My Husband Hated Me for a Lie

Chapter 5

A wave of towering rage surged through him. Without a word, Tyler swung his fist, slamming it hard into Luke's face.

Before Luke could even react, Tyler's hand was already around his throat, squeezing tight. "I told you to stay the hell away from me! Why do you keep pushing it? Why do you have to ruin the only thing I have left?"

Luke's face turned a deep crimson as he struggled for air, yet his gaze remained venomous. He glared back with pure malice. "Because... everything you have was supposed to be mine! Alena, your job, the kid... it's all mine!"

"You're the thief!" he spat, his eyes swirling with insane jealousy. "You're the one who swooped in and stole my life! By what right have you been her husband all these years? Why won't she just divorce you? And why... why does my own kid have to be raised by someone like you?!"

Watching his hysterical breakdown, Tyler's grip loosened ever so slightly, his mind momentarily faltering.

"Luke!"

Alena's voice rang out from the doorway.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Luke's eyes. Seizing the moment of Tyler's distraction, he grabbed the fruit knife from the nightstand with frantic strength. He forced the handle into Tyler's hand, gripping the other man's fingers tight, and lunged toward his own body.

"What are you doing?!"

Tyler's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but Luke held on with a death grip.

In that split second, Luke twisted his wrist, abruptly changing the knife's trajectory.

Alena had just reached the bedside.

The blade plunged straight into her abdomen.

"Ah!"

A piercing scream tore from Alena's throat.

Luke let go, his face as pale as a sheet. His voice trembled as he cried out, "Alena… Alena! Tyler, you're out of your mind! How could you hurt her again?!"

Alena collapsed to the floor, her eyes filled with nothing but utter disappointment toward Tyler.

Tyler stared at the blood-stained knife in his hand, his mind a complete blank. He never imagined things would escalate to this point.

"Alena, I… I didn't…" Tyler stammered, trying to explain.

The frantic sound of footsteps soon echoed from outside. Doctors and nurses rushed into the room, beginning emergency treatment on Alena.

He knew then that Luke had set him up. But at this moment, no matter what he said, Alena would never believe him.

Coming back to his senses, he slowly knelt down, meticulously picking up every single shard of the broken Kirin Hearthstone. The white-hot rage in his chest had vanished, replaced by a sudden, chilling sense of desolation.

To win, Luke was willing to risk Alena's life and sacrifice his own child.

Before he could even make it out of the hospital, Luke and several bodyguards blocked his path.

Luke stood at the front, his face pale and eyes still wet with tears—the very picture of a grieving man. But when those eyes met Tyler's, they gleamed with a terrifying brightness.

It was the glow of a victor.

"Tyler," Luke began, his voice hoarse and laced with a calculated tremor. "How… how could you do that to her? She was so good to you…"

Nearby nurses and patients turned their heads, their gazes filled with disdain and loathing for Tyler.

Standing his ground, Tyler watched Luke's performance. Suddenly, he found it almost laughable.

"Done acting?" he asked coldly.

Luke flinched slightly, his eyes turning even redder. ""What are you talking about? Alena is in surgery! Do you have any idea how much blood she lost? Do you even realize she almost—"

He broke off, covering his mouth as his shoulders shook violently.

Then he looked up at Tyler, his eyes brimming with a desperate plea. "Tyler, I'm begging you, can we just stop? If Alena wakes up and sees you like this... it'll break her."

Looking at him, Tyler felt a sudden urge to applaud.

It was a masterful performance.

So convincing, in fact, that he almost believed the man standing before him was the true victim.

"Move," Tyler said coldly.

Luke shook his head. "I can't let you go. Alena was clear, you stay put. When she wakes up... she'll deal with you."

With a subtle tilt of his head, he signaled the men behind him.

Two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, pinning Tyler's arms back.

He didn't struggle.

What would be the point?

He was hauled back into the hospital room and forced onto his knees.

The dull thud of his knees hitting the floor echoed sharply in the cavernous silence of the ward.

Luke strolled in at a leisurely pace. With a casual wave of his hand, the guards retreated to stand watch at the door.

They were alone.

Luke walked up to Tyler, looking down at him from his height. The mask of saintly compassion had vanished, replaced by a look of unshielded, smug triumph.

"How's it feel? Being down there?" he whispered.

Tyler raised his head and met his gaze.

In those eyes, he saw a swirling storm of manic jealousy, twisted pleasure, and a lingering trace of... sheer brutality.

"You're sick," Tyler said.

Luke laughed.

It was a low, chilling sound that echoed ominously through the hollow silence of the hospital room.

"Sick?" He knelt, leaning in until he was inches from Tyler's face. He enunciated every word with cold precision. "I've never been more sane."

"Five years." He held up five fingers, waving them mockingly in front of Tyler's eyes. "For five long years, I lived through hell. And you? You slept in my bed, slept with my woman, spent my money, and lived the life that belonged to me!"

His composure flickered as his voice rose, the bloodshot veins in his eyes stark and pulsing.

"Do you have any idea how much I wanted to kill you the day I saw you two together?"

Tyler watched him quietly, offering no reply.

Luke took a deep breath, smoothing over his volatile emotions until he regained his mask of refined elegance.

"But it doesn't matter now." He patted Tyler's cheek dismissively. "Everything is going back to where it belongs. Alena, the kid, the Robersons estate… it's all going to be mine."

Tyler remained silent.

He simply kept his head bowed, staring at the pool of blood on the floor that had yet to dry.

It was Alena's blood.

Seeing his lack of reaction, Luke frowned, but a smirk soon replaced it.

"Stay on your knees. I'm going to check on Alena. She should be awake by now."

He turned to leave, but as he reached the door, he stopped as if struck by a sudden thought. He looked back at Tyler one last time.

"Oh, by the way… your Kirin Hearthstone? It broke beautifully. I made sure to throw it with everything I had. Shame. It was a nice piece of jade."

Tyler's fingers twitched, tightening his grip around the jagged fragments of Kirin Hearthstone in his pocket.

Luke let out a sharp laugh and pushed the door open, disappearing into the hall.

Silence reclaimed the hospital room.

On the evening of the third day, the door was pushed open once again.

Alena was wheeled in by Luke. Her face was deathly pale, and her abdomen was wrapped in thick layers of gauze.

When her gaze fell upon Tyler, who was kneeling on the ground, she didn't erupt in rage. Instead, she spoke in a faint, hollow voice. "Tyler, after everything... I don't even blame you. Consider the life I owed Noah paid in full today."

Tyler shuddered. Instinctively, he tried to explain. "It's not what you think! Luke broke the jade on purpose to bait me. The second you walked in, he grabbed my hand and stabbed you!"

Standing beside her, Luke's face went pale. His voice was hoarse and trembling as he spoke. "I know you hate me for coming back... but how could you say that? How could you frame me for this?"

Alena looked at him, her eyes as cold and still as stagnant water. "Are you really telling me Luke would sacrifice his own kid just to frame you? That he'd gamble with my life?"

"Yes!" Tyler nodded fervently. "He told me himself—"

"Enough!" Alena cut him off. Her eyes flashed with undisguised loathing and mockery, each word like a poison dart. "It's a blessing Noah is gone. Having a father like you would have been his biggest disgrace."

Those words were a dagger, plunged straight into the softest part of Tyler's heart.

Looking at her, so blind to the truth, so consumed by irrationality, the last spark of hope he had to defend himself flickered and died. He moved to leave. "Believe whatever you want. You never listen to me anyway. Move."

Alena's gaze sharpened, and she shot a look at the bodyguards behind her.

Two men stepped forward instantly, seizing his shoulders and slamming him back down. As his knees collided with the floor, a sharp, searing pain shot through him, but Tyler gritted his teeth in silence, keeping his spine deathly straight.