Chapter 3

Immediately after, my mother's crying stopped abruptly, as if struck by something heavy.

When I rushed over, my mother was already pinned under a solid wood cabinet, barely alive.

"Aurora, don't beg him anymore."

Tears covered my numb face. I held the gold bracelet Ethan gave me on our wedding day and begged them to stop.

The bracelet was ruthlessly knocked away.

"You think we're fools? This is gold-plated junk! You think I collect scrap metal?"

My brain buzzed.

The crisp sound of the bracelet hitting the ground struck my heart.

So in Ethan's heart, I was only worth gold-plated metal.

After sending my mother to the emergency room, I called Ethan in despair.

"What right do you have to touch my mother's ancestral home? Your people put her in the hospital!"

Ethan's leisurely tone carried self-righteousness.

"Who told your mother to slander Lucia online as a mistress? Lucia works so hard for the company-why should someone who sold her daughter slander her?"

"Besides, you're cursing your own mother to scare me. I'm not buying it."

"If you really want the ancestral home back, come get it at the auction yourself."

With that, he hung up.

The doctor came over to notify me. "Due to massive pressure on her internal organs, the elderly woman just passed away."

I collapsed powerlessly to the floor. I had no more tears to cry.

When I arrived at the auction, Lucia was dripping in gold and jewelry, holding Ethan's arm like the legitimate Mrs. Shaw.

Any random gemstone necklace would have been enough to cover my mother's surgery costs.

Disdainful gazes fell on me.

"She's actually Mrs. Shaw? I never expected her to be so shabby!"

"Those hands are rougher than my housekeeper's. If you didn't know better, you'd think a housekeeper wandered in by mistake."

"Mr. Shaw obviously knows she's too embarrassing, so he brought Miss Lucia to the auction instead. He just bought Miss Lucia three million dollars' worth of jewelry!"

...

These mockeries meant nothing compared to my mother's only remaining possession.

I found Ethan in a daze and said numbly.

"My mother died. Give me back the ancestral home."

The man slowly extinguished his cigarette, his face full of disgust.

"You really do talk nonsense."

"Too bad I can't return it, because Lucia just sold it to a homeless man."

I looked up in shock.

He knew my mother had protected that ancestral home with her life to prevent my father from selling it.

Lucia walked over with a magnanimous expression.

"The homeless man at the entrance was so pitiful. I was just doing charity in Mrs. Shaw's name. Otherwise..."

Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered.

"Otherwise your mother wouldn't have been crushed to death."

The woman's hideous face kept magnifying before my eyes.

I suddenly remembered the earring I'd found at the house earlier-it was the one missing from her ear!

In an instant, rage completely burned away my rationality.

I gritted my teeth and swung my hand, slapping her down the stairs.