Chapter 1

My husband, Scott Lemire, had taken a liking to the young, newly hired nurse at the hospital. Her name was Yvonne West, and she had only worked here for two days. Yet, he still promoted her to a full-fledged doctor. His colleagues urged him to reconsider, but he refused to listen. He insisted that she was talented and condemned everyone for being jealous and incompetent. Out of nowhere, Scott's mother, Agatha Kincaid, got into a car crash and broke one of her legs. After Yvonne administered the wrong blood bag, Agatha immediately went into cardiac arrest and ultimately died from it. After I checked the blood compatibility log, rage overwhelmed me. I immediately pressed charges against Yvonne. The following day, Scott brought his men to the funeral home, wreaking havoc and forcing Agatha's casket open. "Whitney, how could you be this ruthless? Yvonne made a mistake. That's it. Your mom is very old. If she's gone, then you just have to accept it. There is no reason for you to ruin Yvonne's career! "Your mom would be furious if she found out about the stunt you pulled! Sign the letter of understanding now, or I'll divorce you immediately!" I confronted Scott as I tried to stop his men from destroying the funeral home. "Have you gone crazy? This is Mom's funeral!" Scott sneered and said, "I would've done the same, even if it were my mom's funeral, let alone your mom's!" And yet, he turned up at my doorstep later, broken and on his knees, pleading with me to seek justice for Agatha. … On the day of Agatha's funeral, a group of men stormed in and made a mess of the venue. I, Whitney Sunderland, risked my life and tried to stop them from destroying the last trace of Agatha's dignity. However, someone struck me on the head with a bat, and I passed out cold. By the time I woke up, the venue was ruined, and Scott had arrived belatedly. Before I could ask him to help me, I saw him stop the group of men with a wave of his hand. Feeling dumbfounded, I stared at Scott. The next thing I knew, he hurled a stack of documents in my face, snapping me out of my daze. "Scott, are these your men? Are you out of your mind? You just ruined Mom's funeral!" Scott crouched slowly, his gaze cold and distant. "I can't believe you're ruining a young lady's career for the sake of a useless old hag. Whitney, you're cruel and heartless!" I had no idea what he was talking about. "Sign the letter of understanding, and let this case pass. Otherwise, I'll divorce you!" Scott said as he tossed me a pen. At that moment, I finally realized that the stack of documents he hurled at me was meant to exonerate Yvonne. "Scott, are you crazy? She's the reason Mom is dead!" I roared in utter disbelief. Scott brushed his sleeves off dismissively. "I know what she did. Just sign the letter." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Scott's dad, Jared Lemire, was addicted to gambling. Jared didn't just gamble away all his family's properties. He had also constantly abused Scott and Agatha. Agatha had endured countless hardships. She had to budget carefully and sell almost everything she owned to get Scott into the best medical school in the country. And now, he was actually letting her die wrongfully for Yvonne's sake. Noticing my hesitation, Scott clapped his hands. The next thing I knew, his men opened the casket's lid and dragged Agatha's dead body out. "No!" I cried out as I tried to stop them, but I was immediately pinned to the ground. I couldn't fight back as they stripped Agatha naked, carried her lifeless body off, and tossed it into a dumpster. "Scott, you're abandoning your own wife and mother, all because of Yvonne!" Scott crouched and leaned in, lowering his voice as he spoke. "Who said I'm doing this for her? No, Whitney. I'm doing this for you. After all, if you're stubborn and refuse to sign the letter of understanding, I'll be forced to tamper with the hospital's blood compatibility log and make you look like the guilty one!" I was immediately stunned. Scott ordered his men to let me go and ruffled my hair tenderly. "Whitney, think this through before I really do it." Watching him walk away so calmly made me quiver with rage. I couldn't help but question him. "Have you looked at Mom even once after she passed away? Do you have any idea how much pain she was in before she died?" Scott froze momentarily and took a drag of his cigarette in annoyance. "Why should I look at her? Everyone looks the same after they're dead. Moreover, you should know her character by now. When she was young, she was mean and spiteful. She loved making life difficult for people. "In fact, she might've insisted on using the wrong blood bag, to begin with. She merely got what she deserved." I said, "That's enough! Your mom has raised and supported you for over 30 years. How can you insult her like this?" Hearing that, the people around us exchanged glances. Scott turned around and looked at me, visibly confused. "Whitney, grief has robbed you of your good senses. Your mom was the one who died. When has she raised me?" I was immediately dumbfounded. As it turned out, Scott was being this cruel and heartless because he thought this was my mom's funeral. A maniacal laughter tore from my throat, and tears of dismay streamed down my cheeks. When Scott noticed my reaction, he unexpectedly softened and spoke to me. "Whitney, don't make this hard for me. Your mom was the one who forced me to give her gifts worth ten thousand dollars before she agreed to let us marry. You can't blame me for hating her guts. "Actually, you don't have to be this heartbroken either. When we got married, you became my family. You should've cut ties with your parents after that. "Sign the letter of understanding and let the whole thing blow over. That's what your duty is as my wife. "Moreover, I destroyed your mom's funeral because I care about you. The fact that your brothers let you handle the funeral is proof that they will leech off you in the future." As it turned out, this was how Scott thought of my family. I looked him in the eyes, my tone sarcastic as I asked, "Scott, would you still do what you did if this were your mom's funeral?"