Chapter 4

Furious, Chloe grabbed my mother by the neck and choked her.

Instead of stopping her, Logan cheered her on. "Kill the old hag! She's trying to rebel!"

In the end, my mother choked to death in Chloe's hands.

My breathing turned shallow and heavy as I watched the screen. My heart shattered.

Just then, Chloe and Logan walked through the front door.

They saw my expression and then looked at my phone screen.

"Oh, so you found out?"

Chloe didn't show a hint of panic. Instead, she looked relieved. "Then you can't blame us for what comes next."

Before I could react, Logan struck me over the head, knocking me out cold.

When I woke up, I was tied up on a small yacht.

Chloe and Logan were standing over me, embracing.

"Ethan, let me tell you the truth. Being with you was a scam from the start. I never loved you."

"I wanted to milk you for another ten million, but since you know the truth, we can't let you live."

"Go join your mother in hell."

With that, Chloe opened the urn and scattered my mother's ashes into the windy sea.

My mouth was gagged. I couldn't do anything but watch her ashes disappear.

I felt utterly powerless.

Then, the two of them lifted me and threw me overboard.

The cold ocean water swallowed me instantly. The last thing I saw before sinking was Chloe's mocking grin.

I know you can't swim. No one is coming to save you this time.

Slowly, I sank into the darkness.

A month passed.

Chloe used my disappearance to make even more money.

She posted: [My husband ran away to escape his massive debts.]

She hired actors to claim I owed millions and even paid a woman to pretend to be my mistress.

Overnight, I became the most hated man on the internet.

People even vandalized my mother's empty memorial plaque.

"Old hag, it's a good thing you're dead. If you were alive, we'd beat you to death for raising such a monster!"

Faced with public pressure, my research institute had to release a statement:

[Ethan Vance is no longer associated with our lab. Due to his long absence, he has been terminated.]

But Chloe didn't stop there. She demanded my back pay from the lab.

She lied to her followers, claiming I told her the lab hadn't paid me in years.

She even found the lab's local branch and started livestreaming outside their gates daily, claiming she was "demanding unpaid wages."

Her livestream viewers surpassed 100,000.

Netizens volunteered to help her and Logan protest.

They had become million-follower influencers.

But today, as they showed up at the lab gates to protest as usual, they were suddenly surrounded.

This time, the police were waiting.

A detective stepped forward and flashed his badge.

"Chloe Vance, Logan Reynolds. You are under arrest for first-degree murder. Come with us."

Chloe froze.

But Logan reacted quickly. "Do you have proof? You can't just arrest us without evidence!"

As he spoke, an angry bystander shoved a phone in their faces.

"See for yourselves, you monsters! I can't believe we supported human trash like you!"

Chloe and Logan looked at the screen.

Instantly, their faces went pale.

Chloe began to scream frantically, "No! No, this is impossible! No..."