Chapter 1

Wesley Leroy was dead.

I sat frozen on the couch, staring at the divorce papers Sharon Tatham had thrown at me, my blood running cold as if I'd been plunged into an icy abyss.

Three days ago, Wesley slit his wrists. Before he died, he made a post on Facebook.

The entire post accused me of his misery, saying I’d driven him to his end. He claimed he had lived my life and was returning it by giving up his own.

His final plea on the Facebook post was for me to leave his biological parents alone, and in a strange twist, he even urged me to be kinder to mine.

Below his post, a photo of a blood-filled bathtub and a death certificate went viral.

And just like that, I became a cold-blooded murderer in the eyes of the world.

Sharon spent three days at the hospital. The moment she returned, she handed me the divorce papers. "Kaelan Leroy, sign it now, or I’ll make you."

I snapped out of my daze and held back the ache in my chest, my eyes burning as I tried to explain.

"I didn’t report Wesley for tax evasion. I didn’t expose his shady contracts. The bribes, the backdoor deals with directors and producers—he did that all on his own. I never forced him to do anything.

"Sharon, why can’t you trust me? Just this once?"

Without hesitation, Sharon slapped me across the face.

"Do you think telling me all of this will bring Wesley back? If he didn’t die because of you, then what? Dead men can’t talk, so you can twist the story however you like!"

My cheek stung, but the pain was nothing compared to the ache inside. As long as Sharon believed I was to blame, no amount of explanation would matter.

Of course, when Wesley was alive, I couldn’t compete with him. In death, it was even worse.

I stared at her, my voice cracking with one last question. "In the three years we’ve been married, did you ever love me? Even just a little?"

"Never. Not once," Sharon replied curtly. "If you want me to love you, sure, just die."

Her harsh words stabbed through my heart like a knife.

I let out a bitter laugh. "Fine. I get it. The effort I put into this relationship in the past ten years has gone down the drain. From now on, we’ll go our separate ways."

With that, I grabbed a pen and signed the divorce papers. Each stroke of the pen ended the love I had carried for her over the years.

However, Sharon’s eyes remained icy as she glared at me, a sneer curling on her lips. "You think signing those papers is the end of this? It’s not that simple.

"I want your whole family to pay for Wesley’s death."

My blood ran cold as I stared at her in disbelief.

I had loved Sharon for ten years. We had been married for three. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was what I’d get in return for giving her everything.

Wesley and I were switched at birth by his parents. He lived the life of a rich boy while I grew up abused in his place. It wasn’t until he had a stage accident and needed a blood transfusion that it was discovered his blood type didn’t match my parents’.

I was finally found and brought back to the Leroy family at sixteen. My parents were overwhelmed with guilt and treated me well, but they never stopped loving Wesley.

Even when we both turned eighteen, they split five percent of Leroy Group shares between us equally.

Nonetheless, Mom insisted I marry Sharon, the girl I’d been betrothed to since childhood.

I fell for her at first sight, so I was more than willing. Yet, Wesley was her childhood friend, the one who’d been by her side through the darkest time of her life when she lost both her parents.

Naturally, Wesley became her first love.

Even now, Sharon was still as beautiful as ever. I thought I knew her better than anyone, but at that moment, I realized I hardly knew her at all.

As I fought to keep my emotions in check, I tried to reason with her. "Sharon, calm down. Wesley’s death has nothing to do with my parents!

"They’ve treated you like their own daughter. How can you be so heartless and drag them into this?"

"Like their own daughter? Don’t make me laugh." Sharon sneered. "If they really saw me as their daughter, they wouldn’t have forced me to marry you. They should’ve let me be with Wesley!"

Chapter 2

Sharon’s eyes were filled with pure hatred for the Leroy family. I looked into them, and suddenly, I couldn’t find the words to speak.

I wanted so badly to tell her that even if she hadn’t ended up with me, Wesley still wouldn’t have married her. Back when his career was at its peak, he was one of the hottest stars.

Even announcing a relationship would have been impossible, let alone marriage.

Sharon’s gaze turned even more vicious as she stared at me. "None of you Leroys are getting away!"

And with that one sentence, my entire life turned upside down.

…

Wesley’s body was cremated, and his urn was placed in the mourning hall for people to pay their respects.

Mom had raised him for 26 years and had formed a deep bond with him. Even after I reunited with my family, she still saw Wesley as her son.

Since Wesley’s death, Mom had been crying non-stop, collapsing into fits of tears at the hospital. Dad stayed behind to take care of her, and so he told me to pay my respects at the funeral and send Wesley off one last time.

I ordered some flowers and brought them to the memorial. However, as soon as I arrived, I saw Sharon’s men tossing my flowers out.

She stood there, red-eyed and furious, glaring at me. "Kaelan, haven’t you tortured Wesley enough? Why do you have to show up here and disgust him even in death?"

I felt a hole in my heart watching her fall apart over another man. The pain was too much to bear. Still, I suppressed my emotions and said, "My parents saw him as their son. It’s only right for me to be here."

Sharon chuckled, but it was full of hatred. "Fine. Then, apologize until he forgives you!"

The death of a superstar like Wesley had devastated many, and the media reporters had shown up in droves on this day. As soon as they heard Sharon's words, they turned their cameras on me.

Sharon told them to start live streaming as she wanted the whole world to see just how vile I was.

I tried to block the cameras with my hands, gritting my teeth. "I didn’t kill him. Why should I apologize?"

"How dare you keep denying it!" Sharon was enraged now. "You’ll never be able to repay Wesley. An apology is the least you can do!"

Then, she called her bodyguards over, and they shoved me down, forcing me to apologize. I struggled, landing a punch on one of their faces before more of them jumped on me.

I couldn’t fight them all off, but I wasn’t about to apologize either. In the chaos, I knocked over the memorial stand. Wesley’s photo fell to the floor, and shards of glass cut across his face.

Sharon’s face fell. She rushed toward me in a frenzy, grabbing whatever she could and hurling it at me.

I didn’t fight back and merely let her hit me, while my eyes were burning with tears. Before long, blood started to run down my brow, hot and stinging.

"Sharon, if you ever find out that this was all just a plot by Wesley to frame me, would you—"

She froze for a moment before cutting me off sharply, "Shut up! You’ll never repent, will you? Very well. There’s only one place that can make you pay."

I didn’t understand what she meant, but it soon became clear when the police arrived.

They pinned me down, snapping handcuffs onto my wrists. "Kaelan Leroy, you’re under arrest for the murder of Wesley Leroy. Please come with us."

I struggled wildly. "I didn’t do it! Wesley’s death has nothing to do with me!"

The reporters swarmed in like vultures, eager to capture my every desperate move and record my most humiliating moment.

"I heard that Ms. Tatham handed over all the evidence of him killing Wesley to the police."

"Yeah, a murderer like him should be locked up for life!"

I gaped at Sharon incredulously, unable to believe that she was the one who called the police and had me arrested.

Chapter 3

I stared at Sharon with bitterness and screamed at her, "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

She looked at me indifferently. "Why? I should be asking you why you killed Wesley. Kaelan, you can never repay what you owe Wesley and me. Now, use your life to pay it back!"

The police shoved me into the squad car, and at that moment, my heart finally broke.

As I sat in the car, I turned to look out the window at the swarms of media capturing every second. In the crowd, I saw Sharon standing in the back.

She should have been thrilled for having finally exacted her revenge on me. Yet, I didn’t see even a flicker of satisfaction on her face. Instead, she looked lost.

Perhaps it was because she would never have Wesley back.

I was charged with murder at Sharon’s accusation.

After being detained, Mom began running around trying to find a lawyer to appeal my case. She visited me several times, always updating me on the case's progress. She promised that she would save me.

During this time, Sharon also came to see me once.

We sat across from each other at a table, and for a moment, I felt dazed, never imagining we would meet under such circumstances. She was still as glamorous as ever, while I was now a prisoner.

Sharon remained aloof as always. "I hear you still refuse to confess?"

"I’m not guilty. Wesley was mentally weak. He couldn’t handle the pressures of life, and he took his own life. It had nothing to do with me!"

No matter how many times I was asked, my answer never changed.

Suddenly, Sharon scoffed. "You still don’t know, do you? The Leroy family is beyond saving."

My heart clenched. I stared at her, demanding, "What did you do?"

Sharon drawled, "Your family has gone bankrupt, and your father’s company went under. Unable to bear the massive debt—and to keep you and your mother out of it—he jumped to his death."

I clenched my fists tightly, refusing to believe it.

"You’re lying. There’s no way! Leroy Group is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the country. It couldn’t have gone bankrupt that easily. And Dad loved Mom too much to just leave her like that."

"The news has already blown up. Here, take a look at what your father looked like right before he died."

Sharon handed me her phone, and I shut my eyes in pain.

It had to be her doing. There was no other way Leroy Group could have fallen just like that.

Trembling, I whispered, "You can hate me all you want, but don’t drag the innocent into this! Don’t forget that my parents raised you. How can you be so heartless?"

Sharon gave me a chilling smirk. "Guess who’s next?"

I stood up so fast I knocked my chair over and slammed my hands on the table, my eyes red with fury. "Sharon! If you lay a hand on my mother, I swear I’ll never forgive you!

"Wesley deserved to die. He had it coming! Everything that happened, he deserved it. He never should’ve been alive!"

The police officer at the door rushed in and pinned me to the table. Sharon stood up, waving her phone at me, revealing that it had been recording the whole time.

"Do you think what you just said is enough to seal your fate?"

I hadn’t expected her to scheme against me. Strength drained from my body, and I stopped struggling. I looked at her, only managing to say, "Sharon Tatham, you will regret this."

On the day of the trial, I clung to my last thread of hope, but it was shattered.

Sharon played the recording in court, and when the gavel finally fell, I was sentenced to five years.

As the judgment was passed, Mom nearly collapsed in tears. She tried to rush toward me, but the guards held her back. At that moment, my heart truly died.

I looked at Sharon, humbling myself as I begged her, "I’ve confessed. I’m begging you—don’t take it out on my mother. She’s never wronged you."

Now that Dad was gone, I couldn’t lose Mom either. I didn’t care about my dignity anymore. If Sharon had asked me to apologize right then, I would’ve done it without hesitation.

However, she looked down at me with contempt. "You should worry about yourself first. Once you’re locked up, there will be people to take care of you."

Her gaze was icy as she added, "You won’t have time to worry about your mother then."

I thought I’d already reached the point where nothing she said could hurt me anymore. However, hearing her now, I felt like my heart was being torn apart.

"Sharon, I truly regret loving you for all these years." I laughed bitterly, my voice filled with hatred. "I wish I’d never met you, because you’re not worthy of my love!"

Chapter 4

This was the first time I regretted ever loving Sharon.

I expected her to snap back at me, to scorn my words and say something about not caring for my love.

Instead, she simply looked at me in silence, murmuring to herself, "How strange… I’ve avenged Wesley, yet why don’t I feel any satisfaction from it?"

Hearing that, I didn’t believe she was regretting what she’d done to me. She probably just thought five years was too lenient. After all, she wanted me to rot in prison forever.

Perhaps there was a small trace of guilt for causing Dad’s death.

…

Five years later, the sun was scorching as the heavy iron doors slowly swung open from the inside.

"0973, you’re free now. From today, live a good life and don’t go down the wrong path again."

I forced a smile. The only wrong path I’d ever walked was falling in love with Sharon.

Mom was waiting at the prison gates. The moment she saw me, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around me.

Because of Sharon's special orders, I had been placed in a cell with the most ruthless of criminals. I had been tortured and beaten for years.

As Mom held me, she could only feel the hard bones underneath my clothes.

She wept in distress. "How did you get so thin? It’s okay. Once we get home, I’ll make you some food and help you regain your strength."

I hugged her tightly, my voice rough as I replied, "Alright."

I felt like a lost child who had finally found his home. My eyes reddened with emotion.

Mom gently wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes.

"I know, Wesley's death had nothing to do with you. You’ve done nothing but treat him kindly. A good person like you could never have driven him to death."

The tears I had been holding back for so long burst uncontrollably.

Mom was the only person left in this world who believed in me.

Back then, when it was discovered that Wesley was not the biological son of the Leroy family and I was found and brought home, everything changed.

Nevertheless, even after reclaiming my rightful place, I didn’t let it go to my head. I remained humble and kept a low profile.

Wesley, on the other hand, saw me as the one who had ruined his perfect life. He constantly schemed against me in secret.

Mom knew about it and tried to punish and warn him more than once. However, Wesley’s stubbornness only grew, and his actions became more extreme.

Yet, he always managed to feign innocence in front of Sharon.

Having lost her parents at a young age, Sharon was adopted by my family. She grew up with Wesley, and over time, they developed feelings for each other.

Even though I fell in love with Sharon at first sight, I had no intention of ruining their relationship. I could tell Sharon didn’t love me.

I had wanted to step aside and wish them happiness, but Mom had other plans. She saw through Wesley's facade and believed that only I could give Sharon true happiness.

She genuinely wanted the best for Sharon, but in the end, all she received was endless hatred.

"Mom, thank you for always believing in me."

I hugged her tighter but not too hard, worried that my frail bones might hurt her.

Her voice choked with tears as she responded, "Silly child, what are you talking about? I’m your mother. If I don’t believe in you, who will?

"Come on, let’s go home. I’ll make chicken soup for you."

When we got back, I learned that after Sharon had caused Leroy Group's bankruptcy, Mom had moved to a small rental house on the outskirts and lived alone for years.

She had been pampered her entire life, but now, her hands were rough with callouses.

I held her hands in mine, hating myself for not being able to protect my family.

I also hated that, because of me, Dad had died a tragic death, the company had collapsed, and Mom had been forced to endure so much suffering.

Chapter 5

I endured five years of torment in prison without shedding a single tear. But now, I could barely hold back my emotions. My voice cracked as I whispered, "Mom, I’m sorry… it’s all my—"

Before I could finish, Mom firmly interrupted, "Don’t take the blame for other people’s mistakes. Remember, it wasn’t your fault."

Her words warmed me. With a deep breath, I forced back the tears that burned in my eyes and made a promise. "Trust me. I’ll make sure you never have to suffer again."

As for Dad, I planned to visit his grave the following day. I wanted to tell him that I’d take care of the family so he could rest in peace.

"Don't worry about me. I’ve gotten used to the hard work. Now, take a shower and change your clothes. Dinner will be ready soon."

Mom had rented a small two-bedroom apartment just for me. I headed to the bathroom to wash up, but as soon as I stepped out, I heard a loud crash from the kitchen.

My heart sank. I rushed in, only to find Mom collapsed on the floor.

"Mom!" I screamed, running to her side.

I carried her and bolted for the door, racing to the hospital.

Once we arrived, they wheeled her straight into surgery. I paced outside with a pounding heart, anxiety clawing at me. When the doctor finally emerged, I hurried to meet him.

"Doctor, how is my mom?"

He pulled off his mask, his expression grim as he shook his head. "Come with me."

I followed the doctor to his office, where he handed me the report. "It’s late-stage stomach cancer. She needs surgery as soon as possible. If we wait any longer, it’ll be too late."

I froze, unable to comprehend how this was happening. Mom had always been healthy. How could it have come to this so suddenly?

Sucking in a deep breath, I forced myself to stay calm and replied, "I understand. I’ll figure out a way to get the money for her surgery."

When Mom was moved to a recovery room, I sat beside her, waiting for her to wake up. Once she did, I asked her what had happened.

At first, she tried to hide the truth, but after some pressing, she finally admitted everything.

After our family went bankrupt, all the money was lost. Mom, who had never worked a day in her life, couldn’t find a job because of her age.

Even though she didn’t mention it, I knew Sharon had made things even harder for her.

She had survived by working odd jobs, barely scraping by. Often, she didn’t even have enough to eat. As for the illness, it was practically brought on by starvation.

After listening to her story, I clenched my hands tightly. I looked her in the eye. "Mom, I swear, I’ll get the money for your treatment."

"We don’t have that kind of money. I’m not getting the treatment. Let’s just go home." With that, Mom tried to get out of the bed.

I held her down gently and said with teary eyes, "Mom, Dad’s gone. Are you going to leave me too?"

She fell silent, and I tucked her back into bed. "Just rest. I’ll figure something out."

The surgery would cost 500 thousand dollars, and I had no idea where to get that kind of cash. Only one person came to mind. I closed my eyes in frustration.

There was no other option. I’d have to go to Sharon. For Mom’s sake, I was willing to swallow my pride. I couldn’t lose her too.

I made my way to Tatham Group and asked to see Sharon. The receptionist told me I needed an appointment and wouldn’t let me in.

"Tell her it’s Kaelan Leroy. She’ll see me."

The receptionist looked at me strangely, but after checking with someone, I was allowed to enter and wait outside Sharon's office as she was in a meeting.

So I sat there, rehearsing how to ask her for the money.

Suddenly, a mocking voice interrupted my thoughts. "Well, well, isn’t it the murderer, Kaelan? Five years went by fast, huh? Can’t believe they let you out already."

I looked up, and my blood ran cold. I shot to my feet, staring at the person in disbelief while my voice trembled with rage. "Wesley! You… You’re alive?!"