Chapter 2

The old woman's words were poison, slicing into me just like the memory of my past life.

I remembered her twisted face when she plunged a knife into me more than a dozen times.

That excruciating phantom pain rushed back. I clenched my fists tightly, holding back the burning hatred inside me.

She poked my forehead furiously. "We raised her like a princess, and you've driven her to jump out of a window after just a few years of marriage!"

"You animal! If I had known what kind of scum you are, I would've never let her marry you, even if she hated me forever!"

She looked ready to spit in my face.

Her father, still patting Serena's back, chimed in angrily, "Open your damn eyes and look at her! She's starved down to skin and bones!"

Serena was five-foot-three and a hundred pounds. Her figure was completely balanced.

Yet in their mouths, she had become a skeleton.

"A husband's job is to provide and take care of his wife, and look how you treat her!"

The two of them grew angrier by the second. They pulled Serena toward the front door.

"Let's go home! Don't stay here taking this abuse! You have looks and a great body. You can find any man you want. Just divorce him!"

Serena pursed her lips and silently let them drag her out.

I took a deep breath and said coldly, "The riverside penthouse you two are living in is under my name. If you want a divorce, you'd better pack your bags and move out first."

All three of them froze. They turned back to stare at me in disbelief.

Serena and I had been married for five years. Before everything blew up, I genuinely loved her.

Out of love for her, I had bent over backward to take care of her entire family.

On top of that, I ran a tech startup that was growing rapidly with an incredible future.

I wasn't filthy rich, but compared to Serena's average family, I was way out of their league.

There were plenty of wealthy men in the world, but devoted, faithful men who spoiled their in-laws were rare.

Serena and her parents knew damn well that they would never find another man as generous as me.

Besides, if she divorced me, she would just be an unemployed divorcee.

Seeing my cold expression, they swallowed their anger and sat back down on the sofa to save face.

Serena knew me. I wasn't the type to throw the word "divorce" around lightly. Deep down, she knew she was in the wrong.

Feeling guilty, she tried to break the silence. "Christian, my parents were just worried about me and said things in the heat of the moment. As their son-in-law, can't you be a little more forgiving?"

"One minute you were begging on your knees, promising to treat me better, and now you want a divorce? What is wrong with you?"

I downed a glass of ice water from the table to suppress the fury boiling inside me.

"You all know her medical history. For years, I carefully managed her diet and took care of her health. And in the end, it's all my fault? Where is the justice in that?"

Serena's face flushed with guilt.

Then, she threw out a totally random accusation: "Then who was that woman you were having coffee and laughing with yesterday afternoon?!"