Chapter 5

Dad's heart pounded for some reason, but he only thought Mom was lying to him.

Instead, he roared in a rage, "You can't use both hands? The medicine's gone too?"

"Excuses! You're just trying to get back at me."

"Alfred, break her hands. I'll make her lies come true!"

Mom groaned as her hands were broken again.

Those were the hands the doctors had spent twelve hours operating on just days before to reattach.

Dad was still not appeased. He angrily grabbed Mom's neck.

"I thought you'd learned your lesson, passed my test, and that's why I saved you. I never expected you to still be so stubborn!"

I rushed out from the corner, crashing into Dad like a cannonball.

"Don't you dare bully my mom!"

He loosened his grip, staring at me with a dark, slowly spreading smile.

But I wasn't afraid at all, blocking him in front of Mom.

Mom coughed constantly from the side. Gasping for breath, she pulled a divorce agreement from her clothes.

"I already signed it. You sign it too."

Dad's eyes were bloodshot. He asked in disbelief, "You want to divorce me?"

Mom closed her eyes sadly. "Yes. Your hypnosis isn't foolproof."

"I never imagined I'd fall for you again and again, only to be played for a fool every single time."

Dad panicked. "Those were just tests. You have to understand that I love you."

But Mom's head tilted, and she fainted.

She was already very weak, and Dad's outburst had drained all her remaining strength.

Dad broke into a cold sweat. He carefully settled Mom.

He sat on the couch, eyes wide open, until morning, not knowing how to make amends.

In the morning, Mom was awakened by a commotion.

She opened her eyes and saw a banner hanging in the center of the mansion that read, "The Shame Feast."

Tiffany led a group of angry people towards them.

"Evelyn, you worked as a funeral makeup artist because you liked to molest corpses, didn't you?"

"You must confess your sins to these bereaved families today."

Mom's eyes widened in shock. She cried out in indignation, "I didn't!"

But Tiffany ordered her bodyguards to force Mom, who couldn't resist, into a kneeling posture of confession.

Countless rotten eggs and garbage were thrown at Mom.

Along with unspeakable insults.

Mom's lips trembled. She recognized the people who were shouting the loudest insults.

They were the very ones who couldn't afford funeral beauty fees, whom she had waived the charges for, and who had cried, thanking her for her kindness.

Her colleagues always said Mom was foolish, but Mom would sigh:

"They've lost loved ones and are poor. I can help a little, just by eating a few less meals myself."

She never expected that her momentary act of kindness would lead to this blatant humiliation.

"Hit her! Kill this bitch who violated my dead brother!"

"I wondered why she was so kind back then. Turns out she's a necrophiliac pervert."

Mom stumbled forward, spitting out a mouthful of black blood.

My eyes were bloodshot. I rushed over and desperately punched them.

"Get away! My mom isn't like that!"

Seeing me, they became even more agitated, cursing under their breath.

"This is the daughter of a pervert, born to a homewrecker! She deserves to die too!"

Countless fists, like steel needles, violently pounded my body.

I felt like my internal organs were being crushed, and blood slowly seeped from the corners of my mouth.

Tiffany's smile was deceptively gentle, but her words were laced with venom:

"Hit her hard! Keep hitting until Evelyn confesses!"

One punch, two punches, three punches... my consciousness began to blur.

Mom, like a madwoman, dragged her body towards me.

"Don't hit her! Don't hit my Chloe!"

Her voice was so shrill it changed pitch:

"I confess! It was me! Chloe isn't a homewrecker's child, it has nothing to do with her!"

Tiffany threw a marriage certificate, bearing a steel seal, in front of Mom.

Tiffany and Dad's names were clearly printed on it.

Her smile was twisted and wide.

"You're the homewrecker! Chloe having a mother like you is her shame!"

"She deserves to be beaten!"

Mom's eyes went from bewildered to utter despair. She could no longer hold back her tears.

I vaguely heard Mom's cries and struggled to crawl towards her.

"Mom, don't cry! Chloe will get revenge for you!"

But the next second, a powerful pair of hands lifted me high.

"Read this confession, or I'll throw her down from here!"

I was suspended in mid-air outside the third-floor railing.

Mom's pupils constricted. She collapsed, hitting her head against the ground repeatedly.

"I'll read it! Please don't throw her..."

Blood trickled down her forehead.

Dad coldly turned on a video recorder and pointed it at Mom.

Mom, surrounded by the angry crowd, dragged her powerless hands and feet to read the confession.

"I am guilty... I will forever remain in the Vance family to atone for my sins... Confessed by: Evelyn Vance."

Dad finally smiled, his smile distorted. He stepped forward and embraced Mom.

"This way, you can never leave me."

Before he could finish, black blood suddenly gushed from Mom's eyes, nose, and mouth.

Even Dad became a horrifying figure, covered in blood.

I heard the cold system voice again: "Countdown ended. Fake death successful."

"Mom!" I scrambled and crawled towards her. She was still warm to the touch, but she had no breath left.

Dad felt dizzy. He fell heavily into the pool of blood.