The legitimate Edward Clark had not touched Emily, his wife, for three years. By modern logic, her affair was practically inevitable, and as the one who came after, he really had no grounds for complaint. Yet, why did his heart ache? He was supposed to see Emily only as a stand-in for Little Grace, so why did he feel such a real sense of loss? In that instant, the words “divorce her” suddenly slithered into his mind like a venomous snake, gnawing bit by bit at his heart.

Suddenly, a quarrel broke out nearby. One voice was clearly a man’s, the other was Emily. Edward Clark forced himself to stay calm and quietly entered the courtyard, finally making out what the two were saying.

“Emily, don’t forget, your embroidered mandarin duck handkerchief is still in my hands. If you don’t give in to me, I’ll hand it over to Second Brother and say it’s a token of love you gave to some man outside. What do you think will happen then? Don’t think Second Brother has really turned over a new leaf—he’s just tired of that lifestyle for now. Once he gets bored of you, won’t he just go out and chase other women?”

“You… you despicable man, you stole that from my trunk!” Emily’s voice was clearly choked with tears. “My husband will be back any moment—he won’t let you get away with this!”

“No need to make things sound so ugly. I just want a little fun. As long as you don’t tell anyone, who else would know? Tsk tsk, look at your figure and looks—so much better than my yellow-faced wife! Brothers, brothers—naturally, wives can be shared too. What’s the difference between Second Brother’s wife and mine? Why wouldn’t he put brotherhood first?”

Outside, Edward Clark could no longer hold back. If he hadn’t known who Charles Baker’s “other man” was before, now the name was obvious. The beast who kept talking about brotherhood—who else could it be but the eldest son of the The Clark Family, Stephen Clark? Burning with a rage that could incinerate everything, he kicked open the door and stormed in, fury blazing.

Though her hair ornaments were disheveled, Emily’s clothes were still intact, and her left hand was gripping a pair of scissors tightly. Seeing her husband suddenly burst in, her face went completely pale, despair filling her eyes. Somehow, she found the courage to suddenly thrust the scissors toward her own chest.

In a flash, Edward Clark lunged forward, snatching the scissors from her and hurling them heavily to the ground. The previously stunned Stephen Clark was jolted back to his senses by the clatter. Seeing his brother too busy to notice him, he immediately tried to slip away, but as soon as he reached the door, someone grabbed him by the collar.

“Big Brother, what exactly did you just say to Emily?” Edward Clark, having spent years mixing it up outside, easily overpowered Stephen Clark’s struggles. “They say a friend’s wife is off-limits, but you, Big Brother, even go after your brother’s wife. Are you really trying to put a green hat on your own brother?”

“Second Brother, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong, let me explain, let me explain!” Stephen Clark never expected to be caught red-handed and stammered out a frantic defense. “It’s not my fault, it’s all because your wife relied on her looks to seduce me. I… I just lost my head for a moment, that’s all…”

“My wife seduced you?” Edward Clark raised an eyebrow, now furious. He grabbed Stephen Clark by the front of his shirt and cursed him roundly. “I heard everything outside. It was clearly you threatening and harassing Emily, and now that you’ve been caught, you want to make excuses? Are you even a man? You damned animal!”

Seeing that everything was exposed, Stephen Clark simply turned shameless. “So what if I did? Why should a good-for-nothing like you get to marry such a beautiful wife? Isn’t it just because Dad favored you and gave you more of the inheritance? You have no skills, no property—why should you get to keep Emily all to yourself? All you can do is kick a ball! What are you, really? A grown man who has to rely on Emily to sew and mend for others just to get by—who should be ashamed, you or me?”

This barrage of questions chilled Edward Clark to the bone. But when he glanced at the ring on his own finger, his once-clouded gaze gradually cleared. He was the one who chose to take another’s place, the one who decided to keep Emily. Everything else was the fault of the man before him—what did it have to do with him? In fact, this hateful man had nothing to do with him at all, so why should he give in?

Spitting hard at Stephen Clark, he suddenly threw this beast in human form to the ground. “Stephen Clark, you don’t need to use words like that to provoke me. Who I, Andrew, am is none of your business. Emily is married to me, not you, so you have no right to interfere! From today on, I have no elder brother, and you are never to set foot here again!”

As Edward Clark spoke, he stepped back a few paces and bent down to pick up the scissors from the floor. He ran his finger lightly along the blade, and a few drops of blood quickly welled up, which pleased him greatly. He seemed not to notice what was happening behind him, nor did he see Stephen Clark scrambling over the threshold and crawling frantically into the courtyard. Yet in the next instant, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Edward Clark suddenly kicked the handle of the scissors. With a whoosh, the scissors shot toward Stephen Clark’s back like a meteor, slicing through the air.