Betrayed by Love, Saved by Power

On our wedding anniversary trip, my wife Russell's sponsored student Leonardo insisted on catching a ride home in my car.

My car was small, the distance was far, and I had a lot of luggagethere was no way I could take him, so I politely declined.

That evening when my wife came home, she was silent for a long time.

"He ended up walking home along the highway. His feet were torn to shreds."

I was confused.

"Couldn't he have just called a cab?"

She nodded gently and poured me a glass of water as usual. I drank it and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up again, I was standing on the highway under the scorching sun. Russell was intimately leaning on Leonardo's shoulder, holding up her phone to livestream with a cold laugh.

"Didn't you say transportation was convenient? Try walking back yourself."

The livestream was on, and viewers were all betting on how far I could walk.

I faced the camera and licked my cracked lips.

"Had enough? If you've had enough, come back and pick me up."

Heat waves shimmered off the asphalt road.

Russell and Leonardo, sitting in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce, were doubled over with laughter.

She held up her phone with the camera pointed at me. Comments flew densely across the livestream.

"Look at Mr. James, so stubborn," Russell's voice was full of amusement. "Even now he still expects someone to come pick him up."

Leonardo cooperatively stuck his head out with a sympathetic expression.

"Russell, maybe we should let James get in the car. In this heat, walking back could kill someone."

"Don't rush." Russell put her arm around his shoulder and turned to glare at me viciously.

"James, I'm giving you two choices. Either apologize to Leonardo, or walk the full fifty miles."

"The highway is straight. Just follow it and you'll get there."

The comments went even more insane.

"Serves him right! When he refused to let him catch a ride, why didn't he think about how hard it would be for him?"

"Just because he's Miss Russell's husband, does that make him so great? Bullying people because he has some money?"

"This kind of gold digger needs to be taught a lesson. I support Miss Russell!"

"Look at how pathetic he looks. So satisfying."

"Walk fifty miles? He won't make it. He'll collapse after two."

I stood under the scorching sun. My clothes were already soaked through, and my lips had cracked in several places.

Leonardo looked at me, his eyes slightly reddening as he put on a sympathetic expression.

He grabbed Russell's arm, deliberately lowering his voice.

"Russell, forget it. My family was never well-off to begin with. My life is cheapnot precious like James's. Walking a few miles is no big deal."

"James must have his reasons for not letting me catch a ride. Don't make things difficult for him."

As he spoke, he shot me a triumphant glance from the corner of his eye.

My head buzzed.

Before our anniversary, Leonardo had asked to catch a ride home with me.

My car was packed full of luggagethere really wasn't room for another adult.

I politely told him that calling a cab would be very convenient. I even felt a bit bad about it and specially transferred him money for the ride.

Now it had turned into me bullying him, looking down on him and refusing to let him ride.

"Leonardo, you're just too kind-hearted."

Russell's voice was ice cold. She tightened her grip on Leonardo's arm, her gaze piercing straight at me.

"You're too easy to bully. When he used his position as my husband to make things difficult for you, he should have known this day would come."

I stared at her. This was the woman I'd loved for six years.

To marry her, I'd given up SUN, the company I'd founded myself. I thought it was worth it.

The first year of our marriage, our relationship was good.

The second year, she started sponsoring Leonardo.

The third year, after Leonardo graduated from college, she let him join the company and work as her assistant.

I didn't think much of it. Just a student from a poor background who was grateful and wanted to repay the favor by working at the companyperfectly reasonable.

But gradually, things changed.

Once during a company basketball game, he deliberately stepped under me while defending. When I landed, I twisted my ankle. The pain made me push him.

He fell to the ground on purpose, scraping his elbow slightly.

In front of hundreds of company employees, Russell sternly berated me for not knowing my own strength.

That night when we got home, she didn't speak to me for three days.

Later, this kind of thing happened more and more often.

Leonardo took credit for my proposal at a project meeting, presenting it as his own work. When I called him out on the spot, he just lowered his head without saying anything, putting on a fake wounded act.

Russell said I was petty and couldn't tolerate others.

When Leonardo worked late, she said I, as the president and her husband, didn't know how to be considerate of subordinates and dumped all the work on him.

On Leonardo's birthday, when I transferred him money, she said I was being perfunctory and insincere toward subordinates.

Once he deliberately spilled coffee on a contract I'd just signed. I cursed at him, and he kept silent.

Without even asking what happened, Russell immediately decided I had a bad temper and was bullying an honest person.

At first I thought I wasn't doing well enough, so I was careful about everything.

But no matter what I did, she could always find fault.

Until today, standing on the highway in hundred-and-forty-degree heat, watching my own wife lean intimately on Leonardo's shoulder while livestreaming my miseryonly then did I finally see clearly.

It wasn't that I wasn't doing well enough. I was just in the way.

I pulled my gaze away from Russell, licked my cracked lips, and spoke to the phone camera pointed at me. My voice was hoarse but steady.

"Had enough? If you've had enough, come back and pick me up."

The comments paused for a second, then exploded.

"Is he crazy?"

"Still talking tough in this condition?"

Russell laughed out loud, her laughter filled with contempt and impatience.

She let go of Leonardo and leaned out of the car, looking me up and down.

"Still talking tough?"

"I'd like to see how long you can keep that up."

She looked back at the bodyguard.

"Let the hunting dogs out of the car. Mr. James is walking too slowly. Let the dogs help speed him up."

Leonardo frowned in the car, putting on a worried expression.

"Russell, don't do this. You'll scare James."

Russell patted his hand, her tone gentle.

"Don't worry, they're on leashes. They won't kill him."

The car door opened, and two hunting dogs lunged at me.

All my blood froze in an instant.

Even though I'm a man, I've been afraid of dogs since childhood.

Russell actually liked dogs, but after marrying me, she never kept any. She even took detours around people walking dogs, afraid I'd see them.

Now she was personally releasing dogs to chase me.

The two hunting dogs rushed to my feet. Without time to think, I took off running.

The asphalt had been baked by the sun until it was like a red-hot iron plate.

After running about fifty feet, my shoes came off, and my soles immediately blistered.

Behind me, the excited barking of the two dogs grew closer and closer.

"Holy shit, he's running so fast!"

"At that speed, he could medal at the Olympics, right?"

"Mr. James has been hiding his skills. Usually looks so refined, but when he runs he's faster than the dogs."

"Dying laughing, even the dogs can't catch him."

"Well, he is Miss Russell's husband. He works out every dayof course he's in good shape."

The comments flew by so fast I couldn't read them clearly, but I could imagine Russell's expression seeing them.

She leaned out of the car, the smile on her face frozen.

Leonardo leaned close to Russell's ear, his tone carrying just the right amount of concern.

"Russell, James is running so fast. Even I can't keep up with him."

Russell said nothing, squinting her eyes at me.

I'd already run nearly half a mile. The blisters on my feet had all burst, and each step felt like stepping on knife blades.

The dogs behind me were still chasing, but their speed had clearly slowed. The bodyguard was pulling on the chains to control the distance.

Leonardo leaned halfway out the car window and shouted at me.

"James, just apologize! Russell won't make things difficult for you!"

I clenched my teeth and ignored him.

His tone darkened, then switched back to that aggrieved tone.

"James, I'm just a kid from a poor family. My life is cheapI deserve to walk those roads. But don't do this to yourself."

As Leonardo said this, his voice trembled and his eyes reddened, looking like he was thinking of me.

Russell pulled him back into his seat and patted his shoulder, her tone impossibly gentle.

"Leonardo, you're just too kind, taking all the blame on yourself."

At some point, the road surface had become covered with sharp-edged gravel.

The moment I stepped on it, blood seeped from the soles of my feet. The dogs behind me grew even more excited smelling the blood, barking wildly as they lunged forward. The bodyguard could barely hold the chains.

I stumbled forward. The gravel embedded in my wounds, each step like walking on broken glass.

The blood flowed more and more, my footprints growing deeper and deeper.

The livestream comments became even more frenzied.

"Place your bets! I bet he can run another mile."

"I bet a quarter mile. Look at himhe's about to collapse any second."

"Half a mile, no more than that."

"Two miles. I bet he can hold out for two more miles."

The comments started displaying odds as someone opened a betting pool on how far I could run.

The numbers grew larger and larger as more and more people watched.

Russell looked at the betting amounts on her phone screen, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.

She was very satisfied with this effect. She turned to glance at me, her gaze devoid of any warmth.

"I want you to know in front of the entire country what happens when you cross Leonardo."

Leonardo stuck his head out the car window, staring at me, his tone still feigning concern.

"James, stop being stubborn. It's just an apology, isn't it?"

"My life is cheapI can handle you kneeling to me."

"I won't kneel!"

Leonardo's smile froze for a moment, then he put on that innocent expression again.

He turned to look at Russell, his eyes reddening again.

"Russell, look at James. He still won't forgive me."

My vision grew more and more blurred. My body had reached its limit from blood loss.

When I collapsed, I heard exclamations in the comment section.

"He's down!"

"Not even two miles. I won!"

Leonardo stuck his head out the car window, looked at me for a second, then his tone suddenly took on a deliberately panicked quality.

"Russell, I think James passed out from heatstroke!"

Russell frowned, her tone indifferent.

"Really passed out?"

"Really!"

Leonardo's voice was urgent.

"Russell, I heard that people with heatstroke need to be doused with cold water immediately, or it could be life-threatening!"

Russell looked at him, her gaze so tender it could drip water.

"Leonardo, you're just too kind. After how he treated you, you're still thinking about him."

Leonardo frowned, his voice deliberately low.

"No matter what, he's still James. I can't just watch him die."

Russell patted his shoulder and turned to the bodyguard.

"Go get the high-pressure water gun from the trunk."

The high-pressure water gun was connected to the vehicle's water tank.

Russell personally gripped the water gun. Leonardo stood beside her, and together they aimed at me.

"Ready?"

Russell's tone was relaxed, like she was playing some kind of game.

Leonardo nodded lightly.

"Russell, don't turn the pressure up too high. I'm afraid James won't be able to take it."

"You're too soft-hearted." Russell shook her head with a smile. "For heatstroke you need cold water. Low pressure won't work."

The moment the water jet shot out, my whole body bounced up from the ground.

This wasn't cooling downthis was being hit by a truck.

The high-pressure water jet slammed into my body, hitting my wounds directly. The pain was so intense I couldn't even scream, could only open my mouth in silent convulsions.

Water rushed into my nostrils and mouth, choking me until my lungs felt like they would explode.

I was sent rolling across the ground by the force. The back of my head hit the asphalt, and everything went black.

The water jet chased me, sweeping back and forth. Russell was laughing. Leonardo beside her was shouting, "James, don't move around, the more you move the more it hurts."

His voice was still so considerate.

The comments went even more insane. Some cheered, some said it was too much, but most were just watching the spectacle.

"This is way more exciting than just apologizing."

"Miss Russell really knows how to have fun."

"That water pressure has to be over two hundred pounds, right?"

"Leonardo is so kind. Even at a time like this, he's still thinking about saving someone."

The water stopped. I lay on the ground, shaking all over.

My wounds had been blasted until they turned white at the edges. Blood and water mixed together, spreading beneath me.

My soaked clothes stuck to my body. I couldn't tell what was water and what was blood.

Russell crouched down. A bodyguard grabbed my hair and yanked my face up.

"James, have you thought it over?"

Blood frothed from my mouth. I couldn't speak.

She gently stroked my hair, her tone like coaxing a child.

"It's just an apology. Is it worth torturing yourself like this? Apologize to Leonardo and I'll take you to the hospital right away."

Leonardo stuck his head out behind her, looking at me with a nervous expression.

"James, stop making Russell angry. Just say you're sorry. I won't hold it against you."

He moved closer, lowering his voice so only the three of us could hear.

"James, just admit you were wrong. My life is cheap anyway. You can even kowtow to meI won't think it's humiliating. You're the one suffering by being stubborn like this."

I looked at his face, so close.

That face wore an expression of utmost concern, his brows tightly furrowed as if he was worried sick about me.

I gathered the bloody water in my mouth and spat it forcefully at his face.

The bloody water splattered all over his face.

Leonardo grunted, staggering back two steps, frantically wiping his face and smearing blood streaks all over it.

Russell slapped me hard across the face. I staggered to one side, my face burning, my head ringing.

"You don't know what's good for you!"

The bodyguard held me down. She crouched down, her voice dropping to an icy whisper.

"Still daring to bully Leonardo in this condition? Do you think I won't kill you?"

Leonardo grabbed her arm from the side, his voice tight.

"Russell, forget it. James didn't mean it. He must be feeling too terrible to act like this..."

Russell pulled Leonardo behind her with one hand, pointing straight at me.

"Since you're so ungrateful, then don't blame me."

Russell took out a wooden box from the car and waved it in front of me. It was my grandmother's urn.

My blood froze in an instant.

"You..."

Russell smiled. Her smile was as gentle as on our wedding day.

"Didn't you say your grandmother loved you most when she was alive? Do you think if she knew her ashes were scattered on the highway, she'd be angry enough to come back to life?"

Leonardo stood beside her, his tone light and airy.

"Russell, don't. At least she was an elderly person."

Russell ignored him and held the urn high, pointing it at the livestream camera.

"Everyone, want to watch me scatter ashes live? Fifty cents per person. Crowdfunding. When it hits a thousand, I'll scatter them."

The livestream completely exploded.

"Holy shit, Miss Russell is serious!"

"Fifty cents? I'll give five hundred!"

"Quick! I want to see!"

"This is too exciting."

"Already donated! Miss Russell, scatter them quick!"

The comments flew so fast the screen lagged.

Leonardo pulled at the corner of his mouth, his voice neither loud nor soft.

"James is usually so filial. I bet he'll kneel and beg Russell now."

Russell glanced at him and nodded.

She turned to look at me, her hand already reaching into the urn.

"James, if you kneel now, there's still time."

My voice was hoarse, my whole body trembling.

"Russell, that's my grandmother! You can't!"

"Why can't I?"

She tilted her head to look at me, her tone flippant.

"You won't even kowtow. I'm giving you motivation, and you're still not happy about it?"

I clenched my fists, my eyes reddening as I stared at the urn.

"Russell, don't touch my grandmother."

Leonardo crouched down and tilted his head to look at me, his face full of false sympathy.

"James, stop being stubborn. It's just kneeling, isn't it? You don't want her to die without peace, do you?"

He leaned closer, lowering his voice.

"Kneel. I'll put something down for you. It won't hurt."

I stared at the urn in Russell's hand, my lips trembling, unable to speak.

Russell raised the urn higher, her hand already grasping a handful.

"Three, two, one..."

She flung it outward. The instant the ashes flew out, suddenly a hand steadily caught the falling ash.

Most of the ash that leaked through Russell's fingers was caught.

Russell's smile froze on her face. Leonardo stepped back.

She didn't have time to curse.

Because overhead, three helicopters were slowly descending.