At a high-end auction, my wife spent a staggering fifty million dollars. She bought a Celestial Relic Bead (a sacred Buddhist artifact said to contain ashes of enlightened masters), hoping to protect her young assistant. In front of a wall of reporters, she announced to the world: “Four years ago, when I was at my lowest, my ex-husband took all my money and ran off with his mistress. It was Julian who stayed by my side, who helped me claw my way back from ruin.” “Now, I am ready to repay his love a thousand times over.” The interview went viral. I became the most despised, shameless scumbag in the country. My parents called me a disgrace to the family name. Even my sister, who had always adored me, threatened to disown me. For four years, the public outrage, the vitriol, the endless condemnations never stopped. Until the day the police cracked a major dismemberment case. My sister, the captain of the homicide division, finally discovered the truth. The most brutally savaged corpse among the victims… was me. 1. When the heavily decomposed body was unearthed, several officers on site threw up. But as I looked at the lush roses blooming over my grave, a sudden, chilling realization washed over me. Just like that, four years had passed. Four years ago, my wife, Victoria, made a bad investment and her company went bankrupt. I took our three-year-old daughter with me as I ran around town, begging for loans to save her. Under the blistering summer sun, I knelt before a creditor for an entire day until he finally relented. I was just about to call Victoria with the good news when her assistant, Julian, knocked me unconscious and dragged me to an abandoned hospital. First, he burned my daughter alive right in front of me. Then, he shattered my limbs and crushed my skull. After harvesting every one of my organs, he buried what was left of me deep in the earth. Victoria came looking for me. But Julian told her I had stolen the last of the company’s funds and run off with a lover. Victoria, the woman who had sworn she loved me, believed his lies without a second thought. From that day on, she despised me. She forbade anyone from even speaking my name. She forbade anyone from searching for me. She left me for dead, wherever I might be. And so my soul was shackled to this plot of land, my makeshift grave. I couldn't leave, and I couldn't move on. Until today. With the case finally broken, my sister personally unearthed my remains. My fractured soul was finally able to see the light of day. And I could finally go home. I drifted to my sister’s side, hoping she would recognize me. But she simply wore her mask, methodically examining my corpse. “Same as the other victims. Limbs are intact, but all internal organs are missing.” She paused. “Wait. Something’s not right here. This one… this one is different.” Her gaze fell on my hands, and her brow furrowed. For a moment, I thought she’d found something. But then she said, “The other victims were drugged with an anesthetic before the organs were harvested. But this one… nearly every bone in his body has been broken. His fingernails have been ripped out.” She lifted my limp, ruined hand, her frown deepening. The cruel conclusion left her lips. “He was tortured to death.” The officers around her exchanged grim, sympathetic glances. My sister let out a heavy sigh. “The brutality of it… it’s monstrous.” “Have the forensics team prioritize this body. And run a detailed comparison against all missing persons reports from the last five years. I want this man’s identity confirmed as soon as possible.” After giving her orders, she stripped off her protective gear and went back to her office to review the case files. Perhaps it was the bond of blood, some unspoken connection. She glanced back at my body several times. But in the end, she didn’t recognize me. A wave of sorrow washed over me, and I was about to drift away when I saw Julian, holding Victoria’s hand, walk into the police station. My sister looked up, her reprimanding tone softened by a deep-seated affection. “What are you doing here? This place is full of unsettling things. You’re pregnant—it’s not good for you to be around this.” Victoria leaned into Julian’s embrace. “The doctor said I need to walk more. I had nothing else to do, so I thought I’d come see you.” My sister smiled. “Nothing to do? More like you can’t bear to be apart from your precious Julian. First, you buy him a fifty-million-dollar relic, and now you’re turning down multi-million-dollar contracts for him. You’re becoming quite the doting CEO, aren’t you?” Though her words were teasing, she was already brewing a cup of the floral tea she knew Julian loved. Victoria didn’t explain, only saying, “If it wasn’t for Julian back then, I never would have made it.” “Now that I can, of course, I want to give him the best of everything.” The mention of “back then” made my sister pensive. She glanced toward my body and said suddenly, “We dug up a body today. He was only in his early twenties when he died. About Ethan’s age, actually…” She was about to say more, but Victoria cut her off, her voice sharp with annoyance. Her brow was knitted in a look of pure, unadulterated disgust. “I don’t want to hear that name.” “Julian and I are getting married soon. We are family now. Some irrelevant outsider could die in a ditch, and it would have nothing to do with me!” Words so sharp they could cut. In the past, they would have broken my heart. But now, I had no mind for anything else. I could only stare at the Celestial Relic Bead around Julian’s neck as tears streamed down my face. A father knows his child. The moment Julian walked in, I felt a deep, chilling wrongness. And now I could see it clearly. What he was wearing wasn't a relic. Those were beads made of bone. It was… my daughter. My precious little girl. 2. I floated in front of Victoria, wanting to scream, to tell her everything. That I had never betrayed her. That Julian was the one who murdered me. That the precious amulet around his neck was made from the bones of her own child. My daughter. The child I had longed for, the one she had carried for eight months. The little girl who was burned alive before she ever had a chance to understand the world. But the dead have no voice. Victoria couldn’t hear the screams of my soul. She would never know the truth of my unjust death. Her good mood ruined by the mere mention of my name, she turned to lead Julian home. Four years. Every trace of me had been scrubbed from the house. In its place were pictures of Julian. The proud, unbending Victoria I knew now wore childish cartoon pajamas for him. She would bend down to change his shoes for him. She would gently massage his shoulders, and together, they would dream about their upcoming wedding. Just like we used to. I turned away, unable to watch. But my mind was flooded with memories. When I first met Victoria, she wasn't some powerful CEO. She was a rebellious girl with fiery red hair. She was defiant and wild, a stark contrast to my strict, conservative family. But she gave me a kind of care and attention I had never known. She would take me on motorcycle rides to clear my head. She would bring me roses. When I failed my graduate school entrance exams, she would look me in the eye and say, her voice soft but firm, “Ethan, you still have me. I’ll protect you.” “You don’t have to be a puppet for your family. With me, you can live the life you want.” Her words gave me the courage to make the first rebellious decision of my life. I gave up on retaking my exams and started a business with her. After years of hard work, we founded our own floral company. We had our very own sea of roses. Back then, we would hold each other, imagining our future. “I’m going to pave our wedding aisle with roses,” she’d said. “I’ll put the most brilliant ring on your finger and give you everything you’ve ever wanted.” But that dreamlike wedding never happened. Between my family’s opposition and the demands of our growing business, it was always postponed. I was disappointed, but not sad. I thought we had all the time in the world. As long as we were together, our future would be bright. But disaster struck first. A major client suddenly terminated their contract, and our company’s cash flow froze. Victoria was consumed by stress, unable to sleep. To help her, I went everywhere, begging for help. My parents turned their backs. My sister, buried in her own work, could offer sympathy but no real assistance. Our daughter was only three and needed constant care. With no other options, I took our child with me to kneel before the client and beg for forgiveness. My forehead was bruised from kowtowing, my knees raw and bloody. I endured endless humiliation to secure a lifeline for Victoria, only to be murdered by Julian. Even now, the memory of that day sends a shiver of ice through my soul. Julian had a group of men take turns violating me. He recorded a small part of it and sent it to Victoria as “proof” of my infidelity. Then, he plunged a knife into my stomach. He sliced my skin open, inch by inch, a grotesque smile on his face. “You love Victoria so much, don't you? She needs capital right now. You can't just stand by and do nothing.” “I’ve found a good use for you and your little bastard… your lives will be the foundation of my life with Victoria.” Julian had partnered with a ring of organ traffickers. They burned my child and sold my organs across the globe. With the blood money he received, he helped Victoria stage a magnificent comeback, becoming the celebrated and indispensable Mr. Julian. Victoria’s business flourished. Their relationship deepened. Soon, they were expecting a child of their own. Today, Victoria has a successful career and a happy family. The only stain on her perfect life is her treacherous ex-husband. But if she had just looked closer. If she had just watched that video carefully, she would have seen that my limbs were twisted at unnatural angles. She would have seen the blood staining the corners of my mouth. That was because Julian, afraid I would fight back, had systematically broken my bones. He had pulled out my tongue and my teeth. But she didn’t look. She believed his tears. She believed in my betrayal. A single, fleeting glance at that video was enough to seal my fate. She left me to rot in that forgotten corner of the world, my body hollowed out and buried in the dirt. And my poor, innocent child was packaged up and sold as a priceless Celestial Relic Bead. At this moment, I can’t help but marvel at the cruelty of fate. It stole our lives but brought us back together in the most twisted way imaginable. My sweet, innocent daughter, her little life cut short, her soul filled with resentment and sorrow. After years of being passed from hand to hand, country to country, she had finally come full circle, gifted by her own mother to her murderer as a token of protection. The irony was a blade in my heart. My thoughts snapped back to the present. I stared at Victoria, my soul aching with a futile wish. I knew it was impossible, but I still hoped she could see me, could hear the truth I so desperately needed to tell her. But their next words sent a chill through my very essence, a cold so deep it felt like dying all over again. 3. Julian rested his head on Victoria’s shoulder and sighed, feigning a look of sorrow. “Vic, are you still hurting over Ethan’s betrayal?” “You know, when you think about it, this whole thing started because of me.” “If I hadn’t almost bankrupted the company, Ethan wouldn’t have been in such a rush to run off with the money.” “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with you. I shouldn’t have ruined your marriage…” Victoria’s heart ached for him. She leaned in and kissed his forehead gently. “This has nothing to do with you. Ethan was the one who chose to be degenerate.” “If anything, I should thank you. You helped me see his true colors.” Julian sighed again, nestling closer. As they murmured to each other, the full, ugly truth began to unfold. Victoria had cheated on me with Julian long before I died. She had been captivated by him at a campus recruitment fair and hired him on the spot, breaking company protocol just to keep him by her side. She even admitted it herself. Julian was the true love of her life. With me, it was just… a responsibility. “Ethan’s family situation is complicated, so I can’t divorce him right now. But I will never, ever let you feel wronged.” “Everything I have, I will give you, and more.” Victoria’s blatant favoritism made Julian reckless. It fed an ambition he never should have had. While I was at home taking care of our child, he acted as if he owned the company. His arrogance and swagger offended a major client. When the client confronted him, Victoria defended Julian, even getting into a physical altercation. That was what caused the client to pull their contract, nearly bankrupting us. That incident showed Julian just how unshakable his position in Victoria’s heart was. And it was then that the idea of getting rid of me, of becoming Mr. Thorne himself, took root in his mind. Hearing their confession was like being struck by lightning. Tears fell like rain. After the company stabilized, Victoria used our love as leverage, convincing me to step back from management to be a stay-at-home dad. For a while, we were happy. But soon, she started coming home later and later. Her clothes carried the strange scent of unfamiliar smoke, and I’d find faint red marks on her neck. When I questioned her, she would always say the same thing. “Ethan, you’re overthinking it.” “I’m working, I’m networking. It’s all for you and our daughter.” If I pushed any further, she would lose her temper. She’d accuse me of being insecure, of being paranoid. She’d say I had too much time on my hands and didn’t appreciate how hard she worked. But it was all a lie. Every suspicion was founded. Every betrayal was hidden in plain sight. And I finally understood why she had so readily believed I’d run off with the money. Because a cheater sees a cheater in everyone. The pain was so intense I thought my soul would shatter. Just then, the sharp ring of a telephone broke the suffocating silence.
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