I grabbed Kathleen's arm and turned to leave, but Cyril's fist connected with my face before I could take a single step.
"Do you have any idea who Old Mr. Gilbert is in Seaview City?" he snarled. "When that man tells you to shut up, you don't even breathe loud. You think his son would be some pathetic loser like you?" He jabbed a finger at me. "A nobody cook trying to bluff me? Beat his ass!"
They lifted their boots and drove them into my skull, one kick after another.
Kathleen was caught in the crossfire. I threw myself over her, shielding her body with mine, taking every blow across my back.
"Francis!" Cyril roared. "My wife doesn't need your protection!"
He bent down and snatched up an iron rod, swinging it high overhead—straight at my head.
I hunched forward, bracing for the impact, but Kathleen shoved me aside.
The rod cracked against her shin. A bruise bloomed instantly, angry and swollen.
"Kathy!"
Something inside me snapped.
I balled my fists and threw them into Cyril's face—once, twice, again and again—hammering his nose until I felt cartilage shift. The thugs stumbled back, wariness flickering in their eyes.
I had Cyril pinned beneath me. Blood streamed from his nostrils as he thrashed, unable to break free, fury and panic twisting his expression.
"Honey!"
Kathleen's scream cut through the chaos. I turned on instinct.
A wooden bat filled my vision—
CRACK.
Agony exploded across the top of my skull. Hot blood slid down my forehead, my temples, pooling in my eyes. Stars burst white and jagged.
I staggered sideways and collapsed against the cabinet. Through the haze, I saw Kathleen cradling Cyril's face in her hands, her eyes soft with worry.
Grief and rage ripped through me in equal measure.
She hadn't been calling for me.
Something toppled from the top of the cabinet and landed at my feet with a sharp clap. A red cloth unfurled across the floor, revealing what it had been hiding.
A photograph.
Kathleen stood in a pool of blood, smiling. Beside her, Cyril pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
The date stamped in the lower right corner of the frame was the exact day my wife had supposedly been raped and killed.
The caption read: A Happy Moment.
My heart seized. Every drop of blood in my body turned to ice.
Cyril crouched down, his face split in a mocking grin, and patted my cheek—once, twice, slow and deliberate.
"Well, well. Looks like you've stumbled onto the truth."
Kathleen leaned her head against Cyril's shoulder and smiled at me—at the hollowed-out shell of me—like I was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.
"Francis, three years later and you're still this stupid."
My voice came out broken. "Kathy... you never lost your memory..."
Laughter erupted around me. They pointed at the devastation on my face and howled.
"Look at him—like a beaten dog!"
"He actually believed it! Didn't even know he'd been played!"
Kathleen tilted her head toward Cyril's ear, her breath warm against his skin.
"Honey, what if he finds out I faked my death? He did stab a man to death. What if he stabs me too?"
Cyril's arm slid around her waist, pulling her close.
"Then we make sure he goes back to prison for a few more years. Or better yet—" His lips curled. "He dies."
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
"Carina. The man who killed your father is at my place. If you want revenge, come get it."
I dragged myself up and threw my arms around Kathleen's legs.
"Kathy—what are you talking about? What is this?"
She lifted her foot. The stiletto of her heel dug into my cheek.
"Francis, you stabbed her father to death. We're just inviting her to settle the score."
My lips trembled. "Kathy, you were raped—everything I did was to avenge you!"
She doubled over laughing. Cyril watched me with the lazy amusement of a cat toying with something half-dead.
"But she was never raped, Francis. The only truth in any of it is that you lost your mind and killed a man."
A tremor started in my legs and climbed through my entire body.
"How could you frame me like this? I killed the breadwinner of an entire family!"
Cyril grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. "Oh, it gets better. You also ruined a girl who'd been accepted to a top university. She had to drop out because of you."
A roar tore from my throat. "Cyril! I'm the one who sponsored you out of that mountain village! I'm the one who got you into a top law firm! And this is how you repay me?"
