On the day we honored my father’s memory, my wife’s childhood sweetheart "accidentally" pushed my mother off a cliff. Her scream echoed before vanishing—no body was found. Grief-stricken, I reached for my phone, but Seraphina stopped me, gripping our son Leo by the throat. "Take the blame," she hissed. "A few years in prison won’t kill you. But Adrian? He’s a lawyer—he can’t have a record." She dangled Leo over the cliff, his small body bruised. "Choose: confess or I drop him." I confessed. In prison, chains pierced my collarbones. Brine-soaked lashes split my skin nightly. Inmates used me. But thoughts of Leo kept me alive. When released, I found them—Seraphina and Adrian entwined on the couch, their newborn nearby. "You expected loyalty?" she sneered. "From a prison whore?" Leo recoiled from my touch. "I hate you! Only Uncle Adrian is my dad!" Their perfect family, built on my ruin, shattered me. Five years of hell—for this. Black hatred swallowed me whole. 1 My eyes burned, but not a single tear would fall. I suppose when you reach the absolute depths of despair, even crying becomes a luxury you can't afford. But I couldn't give up. I had to stay near my son. So I swallowed my pride, chewing on the jagged edges of my humiliation. “What do you want to do about… us?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. Seraphina nonchalantly flicked a strand of hair from her face. “As long as you know your place, I don’t mind keeping a well-behaved dog around.” She paused, her gaze raking over my tattered clothes and scarred body. “Consider it compensation for the five years you lost. Don’t be ungrateful.” Her words were like needles, piercing straight through my heart. I lifted my head, my eyes finding my son. The moment our gazes met, he whipped his head away, as if the mere sight of me would contaminate him. A fine, sharp pain spread from my chest through my entire body. I couldn’t believe it. This was my sweet, obedient boy, now looking at me with nothing but resentment. To save him, I had been dragged to prison before I could even bury my own mother. How many times had I been beaten unconscious, only to be jolted back to life by the single, burning hope of seeing him again? And my sacrifice had only paved the way for someone else’s happiness. My lips twitched into a pained smile. I tried to sound dignified, but my voice trembled uncontrollably. “Seraphina… let’s get a divorce.” At that, she let out a short, sharp laugh. It was followed by the stinging crack of a slap across my face. I stood there, stunned, the imprint of her hand burning on my cheek. Her voice was laced with venom. “A worthless piece of trash like you wants to divorce me?” she spat. “You’re a freak nobody would even pay to fuck! You’d just come crawling back, begging me to take you in!” I stared at her, the woman I once loved, now a stranger spitting poison. My voice dropped to a plea. “Seraphina, I don’t want anything. Just… just give me back my son.” My words seemed to ignite something not in her, but in Leo. He scrambled backward, clinging to Adrian’s leg as if for dear life. “I hate you!” he shrieked. “I don’t want to go with you! I hate dirty things! I want to stay with Daddy Adrian forever!” The innocent words of a child, yet they sliced me to the bone. Adrian patted Leo’s back reassuringly, his other hand sliding possessively around Seraphina’s waist. He looked at me with the smug air of a victor. “Finn, my friend,” he said with a soft chuckle. “Forgive him. I’m afraid I’ve spoiled him a bit these last few years. Don’t take it to heart.” He adjusted his glasses. “While you were away, I took good care of Sera and Leo. You can rest easy.” I opened my mouth, but the words “thank you” felt like ash on my tongue. As if remembering something, Adrian pulled a check from his wallet and held it out to me. A check for five thousand dollars. “I hear it’s tough finding work after… you know. Think of this as a little something from me to you.” His fingers went limp, and the check fluttered to the floor like a dead leaf. His eyes gleamed with undisguised provocation. A vein throbbed in my temple. I exhaled slowly and bent down to pick it up. Before my fingers could touch the paper, a small shoe stomped down on my hand, grinding it into the floor. 2 “Don’t you dare touch my Daddy Adrian’s money!” “Get out of my house, you stinking beggar!” Leo’s face was red with fury as he stomped his foot again and again. I gritted my teeth against the searing pain in my hand, forcing a smile. “Leo, you’ve grown so much. Dad missed you.” Tears welled in my eyes, whether from longing or guilt, I couldn’t tell. “I know you’re angry I was gone for so long. That’s my fault.” This face, the one that had appeared in my dreams every single night, was finally right in front of me. I couldn’t stop myself. I reached out, wanting to pull him into a hug. He scrambled away in terror. “The murderer is trying to grab me!” he screamed. “Dad, save me!” His high-pitched cries were like daggers, leaving me shredded and bleeding. My hand hung in the air, useless, as I watched my son flee into the arms of another man. Seraphina’s face darkened. She lunged forward and kicked me squarely in the chest. “You think a monster like you deserves to be Leo’s father?” she snarled. “You’re a filthy animal! You should have rotted in that cell!” I stumbled backward and fell, the impact jarring my bones. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of my mouth, dripping onto the plush carpet. I felt nothing. I mechanically picked up the check. Looking at the insultingly small sum, I let out a laugh that was closer to a sob. Five years of my freedom, a lifetime of my innocence, and this is all it was worth to them. I pushed myself to my feet and, right in front of them, tore the check into tiny pieces. “I don’t need your pity.” Seraphina’s expression turned thunderous. She snatched a heavy glass ashtray from the coffee table and hurled it at my head. “You ungrateful bastard!” she screamed. “I’m going to teach you a lesson today!” The ashtray shattered against my temple. Warm blood instantly blurred my vision. Agony ripped through me, but I clamped my jaw shut, refusing to cry out. Leo clapped his hands, cheering. “Good job, Mommy! The bad man is bleeding!” Adrian watched the show for a long moment before stepping in, his concern as fake as his smile. “Sera, that’s enough,” he said softly, putting a hand on her arm. “Finn just got back. He doesn’t know the rules yet. Let him learn his lesson the hard way.” He glanced at Leo. “Besides, he is the boy’s biological father. This isn’t good for the child.” Seraphina, panting, gave me another two kicks for good measure before she relented. “If Adrian hadn’t spoken up for you, I wouldn’t have let you off so easily! Now get on your knees and thank him!” Adrian shook his head, pulling a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and offering it to me. “Wipe the blood. You’re scaring the boy.” I swatted his hand away. He didn’t seem to mind. “Now that you’re back, we’re all one big family,” he said smoothly. “Let’s not have any bad blood between us.” He paused, pushing his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose, a flicker of malice in his eyes. “We don’t have a spare room at the moment. I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with the doghouse for now.” The rage that had been simmering inside me boiled over. I clenched my fists. “Adrian, don’t push me too far!” I growled. “Or are you not afraid of me telling them what really happened that day…” “He has a place to sleep, and that’s more than he deserves!” Seraphina’s shriek cut me off. “One more word out of you and you can get out! You’ll never see your son again!” I looked at Leo, who was watching the scene with a disturbing excitement on his face. The fight drained out of me. I just nodded. Seraphina pinched her nose in disgust and threw a filthy blanket at me. “Go wash up! You stink. The smell is giving me a headache.” The blanket, matted with dog hair and mud, felt like a shroud of shame. Leo giggled and clapped. “The bad man has to use the same things as the doggy! Serves you right!” I limped towards the backyard, every step a fresh wave of pain. A sudden downpour began, the cold rain washing over me, mingling with my blood, but it couldn’t wash away the humiliation that clung to me like a second skin. I curled up in the damp, mildew-scented blanket, pulling it tight around me, trying to hold on to the last shred of my dignity. 3 The night grew cold. I was shivering uncontrollably in the dark. Suddenly, a blinding light hit my face, forcing my eyes open. Adrian stood over me, holding a flashlight. At his side, his Doberman snarled, baring its teeth. “Sorry, Finn,” Adrian said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. “It seems Cerberus here wants his bed back.” He paused, his gaze flicking towards the open sewer grate nearby. He was waiting for me to break. My body trembled, but this time with rage. “Adrian, you’ve gone too far! Aren’t you afraid of retribution? Of a little thing called karma?” He let out a short, contemptuous laugh and squatted down, his voice a low, venomous whisper. “Retribution? I’m sleeping with your wife, I’ve claimed your son, and I control your family’s fortune. Does that sound like retribution to you?” He leaned closer. “Finn, a man this pathetic might as well be dead.” With a roar, I lunged, grabbing the front of his designer shirt. “You think I won’t tell everyone you’re the one who framed me?!” Adrian burst out laughing, easily shoving me off. “You really are an idiot!” he sneered. “There were no cameras on that mountain. Your mother’s body was never found. Who’s going to prove I did anything?” I stared at him, my throat tight, my eyes burning with helpless fury. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, his voice turning icy. “Besides, who in their right mind would believe a convicted murderer?” It was like being struck by lightning. The blood in my veins turned to ice. It was all a trap. A carefully constructed nightmare designed just for me. “You bastard!” I screamed, throwing myself at him again. He sidestepped, and I crashed to my knees on the concrete. The sharp pain was nothing compared to the agony in my soul. “Give me back my son!” I howled into the rain. Just then, a sharp voice cut through the storm. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Seraphina rushed over, shoved me aside, and shielded Adrian, her eyes wide with a concern that made my stomach churn. Behind her, Leo, like a furious little lion, charged at me and sank his teeth into my wrist. The pain was so sharp it made my scalp tingle. He pummeled my chest with his small fists. “You big bully! Don’t you hurt my daddy! I’ll kill you!” My whole body shaking, I tried to embrace him, but he picked up a rock and threw it, hitting me squarely on the forehead. Blood poured into my eyes, hot and sticky. I fought through the pain, my voice a strangled sob. “Leo… Dad didn’t kill anyone.” “Shut up!” Seraphina’s shriek pierced the night. She lunged and punched me hard across the face. “If you spout that nonsense again, I’ll rip your tongue out!” The blow sent me sprawling. My head cracked against the stone steps, and my vision swam with black spots. The cold rain mixed with my blood, seeping into my clothes, a bone-deep chill that had nothing to do with the weather. I lay helpless in a growing pool of my own blood, my gaze fixed on my son. “Leo…” I rasped. “Dad… is not a bad man.” His response was the cruelest blow of all. “Cerberus! Get him! Avenge my daddy!” His childish voice was filled with a terrifying glee that ripped my soul to shreds. The Doberman, with its gleaming white fangs, leaped. Its teeth sank into my calf, and a jolt of pure agony made my body convulse. Leo jumped up and down, pointing. “That’s what you get for bullying my dad! Bite him! Kill him!” The beast tore at my leg, its claws digging deep, bloody gouges into my arms as I curled into a ball, protecting my vital organs but offering no resistance. Blood snaked across the wet concrete. And in that moment, I finally understood. The sharpest blade in the world isn’t the torture of an enemy. It’s the hatred of a loved one, plunged directly into your heart.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "393940", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel