Not long after, news about Suzanna sacrificing herself for Eric rose to the top of the trending charts.

When I arrived home, my mother slammed her phone onto the coffee table in anger.

“Everyone in our circle is talking about how Suzanna gave her first time to Eric. Does she even care about the Charlton family’s reputation anymore? If the engagement cannot be canceled, then get a divorce. File the paperwork tomorrow.”

At that moment, Suzanna’s father and mother arrived at the house and heard everything. Her mother raised her voice at once.

“Suzanna is only taking care of Eric for now. This should be a happy outcome for everyone. She is worried about his condition. What right does the Charlton family have to force her into divorce? Do not forget, if Suzanna’s sister had not sacrificed herself to save General Charlton, he would not be alive today. Now your family wants to turn against us after everything? That is ungrateful.”

My mother’s face turned pale with rage, and she looked as if she might collapse.

I steadied her and looked at the arrogant couple standing in front of us. A cold feeling spread through my chest.

All those years, I had treated the Jones family like my own parents. I had never neglected them.

When they caught a contagious disease during a trip overseas, I crossed a war zone to reach them. I took three gunshot wounds along the way.

I did not even stop to bandage myself. I stayed by their side for seven days and nights until their fever broke.

By the end, my wounds had become so infected that I nearly died.

I never imagined that all my years of devotion would earn me nothing but humiliation. They turned my marriage into a public joke, yet somehow I was the one being called ungrateful.

My expression hardened. I no longer had the strength to argue. I ordered the butler to escort the Jones couple out.

Not long after I filed for divorce, I received a text from Suzanna. She asked to meet and said she wanted to talk.

I brought my mother with me to the house we had lived in for five years.

The moment I pushed open the door, the sight in front of me hit like a punch.

Eric was on top of Suzanna on our bed. He glanced at me with a flash of provocation.

Breathing heavily, he kissed Suzanna’s lips and murmured, “Suzanna, I cannot hold back anymore. If you get pregnant, Shane will not divorce you, right?”

Suzanna had not noticed me yet. She let out a soft laugh.

“Of course not. Everyone knows Shane is hopelessly in love with me. He would never bear to divorce me. I promised my parents I would take care of you. Giving you a child as compensation is fair. If Shane refuses, then he can forget about touching me again. If he refuses to acknowledge your child, then the Charlton family can wait to lose their bloodline.”

She spoke casually, yet every word stabbed into my chest like a dull blade.

She wore the black stockings I had chosen for her. She and Eric lay in the bed we once shared.

Then she expected me to accept their child as well.

Nausea twisted in my stomach. I lost control and kicked the door hard.

The loud bang startled Suzanna, and she pushed Eric away.

When she saw me, embarrassment flashed across her face before it turned into anger.

“Shane, are you insane? Why did you not tell me you were coming back?”

I laughed in disbelief.

“You were the one who texted me and said you wanted to talk. Did you think I wanted to watch you fool around with your lover?”

Suzanna froze. She glanced at her phone, then looked at Eric in confusion.

Eric put on an innocent expression at once.

Suzanna’s face softened with concern when she saw it. Then she glared at me.

“Shane, are you done? Eric was trying to help us reconcile. Who told you to barge in without warning? My parents came to comfort you, yet you threw them out. I am telling you now. Even if we are married, you have no right to control who I gave my first time to.”

I nodded calmly.

“In that case, let me tell you something. Even if we are married, you have no right to control whether I want a divorce.”

Shock filled Suzanna’s eyes when she heard the word divorce.

A second later, she let out a cold laugh.

“Shane, do not forget, if my sister had not stepped in during that accident, your father would not have survived. If I had not married into the Charlton family, do you think your family would still have its position in the military?”

I stayed silent. Her tone softened.

“As long as you behave and stop targeting Eric, I will make it up to you twice over on next year’s anniversary.”

I almost found it laughable.

I had loved her, protected her, and spoiled her for years. Somehow, that had become the confidence she used to hurt me.

In her eyes, the Charlton family were parasites clinging to her success. Even catching her cheating in our own bed somehow made me the unreasonable one.

My mother finally lost her patience and let out a mocking laugh.

“Suzanna, the Charlton family may not be as powerful as it once was, but three generations built this family from the ground up. Do not flatter yourself into thinking we cannot survive without you.”

Suzanna’s expression darkened as she glared at us.

I took my mother’s hand.

Before leaving, I looked at Suzanna one last time.

“Suzanna, we are over. Completely.”

I originally wanted to give that marriage a dignified ending.

However, that night, Suzanna held a press conference.

Facing countless cameras, she spoke with complete confidence.

“Eric and I truly love each other. Shane forced me to marry him. I earned my position through my own abilities. However, when I tried to save someone, Shane cared more about my virginity than a human life. He even tried to pressure me into becoming nothing more than a baby‑making machine. I am an independent woman. Why should I be treated like this?”

In an instant, I became the so‑called homewrecker in her relationship with Eric.

The two of them turned into tragic lovers in the public’s eyes, a couple torn apart by fate.

Online opinion became one‑sided.

Everyone supported Suzanna.

The insults aimed at me grew worse.

Some extremists gathered outside the Charlton estate. They splashed red paint across the walls and sprayed large black words on the front gates:

“Trash, get out.”

I did not want to respond. However, Suzanna came to find me first.

“Shane, I only said those things so people would stop attacking Eric. However, you spread rumors online calling him a shameless bastard. Eric was bullied so badly that he ran away from home. Are you happy now?”

She suddenly turned on a nationwide livestream and shoved the camera toward me.

“Apologize to Eric right now. Admit you are the third party in our relationship. Promise that you will never interfere with us again, then beg him to come back.”

The entire situation was absurd. I pushed her away.

“You cheated. I did nothing. Why should I apologize?”

I was about to throw her out when she sneered and shoved her phone in front of my face.

The moment I saw the screen, all the blood drained from my body.

My mother hung above a rapidly spinning industrial grinder.

“You have always been petty and vicious. If you did not spread those rumors, then who did? Shane, if you do not apologize, your mother will be ground into pieces because of you.”

I watched in horror as the rope slowly lowered her closer to the blades.

My eyes burned.

“I did not do it. If you want revenge, come after me. Let my mother go.”

Suzanna refused to believe me. She grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the floor.

Blood splattered across the ground. Pain exploded through my skull, and my vision darkened.

Even then, I gritted my teeth and did not fight back. I feared that if Suzanna lost control, she would truly harm my mother.

“Shane, if you refuse to do as I say, I will make you watch your mother suffer a fate worse than death.”

That sentence shattered the last of my dignity. My body stiffened as I lowered my head in front of the livestream camera.

“I was wrong. The Charlton family was wrong. We threw our weight around and acted shamelessly.”

Only after I apologized did her men bring Eric back.

Suzanna rushed to him and checked him from head to toe. When she confirmed he was unharmed, she relaxed.

Then she turned toward me with impatience.

“Enough. If you had done this from the start, things would not have become so ugly. Why did you insist on acting so pathetic?”

She reached toward me when she noticed how pale I looked. Eric stepped forward first and whispered into my ear with a smug tone.

“I disappeared on purpose. I wanted to test how much Suzanna cared about me. Shane, the woman you treasured for five years loves me so much she has gone crazy for me. Being a man like you is worse than death.”

He pointed the livestream camera at me with a grin.

“Tell everyone. Does it still bother you that Suzanna gave me her first time? That she wants to have my child and make you the second dad?”

My chest felt as if it were being cut open.

For my mother’s sake, I swallowed every ounce of humiliation and forced myself to speak.

“You can do whatever you want. I do not care anymore.”

The livestream comments exploded with mocking messages.

Only then did Suzanna tell me where my mother was.

When I found her, she hung less than an inch above the spinning blades, trembling and sobbing.

I rushed toward the machine and tried to stop it, only to realize the controls were locked with a password.

Panicked, I called Suzanna. She responded with impatience.

“I was only scaring you. The grinder is a prop. It will stop on its own in a minute. Shane, stop overreacting and come back to cook. Eric loves your cooking.”

Before I could reply, she hung up.

A second later, the rope snapped.

My mother screamed as she fell. I lunged forward, trying to shield her with my own body.

I was too late.

My mother died right before my eyes. A broken scream tore from my throat.

“Mom!”

The flesh on my hands was shredded.

Even that pain was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

Memories of all the sweet moments I once shared with Suzanna flashed through my mind.

Regret and hatred twisted inside me until I coughed up blood and collapsed.

As my consciousness faded, I whispered,

“Suzanna, from this moment on, we mean nothing to each other anymore.”