

Ye Tian looked at the old woman he had respected for years. "You preach about family honor every single day. Where is the honor in selling your granddaughter to a billionaire?"

"Watch your mouth." Old Madam Lin narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Honor belongs to the wealthy. Poverty is the only true disgrace in this world. Be grateful you still have a roof over your head. If you make a scene I will have you thrown into the street with nothing."

The naive hope inside Ye Tian shattered into a million pieces. The love he held for three years evaporated into thin air.

Blinding fury rushed into his brain. The years of servitude and the daily humiliations boiled over in a single violent second.

"I am not a dog." Ye Tian roared.

He lunged across the glass table. He reached for Zhao Feng with both hands aimed directly at the billionaire's throat.

Zhao Feng did not flinch. He simply flicked his wrist.

Four men in black suits stepped out from the shadows of the hall. They moved with terrifying speed.

Before Ye Tian could reach the velvet sofa a fist crashed into his temple.

Crack.

The force spun Ye Tian around. He crashed hard onto the marble floor. The sharp taste of blood flooded his mouth instantly.

"Teach him some basic manners." Zhao Feng said calmly.

A combat boot slammed into Ye Tian ribs. A sickening snap echoed loudly through the room. Ye Tian gasped for air but found only blinding pain.

Another guard grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the marble.

Thud.

Warm blood pooled under his cheek. His vision blurred heavily. He tried to raise his arms to protect his head but a vicious kick hit his right forearm.

Ye Tian let out a choked scream of agony.

"Watch the rug." Old Madam Lin frowned in disgust. "That is authentic Persian silk. Drag him away from the furniture before he ruins the fabric."

"You are so loud Ye Tian." Ruoxue sighed. She began shaping her thumbnail with the crystal file. She did not even look at his bleeding body on the floor. "This is exactly why you will never be anything but trash. You have no emotional control."

Zhao Feng smiled and lifted his teacup to his lips. "Fascinating. He bleeds just like a real person. Hit him again."

A steel toe caught Ye Tian directly in the stomach. He emptied his stomach onto the floor.

The guards showed no mercy. They rained down punches and kicks in a brutal assault.

Every strike broke another bone. Every impact drove him closer to the dark edge of unconsciousness.

He looked up through a swollen eye. He saw his wife smiling warmly at Zhao Feng. He saw the Matriarch calling for a maid to clean the mess on the floor.

"Throw him out." Zhao Feng ordered after finishing his tea. "Make sure he is far away from the estate. He smells terrible."

Two guards grabbed Ye Tian by his ankles. They dragged his broken body across the pristine floor. His blood left a long red trail behind him on the white marble.

The night air outside was freezing and wet. It had started to rain heavy drops of freezing water.

"Tough break kid." One guard sneered as they hauled him down the long driveway. "You really thought a princess would stay loyal to a street rat?"

"Just dump him in the ditch." The second guard laughed. "The street dogs will clean him up by morning."

They swung his body back and forth building momentum. Then they tossed him into the darkness.

Ye Tian hit the wet asphalt of the roadside like a discarded bag of garbage. He tumbled into a shallow ditch filled with muddy rainwater.

The iron gates clanged shut behind him. The bright taillights of a luxury vehicle faded down the winding road.

Ye Tian lay flat on his back. The cold rain washed over his ruined face. He could not feel his legs or his arms. His lungs rattled with every shallow breath.

He was dying. He knew it for certain.

Tears of regret burned his swollen eyes. His fists clenched weakly around the wet gravel. He gave them his youth and his dignity and they gave him a shallow grave in a muddy ditch.

He remembered the days he spent washing her cars. He remembered standing in the freezing rain waiting for her with an umbrella. She never even looked at him. She treated him like a piece of invisible furniture.

He remembered the Matriarch forcing him to kneel during family dinners. He ate cold scraps in the kitchen while they dined on imported seafood.

He accepted it all because he believed hard work and loyalty would eventually win their hearts.

He was a fool.

The world did not reward loyalty. The world rewarded power. The world crushed the weak and smiled while doing it.

As his breathing slowed he made a silent vow to the dark sky above. If he survived this night he would never serve another human being. He would become the monster they thought he was. He would tear down the Lin estate brick by brick.

Vengeance was a hunger he would never satisfy.

A dark pool of his own blood seeped from his crushed chest. It mixed with the rain and soaked through his torn shirt. The blood pooled around a cheap stone pendant resting on his broken collarbone.

It was a worn grey stone. His missing parents left it for him twenty years ago.

The moment the warm blood touched the stone a violent reaction occurred. The blood vanished into the solid rock as if swallowed by an invisible mouth.

The pendant began to vibrate intensely against his skin.

A blinding purple light erupted from the stone. The light was so intense it turned the falling raindrops into steam upon contact.

The purple aura expanded and swallowed his broken body. It was warm and terrifyingly powerful.

In the deepest depths of his fading consciousness an ancient voice echoed. It sounded like grinding mountains and crashing thunder.

"You have suffered enough mortal. I will take it from here."

The purple light flashed with the force of a dying star.

Ye Tian snapped his eyes open.