Chapter 4 Whose Ashes Were They?

My friends left with them too.

Left alone in the room, I finally succumbed to the overwhelming shock and collapsed.

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

Tristan was leaning over beside me, holding my hand tightly. The moment he felt me move, he jerked his head up. "Sabrina, you're awake…"

He gently rubbed the back of my hand, his voice hoarse. "I went too far with what I said at the hotel yesterday. I'm sorry. The doctor told me you're pregnant, so you need to keep your emotions in check. Edith and I were wrong about some things, too, but there's really nothing going on between us."

He took out a photograph I had treasured for years. In it, Edith and I were young, smiling innocently at the camera.

"Your friendship is precious, too. You shouldn't let a little misunderstanding drive you to suspect each other. She wants to apologize to you as well. She'll come over tomorrow, and I'll make sure I'm not here. Would you be willing to see her?"

Looking at Edith's smiling face in the photograph, I closed my eyes and let out a long, deep breath.

I remembered how my mother had taught me when I was little that I should not expect people trapped in desperate circumstances to uphold their moral principles.

Ultimately, I nodded.

…

The next day, Edith arrived at my house carrying a meal she had prepared with all my favorite dishes.

Tristan did not leave until he saw me eat. "You two take your time and talk things through."

After Tristan's car had disappeared into the distance, she suddenly smiled. "Sabrina, do you know what I hate most about you? That sanctimonious act of yours. You obviously hate me to the point of wanting me dead, yet you still pretend to be magnanimous. Doesn't that make you sick?"

I put down my cutlery. "What are you talking about?"

My body trembled uncontrollably, but I still forced myself to appear calm.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice."

Then, I heard a man's voice say, "I specialize in divorce cases. A failed marriage would damage my reputation, so you'll just have to put up with this for now. As compensation, I replaced the eggs Sabrina used for IVF with yours."

To protect Tristan's pride, I had never told anyone about undergoing IVF.

I wanted to confront her, but I could not even lift my hands.

'The food was poisoned!'

Edith's smile deepened as she saw the horror on my face. She struck a match and held the tiny flame between her fingers. "Sabrina, tell me. If a fire broke out, who would Tristan save?"

I struggled to remain composed. "If you want Tristan, I can give him to you."

Edith's slap cut me off.

"Give him to me? The way you talk is as disgusting as ever. You claim to treat me like your own sister. You helped me go to college. Now you're offering to give me your man. Sabrina Westbrook, who do you think you are? You're nothing but a lucky woman born with a silver spoon! What makes you think you're better than me? How dare you talk to me like that?"

The flames illuminated Edith's twisted face.

For the first time in 13 years, I finally saw her for who she really was.

"This world is all about survival of the fittest. A fool like you deserves to be eliminated." As she spoke, she dialed Tristan's number right in front of me. "Tristan, Sabrina started a fire! She's trying to burn me alive!"

In the final moments before the flames consumed me, Edith was rescued, nestled in Tristan's arms. The ceiling beams collapsed, and with that, my account of what had happened came to an end.

…

I looked at Justin. "All I did to Edith was return everything she'd done to me."

Justin shot to his feet. "Identify and search the former residence shared by Sabrina Westbrook and Tristan Hodges. Edith Rayburne's remains are most likely there."

After a search, the police quickly discovered a container of a woman's ashes.

In the visitation room, Tristan stood on the other side of the glass, screaming at me through his tears. "Edith did wrong, but you could've used the law to bring her to justice! Why did you have to resort to such extreme measures?"

"If I'd died in that fire, how could I have taken her to court?" I regarded him evenly. "Are you crying because you feel sorry that I'll face legal punishment, or because Edith lost her life?"

Tristan froze.

The next second, Justin burst through the door. "Those ashes don't belong to Edith Rayburne. Sabrina Westbrook, you've been playing us for fools!"

I smiled. "I never said they were her ashes. They belonged to my mother. If my feud with Edith had been as simple as that fire, why would I have killed five people?"