Chapter 4

Mr. and Mrs. Winters, accustomed to their arrogant ways and eager for me to take the blame, roughly shoved me aside. They went straight for the burly man, one pointing at his nose, the other jabbing his shoulder, unleashing a torrent of abuse.

The burly man, already fuming from earlier, instantly exploded. He raised his hand and delivered a resounding slap to each of the old-timers' faces.

His arms, thicker than soup bowls, sent them tumbling to the ground with a single blow.

The two oldsters were stunned. Once they came to their senses, they started wailing and making a scene.

I stifled a laugh and glanced at the time. We'd been here for over two hours. With the traffic cops arriving, I finally agreed to pay compensation.

Mr. and Mrs. Winters, still fixated on making me take the fall, urged me to go to the hospital, their faces swollen on one side.

In the car, the two of them winced in pain while still finding the energy to lecture me:

"Zoran, Meadow has been with you for so many years, even carrying your child for nine months and giving birth to your daughter. Do you know how much she's contributed and sacrificed for you?"

"You must love her properly. Even if it costs you your life, you have to protect her, understand?"

I could barely keep from rolling my eyes.

It seems they've realized they can't kill my daughter, so they're planning to get rid of me first. After my death in the future, Meadow would become our daughter's sole guardian. At that point, she could do whatever she wanted with our child.

But I wasn't about to let them get their way so easily!

While absentmindedly responding to them, I secretly sent a message to my journalist friend.

[There's breaking news. I've sent you the address. Get here quickly!]

By the time I finally arrived at the hospital, Meadow was nearly frantic with worry.

Just like in her past life, she fell to her knees before me, sobbing.

In her previous life, she had begged me, "Honey, I accidentally set the hospital on fire! Our child can't be without a mother! I can't go to prison! Please, won't you save me?"

This time around, she took a deep breath, about to start her act.

"Honey, I accidentally—"

But as she looked up, she found a camera lens thrust in her face.

Meadow's tearful expression froze. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Dashiell's just here to film a news story," I coolly reminded her. "This is a live broadcast, by the way."

Meadow was at a loss for words.

At that moment, Levi suddenly appeared by her side.

He was much calmer than she was, and addressed the camera with a smile:

"The hospital mysteriously caught fire earlier, but fortunately we all escaped. However, I find the circumstances of this fire rather suspicious."

As he finished speaking, he turned to look directly at me. Simultaneously, she subtly nudged Meadow.

It seemed she wanted to direct suspicion towards me right in front of the livestream camera.

Meadow finally caught on, looking at me cautiously, "Honey, you've argued with the nurses a few times before. This fire couldn't be..."

Mr. and Mrs. Winters were standing beside them at this point, and Mrs. Winters rolled her eyes at me directly.

"Zoran is just a violent maniac! He's always talking about killing this person or that person, and recently he's been complaining that the hospital can't cure his daughter, saying he'd burn down the hospital sooner or later. I bet he's the one who did it!"

Just then, a police officer happened to pass by, and Mrs. Winters actually grabbed the officer, pointing at me.

"This is the culprit, Officer! Arrest him! Execute him tomorrow!"

I coldly watched their coordinated performance, each sentence pushing me closer to being labeled the perpetrator.

That scene of being abandoned by the whole world replayed itself in this moment.

Only this time, what welled up in my heart wasn't despair, but endless hatred.

I wanted nothing more than to tear them all to pieces!

Levi put on an act, saying, "We need evidence to convict someone. Our hospital's surveillance footage is automatically uploaded daily. My colleague is already checking the footage. Rest assured, the one who deserves to die won't escape."

A smile of absolute certainty curled at the corner of his lips.

He was convinced I had been to the sixth floor, while he himself had already taken care of the surveillance cameras before setting the fire.

At that moment, a nurse came running over. Levi's smile grew even more smug, "Well? Do we have results from the security footage?"

Meadow also smirked at me, her face full of eagerness, as if she couldn't wait to see me dead.

However, the nurse shook her head, "Dr. Carlisle, the surveillance shows that no one went to the sixth floor tonight."

Their smiles instantly froze.

I stared at Levi and Meadow, calmly giving a slight smile:

"But I might be able to provide some clues about the culprit."