"Everyone, come look at this!"
"This son-in-law of mine is an ungrateful dog!"
"When he was nothing, I gave him my daughter!"
"Now that he's got a little money, he won't even help my sick grandson!"
Angelica shrieked and wailed, drawing a crowd.
Wayne turned to the onlookers at once.
"Judge for yourselves, folks. My son's in kidney failure, and the only match is my niece."
"My sister already agreed. It's my brother-in-law who won't."
"Some people start a business, make a little money, and suddenly they look down on us poor folk."
Patsy dabbed at fake tears.
"The doctors said it themselves—one less kidney is no big deal."
"But my brother-in-law here, not agreeing is one thing, he'd sooner put a dog's kidney in my boy."
The onlookers filmed it all on their phones, murmuring among themselves.
"He looks so respectable. How can he be this cold?"
"That's just looking down on poor relatives. If it were some rich man's kidney, bet he'd be first in line."
"Family, and he'd let the boy die. That's ice-cold."
Alma leaned in and threatened me under her breath.
"Jacob, I'm telling you, sign right now!"
"Or we'll take it online, we'll come make a scene at your company every single day!"
"We'll bankrupt your company, we'll get the whole internet on you!"
I looked at her, cold. "Are you out of your mind? Selling out your own husband and daughter for outsiders?"
"Who's an outsider?"
Alma rolled her eyes. "My name is Pruitt. Harvey is the only boy of the Pruitt line this generation. He's the one who matters most!"
Then she said, cold and flat,
"And blocking us won't do you any good. If you don't sign, I'll divorce you."
"Custody will go to me, no question. I'll be the sole guardian, and then my signature is all it takes!"
I held Daisy against me, my teeth clenched as I bit out, "What kind of mother are you?"
After that I didn't want to argue anymore. I only wanted to get Daisy out of there fast.
But the second Wayne and Angelica saw it, they blocked our way.
Patsy even threw herself to the floor and wrapped her arms around my legs, refusing to let go.
"You are one cold, heartless man, aren't you?"
"We're all family. Just help us out."
"A man like you deserves to be exposed online!"
The onlookers packed into the doorway of the room kept filming me while spouting whatever they liked from their moral high ground.
Alma simply pulled out her phone too and aimed it right at me.
"Everyone, come see this. This is my husband!"
"When I married him, he had nothing!"
"It was my family who didn't look down on him, who helped him start his business."
"Now that he's rich, we're not even asking him for money. We just want my daughter to save my nephew, and he won't even agree to that!"
"Look at this cold-blooded face. His name is Jacob Fox, and his company is called Fox Corp!"
"And this is my daughter, Daisy. Her uncle doted on her most of all, and she won't even save his son. She's a little ungrateful brat!"
For the sake of her nephew, she was turning the internet loose on her own husband and daughter.
"Quick, quick, let's go live too!"
"This kind of thing pulls the most traffic. Netizens have no brains, they'll pile on for sure, and some'll even send gifts."
"Heh, guess I'm cashing in on blood money too."
The onlookers all took out their phones, livestreaming me and Daisy, attacking us the whole time.
Daisy was frightened into tears again. "Daddy, did we do something wrong? Why is everyone yelling at us?"
"We did nothing wrong!"
My teeth were clenched, and I stared hard at every single person in that room.
A few minutes later, Alma ended her livestream, drove the onlookers out of the room, and shut the door.
She gave me a scornful little smile. "See that, Jacob? We Pruitts have plenty of ways to handle this. Don't cooperate, and we'll destroy your name completely!"
I said nothing. I took out my phone to call company security, planning to get us out of there first.
That was when Wayne suddenly rushed over, snatched my phone straight out of my hand, and smashed it hard against the floor.
Wayne sneered. "Want to call for help? Not a chance! You don't sign today, you don't walk out that door!"
