Chapter 2

Bang!

I smashed the keypad lock.

I immediately set to work, forcing off the lock that was in my way.

When it wouldn't come off, I bashed the door panel with the steel pipe in my hands.

Soon I'd knocked several big dents into the security door.

Only then did Finn realize I wasn't joking, and he quietly slipped back inside to call building management.

But the instant he closed his door, I jammed the steel pipe into the gap.

The dark steel pipe stopped less than an inch from his eyes.

Finn was so frightened he collapsed to the floor.

"Piers, you... you mustn't do anything rash."

"Never mind that your wife and that rich Mr. Delgado are a total mismatch. Even if the two of them really did have something going on, I'm not the one who set them up..."

I cut him off flat.

"Do you have an axe?"

Finn didn't dare say a word.

I walked straight into his kitchen.

I remembered he liked to buy beef marrow bones for soup.

Every morning at six sharp, without fail, he'd get up and chop bones with an axe.

I'd complained about it plenty of times.

Sure enough, I found the axe in the kitchen.

I carried it back to my own front door and brought it down hard on the security door.

Finn, hands shaking, dialed building management.

"Somebody come quick! Piers from 1302 has lost his mind!"

"He keeps saying Mr. Delgado and his wife are having an affair! He wants to kill them both!"

Building management showed up fast.

Seeing that I'd already hacked the door half through, the man stopped me.

"Mr. Perry, please calm down. What you're doing is against the law!"

My answer was simple and blunt.

"It's against the law for me to go into my own home?"

The guard blinked, a little stunned.

"But you still can't hack it open with an axe, right?"

"It's the middle of the night, everyone's asleep. If you want to get in, you can knock or use your key..."

My voice shot up in an instant.

"My wife is cheating on me!"

"With that shameless pretty boy next door!"

"They locked me out and carried on their affair using some lame excuse about parking in the wrong spot—they've fooled me for three whole months!"

"I'm going to kill them!"

The guard was shocked.

"Mr. Perry, you're joking, right?"

"Mr. Delgado and your wife... how is that even possible?"

"I've seen his girlfriend. She's gorgeous, like a celebrity. There's no way she'd be with your wife..."

"I know you're mad your spot got taken again, but Mr. Delgado didn't do it on purpose."

"I'll call him right now and have him move the car."

I lunged forward and hurled the guard's phone to the ground, roaring at him.

"Don't call! If you call, that pretty boy will get the tip-off and run!"

"They've lied to me all this time, played me for a fool! Anyone who tries to stop me tonight, I'll cut them down too!"

I raised the axe and swung it wildly at the guard in front of me.

The guard, who I'd nearly hit by accident, didn't dare argue anymore. All he could do was back off and call the police.

The livestream chat was scrolling faster than before.

Male lead, calm down! Your wife really didn't betray you!

The rich young guy is inside her own place too—go knock on the door if you don't believe it!

Unbelievable. One phone call or a knock would settle it, so why keep hacking at the door with an axe?

This guy has probably wanted to kill his wife for a long time. All this affair-and-betrayal stuff is just his excuse to murder her, right?

I didn't respond. I kept hacking at the door with the axe.

They wouldn't understand me.

They had no idea how much I loved my wife.

How good things were between us.

That's exactly why his betrayal was even more unforgivable!

It could only be me, ending them with my own hands!