Chapter 4

Carol's fat body crashed toward me.

Because I was protecting Gina, my back took the full force of the impact.

Maurice seized this opportunity and stabbed me in the back with a fruit knife.

Blood instantly soaked through my white shirt.

Not wanting to worry Gina, I gritted my teeth and endured the intense pain.

But Carol's screeching voice buzzed in my ears like a fly.

"Bruna, I should have stopped you from marrying him back then! Otherwise, you wouldn't have died so horribly, not even leaving a complete body behind."

"And Donald is such a terrible person. After your accident, he didn't even show his face. Now he's cuddling with another woman! Where in the world is there such a heartless man?"

"Poor Bruna, you're dead—how am I supposed to live?"

As Carol spoke, her voice suddenly rose. I was about to see what was happening.

I didn't notice Anderson's movement in time. By the time I reacted, it was too late.

Anderson patted my back, his voice ghostly.

"Donald, Bruna was my only daughter. I was counting on her to take care of us in our old age, but who could have expected a car accident? We're not asking you to support us in our retirement. Just hand over the compensation, and we'll leave immediately."

I gasped in pain.

Anderson did it on purpose, patting exactly where it hurt most.

But the more he acted this way, the more it proved he had a guilty conscience.

"What if I refuse to hand it over? Are you going to kill me? Let me tell you, even if I die here today, you'll never get that money in your lifetime!"

"Fine! Maurice, come here!" Anderson's face twisted viciously.

"Coming!"

"You killed Bruna! I'm going to avenge her—I'll beat you to death!"

Maurice pulled out a whip and lashed it viciously at me.

"Don't be afraid."

I comforted Gina in my arms, holding her even tighter.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The whip cut through the air with a cold, fierce wind, striking my back again and again.

I could feel my shirt tearing, mixing with blood and sticking to my skin.

Pain—burning, searing pain that drilled into my bones.

Even so, I clenched my teeth, not letting myself make a single weak sound.

"Donald, I didn't expect you to be so protective of this homewrecker!"

Maurice stabbed at me with his words, and the whip came down even harder and more forcefully than before.

"Maurice, whip him! Beat him to death! Bruna was definitely killed by him. There are so many cases like this online, aren't there? Husbands deliberately kill their wives to get massive compensation!"

"I know—it's called spousal murder for insurance fraud! With Bruna dead, the beneficiary is her spouse!"

"Donald, are you even human? You bastard, give me back Bruna's life!"

"Bruna was kind to everyone her whole life, never did anything evil. Heaven is blind—how could she meet such a bastard?!"

Anderson and Carol's curses and slander continuously poured into my ears.

Maurice's whipping never stopped either.

I deeply felt wound after wound appearing on my back.

I silently endured all of this.

I don't know how much time passed before Anderson's sinister voice rang out.

"Alright, stop. We still need to leave him breathing."

"Donald, after all this, you still won't hand over the compensation?"

I nodded.

Just as Maurice's whip was about to fall again, I struggled to get out a sentence:

"Bruna, you should finally see these three people's true faces now, right?"

As soon as my words fell, Gina rose from my embrace.

She reached out and slowly peeled off the human skin mask.

Carol, Anderson, and Maurice all widened their eyes.

The three of them were so frightened they couldn't even speak properly.

"Are you... are you human or ghost?"