Chapter 3

Bang, bang, bang!

Several more heavy blows landed on the security door in front of me.

The already flimsy panel split wide open.

I carried the axe into the home I knew so well.

It was dark and silent all around.

The security guard wanted to stop me, but he was wary of the axe in my hand, so all he could do was try to talk me down.

"Mr. Perry, look, there are no lights in the living room. Nobody's home."

"We all know Mr. Delgado. He's handsome, kind, and generous."

"He paid out of his own pocket to install streetlights in the complex, and he even donated parcel lockers to make things easier for the commuters."

"Don't you always say he's a good guy, nothing like those pretentious show-offs out there who look down on poor people?"

"Maybe this is all a misunderstanding. It'll be fine once you talk it out. Put the axe down first..."

The guards tried to slip the axe out of my hand, but I told them to get out.

I didn't forget to add,

"Being handsome and kind doesn't stop a man from wrecking someone's family. You can't take his side just because he did you a favor!"

"Get out! Or I'll send you all to hell first!"

The guards couldn't budge me, so they had to back out of the doorway.

I reached the master bedroom door.

The livestream chat was still trying to talk me down.

Stop it, man! Didn't you see for yourself there's nobody home?

Your wife really didn't cheat, and the rich kid isn't interested in her either.

What you should do right now is go take a shower, then have a nice good sleep, and stop letting your mind run wild!

I ignored it.

I just stared at that faint, almost imperceptible sliver of light coming through the crack of the master bedroom door.

I gripped the axe tight.

I walked toward it, step by step.

My palms were sweating.

But just as my hand landed on the doorknob, the instant I was about to push the door open and go in—

Several officers appeared behind me.

They grabbed my wrist and slammed me down to the floor.

The axe slipped from my hand, and I roared like an enraged beast.

"Let me go! My wife is cheating on me! I'm going to kill this pair of adulterers!"

The officers stayed calm.

"Mr. Perry, we've already gotten in touch with your wife. She didn't cheat on you—she's just working some unexpected overtime."

"And there's nothing improper going on between her and Mr. Delgado."

"If this is only about someone taking your parking spot, we can help mediate. There's no need to be screaming about killing anyone."

But I flatly refused to accept it.

"You don't know a damn thing! That pair of adulterers is right in there in the master bedroom!"

"Covering for a wife who steps out and the other man who wrecks a family! Do you people have any conscience at all?!"

Left with no choice, the officer opened the master bedroom door right in front of me.

The room was empty, nothing but one lonely bedside lamp.

Afraid I still wouldn't believe him, he even dialed my wife's number right in front of me.

"Honey, I'm out working a night shift. I could see how busy you were with work, so I didn't tell you."

"Please stop this. How could anything ever happen between me and Mr. Delgado?"

I bit down hard on my lip and abruptly hung up the phone.

"That call was fake! The person on the other end isn't my wife!"

"That pair of adulterers—they've got to be hiding in the house!"

I rushed into the master bedroom and tore through it like a madman.

The wardrobe, under the bed, behind the curtains—I didn't even spare the spot outside the window where the air conditioner unit was mounted.

Several officers moved in to pull me away, but I laid the axe across my own throat.

I warned them that if they took one more step closer, I'd spill my own blood right there on the spot.

The mood froze in an instant.

The livestream chat was cursing me for being a complete idiot.

Even people from the other buildings heard the commotion and came over to watch the show.

Then, all of a sudden, the door of 1301 next door opened.

Hilary Delgado, immaculately dressed, asked sleepily,

"What's going on out here? Why all the noise?"