Chapter 1: Is This Son-In-Law a Mute?

Outside the gates of Imperial College, a Mercedes E-Class sedan came to a smooth stop. A stunning young lady in a light purple dress walked towards the car.

At first, a smile adorned her face. But the moment she saw the man getting out of the car, her smile froze.

"Leo Bloomer, why are you here? Where's my sister?" Her tone was displeased.

Leo just shook his head because he couldn't speak.

The young lady glanced around and then approached the car, reaching for the door. She did not want anyone to know that her brother-in-law was mute!

Whenever someone spoke of her mute brother-in-law, she felt embarrassed.

Just as she was about to get into the car, a voice behind her exclaimed, "Isn't this Tina, the campus belle of Imperial College?"

Tina Henley stiffened. She recognized the voice immediately.

Turning around, Tina forced a smile and said, "Diana, what are you doing here? Going out for fun somewhere?"

"Well, we are. But I just saw you, so I came over to say hi," Diana replied casually, but her gaze intentionally swept over Leo.

"Tina, who's this guy? Oh, I know, he must be your family's driver, right?" Another girl asked, feigning curiosity.

Tina wore an awkward smile on her face, saying, "Well... he is my brother-in-law..."

"I knew it!" The third girl exclaimed with surprise, "He's your mute brother-in-law, isn't he!?"

Upon hearing this, Tina's gaze turned cold. She fell silent and got into the car, pulling the door shut.

"Leo, what are you standing there and spacing out for? Let's go!" Tina yelled out the window. Her good mood was now significantly affected.

Leo silently got into the car amidst the disdainful glances and sneers from the three girls. He silently started the car and drove away from the gates of Imperial College.

Tina took out her phone and dialed Sophia's number.

"Sis, didn't we agree that you'd come pick me up? Why did Leo come instead?"

"What? Something came up and you couldn't make it. Humph, of course, you're so busy. Never ask him to come pick me up again. I'll take a cab home myself!"

Tina angrily hung up the phone from the back seat, then glanced at Leo driving. The longer she looked at him, the more displeased she became.

"Hey, Leo, don't think you're suffering some great injustice by marrying into our family. If it weren't for our family providing you with food and shelter, a mute like you would have starved to death on the streets long ago."

"I advise you to divorce my sister. When that time comes, our family will give you some money. You can do whatever you want with that money, just don't show up in front of me again!"

"Can you hear me talking to you? Speak up!"

After venting, Tina suddenly laughed sarcastically, adding, "Sorry, I forgot again that you're mute."

Leo gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands. He had endured this kind of life for four years already.

Leo was raised by his grandmother after his parents went missing when he was six. He put himself through college with money from his grandmother's meager retirement savings and from selling recyclables from the garbage.

Leo vividly remembered that on the day he graduated from college, his normally strong and healthy grandmother fell ill.

The hospital's diagnosis came quickly—it was malignant stomach tumor, late stage.

Watching his grandmother grow thinner by the day on the hospital bed, Leo wept bitter tears. He swore that he would do whatever it took to keep her alive for as long as possible, even if only for a year or a month.

Leo began borrowing money from everyone he knew. He learned how to raise funds online and even started begging on the busiest pedestrian streets downtown for help from kind-hearted people.

Heaven has a way of helping those in dire need, and eventually, Leo gathered the money.

The benefactors were a couple who not only paid for his grandmother's treatment but also arranged for their eldest daughter to marry him.

On that day, Leo felt a glimmer of hope shining into his bleak life.

However, not long after the marriage, Leo realized how naive he had been. The Henley family had helped him and agreed to the marriage only because of a superstition. They believed that marrying off their daughter would help her recover quickly from her illness.

In simple terms, Leo was just a tool for them. Once the wedding ceremony was over, he lived a painful life in the Henley family.

A year later, his grandmother passed away despite everything.

After arranging her funeral, Leo felt that life had lost all meaning.

He still remembered that stormy night when, because of a trivial matter, he was kicked out of the Henley family.

Homeless, Leo wandered the streets like a lost soul, letting the rain soak him.

Unknowingly, Leo found himself at a famous spot in Langstel where couples would come to date on Valentine's Day.

A valentine?

Love?

To Leo, these were luxuries beyond his reach.

As he stared at the rushing waters of Dragon River beneath the bridge, the thought of jumping flashed through his mind.

As long as he jumped down, he would be completely liberated.

Once this thought appeared, it was uncontrollable. Leo put one foot over the railing.

"Young man, jumping into the river in such heavy rain is not a wise choice."

A low, raspy voice reached Leo's ears.

Leo turned around to find an old man with gray hair standing beside him, holding a black umbrella and wearing a confusingly smiling expression.

"I can give you a chance to change your fate. Do you want it?" The old man's voice was full of temptation.

Leo didn't know if he was hallucinating, but he instinctively nodded.

The old man pulled a syringe from his pocket, filled with a pale blue liquid.

"Give me your hand."

Leo didn't move, his face showing signs of tension.

"Are you scared?" The old man's expression turned playful. "You're not afraid of death, so what else could you fear?"

Leo extended his right hand, and the old man injected the liquid into his vein.

"Remember, for the next three years, you will be mute. After three years, you will have a different life, provided you survive these three years…"

The old man, holding the umbrella, slowly disappeared from Leo's sight.

Leo tried to call out to him but could only make whimpering sounds, accompanied by a tearing pain throughout his body.

From the moment he became mute, Leo lived even a worse life in the Henley family.

Each year, at the exact time he was injected with the blue liquid, his body would experience excruciating pain, as if thousands of ants were gnawing at him, and his head would feel like it was about to explode…

After each bout of pain, Leo vaguely felt changes in his body, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly had changed.

He endured year after year, and tonight at 9 PM marked exactly three years!

It would be the beginning of the new life the old man had promised.