Suppressing my anger, I replied as gently as possible.

"Okay, Mom, I understand. Is there anything else?"

"Yes, tomorrow you must have your parents give Eden a 50,000 dollars fee to change her form of address. Our precious daughter will be part of your family, so you must show enough respect!"

"And add Eden's name to the title deed of your house as soon as possible. Make sure it's notarized to give her half. Our daughter can't afford to gamble. Marrying you and bearing children is a matter of life and death!"

I sneered and agreed.

After hanging up, John burst out cursing.

"Are they out of their minds? How dare they increase demands at the last minute? Didn't you already pay a dowry of 200,000 dollars?!"

Yes, my parents had exhausted their life savings to buy a new house, and the dowry and banquet money equaled my annual salary.

I could afford the additional demands from her mother since my small internet company was doing well, having saved over 600,000 dollars in two years.

Half of this money was meant for the wedding, and I planned to let my parents keep the rest for emergencies.

After all, they were getting old and didn't earn much.

Eden's mother agreed to our marriage because she saw me as a potential success.

Moreover, during our two-year relationship, I often brought expensive gifts to her home.

All just because Eden's mother wanted to show off to the widow next door.

The widow's son-in-law often parked his BMW in front of Eden's house, and whenever Eden's mother asked him to move it, the widow would mock her for not being able to afford such a car.

The two often quarreled, forming a deep grudge.

With my frequent gifts worth tens of thousands, Eden's mother had regained some face.

Unfortunately, that face would be lost entirely tomorrow.

Knowing the wedding would definitely not happen, I felt at ease.

I even went back to sleep.

Around eight or nine in the evening, Dick's call woke me.

"Daniel, check your Twitter!"

Rubbing my eyes, I opened my phone and instantly woke up.

Dick had sent a video.

In the dimly lit private room of a restaurant, Eden was toasting with Hale and his sister.

"Congratulations on your wedding, Eden! Goodbye to single life!"

They clinked glasses and drank in one go. Hale's eyes were red, seemingly upset.

Lillian sighed.

"Hale, you need to let the past go. If it weren't for Daniel, you and Eden wouldn't have met again. It's just fate."

Eden's thoughts seemed to drift upon hearing this. She sighed and said.

"Yes. Who would have thought my high school first love would end up being my boyfriend's good friend."

Hearing this, Hale downed another glass, his face showing bitterness.

"If it weren't for your parents' disapproval, we should be together now!"

"They just think I'm not as successful as Daniel. I've tried my best. Why couldn't you wait for me?"

I was stunned.

So they knew each other even before I did. They had been together since high school!

"With only us three here, I'll be honest. Hale, you understand me better than Daniel. I haven't completely forgotten our past, but Daniel treats me very well, and my parents prefer him, so please, forget me! After today, we're just normal friends."

This seemed to hurt Hale. He downed another glass of wine, looking even more bitter.

Lillian patted his back, sighing.

"I also hoped you'd become my sister-in-law, Eden. But since you're marrying Daniel, you should avoid getting too close to my brother. You should avoid suspicion."

"Avoid what? We've known each other much longer than she has known Daniel! Why should we avoid each other?!"

Hale seemed drunk and yelled angrily.

A flicker of pain crossed Eden's face, and she asked Lillian to leave the room for a moment.

Lillian sighed, shook her head, and walked out.

The camera shook, and the door quickly closed.

The screen went black, as if the phone had been put in a pocket.

Two minutes later, the screen brightened, and the door to the private room was pushed open a crack.

The scene inside made my blood run cold.

Hale was holding Eden's face with both hands, kissing her passionately.

Eden didn't struggle. She just let him kiss her wildly, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

That tear sparkled under the light.

"Hale, it was wrong of me to keep seeing you behind Daniel's back."

"But now I've decided to marry him, and I won't be with you anymore..."

She couldn't finish her sentence as her mouth was blocked again.

When they separated, Eden's lips were a bit swollen.

Hale had bitten them.

"I won't allow it. I can't accept it! We love each other. Why can't you keep seeing me behind Daniel's back like before? Don't listen to my sister. She doesn't understand our love!"

Hale's voice was choked with tears.

As expected, they had been cheating on me all along!

The screen shook, and the video ended.

I called Dick and asked what was going on.

Dick said he was almost caught but managed to escape.

At last, we had solid evidence.

I hung up the phone and went to find John to show him the video.

John was furious at their shamelessness, venting his anger for a while.

The poor orchid, its leaves were almost all torn off.

"Don't worry, you know my hosting skills. I'll make sure they are utterly disgraced tomorrow!"

After making this fierce promise, John called the brother in charge of the projector and instructed him to play the video at the right moment.

They exchanged a signal. John would snap his fingers to cue the video.

However, we didn't expect that later that night, Dick sent an even more explosive video!