They tied them to the top of a water tank over ten meters high and forced me to choose: whoever I didn’t pick would be dropped to drown, the other I could take away.

Everyone expected me to choose my brother; he was my blood, my last kin, but my hands shook as I pointed to Athena; keeping her alive had become my obsession.

I'll never forget my brother's look then, hopeless and without blame.

By the time our men broke the tank, he had already suffered brain damage from the drowning.

Athena found the best doctor, put a gun to his head, and forced him to save my brother.

The doctor had said the chance of the coma patient waking was slim, but as long as life hung by a thread, there was always hope, and she had sworn she'd care for my brother forever, yet now, for another man, she had cut that thread herself.

I pulled out a gun, aimed at her head, and fired. She didn't move, and I didn't hit her; my hand shook so badly that the bullet only grazed her cheek, leaving a red streak.

Athena calmly wiped the blood away. "Waylon, if you really wanted to kill someone, don't tremble!"

"Don't act so surprised, and don't hate me. Do wrong, pay the price. You killed my child, I killed your brother, fair, isn't it?"

Fair? What right did she have to talk about fairness? She betrayed me. She was the one who sent me to hell.

Athena bent down and kissed away the tears slipping from the corner of my eyes.

"Waylon, you should be more sensible!"

"I won’t divorce you, but I will give him a wedding and make his identity public!"

"This is what you owe her; you should repay it!"

But what she owed me, how could she ever repay?

She left in such a rush that she never noticed. Behind her, my eyes burned red, filled with nothing but hatred.

I had already given her chances. Since we could not divorce, the only path left was widowhood.

Those who betrayed true feelings did not deserve a good ending.

The wedding came even faster than I had imagined. My brother’s bones were barely cold when the invitation arrived.

Nolan delivered it himself, flanked by dozens of bodyguards. "Waylon, what’s the use of dragging your feet and refusing to divorce? Athena will still marry me!"

"All you have is a piece of paper; what I have is her heart!"

He smiled gently, a strange, mocking edge on his face, while I didn't even look up, I kept feeding the fish.