Chapter 3

Hearing Tyler’s arrogant voice, I couldn't hold back anymore. I kicked the door open and stormed in.

My sudden entrance wiped the smiles off their faces. Everyone froze.

The entire VIP lounge went dead silent. The atmosphere became suffocatingly heavy.

Only Tyler remained unfazed. He gave me a mocking smirk and leaned back, hiding behind Chloe.

Chloe froze with her wine glass halfway to her mouth. She glanced at Tyler, then turned to look at me.

Her voice was calm, almost indifferent, as if none of this had anything to do with her.

"Is your mom's funeral over?"

I didn't speak. I just glared at them with pure, unadulterated hatred.

Chloe sighed, and the others began exchanging nervous glances. They were trying to figure out how much I had heard.

"Ethan, did you hear what we were just talking about?"

"Yes," I said, my voice trembling with rage. "My mother didn't die from an accident. She died because Tyler pranked her..."

Before I could finish, Tyler jumped up and pointed a finger at me, shouting, "Hold on! What do you mean I pranked her to death? She was just stupid. She couldn't tell a joke from reality! Have you never joked with anyone? It was her own fault she fell. Stop blaming me for her death!"

"Who the hell plays with someone's life on their wedding day?!" I roared. "And who made sure I was out of reach? Who took my phone so no one could call me?! My mother had a heart condition! She couldn't take that kind of shock!"

In the face of my fury, everyone shut their mouths, too scared to speak.

Except Tyler. He grabbed a glass from the coffee table and hurled it at my head. I dodged it, lunged forward, and tackled him to the couch.

I threw punch after punch. He was no match for me and was quickly pinned down.

But his friends quickly jumped in to help him. Under the pretense of "breaking us up," they grabbed my arms and pinned me down, giving Tyler a free shot to punch me in the ribs.

Chloe, blind to the unfairness, stood up and screamed at me, "Enough!"

"How long are you going to keep making a scene, Ethan?!"

*I* was making a scene? I was trying to get justice for my dead mother, and my fiancée was protecting the killer.

Oh, right. I almost forgot. She cheated on me. She slept with Tyler while I was organizing my mother’s funeral.

Of course she would take his side.

"Chloe, even now, you won't apologize. You're just helping him escape the consequences." I ripped my arms away from the guys holding me, scanning the room of disgusting hypocrites.

Maybe Chloe felt a tiny speck of guilt from my broken expression, because she turned to Tyler and said, "Tyler, just apologize to him."

Tyler scoffed, but not wanting to upset Chloe, he gave me a lazy, insincere glance.

"Fine. My bad, okay? Now stop acting like a psycho."

Chloe's smile returned as she looked at him. "And don't play those kinds of jokes anymore, got it?"

Then, she turned to me. "Tyler is young and a bit arrogant. Just let it go, Ethan. He apologized."

Every word she spoke was dripping with favoritism. It was a knife wrapped in velvet. She excused a fatal action as "being young" and expected the victim to just move on.

My fingernails cut deep into my palms. It was painful, but I felt completely numb.

"I don't accept that pathetic excuse for an apology," I said, adjusting my collar. "If a simple 'sorry' can solve a murder, then I guess I won't mind ending him myself."

I walked to the door and stopped.

"The wedding is off. We are done."

I slammed the door behind me, ignoring Chloe's angry screams calling my name.