Her Lover's Antidote Deadline

After my dad was poisoned to death, I called the police and had Chris, the caregiver who'd been attending to him, arrested.

But my wife Lester insisted that Chris was innocent.

She defended him as his lawyer for six years.

Every time, Chris would grab my hand with fake sincerity:

Mr. Steve, your wife is such a good person. She believes in me. I really didn't harm your father!

Finally, she won the case for Chris. When she came home, she said to me:

"It's all over now. Don't let hatred blind you. Chris raised me. He's not a bad person."

I smiled and poured her a glass of wine, clinking glasses with her.

That very night, I tied Chris up and forced the same poison down his throat on camera.

I looked at my watch and calmly counted down:

"Lester, you have sixty minutes. Bring the antidote and my father's real will, or else..."

Chris was foaming at the mouth, convulsing painfully on the floor. The camera gave him a close-up:

"You'll be attending two funerals!"

The live stream link spread through anonymous channels. In less than ten minutes, the viewer count broke through a million.

On camera, Chris was tied tightly to a chair, foam hanging from the corners of his mouth, his body convulsing violently. And I stood behind him, expressionless, holding a timer.

Everyone watching held their breath.

The most anxious among them was undoubtedly the star lawyer Lester.

"Steve! Your dad's death really has nothing to do with Chris! I've been investigating for six years!"

She shouted at me shrilly through the video connection, her face displayed in split-screen.

I looked at her delicate face twisted with anger and terror on the big screen, my lips curling with mockery. "Is that so? Then where's the real will you found, the one my dad wrote in his own hand?"

The live stream chat exploded instantly:

[Is this guy insane? Six years of litigation, the court already ruled, and he still won't accept it?]

[Paranoid personality disorder, right? He won't be satisfied unless he can call the caregiver a murderer?]

[His wife is Lester! A legal legend! She turned down all those million-dollar cases to defend this caregiver for six years pro bono. Doesn't that loyalty prove something?]

Watching public opinion overwhelmingly support her, Lester's expression calmed slightly.

She straightened her back, speaking with more confidence: "Steve! The facts are right there. The evidence is solid. I don't know what 'real will' you're talking about."

"What you're doing now already constitutes kidnapping and intentional harm! Release Chris immediately. For the sake of our marriage, I'll do my best to defend you!"

I ignored her.

I picked up a hammer from the toolbox and grabbed Chris's desperately struggling left hand.

"Crack!"

The sound of shattering bones transmitted clearly across the internet through the microphone.

Chris's scream burst through the rag in his mouth, shrill and inhuman.

Lester's expression froze instantly.

I held up the deformed hand to the camera for display. "Do you think I'm playing around?"

Lester stared at the screen, her face deathly pale. "You... you maniac!"

I casually tossed aside the hammer and picked up a white cloth, methodically wiping the blood spatters from my hands.

"That was just the first one." I held up one finger.

"Lester, six years of litigation, six instances of perjuryyou also have six chances. Make public the real will you've been hiding for six years. Each time, I'm giving you ten minutes."

[He's seriously unhinged! How can she hand over something that doesn't exist?]

[Stop trying to manipulate public opinion! We netizens can judge for ourselves. We don't just support whoever looks more pitiful!]

[Besides, your dad was so old. Isn't it possible he died of natural causes? Chris is the real victim who's been wrongly accused for six years!]

I watched the rapidly scrolling comments.

The vast majority were cursing me for being unreasonable, for refusing to accept reality.

[I bet he's just fighting over the inheritance. Showed his true colors as soon as his dad died!]

[What are the police doing? Hurry up and track him down! Any later and that poor caregiver will be tortured to death by this lunatic!]

The police also sent an official warning: [We've locked onto your location. Stop this criminal behavior immediately and surrender!]

I just sneered.

I'd already hired a top hacker to hide my IP address.

Sure enough, time passed minute by minute, and the police made no progress.

The netizens were more anxious than anyone, crashing the police department's official account backend.

Finally, the police had to issue an announcement admitting they couldn't pinpoint my exact location and were urgently mobilizing technical experts.

I glanced at the timer.

I picked up a pair of pliers, aiming at Chris's other undamaged hand. "Time's almost up, dear."

"Wait!" Lester finally broke down, her face pale. "I'll hand it over! I'll hand it over!"

A document was quickly submitted through police channelsa scanned copy of a will.

But I only glanced at it once before grabbing the pen on the table and viciously stabbing it into the back of Chris's hand.

"Ahhh!"

A scream came from Chris's gagged mouth.

He threw his head back in despair. Blood gushed from the wound on his hand, and his uninjured eye was full of terror.

"Steve!!" Lester rushed to the camera, her eyes bloodshot. "I already handed it over! Why did you still attack him!"

I printed out that so-called "new will" and waved it at the camera. "You think I'm a three-year-old? This will leaves all our family assets to you and only gives me an apartment in the suburbs. I'm his biological son. Do you think that's reasonable?"

After speaking, I threw the paper on the floor and ground it viciously under my high heel, staring at the screen with cold eyes. "Lester, trying to placate me with something like this is useless."

Lester's face went another shade paler.

The netizens were completely enraged:

[I heard his dad was often abused by him when he was alive! If he really submitted a will leaving all the inheritance to you, that would be the forgery!]

[Lawyer Lester's professionalism and character are renowned in the industry! You're the one full of lies and a murderer!]

[Let that poor caregiver go!]

I just smiled contemptuously and checked my watch. "Dear, you have six minutes left this time."

Lester braced her hands on the desk, staring at me intently. "The case is already settled. What exactly do you want me to hand over!"

"You know perfectly well." I returned her stare coldly. "If you really care so much about your Uncle Chris, stop wasting time and submit the real evidence!"

Lester bit her teeth hard. "If I really wanted to deceive you, I could've just hired some third-rate lawyer to handle it. Why would I waste six years of my time personally defending him!"

I raised my chin. "That's something you need to ask yourself."

The online abuse became even fiercer. Countless people accused me of being depraved and unworthy of such a devoted wife as Lester.

The police negotiation expert also kept sending me private messages, trying to shake my resolve.

I just sat leisurely beside Chris, stepping on the pool of blood, watching my watch.

"Time's up." I stood up.

Chris's eyes widened in terror as he looked at me.

"Steve, stop!"

A commanding voice rang out. I whipped my head around.

A dignified, authoritative figure stood before the camera. I froze.

It was my father-in-law, Jacob.

"Steve, I personally followed your father's case. I went to the police station no less than a hundred times. Things really aren't what you think."

The knife tip hovered over Chris's other wrist.

Jacob stood before the camera looking pained. "I care about your father's death more than anyone. I had people investigate thoroughly. This matter truly has nothing to do with Chris."

I looked at him in disbelief. "You always said before that my dad definitely didn't commit suicide. Now you think this?"

Jacob sighed heavily. "Steve, you need to respect the facts. All the evidence points to suicide."

"I think you're the ones not respecting the facts!" I pointed at the camera, my emotions somewhat out of control. "That was my father! And your childhood friend!"

"Years ago when the Jacob family nearly went bankrupt, it was my father who gave you his life savings to help you through!"

"He lived his whole life honorably. In his later years, he was passionate about fitness and travel. Someone who loved life that muchhow could he possibly commit suicide!"

Jacob frowned. "Steve, people change. Maybe he just suddenly couldn't think straight."

I laughed.

I yanked the cloth from Chris's mouth. "I think you're the ones who've changed."

"Help" Chris had barely gotten the word out when I grabbed his jaw and forced his mouth open.

I picked up the pliers and aimed at his teeth.

One, two, three.

The floor was covered with teeth I'd forcibly pulled out, trailing blood.

"Ahhhhh!!"

Chris's roar was heart-wrenching, nearly causing him to lose consciousness.

Jacob panicked too, shouting at the camera: "Enough! Stop! Steve! Stop it!!"

After pulling out the last front tooth, Chris's mouth streamed with blood. He went completely limp, his body shaking like a sieve.

"Chris..." Jacob instinctively called out, his eyes full of heartache.

I stared intently at the screen. "What's this, Jacob? You know him well?"

Jacob froze for a moment.

He immediately resumed that righteous expression. "Steve! You're disgracing your father!"

I sneered and glanced at my watch. "You've already wasted three chances."

"Round four. Ten minutes. Timer starts now."

I sat back down in the chair, leisurely toying with the blood-stained pliers.

Lester paced back and forth before the camera like a cat on a hot tin roof.

With thirty seconds left, I began the countdown: "29, 28, 27..."

"There's no such will as you claim! What exactly do you want me to hand over!" Lester was going mad.

The netizens were also indignant:

[If it really existed, anyone in this situation would hand it over! You're forcing Lawyer Lester to forge evidence!]

[Exactly! He's trying to ruin Lawyer Lester's career!]

[This man's heart is too vicious!]

"5, 4..."

"Steve!!"

"3, 2..."

"Steve, get a grip!"

"1..."

"Daddy!"

A childish voice suddenly rang out.

My whole body stiffened. I stood up quickly. "Weber..."

"Daddy!"

My son Weber's tender face appeared on camera, his face covered in tears.

"Weber, did Mom bring you here?"

Before doing this, I'd clearly entrusted the child to my most trusted friend, instructing them repeatedly never to let him get involved.

Could it be that my friend...

"Daddy! Grandpa really drank the poison himself!"

My pupils contracted sharply.

The netizens were even more dissatisfied:

[Steve, look what you've done! You're forcing such a young child to face all this!]

[Even the child is testifying, and you still won't wake up? This is your own biological son!]

I gripped the pliers tighter in my hand. "Weber, that's your grandfather. The grandfather who secretly bought you Legos, who was the first to stand up for you when you were bullied!"

Weber cried even harder. "Grandpa said he didn't want to live anymore! He didn't want to be a burden! Weber didn't lie! Weber really didn't lie! Daddy, please let Chris go, okay?"

Lester pulled Weber into her arms and shouted at the camera: "Steve! Are you going to doubt even your own son's words!"

I clenched my teeth. "What did you teach him to say?"

[I'm done. Does this guy have serious mental illness or what!]

[Finally understand where those CEO novel male leads who refuse to believe the female lead come from. Art really does imitate life.]

"Steve! If you won't believe Weber, who do you want to convince you!" Lester was righteously indignant.

I just grabbed Chris's ear and made his bloody, mangled face face the camera directly.

I picked up a small knife, the blade lightly tracing across his cheek. I chuckled softly. "Lester, you think that over these six years, I didn't know about you secretly transferring money to him at night, arranging work for his sister?"

Lester's eyes flew open.

"Fourth chance, gone!"

I aimed the knife at Chris's eye and raised it high.

"Daddy!!" Weber suddenly held up a diary. "Grandpa told me to give this to you before he left!"

The knife tip stopped less than a millimeter from Chris's eyeball.