Chapter 4

Wesley's POV

I clicked on the video attached to the news article.

In it, the family of three stood together, laughing and smiling. Teyana looked every bit the loving mother.

But I felt nothing. It didn't matter anymore. None of it mattered. Miles was gone, and with him, my entire reason for living. Whatever she did meant absolutely nothing to me now.

I watched with my own eyes as Miles was pushed into the cremation chamber. The son I had raised for 18 years was now reduced to ashes.

As I held the urn containing his remains, someone suddenly snatched it away while I was still in a daze.

It was Hunter. The innocent, pitiful expression he'd always worn before was long gone. Instead, he smirked cruelly at me as he casually played with the urn in his hands.

"Give Miles' ashes back to me! Give them back!"

He shot me a meaningful look. "Give them back? And what if I don't want to?"

I lunged toward him, trying to grab the urn, but he kicked me hard and sent me flying to the ground. His leather shoe came down on my chest as I bit back the pain.

He crouched down and looked at me.

"You want this back? Sure? Just kneel in front of me, crawl between my legs, then shout loudly that you shouldn't have been a homewrecker."

"You—"

"What? Don't you want your son back?"

He raised the urn as if he were about to smash it onto the ground. The seconds dragged by. My hands trembled as I slowly climbed onto my hands and knees, then crawled between his legs in utter humiliation.

My dignity shattered into dust. An invisible force seemed to crush my spine downward, forcing my forehead against the cold tile as I prostrated myself before him.

It felt as if my heart was being ground apart. Humiliation and resentment surged through me. But for the sake of Miles, I could only swallow this surrender of blood and tears.

"I'm sorry," I said loudly. "I shouldn't have married Teyana while you yourself were getting married. I'm sorry! Please, I beg you, give Miles' ashes back to me…"

I watched as a smirk appeared on Hunter's face. He handed the urn to me, only for his hand to "accidentally" slip, and the ashes spilled out across the floor.

Something inside my head felt like it exploded. My body swayed, and I nearly collapsed. Like a madman, I dropped to my knees, desperately trying to gather Miles' ashes from the ground.

"Hunter Leach!"

My eyes turned blood-red. I lunged at him, striking him across the face again and again.

"You… You dare hit me? Get off of me! Let me go!" Hunter screamed in agony, his face swelling up rapidly.

But the next second, I felt a hand ruthlessly wrap around my throat. Then, the bodyguard swung me around and threw me straight down the flight of stairs.

I fell completely dazed, and stars exploded in my vision.

As I dragged myself back up to my feet, I met Teyana's dark, furious expression. She walked up to me and slapped me over and over.

"You really hate Hunter that much?"

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth. I wiped it away, and a terrifying smile curled across my lips.

"Do you see that, Teyana Packard? Those ashes on the ground belong to your son! And the person responsible is the man standing right next to you!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You probably just found some construction material somewhere and are trying to pass it off as ashes.

"I really underestimated you!"

She walked right up to me and wrapped her hand tightly around my throat.