My furious gaze cut him deeply, and he raised his hand, ready to slap me awake.

But I was quicker—I grabbed a fruit knife and drove it hard into his palm.

Bella walked in just in time to see this, her face draining of color:

“Olivia, it’s all my fault. I’ll kneel if you want—just don’t hurt Richard…”

She grabbed at the knife as I tried to stab Richard again, wincing in pain.

Infuriated, Richard kicked me to the ground and struck me repeatedly in the stomach.

Seeing me curled up in agony, coughing blood, Bella pretended to plead for me:

“Richard, don’t blame her. She just can’t accept her dad’s tragic death.”

Richard quickly pulled her into his arms, comforting her:

“Bella, only you are pure-hearted. Can you believe it? If that old man were still alive, he’d be here blackmailing me for money right now!”

Bella cried harder:

“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t exposed Mrs. Johnson for embezzling company funds, she wouldn’t have been fired by the Board of Directors. Her dad wouldn’t have died for money…”

“It’s me—I’m guilty. I should go turn myself in to the police!”

Her tears only made Richard’s heart ache, and he kicked me twice more.

“Bella, how can this be your fault? Exposing a parasite is a great achievement! If she weren’t my wife, she’d already be slaving in a sweatshop! As for her dad’s accident, it had nothing to do with you. He must have said something that set those families off. If he wanted to die, who could’ve stopped him?”

At that moment, a major client called, demanding to know why the promised shipment hadn’t been delivered.

Richard glanced at me, sighed, and explained apologetically:

“Mr. Miller, I didn’t want to air dirty laundry, but I can’t hide it anymore. My father-in-law suddenly lost his mind and burned down my warehouse…”

Hearing that Richard had lost millions in goods, and that the culprit was already dead, the client held back further demands, reluctantly offering sympathy.

When the call ended, Richard’s tears dried instantly.

I couldn’t help but clap.

If he weren’t in business, he’d be a star in Hollywood.

“Olivia, you saw it yourself. Our client is tolerating this only because of the mess you caused. If you want your dad’s body properly buried, do as I say. I might even give him a decent funeral.”

I wasn’t a fool. In an instant, I realized George had been his pawn all along.

The claim about burned goods was nonsense! The truth was the company’s poor management had delayed production.

And that young man’s suicide? It was clearly tied to Richard working people like animals.

Before I could reply, Richard shoved a video at me.

It showed his men dumping George’s body into a dumpster like trash.

Whether or not it was my dad, no one deserved such humiliation.

I couldn’t help but scream:

“Richard, do you realize the man who died was your father?”

Richard pocketed his phone and sneered:

“Exactly! Because I considered him my father, I spared him the consequences of this disaster. Otherwise, even selling him for parts a hundred times wouldn’t cover my loss!”

He raised his still-bleeding hand and snarled:

“If you don’t want me to charge you with assault—and deny you the chance to attend his funeral—you’d better behave!”

Cold fear crawled up my spine.

I never thought all my years of supporting him would produce such a heartless monster.

If he couldn’t even recognize his own father, why should I play the villain?

When he finally realized who had really died, I hoped he would regret it.

“Fine, we’ll do it your way. You write the settlement, you sign it.”

Seeing me hesitate to sign, Richard sneered with disdain:

“Now you feel guilty about your dad, worried he’ll haunt you? Too late for that!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this myself. If I let you sign, I’d be afraid the old man would crawl out of his coffin in anger.”

So he did know this was despicable!

But this wasn’t the first vile thing he had done.

Earlier that year, he embezzled millions from a project and lost it all to gambling.

I was newly pregnant and didn’t want him to get into trouble, so I mortgaged the suburban house my parents had given me to cover his losses.

He thought it was a mysterious investor bailing him out again. He said someone had to take the blame, and told me to admit it while I stayed home to carry the pregnancy.

I thought, since it was our company and our money, it didn’t matter much. I let him handle it.

But what did he do? He had Bella expose me, ruining my reputation.

We fought bitterly, and I miscarried silently.

He insisted it was deliberate on my part, claiming I’d aborted in anger, and from then on, we grew distant.

I had loved him for years and couldn’t cut ties so easily. While I tried everything to salvage our marriage, he brought death into the company.

And now, he had killed his own father.

In that moment, I hated my blindness, and I knew I had to divorce him.

The families signed the settlement and left the company cheerfully.

I finally found George’s body.

Exhausted, I hauled him out of the dumpster. Richard pinched his nose and mocked me:

“Olivia, aren’t you disgusted? Or are you trying to do a little extra penance for your sins?”

Always the cunning businessman, his psychological games never ended.

I ignored him, but as we passed, he deliberately bumped my shoulder.

George had been a large man, and I was already drained from lifting him. The jolt made the body slip from my arms.

The thud made my heart shudder.

Richard feigned shock:

“Olivia, is this how you treat your own father? Aren’t you afraid he’ll rise from the dead?”

If George could see this, he’d truly die of anger again.

If I had known Richard was this monstrous, I would have sent him to prison when he first embezzled money.

Looking at George’s lifeless body, grief swallowed me whole.

My silence only fueled Richard’s contempt:

“Olivia, stop acting. Admit you used your dad as a tool—it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone already knows what kind of woman you are.”

“Let me handle this corpse. You don’t need to worry about the funeral.”

Onlookers immediately praised Richard for being compassionate and loyal, despising me even more.

“Her father’s death is just karma!”

“With a daughter like her, no wonder the family is cursed!”

“Only Richard would still stay married to her. Any other man would’ve divorced her long ago!”

Richard waved off the crowd and called the Funeral Home.

He even arranged for an embalmer to restore George’s appearance.

He had killed his own father—so it was only fitting he handle the funeral.

And it was only right he see with his own eyes whose charred body this really was.

The funeral staff arrived quickly.

Richard told me to send over my father-in-law’s photo so they could restore the features as quickly as possible.

I didn’t hesitate and sent George’s photo straight to the Funeral Home.

As the staff were lifting the body onto the vehicle, a piece of metal clinked to the floor.

Following the sound, Richard’s eyes went wide with rage.

“Olivia! Have you no shame? How dare you steal my dad’s medal?”

He snatched up the Military Medal, veins bulging at his temples.

I ignored him, took the medal back, and handed it to the funeral staff, instructing them to pin it to George’s chest once his appearance was restored.

Furious, Richard slapped me across the face with his injured hand.

“Bitch! My dad treated you well, and you steal his most precious thing to give to your short-lived old man?”

“Who do you think your dad is, that he deserves to wear this?”

My cheeks burned hot and swelled; my speech came out slurred.

“The man who died is your dad. Why wouldn’t he deserve it?”

Richard didn’t—or wouldn’t—understand.

“Bullshit! Just because I call him ‘Dad’ doesn’t put him on the same level as my father!”

He wrested the medal away and, still seething, had Legal draw up divorce papers on the spot.

“Olivia, sign it! I don’t want anything more to do with a woman like you.”

“And don’t think you can run crying to my father—I’ll have him sent overseas so you can’t bother him!”

The sting on my face was nothing next to the pain in my chest.

He wanted me to walk away with nothing.

I refused. He cheated first, and he betrayed all the support my family had given him—why should I leave penniless?

Just then, the Hospital called.

“Mr. Johnson, when is your father coming back for treatment? He’s missed his window, and he’s not answering his phone.”

Richard froze, then seemed to realize something.

“What do you mean? Hasn’t my father been inpatient this whole time?”

When the nurse said George had left with me, Richard hurled his phone at the wall.

“Well played, Olivia—so calculating! I’m warning you: once my father sees your true colors, he won’t be fooled by a woman like you!”

He reached for his phone to call George.

But the fire had already burned the phone dead.

Unable to get through, Richard looked ready to strangle me.

“Where did you take my father? He’s ill—why are you doing this to him?”

In his mind, because my own father had died, I must have “kidnapped” his father to extort him.

“Olivia, what will it take for you to let my dad go?”

Watching this “devoted son” grit his teeth, I answered coolly:

“The divorce papers. You leave with nothing.”

Richard blinked, then roared:

“I knew it! You want me stripped bare? Won’t you choke on that?”

I didn’t ask for his precious company shares—only the real estate and liquid assets that should already be mine.

Seeing I wasn’t taking equity, he hurried to sign.

“You can have what you want. Now where is my father?”

I nodded.

He pressed, “Where is he?”

I tucked the divorce papers away and slowly pointed to George’s body.

“Right there.”

Veins jumped in Richard’s forehead; he lunged at me with fists and feet.

As I coughed blood again under the blows, the receptionist, Lucy, rushed in and pulled him off me.

“Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Johnson’s father never incited those families. They came to help you, sincerely. I—and the cleaning staff—saw with our own eyes that it was Assistant Bella who spoke to the families…”