My ex-fiancée, Jessica, used my mother’s last memento to force me to marry a comatose woman so she could run off with my uncle, Victor.
I agreed.
I let them go, wishing them a happy life abroad, while I married the comatose woman and got our marriage certificate.
What I never expected was that the day after we registered our marriage, I became a billionaire.
And my comatose wife slowly began to wake up.
But the good times didn’t last long. My ex-fiancée and uncle had their fun.
They came back for me, wanting to switch everything back:
“Those assets were always meant for Victor, not a worthless piece of trash like you. What right do you have to them?”
Victor was even more outrageous:
“Letting you be a father to my son for free? You should be thanking me! If you don’t step aside and give Victor his place back, I’ll go to the police and accuse you of killing your wife.”
Even the family members who forced me into that marriage called me a beast, plotting to kidnap me and have me trafficked to some godforsaken place.
Yet, just as I was being secretly driven to the airport, bound and gagged.
My wife, armed with a gun, almost killed everyone.
“How dare you try to send my man away? Do you really think I’m dead?”
My ex-fiancée, Jessica, held my mother’s urn, threatening to destroy it if I didn’t marry Rhea in Victor’s place.
“Victor and I are true love! You’re just a loser, you don’t deserve to marry me!”
“Either take this fifty bucks and go marry her, or you and your deadbeat mom can get out of our family and rot on the streets!”
I was furious, but also terrified. Under the immense pressure from my entire family, I still agreed to their demand.
The very next day, I married Victor’s fiancée, Rhea Hayes.
The Hayes family wasn’t thrilled about the last-minute switch.
They even planned to pay me a huge sum annually, just to humiliate me.
After all, I was just a placeholder groom, a formality.
I never imagined that after only five days, their daughter would transform completely.
Even the doctors said that because the patient had been receiving excellent daily massages, her muscles were getting proper training, and all signs of previous atrophy were gone.
Facing my in-laws’ questions, I scratched my head, a little embarrassed.
“Well, a girl needs to be clean, right? I wash her hair, do her skincare. I was worried her muscles would atrophy from not moving, and I happened to have learned massage techniques before, so I just used them.”
They didn’t say much. That same day, they let me move into the Hayes’ mansion.
And they even put me in Rhea’s room.
I was surprised.
Back at the Millers’, I could only live in a small storage room.
My father’s new family had taken over all my things.
As a kid with a cold father and a dead mother, if I dared to fight back, they’d just kick me out to sleep in the yard.
The storage room was small, but at least it was sheltered from wind and rain.
I didn’t touch Rhea’s belongings. I just cleared a small area for myself to sleep.
I woke up promptly at five in the morning to prepare breakfast for the Hayes family.
Bread, milk, and some jam. Once it was ready, I went to clean the house.
When the Hayes family woke up, they saw steaming hot food on the table.
They looked surprised.
“Didn’t Mrs. Jenkins take the day off today? And there’s bread and milk…”
I couldn’t quite read their tone. I thought maybe they were used to the housekeeper’s breakfast and didn’t like mine.
After all, I’d made it according to the Hayes family’s usual preferences, so it was normal for others not to like it.
I swallowed nervously, carefully answering, “If you don’t like this, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, I can make other things, like oatmeal, or even steak…”
They looked me up and down, seemingly a little astonished.
“Sit down and eat with us.”
The real turning point was when Mr. Hayes had a heart attack and forgot his medication.
Noticing it, I carried him on my back and ran two kilometers to the hospital.
He called me ‘Alex’ for the first time.
“From now on, this family will need your help to keep it strong.”
I knew then that he recognized me as his son-in-law.
That same year, Rhea woke up.
She just smiled at me. “So this is my hubby, huh? You look so young.”
“Just a little soft-tempered. I’ll have to protect him well from now on.”
She handled outside matters, and I handled inside.
I took care of the home, while she traveled for work, disappearing for days at a time, only to return with various gifts for me.
Life was sweet and warm, until my ‘ex-fiancée’ and uncle came back.
“Those assets were always meant for Victor, not a worthless piece of trash like you. You’ll burn your hands holding onto them.”
Jessica, my ex-fiancée, held a one-year-old child, looking at me with undisguised contempt.
“Now that Rhea is awake, you should return Victor’s fiancée to him.”
“I’ll reluctantly agree to marry you again. You’ll even get an extra child. Consider yourself lucky.”
So they had a child together.
And they wanted me to be a father for free?
“Aren’t you going too far?”
“You forced me to marry a comatose woman, and now you’ve had your fun and want me to take care of your child? What do you take me for?”
Grandpa and Grandma Miller sat at opposite ends of the table. Hearing my words, they raised their canes to strike me.
I dodged. When they missed, they swung again, snarling.
As they struck, they glared at me with malice. “You beast, you stole Victor’s good life, and now you want to slander us? Today I’ll beat you to death!”
“If we kill you, that Rhea woman will be single again! Then no one will want her, and she’ll have no choice but to marry our son!”
My back was covered in welts, one after another, until the restaurant staff noticed something was wrong and came to intervene.
“Sirs, ma’ams, this is a restaurant. If you want to fight, take it outside.”
I didn’t want to get tangled up with them. In the brief pause given by the staff, I bolted outside.
But at the door, a middle-aged man grabbed me firmly.
“You brat! You got rich and now you don’t recognize your old man, huh?”
“Today, I’m going to beat you to death!”
It was my father and stepmother, Brenda.
They flanked me, dragging me into a narrow alley.
Brenda used to do farm work, and her grip was astonishingly strong. She pinned me down and told my father to whip me with his belt.
“A son who forgets his father deserves a good beating. One good beating will make him remember everything!”
The belt whistled through the air, each lash tearing into my back.
Ever since I moved in with the Hayes family, I hadn’t been hit in ages.
Living a pampered life, I had long forgotten what pain felt like.
My father’s belt strikes were full of viciousness, making me scream out.
“Stop! Stop, Dad!”
“I’m hurting, Dad!”
But after a few pleas, I stopped. I remembered.
When Brenda used to falsely accuse me of things, I’d get whipped too.
Back then, whenever I begged for mercy, they’d just hit me harder.
The worst time, they broke two of my ribs. They were literally trying to kill me.
I don’t know how many times they hit me before I completely passed out.
My father pulled out my phone, using my thumbprint to unlock it.
He saw a message from Rhea.
“When are you coming home? I’m flying in tomorrow and have a gift for you.”
My father sneered.
“She’s really living the good life, bringing gifts back from business trips.”
He replied simply and directly on my behalf.
“Come straight to my parents’ place tomorrow. Time to meet the family.”
Then he just dragged me into the trunk.
Grandpa and Grandma Miller also got into the car, still grumbling.
“Are we really taking him back?”
Facing Grandpa and Grandma Miller, my father’s demeanor completely changed. He plastered on a fake smile, trying to butter them up.
“Don’t we want Victor to get close to that Hayes woman? We need to get some information about her preferences from him.”
“And the money he has? We can’t let him have all those good days for nothing, can we? His money is Victor’s money, isn’t it?”
Grandpa and Grandma Miller were satisfied with his explanation.
They didn’t say anything else until we reached the house.
The car stopped, and I was dragged into my father’s workshop yard.
At night, it was deserted. He threw me onto the concrete, then dumped a bucket of saltwater straight over my head.
Blood mixed with saltwater, stinging my entire body.
“Wake up, you coward, are you awake?”
“If you’re awake, hurry up and write down all of Rhea’s preferences for Victor.”
“So when Rhea comes tomorrow, those two original fiancés can pick up where they left off.”
I shivered uncontrollably, like a heap of broken meat, sprawled on the cold concrete.
I trembled, my voice shaking as I refused.
“Dad, I beg you, just this once. I finally found someone I can spend my life with.”
“Don’t take her away and give her to Victor.”
“Aren’t Victor and Jessica happy together? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
My father grew even angrier.
He picked up a plastic ladle from the ground and smashed it against my head.
“You piece of trash, you think you can bargain with me?”
“Victor is the only one in our Miller family who went to college, he deserves the best. You, you just deserve his scraps.”
I was locked in the factory’s chicken coop.
Victor, toothpick in mouth, looked annoyed.
“This useless guy is surprisingly tough.”
He looked at my father, his voice full of complaint.
“Big bro, if this worthless kid won’t budge, what if that bitch of a woman is set on him?”
“It’s so annoying. I want my things back, why do I have to get this trash’s permission?”
Grandpa and Grandma Miller hastened to comfort him, afraid Victor would get too upset.
“It’s all yours, it’s all yours.”
“Don’t be angry, my boy.”
My father also tried to soothe his brother.
“He’s tough-mouthed, but his body isn’t.
“Later, I’ll contact someone to have him trafficked to the US by tomorrow. When that woman comes tomorrow, tell her directly that Alex Miller beat you up and stole your engagement, all for the Hayes family’s money.”
“I heard the Hayes family hates liars more than anything.”
His shamelessness shocked me.
But I didn’t believe Rhea would change her mind about me just because of their words.
The next day, Rhea returned from abroad.
She came straight to the Millers’ house, carrying bags full of luxury items.
She saw the living room packed with Miller family members, but I wasn’t there.
Victor saw her and greeted her with a look of feigned delight.
“Rhea, I finally see you again.”
“So you’re saying Alex Miller stole your engagement?”
Victor’s face clouded with false sorrow. “I never imagined my nephew could be so twisted.”
“He already had a fiancée, but he chose to go after someone wealthier.”
I was tied up in the old storage room.
Powerless, I listened to their slander.
Rhea’s face was grim. “You’re saying he only cared for me for the money?”
Victor nodded, continuing his lies.
“Who knows if he genuinely cared for you, or just waited for you to die so he could inherit everything?”
“He’s been rotten since childhood, always trying to steal my things.”
“Even my spot in college — if I hadn’t fought tooth and nail to keep it, he would’ve stolen it long ago.”
I whimpered in helpless indignation.
That college spot was mine. I was the one who got in. Victor impersonated me.
I tried to sneak away to attend college, but he and my father broke my leg.
My father chimed in from the side.
“This son of mine has been unfilial since childhood. He beat his grandparents, and even I, his father, got hit by him plenty. When he was a kid, I wouldn’t buy him candy, fearing he’d get cavities. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a carving knife to chase me.”
When Victor was a kid, he loved candy, but his teeth couldn’t handle it. When my father, his older brother, stopped him from eating more, he grabbed a carving knife and chased him all over the yard.
Beating his grandparents, harming people, torturing small animals – those were all things Victor did, but the Millers blamed them on me.
And Victor, he was always blameless.
Victor pulled up his sleeve, revealing a large bruise, his expression mournful.
“My body had just barely recovered when I tried to come and reveal the truth to you, but he found out.”
“He was afraid of losing this good life, so he beat me like this.”
Rhea slammed her hand on the table, rising to her feet.
“He lied to me to this extent!”
She looked at Victor, a hint of pity in her eyes.
“You’ve suffered all these years. I need to give you an explanation.”
She pulled out her phone and called mine.
But it wouldn’t connect. My father had it, and he’d turned it off early, fearing exposure.
Rhea then opened my SnapChat and sent me a voice message.
“Alex Miller, if you don’t come out and explain yourself, I’m divorcing you!”
My heart sank like a stone.
—She didn’t believe me.
Victor shook his head, his eyes red.
“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”
With that one sentence, he painted himself as someone who had suffered for years.
“You probably won’t reach him. He’s terrified of me, terrified of you getting to him. He’s probably long gone by now.”
Rhea didn’t answer. She called Mr. and Mrs. Hayes.
The call was on speaker, and I clearly heard my in-laws’ shocked anger.
“He’s been lying to us all this time! We treated him like a son-in-law!”
“We even thought about letting him inherit our fortune, but it turns out he was scheming for it from the start!”
“We’ve blamed Victor all these years, Rhea! You must compensate Victor well! And when Alex gets back, I’m going to break his legs…”
My three years with Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, from strangers to their heartfelt affection.
I thought they had come to see me as their own son.
When Rhea was still in a coma, I secretly vowed to care for them in their old age, to treat them like my own parents… but it turned out I had never truly entered their hearts.
I lost my last bit of strength to struggle.
My gaze was empty as I looked at the cobweb-filled storage room.
It seemed that, from beginning to end, I was still alone.
Victor left, a satisfied smile on his face, the check clutched in his hand, without even cashing it.
The storage room door reopened.
Victor patted my face, malicious glee in his eyes.
“They’re here to pick you up. Don’t blame your uncle, blame yourself for holding onto what was his!”
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