Mess Around Behind My Back? I'll Mess With You

The door clicked open at this moment. It seemed that Elias had returned.

A look of disdain crossed his face when he spotted me. "It's still so early. Why aren't you working to earn more money? What are you doing slacking off at home?"

I stared at him, my ungrateful son who had abandoned me in a rental house to fend for myself in my past life. I didn't answer any of his questions.

In my past life, I had just assumed that we shared a close bond whenever Elias spoke to me in the same disdainful tone, so I didn't take his words to heart.

Perhaps he was growing uncomfortable under my unwavering stare. Like a spooked cat, he yelled, "No wonder Grandpa tries to convince Mom to divorce you every day! Why on earth did Mom fall for such a useless piece of trash like you?"

He bolted for the master bedroom after he was done speaking. Through the slim gap between the door and the doorframe, I could see that the master bedroom was filled with Meredith's makeup products, branded bags, and accessories.

She had bought every single item with my hard-earned money, and I had created a list of all the purchases she ever made.

She was conducting scientific research in the school, so she had a salary and national funding. Her monthly salary was double the amount of mine, yet she had never once contributed to household expenses.

I cracked my knuckles. My eyes were blazing with fury as a sneer stretched across my lips.

A few moments later, the sounds of jangling keys resounded through the door. Liam and Matthew must have won some money again. The door wasn't even open yet, but I could already hear them chatting joyfully with each other.

When the door swung open, they were greeted by the sight of their belongings stacked in a pile in the living room. The elation they felt at winning some money disappeared in an instant when they spotted me sitting on the couch.

"Zack Fairfield, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today? Why the hell did you move all our things out of our room?" Matthew demanded furiously.

My tone was glacial and emotionless when I replied, "I already said I was going to divorce Meredith. This house belongs to me. You should go back to where you belong."

I ignored him and continued moving their belongings out of the second bedroom. Noticing how strangely I was behaving, Matthew lost the desire to continue scolding me.

Meanwhile, Liam grabbed his phone and called Meredith. "Meredith, you need to come home right now. Something terrible has happened!"

His voice had been unnaturally loud. It was obvious that he had raised his voice so I could hear him too. Seeing how childish he was behaving, I smiled at him mockingly, but I didn't rise to his provocation.

They watched me as I continued to move their belongings to the living room, looking as if they were treating this entire situation like a huge joke. They grew angry when I tossed their clothes to the floor, but there was nothing they could do except clench their teeth.

It didn't take long for me to clear out the second bedroom. Their belongings had taken up nearly half of the living room.

I turned around and pushed the door open to the master bedroom. Elias' face was twisted in confusion, but I ignored him and collapsed headfirst onto the bed. I sighed, awed by how comfortable the mattress was.

In my past life, I had slept on a hard bed until the day I died.

I was exhausted, so it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

A long time passed before I heard Matthew's voice from beyond the door.

"Look at all our things on the floor, Meredith. That loser is trying to rebel against us! He started moving all our things out of our room from the moment he got home. Is he chasing Dad and me out of the house because he got sick of living with us?"

Judging by his words, Meredith was now home. Unbothered, I went back to sleep.

"Who told you that you could sleep here? Get up right now!"

I wasn't sure when Meredith entered the bedroom, but it was impossible to ignore the anger burning in my heart.

"Why should I get up?" I demanded. "This house belongs to me. I can sleep wherever I want. No one can stop me!"

"The mattress was so expensive," she countered heatedly. "You're just a cab driver. You have no right to sleep on it!"

"No matter how expensive it was, it was bought with my money."

I swept my eyes over all the bags and makeup products in the room. Meredith followed my line of sight, scanning our surroundings.

Guilt flickered on her face for a moment. She sounded much weaker when she said, "Why did you move Dad's and Matthew's belongings to the living room? Are you chasing them out?"

"This is my house. I have every right to ask them to leave. They can stay if they want to, but they'll have to pay me back for all the bills and living expenses I've always covered."

Realizing that I wasn't going to budge, Meredith clenched her teeth in anger. She slapped me hard across the face, the sound of the impact ringing loudly in the room.

I spotted the red mark on her neck when she raised her hand. I leaped down from the bed and kept my eyes trained on the skin of her neck, demanding, "What is that?"