Kayson lowered his head and fell silent.
She still refused to accept him. She still wanted a divorce.
Sophia was truly stunning.
Brilliant.
Noble.
One of a kind.
And worst of all — he had helplessly fallen in love with her.
"Well? Out with it. How much do you want to leave me?"
Sophia kept her eyes on the road, her tone cold.
Kayson suddenly looked up. "Do you really think so little of me? I thought you were different from everyone else."
Sophia's voice turned icy. "What? You feel wronged?"
She answered her own question sharply. "Wronged? Who do I tell my grievances to?
Why should I settle for you? Settle for a lifetime of this? It's not fair!"
"Love should be between equals. I'm successful; you should be too.
I'm not here to play charity. I'm tired of being mocked by everyone."
"I want to be a normal woman. But I can't even have that.
I waited three years for you. And you disappointed me every single day."
"I'll give you $500,000 to start over. Use it to open a small business or something."
Kayson said firmly, "I swore I would repay whoever lent me the money for the surgery with my life. I won't break that vow."
"Nonsense!" Sophia snapped, her face flushing with anger.
"You're not clinging to me! Don't even think about it!"
She hated how he framed it as "repaying with his life" —
he was just a leech who refused to let go.
Seeing how cold she was, Kayson lowered his voice. "Don't worry, I'll —"
Before he could finish, a crowd suddenly appeared ahead.
Sophia panicked and stomped on the brake —
but in her rage, she hit the gas instead.
The car lunged forward toward the crowd.
"No!"
Kayson shouted and quickly grabbed Sophia's hand,
taking control of the wheel and swerving the car to the side.
It was a close call, but no one was hurt.
Sophia broke out in a cold sweat.
Kayson was also too shaken to speak.
His hand rested on the steering wheel, covering Sophia's delicate, pale hand.
On her wrist lay an exquisite blood-red spirit fox bracelet.
Against her snow-white skin, it looked breathtaking.
Kayson's body jolted.
It was the first time in three years he had touched her hand.
He felt a sharp, electric tingle run through him.
But at that same moment, a ghostly interface flashed in his mind:
Condition: Evil Qi invading the body
Cause: Cursed blood-red spirit fox bracelet
Symptom: Extreme cold throughout the body every month-end
Progress: Evil Qi approaching the heart. Untreated, it will become fatal.
Sophia stared at Kayson, furious that he was holding her hand and refusing to let go, clearly taking advantage of her.
"Let go! Are you glued there?"
"Get off me!" She shoved him away hard.
He really was like a sticky patch that wouldn't come off unless she forced it.
Kayson had been about to heal her, but she pulled away and slammed the car door shut.
Sophia stepped outside.
Kayson sat in the car, his heart racing.
The evil energy on Sophia was nearly at her chest.
It had been poisoning her for four whole years.
No one but him could cure it.
Even he wasn't fully confident — his cultivation was still weak.
But he could at least suppress the curse for now.
Once his power grew, he could erase it completely.
Kayson made up his mind: he had to save Sophia.
Around the beggar on the ground, the crowd muttered:
"Tch, this little beggar's definitely scamming people."
"She doesn't look sick at all."
"Yeah, no sweating, no vomiting. Total scam."
"Just ignore her."
Kayson pushed the car door open, squeezed through the crowd, and asked:
"What's wrong? Why is she lying here?"
The crowd glanced at his cheap street clothes and sneered.
"What, you think you can cure her? Go back to washing dishes."
Suddenly someone recognized him and laughed out loud.
"Well, look who it is — Aster City's most famous live-in son-in-law!"
Everyone turned to stare at Kayson.
"Loser! Mind your own business! Go wash your wife's feet!"
"Get lost!"
They blocked his way, refusing to let him through.
Outside the crowd, Sophia pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Kayson was useless everywhere he went, yet he never knew to stay quiet.
He always ran toward the biggest crowds.
He was completely humiliating her.
Zhu stepped out of the crowd, looked Kayson up and down, and sniffed in disdain.
But to keep up Mengnan's experiment, she carefully watched everyone's reactions.
"She's sick! I have to treat her!" Kayson exclaimed after glancing at the beggar.
Condition: Wraith's Wrath
Cause: Blocking a hearse, angering the departed soul
Zhu curled her lip. She thought to herself: just help her up, and the experiment ends.
Kayson pulled a small pouch from his pocket, opened it, and took out four silver needles.
He was about to stab them into the beggar.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Zhu shouted.
This was just an experiment, a prank. Mengnan wasn't actually sick.
She couldn't let this stranger stab her.
Kayson said urgently, sweating, "This beggar is possessed by evil Qi and has fallen unconscious! She needs emergency treatment!"
Zhu frowned. "Evil Qi? Possessed?"
She looked Kayson up and down. "Who even are you?"
Before Kayson could answer, someone in the crowd laughed:
"That's Kayson, the Sullivan family's live-in loser. He does laundry, cooks, cleans, and washes feet. Just a househusband."
The crowd burst into laughter.
Zhu circled Kayson with her hands behind her back.
"Oh, so you're the famous live-in son-in-law. Are you gonna help her up?"
Kayson shook his head. "No! We can't move her! She's gravely ill!"
"To be exact, a departed spirit has latched onto her. She's completely unconscious."
"Now is the only chance to treat her. In two minutes, the evil Qi will rage out of control."
He raised the needles again.
Zhu pushed him aside. "Back off! Fine, don't help her then!"
She checked her watch. It had already been an hour, and no one had helped Mengnan.
She'd end the experiment and pull her friend up.
This wasn't a safe place to lie around.
If her mother Zhou Min found out, she'd be furious.
They'd taken the prank too far.
Zhu knelt down and smiled at Mengnan.
"Come on, time's up. Let's go."
But Mengnan didn't move at all.
"Huh?"
Zhu grabbed her hand. "Wake up! The game's over!"
The second she touched Mengnan's skin, she froze in terror.