Chapter 4My Wife Tried to Kill Me For Her Paramour's Dog

Daniel POV

SMACK!

A loud, stinging slap landed hard on my face.

Richard stood before me, his chest heaving, his palm still trembling slightly.

"You bastard!"

Richard roared, his voice echoing through the ballroom. "Making a scene in such high society? You have no shame, but I do! Hannah quit her job to take care of you, dedicating herself entirely to this family. Have you no conscience?"

I probed my loose tooth with my tongue, swallowing the metallic taste of blood.

I remembered waking up in the ICU three days ago, alone, with only a nurse coldly urging me to pay the fees. I nearly died, and no one cared. Now, simply for speaking the truth to maintain some semblance of dignity, I received a slap from my own father.

Turns out, in their minds, their son's life was less valuable than a "good person" reputation in this hypocritical community.

Eleanor looked at the blood on my lip with a pang of concern, but she still clung to my arm, warning me in a low voice.

"Look at who's around! President Mason is a prominent figure. Don't mess up our family's affairs because of some women outside!"

You see.

These were my parents.

In their minds, my desperate desire for a divorce could only mean I had someone else outside, that I was ungrateful.

I pushed my tongue against my loosened tooth, looking at these parents who would sacrifice their son's dignity for the sake of appearances.

Fine.

That slap, it snapped the last thread of hope.

I looked at my father's trembling hand, at my mother's evasive yet accusatory gaze.

When I was little, he taught me to have backbone. Now, for the sake of so-called appearances, he forced me to bow down to the person who almost killed me.

Well struck.

That slap, it settled the score: twenty years of raising me, and whatever father-son bond we had, were now over.

I slowly raised my head, looking at Eleanor with the eyes of a stranger.

"Mom, do you remember when I was wrongly accused of stealing as a child, and you took me to school to demand justice? The person you are now, it's just... strange."

Eleanor's eyes flickered, then were quickly masked by shame that morphed into anger.

Mason stood tall, swirling his red wine, wearing a look of amusement as he watched the show.