The woman in the painting looked at me tenderly as if she were trying to silently comfort me.

My nose stung as I held back my tears.

Mom passed away when I was young, leaving me with only this portrait of herself. She had said that she hoped to see me get married, have children, and live a good life through the eyes of her portrait.

Naturally, Iris also knew that the portrait was the most important thing to me. She briefly hesitated before she pointed at the hallway and said, "Put the painting there for now."

Aaron's eyes flashed. He dashed forward and snatched the painting from the staff member, saying, "What Iris means is that we need to take good care of something so precious."

Although it sounded like he intended to treat the painting with care, what he actually did was drop a lit lighter on the floor.

The flames swiftly licked up the fragile canvas, burning away Mom's image within seconds.

My eyes widened as I lunged at the painting, but I was only able to grab a fistful of ashes.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper! The painting slipped from my hands because it was too heavy."

My last thread of patience snapped upon hearing Aaron's insincere apology. I whirled on him and punched him.

Aaron yelped in pain.

I gritted my teeth as I yanked his tie and rained more blows down on him.

Pain suddenly exploded across my head in the next second.

Iris had struck me with a wooden bat. Her expression darkened as she shoved me away, screaming, "Have you lost your mind, Jasper? How dare you lay your hands on Aaron over a stupid painting?"

A stupid painting?

I stared at her in disbelief, feeling as if my heart was being crushed by an invisible force.

Iris knew how important Mom's portrait was to me. Her lips trembled when she realized what she had just said. She was about to say something when Aaron grabbed his wrist and let out a pained groan.

"My hand hurts so much. He intentionally stomped on my wrist. There's no point in living anymore if I can no longer draw!"

Iris drew him into her embrace with a heartbroken expression and immediately ordered someone to call an ambulance.

However, Aaron wasn't done just yet.

"Why aren't you standing up for me, Iris? You don't actually care about me, do you? Mom and Dad aren't around anymore. I might as well end my life if you don't care about me as well!"

He broke free from Iris and made a mad dash for the window, prompting the people around him to hastily block his path in fear that he would actually go through with his words.

Chaos erupted in the hall.

Iris gritted her teeth and coldly barked out her orders.

"Break Jasper's hands! He should have known that he would have to pay for the consequences of raising his hand against Aaron!"

Not wanting the situation to escalate any further, the staff members tried to convince Iris to change her mind.

"So what if we offend the Swanson family?" she snapped. "I'm the sole successor of the Miller family. There's no way that Grandpa will punish me because of an outsider."

When the staff members remained rooted to their spots, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Iris averted her gaze when she gripped my chin, saying, "You wouldn't be in this position right now if you didn't hurt Aaron in the first place."

I swallowed the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I smiled and said, "The biggest mistake of my life was getting together with you, Iris Miller!"

Iris' fingers quivered when she heard the hatred lacing my words, leaving a small cut on the end of my brow. She froze in place when she felt the warm blood stain her fingertips.

Aaron's expression twisted. "Do you feel sorry for him, Iris?"

Iris' face stiffened as she tightened her grip on the metal bat.

"Don't blame me, Jasper."

The cold glint of the bat was seconds away from making contact when someone kicked the door open.

The bat was suspended inches away from my palm.

Iris' expression turned frosty as she looked at Taylor, who had grabbed her wrist in a death grip. "You? How dare you stop me? You're just an illegitimate daughter who can never see the light of day."

Taylor chuckled. Ignoring Iris' shocked and furious gaze, she helped me back up to my feet.

"I won't forgive you if you hurt my husband again."