Chapter 264 I Think You Did It on Purpose

Chapter 264 I Think You Did It on Purpose

Victoria was completely terrified.

She held the blood-covered Hayden in her arms.

This was the first time she'd seen Hayden bleed so much.

When people are struck by overwhelming shock, they often forget how to cry or scream. Their minds go blank, their bodies go numb, and even their fingertips turn ice-cold.

"Dad, what happened to you! How did you end up like this!" Victoria's eyes widened as her trembling fingers touched Hayden's aging skin stained red with blood.

His skin had once been smooth and carefully cared for, but now it was dry and rough like weathered bark.

It was all because of her!

If she hadn’t insisted on marrying Martin, if she hadn’t been so foolishly obsessed with him, Hayden would never have ended up like this.
Aria also rushed forward and collapsed beside Hayden, frantically grabbing his shoulders.“Hayden! You were perfectly fine when we left! How did you become like this? What happened? Tell me! What on earth happened?”

Hayden shook his head at Aria, struggling to pull out a smile, his lips opening and closing.

Trying to tell her, don't cry, don't be sad.

Everyone had to die someday—it was only a matter of sooner or later.



At that moment, Martin slowly came downstairs. Even he looked stunned, taking one heavy step after another toward Hayden.

Clearly, Martin hadn't processed what just happened either.

Hayden had gone completely insane—like a madman determined to ruin everything for him on New Year’s Eve of all days.
And now he'd fallen and ended up like this.

Victoria heard footsteps and slowly lifted her eyes.

She saw Martin standing in front of her.

In an instant, the scene from earlier flashed through her mind—when she and Aria had returned to the villa and saw Hayden’s body hanging dangerously from the balcony, suspended in midair.

Martin and Hayden were pulling at something.

Victoria seemed to snap, suddenly understanding everything.

She stood up from the ground.

Martin met her eyes and froze. He had never seen such coldness, such unfamiliar hatred, in her gaze before.


He felt inexplicably guilty and wanted to explain: "It's not..."

Martin wanted to say, it's not what you think, I didn't push him.

The words were still forming in his throat, just beginning.

Victoria’s hand swung across his face with brutal force.


Victoria’s hand swung across his face with brutal force.


He nearly fell.

Then Victoria’s furious voice came crashing down on him.
“Martin, what did I tell you before I left? I told you not to make things difficult for him!Today is New Year’s Eve! It’s supposed to be a family holiday! Is this how you treat your father-in-law?” “Was hurting me not enough for you? You had to do this to him too?”

"He's already disabled! He can't even speak anymore! The Gonzalez Group is in your hands now, our family of three has been tormented by you to this point, and it's still not enough? Still not enough!"

Martin pressed a hand against his burning cheek, his expression darkening as he looked at her.

She was angry, but he was angry too!

What had he done wrong!

They invited him to the Gonzalez family for dinner—he was the one being summoned.

He hadn’t even wanted to come. He had only agreed because he was afraid Victoria would be upse

He prepared generous gifts for everyone—Hayden, Aria, and Victoria too.

On New Year's Eve, bringing gifts, he still had to endure Victoria and Aria's attitudes!

He put up with it!

Victoria and Aria were the ones who insisted on going shopping, leaving him alone with Hayden. Before leaving, Victoria had even warned him with that cold look in her eyes, as if he were some kind of criminal.

Hayden went crazy on his own and even hit him with a cane.

He didn't even hold it against him!

His hand and arm still ached!

Then Hayden had suddenly tried to throw himself off the balcony right in front of him.

Wasn't he wronged?

Wasn't he hurt?

Victoria didn't even ask, just came up and slapped him.

So this is what being misunderstood feels like—so painful, so suffocating, so hard to breathe.

Martin forced himself to stay calm. Victoria had already lost control. If he lost control too, things would only get worse.


"Victoria, let me say..." Martin suppressed his anger, trying to communicate with Victoria again.

Victoria slapped Martin across the face again, just on the other cheek this time.

"Shut up! What else do you have to say? What could you possibly have to say! Martin, I never should have invited you to our family reunion dinner today! It's all you, you're the one who hurt my dad like this!" Victoria cried and yelled, raising her fists and pounding them on Martin's body.

At first, Martin didn't argue with her.

But her strength grew, her punches came faster and harder.

Martin lost his temper too, grabbing her wrist, his eyes red, teeth clenched: "Did I want to come to your house for dinner? If it weren't for your sake, would I have come today? Since I got to your house, which one of you three has given me a kind look? Whatever your dad does is right, whatever I do is wrong?"

“Victoria, are you blind? Have you completely lost your mind? Has your heart been eaten by dogs?” Martin shouted.

Her heart had been eaten by dogs.

Yes. A long time ago. Otherwise, how could she have let someone like Martin deceive her so completely?


Martin suddenly pushed Victoria, and she stumbled backward.

At this moment, Hayden was still in Aria's arms.

Hayden was crying, Aria was crying too, holding his bleeding body, wailing, sobbing.

Hayden suddenly coughed violently, blood pouring from his mouth in large mouthfuls.

Aria was in complete despair. She turned to look at the useless Victoria, rage rising in her heart. She laid Hayden on the ground and suddenly stood up.

"It's all you! All you! You unfilial daughter! Where's your brain? Where did your brain go? Did dogs eat your brain? Why did you let Martin come for New Year's? You idiot, I think you deliberately wanted your dad to die!" Aria raised her palm and struck Victoria across the face.

Victoria was slapped dizzy. If she remembered correctly, this was the second time in her twenty-some years that her mother had slapped her.

The first time was when her dad had the car accident, outside the operating room when they urgently needed money and Martin wouldn't help Aria. Aria had slapped her then too.

This was the second time.

Victoria's hair stuck to her cheeks, her face numb from the slap, no feeling left. Her ears felt like they had a swarm of bees buzzing in them.

"I think you did it on purpose! You think your dad is a burden, don't you? That he's holding you back, right? If he dies, you'll be free! You disobedient thing—everything we told you not to do, you had to do! The man we chose for you, you didn't want! You had to pick this heartless beast. We told you to divorce, and you dragged your feet! He's destroyed our family like this, destroyed you like this, and you still shamelessly went to the hospital to bring him soup? Did he appreciate it? Did he accept your kindness? You just came back like an idiot, didn't you? It's you, you're the real culprit. How did we raise such a useless, disobedient thing like you!" Aria cursed and cried, raising her hand to slap Victoria again.