Chapter 3

After the car accident, I suffered multiple fractures and severe abrasions.

The doctor frowned at my examination results and sighed.

"Rest properly. This accident damaged the area where you had your vasectomy. If you don't recover carefully, you may never be able to have children of your own."

Before I could process his words, the hospital-room door was kicked open.

A large group of men and women stormed in, every one of them wearing a vicious expression.

"You filthy male homewrecker! How dare you destroy someone else's family!"

"Exactly! He looks so quiet and well-mannered. Who would've thought he was capable of something like this?"

"I hate homewreckers more than anything! Men or women, they all deserve to die!"

The moment they finished speaking, rotten eggs, spoiled vegetables, and even unidentified liquids came flying at me.

I instinctively raised my hands to shield myself, but the liquid still splashed across the back of my hand.

A searing burn spread instantly through my skin.

It was sulfuric acid.

I curled up in agony and buried my entire body beneath the blankets.

The mob wasn't forcibly pulled away until hospital security arrived.

I trembled all over, completely unaware of what had happened.

Then my phone screen lit up, and messages began flooding in one after another.

Only then did I finally piece together the truth.

The post I had made online about my forged marriage certificate had been exposed.

Someone had dug up the information and tracked down Claire and Ethan, determined to get justice for me.

But Claire had turned the tables on me in the comments.

She portrayed me as a man who had tricked her into marriage and even forged a psychiatric diagnosis to make me look mentally ill.

She had also produced another "marriage certificate" dated earlier than the one she and I had.

The tide of public opinion completely reversed.

I became the male homewrecker who refused to leave and had interfered in someone else's relationship.

Clutching my phone, I trembled uncontrollably, my knuckles turning white.

I called Claire.

"We were together for three whole years. Why are you doing this to me?"

There was silence on the other end for several seconds.

Then her voice came through, calm and emotionless.

"Daniel, I already explained it to you. Ethan is young. He can't handle this kind of shock."

"He's not like you. He didn't grow up struggling from the bottom, so people need to be more understanding of his temper and personality."

"Knowing that you existed was already hard enough for him. If you call him the homewrecker, how do you expect him to go on living?"

As I listened to her, it felt as if someone had seized my throat, leaving me unable to breathe.

It was difficult to connect this cold woman with the Claire who had once defended me in everything.

I still remembered when my career had just started and several female clients made things difficult for me.

They said that if I wanted to land the contract, I had to go out to dinner with them.

I knew exactly how that industry worked.

Those wealthy women were simply keeping another "home" outside their marriages.

When Claire found out, she went straight to those women and confronted them.

When one of them picked up a beer bottle and swung it at me, Claire stepped in front of me without hesitation.

"My man is off-limits. Don't touch him, and don't even think about him. I'm not someone you can push around."

That day, she stood up for me and ended up covered in injuries herself.

But now she was using the same methods those women had used to threaten me against me.

I let out a self-mocking laugh and asked, "What if I say no?"

She didn't answer.

After several seconds of silence, she spoke calmly.

"I'll make you agree."