Chapter 1
On the deck of the third wedding anniversary cruise ship, my wife's stepbrother stood by the railing and mocked me condescendingly.
"Alex Carter, do you really think Emily loves you? You were nothing more than a cheap blood bag she found when I was sick."
He swirled his wine glass with a smug grin, then suddenly climbed over the railing and jumped into the shallow pool with a splash, flailing around and yelling for help.
Emily rushed out when she heard the commotion. Seeing Ryan struggling in the water, she didn't hesitate—she slapped me hard, her hand splitting my lip.
"Alex, you bastard! You know Ryan can't swim. Were you trying to kill him by pushing him in?" Emily shouted.
The bodyguards dragged Ryan out of the water, and he clung to Emily, coughing violently as he put on his most pitiful act, his voice trembling with weakness.
"Emily, don't blame Alex. It was my own fault—I just lost my footing If he thinks I'm getting in the way of your anniversary, even if he tossed me into the deep sea for the sharks, I wouldn't have a single complaint," Ryan whimpered, sounding utterly fragile.
After that, he ducked behind Emily, flashing me a cold, victorious smirk.
All the wealthy second-generation friends around me looked at me with sneers, as if they were looking at a stink bug in a gutter.
Listening to Ryan's phony performance, my blood was boiling.
I grinned, shoved Emily aside, and grabbed Ryan by the back of his neck like picking up a kitten.
"Tossed into the deep sea for the sharks? Now that's a pretty unique request," I said.
With Emily screaming her lungs out and everyone else staring at me in total shock, I smashed through the deck railing with a single kick.
Then, grabbing Ryan by the neck, I flung him hard into the raging ocean below.
"Remember this in your next life—now that's what you call a real push!" I shouted.
*****
"Alex, are you crazy? Are you really trying to kill Ryan?" Emily's scream cut through the air from behind me.
Before I could even turn around, four bodyguards swarmed me, yanking my arms tightly behind my back.
Someone kicked the back of my knee, and I dropped to one knee on the deck, blood from my lip dripping onto the white floor.
Someone kicked the back of my knee, forcing me down to one knee on the deck, blood dripping from my split lip onto the white floor.
Out on the ocean, the searchlights from the lifeboats were sweeping wildly across the waves.
Ryan hadn't been eaten by sharks.
He hung in the safety net beneath the cruise ship, like a white plastic bag wrinkled by the wind, crying even harder than before.
"Emily Alex really hates me," Ryan whimpered, his voice shaking.
"The way he looked at me just now was terrifying. I thought I'd never see you again," he added, his voice trembling with fear.
Emily rushed to the railing, and when she saw Ryan being dragged into the lifeboat by the crew, her legs went weak and she nearly collapsed.
The next second, she spun around and gave me another hard slap across the face.
"Alex, how could you be so cruel?" Emily shouted.
I pressed my tongue against the split in my mouth and gave a cold chuckle.
"He said he wanted to be thrown into the deep sea for the sharks. I was just giving him what he asked for," I replied.
"Shut up!" Emily snapped, her eyes red and her hand shaking as she pointed at me.
"Ryan's had a weak heart since he was a kid—he can't handle this kind of shock. If anything happens to him, I swear you'll pay for it," Emily said, her voice trembling with rage.
I looked up at her.
"And what about me?" I asked.
She froze for a second.
I continued on.
"He smeared my name, you slapped me in front of everyone, and your friends just stood there, pointing fingers and calling me names. So tell me Emily—what am I to you?" I demanded.
Emily bit her lip, her voice turning cold.
"If you didn't do anything wrong, then why is everyone saying you pushed him?" she snapped.
Her friends immediately chimed in, backing her up.
"Yeah, Alex always looks so gloomy. Who knows what kind of dark secrets he's hiding?" one of them sneered.
"He's just some guy who married into the Lane Family. Does he really think he's hot stuff?" another scoffed.
"Does he really think marrying Emily means he can measure up to Ryan?" another one sneered.
I turned to the guy who just spoke.
"And you are?" I asked.
The rich kid's face darkened.
"Brian Hughes, from the Hughes Family," he replied.
I nodded.
"Oh, so you're Emily's official hype man, huh? Every group needs a clown," I sneered.
Brian's face turned green with rage.
"You still got the balls to mouth off, huh?" he snapped.
He tried to kick me, but Emily stepped in and stopped him.
She looked down at me like I was some irrational madman, as if I was beyond saving.
"Alex, apologize," she said, her voice icy.
I gave a cold laugh.
"To who?" I shot back.
"To Ryan, and to everyone you freaked out tonight," Emily said, like it was just common sense.
She made it sound like I was the one who owed everyone an apology.
I looked up and stared her straight in the eye.
"Emily, today's supposed to be our wedding anniversary," I said.
Her eyes wavered for a moment.
I pressed on.
"You brought Ryan on board, dressed him in the same suit as me, gave him the place of honor, and had him cut our anniversary cake," I said.
"And now you expect me to apologize to him?" I shot back.
Ryan was helped back, wrapped in a blanket, his face so pale it looked like he'd just crawled out of a coffin.
As soon as he heard what I said, his eyes started to well up.
"Alex, don't blame Emily. I shouldn't have come," Ryan said, his voice trembling.
"I just kept thinking about how, three years ago on your wedding day, I was stuck in the hospital getting emergency treatment, and I never got to see her happiness with my own eyes," he added, his voice shaking.
"I wanted to make up for what I missed today, but I ended up making you unhappy again," he said, looking at me with those pitiful eyes.
Emily immediately rushed to his side, her face full of worry as she supported him.
"Ryan, stop talking. You almost died just now," she said, her voice trembling with concern.
Ryan coughed twice, then deliberately rolled up his sleeve.
His wrist was covered in old needle marks, clustered together like a badge he wanted everyone to see.
"Emily's the one who saved my life in the first place," Ryan whimpered, his voice trembling as if he owed her everything.
"If Alex can't stand the sight of me, then I guess I can't complain," he added, shooting me that pitiful look again.
I stared at his pathetic, holier-than-thou act, and felt my stomach turn with disgust.
"Keep up the act, and I'll be happy to toss you overboard for a second round," I said coldly.
Emily immediately stepped in front of him, blocking me.
"Alex!" Emily shouted.
Her chest was heaving, like she'd finally reached a decision.
"Lock him up in the infirmary," she ordered.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Lock me up?" I scoffed.
She looked away, avoiding my gaze.
"When the ship docks, I'll call the police," her voice icy.
The bodyguards dragged me away.
Brian was smirking nearby.
"Alex, look at you now. Looks like karma finally caught up with you," he said.
"Emily should've put a leash on you ages ago, you mad dog," he added.
As I was being dragged to the infirmary, Emily suddenly caught up to me.
She lowered her voice, and I could hear the exhaustion in her tone.
"Alex, as long as you get down on your knees and admit you were wrong to Ryan in front of everyone tomorrow, I'll let this go," she said.
I looked at her.
"Did you hear him call me a cheap blood bag?" I asked.
Emily's expression flickered.
"Ryan would never say that," she replied.
"So you think I'm making it up?" I shot back.
She fell silent for a couple of seconds, then spoke in a low, gentle voice.
"Alex, you really lost control tonight," she said.
Just before the door closed, I saw Ryan leaning on her shoulder, giving me a silent, triumphant smile.
I smirked back at him.
"Emily, you'd better not regret this," I said.
Outside, she tossed out a cold remark.
"You're the one who's going to regret this," she said.
"Draw his blood. Start with 400ml. Ryan's just been through a shock—he needs his numbers stable," she ordered.