The Debt of Blood

In Riverdale, at a construction site.

Matthew Parker looked somewhat disheveled, wearing a vest that exposed his sun-kissed, slightly tanned skin. And those sturdy muscles! On his shoulders, he carried four or five bags of cement.

This was his task for the morning, to move all of the cement bags from the truck at the construction site entrance to the designated location, for a payment of 400 dollars.

Beside him, a hot-figured woman with short hair was following closely, gesturing with her hands and explaining something tirelessly.

"Mr. Parker, please believe me, I'm not a swindler. You truly are the ace of our mysterious unit 'Night Guard.' You are the ultimate weapon of Night Guard. But three years ago, during that crucial mission, you disappeared. Now, it appears that you had suffered severe injuries from that mission and lost your memory. That's why you can't remember anything."

Carrying something close to 400 pounds, Matthew Parker seemed light-footed. He stopped and glanced at the woman, saying, "Don't delay my work, okay?"

The woman was right. Matthew only had memories from the past three years. He couldn't remember anything that happened before.

The mysterious woman froze, looking at Matthew moving cement. Her nose felt sour. This Matthew Parker, who once roared throughout the world and was known as the ultimate Killer of Night Guard, had fallen to doing labor on a construction site.

"Mr. Parker, as long as you come back with me, we will find a way to help you regain your memory. And you won't have to do manual labor at this place anymore. You'll have untold wealth..."

Matthew Parker couldn't be bothered with this woman. He resumed his steps once again.

The beautiful woman pursed her lips, gritted her teeth, and said, "Mr. Parker, think it over, I'll come find you tomorrow."

Ignoring the beautiful woman, Matthew moved the cement to the designated location and dumped it on the ground, raising countless dust clouds that settled on his body, making him even dirtier.

But he was already used to it. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and planned to continue walking towards the entrance.

Just then, not far away, a car stopped, and a middle-aged woman in bright attire stepped out and walked towards him.

Wearing a mask, she took each step cautiously, seemingly afraid of dirtying her black shoes.

"Mom!" Matthew’s face revealed a hint of nervousness as he quickly exclaimed.

This person was his mother-in-law, Isabella.

"Don't call me mom!" Isabella glared at the dirty man with disgust, then pulled out a document from her bag and said, "This is your divorce agreement with Elizabeth, sign it quickly."

Matthew's expression slightly changed as he questioned, "Why?"

In the beginning, when he lost his memory, it was Elizabeth's father, Isabella's husband Anthony Morgan, who had saved him. With Anthony Morgan's arrangement, he married Elizabeth. However, just three months after their marriage, Anthony Morgan passed away.

Over these past three years, Isabella and her daughter never regarded Matthew with even an ounce of respect.

Despite them not working and relying solely on Matthew's income from his job at the construction site to survive, they still had numerous complaints and considered him useless.

"Why? No need to wonder why. It's just that you can't provide the life that my daughter and I desire. Tell me, what do you have besides physical strength?" Isabella sneered.

Isabella continued, "Elizabeth's new boyfriend is an affluent second-generation. Did you see this bag? It cost 30,000 dollars, a gift from my new son-in-law. And today, he's planning to gift Elizabeth a BMW. And you? Dirty every day, barely making any money. We can't even afford a slightly expensive bag."

Anger surged within Matthew. For three years, he had worked tirelessly, giving every penny he earned to the mother and daughter, yet... it was all in vain! In their three years of marriage, he hadn't even touched Elizabeth affectionately, not once.

"Stop this nonsense and sign it quickly!" Isabella coldly laughed.

"Once you sign this agreement, you'll have no relationship with my daughter and myself. Your belongings have already been packed and delivered to the security booth at the entrance of the construction site. Go get them yourself!"

"I've given you all my money, I don't have a penny on me now. Are you really kicking me out?"

Matthew's face turned even uglier.

"That house is ours; once divorced, you naturally can't live there," Isabella said scornfully.

Matthew gritted his teeth. "But I paid the down payment with my hard-earned money!"

Isabella contemptuously laughed.

"But it's written under our names."

"Characters, you have nothing to do with me. Hurry up and sign this divorce agreement. This place will dirty my shoes if I stay here any longer!"

Matthew struggled to suppress his inner anger.

For the sake of his benefactor's promise, he had worked tirelessly for three years. He had tried his best to win the favor of the mother and daughter, and had made great efforts to maintain his marriage.

But now... it was no longer necessary.

He took the divorce agreement, signed it, and pressed his fingerprint.

"Consider yourself smart!"

Isabella glanced disdainfully at Matthew and said, "Elizabeth is unlucky to have encountered someone like you for the past three years. Fortunately, it's finally over. She can continue to pursue her own happiness."

"Happiness, as in marrying a rich man!" Matthew sneered in his heart.

"Alright, from now on, there is no relationship between you and us anymore. Don't come and disturb our lives. I can't stand the sight of you!"

Isabella couldn't help but taunt a few more words before leaving.

Watching Isabella walk away, Matthew Parker felt a sense of suffocation in his heart.

This world, damn it, was all about money!

Thinking of the beautiful woman from earlier, Matthew gritted his teeth and quickly ran towards the gate of the construction site.

At the entrance, the beautiful woman was still standing by the roadside, talking on the phone.

"Alright, boss, I'm getting a cab. I'll rush over to the meeting point right away."

Seeing Matthew approach, she hung up the phone and said to him, "Mr. Parker!"

Matthew let out a sigh and asked, "You didn't deceive me, did you?"

"Absolutely not!" The beautiful woman became pleased and said, "Are you willing to go back with me?"

"No, if you didn't deceive me, then prove it. You said that as long as I go back, there will be countless wealth. Show me proof, like transferring hundreds of thousands into my bank account."

Matthew Parker said to the beautiful woman.

The beautiful woman frowned, then thought of something and said, "I still have a mission to carry out immediately, so your personal belongings contain a Portman Bank diamond card. The password is your birthday. Your assets have always been in it and haven't been touched. You can check at the bank."

Matthew's expression changed. He did indeed have such a card, but it was different from a regular bank card. He didn't even know it was a bank card. It had been lying there untouched all this time.

He looked at the beautiful woman, then turned and ran towards the security booth.

"Matthew Parker, a woman just delivered a package for you earlier, claiming it was your belongings." The security guard said as he saw him.

"It's called a package, but it's actually just something stuffed in a large garbage bag," Isabella said with a hint of a smile, unwilling to even provide a box for Matthew when she rushed him away.

Matthew forced a bitter smile and began rummaging through the garbage bag.

Inside the bag, there were only a few pieces of clothing. After searching for a while, he found a slightly faded blue card with several diamonds on it.

"Sir, please hold onto these items for now. I'll be back after a quick trip." Matthew smiled at the old man.

"No problem, but don't let it delay your matters. You still have to move a truckload of cement, and if you delay, the foreman will scold you again," the old man reminded him.

Matthew didn't say a word. At this moment, the old man was still concerned about the cement.

With the card in hand, he ran all the way to Portman Bank!