Chapter 4

Before I could explain further, Camden's phone rang. He quickly answered the call.

It was Ruth. She was making a fuss on the other end of the line after realizing that he wasn't there when she woke up.

I urged him lightly, "Go keep her company after you sign."

Camden hurriedly comforted her in a low voice and tried to suppress his anxiety. Then, without further scrutiny, he signed his name with a flourish on the documents and handed them back to me.

"Wait for me to come back, Angeline…"

I took the documents from him and turned away without sparing him another glance.

He started after me, feeling a little insecure, but he got another call from Ruth again. So, he turned and went off to the hospital instead.

If Camden had caught up to me, he would have seen the pure hatred in my eyes.

I resented him deeply.

I swore that one day, I was going to take back everything he owed me.

After carefully setting aside the signed divorce agreement, I threw the share transfer agreement into the fire without hesitation.

It was just a front, after all. If it weren't for this agreement, Camden would never have signed the documents that easily without a second glance.

While Camden and Ruth were at the hospital, I began packing. I realized that I had held on to all of Arlene's toys and clothes ever since she was a baby because I couldn't find the heart to part with them or throw them away.

Eventually, I managed to fill a few huge boxes of her belongings.

While packing these things up, I felt as though Arlene was still right by my side, calling me "Mommy".

…

I had just finished packing when Camden came back from the hospital with Ruth.

"What are you doing?"

Camden looked at me in confusion.

I didn't look at him and continued sealing up the boxes. "Ari's things. I'm donating them."

I wasn't. I was planning to store them in her favorite sunroom so that she would forever have a home to come back to.

Camden grabbed the things from me and said, "Ari just passed away. It's not like there's no place to store her things here anyway. Leave them here for us to remember her by."

I stared into his eyes with a resentful look.

"You don't have her in your heart. What's the point of remembering her anyway?"

Camden frowned. "How could—"

"Camden! Come here for a while!"

Ruth's voice cut through the air.

He immediately turned and went out to the living room.

Ruth was leaning back against the couch with her cashmere rug covering her body. She looked weak and fragile. Meanwhile, the housekeeper, Emily Jackson, looked like she was hesitant to speak.

Camden raised his voice at her. "Were you the one who poisoned Ruth?"

"No! No way," Emily said, shaking her hands in denial. "It was… It was Mrs. Bale. She was the one who told me to add the stuff to the food."

Everyone turned to look at me. Ruth then said, "Ms. White, do you really hate me that much? Camden, are you sure that I can leave my son here with you in this house?"

Camden grabbed hold of me at once.

"Angeline! What is going on? Was it really you?"

I grabbed his arm in return and dug my nails into his flesh.

"Haven't you always been the smart one, Camden Bale? Can't you even tell who's the one lying here?"

"I'm not lying, sir!" Emily shouted. "It really was Mrs. Bale who told me to do it!"

Reginald then ran down the stairs with a small pack of pills in his hand.

"Sir! I found this in Mrs. Bale's room! Its described symptoms are exactly the same as the poison that Ms. Carroll had been suffering from!"

Camden shook me by my shoulders so hard that it hurt.

"Have you lost your mind, Angeline White? Don't you know how weak Ruth is now? You nearly killed her!"

He shook me so hard that I felt myself getting dizzy. However, I suddenly realized that if I, a fully-grown adult, could be so easily framed like this, then it would be even easier for anyone else to trick Arlene into leaving the villa on her own!

I put up with my dizziness and grabbed hold of Ruth.

"It was you, wasn't it? You killed Ari! And now, you're trying to frame me! It was you!"

I screamed in her face, demanding an answer from her.

"That's enough!" Camden roared. "Ruth has never even seen Ari before! Why would she want to kill her? Wake up and get back to your senses, Angeline!"

I was very much awake. I couldn't possibly be more awake and aware than I was now.

"She was the one who killed our daughter! Camden Bale, you also played a part in Ari's death!"

The look in Ruth's eyes told me everything I needed to know. She was the one who had killed Arlene!

I grew even surer of my hunch. I couldn't care for Camden, who was trying to hold me back, and grabbed a pair of scissors before rushing toward her. However, Camden slapped me hard, and I fell to the floor.

"You've gone mad, Angeline White!"

Ruth's voice carried a hint of smugness as she said, "I understand your pain, Ms. White, and I won't hold the past against you. But Camden, I'm still going to ask you the same question. Are you sure that my son will be safe in the Bale household?"

Camden had gone numb with anger. He was looking at me with a guarded expression and disappointment in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Ruth. I'll take care of everything."

I lay on the floor. My body still hadn't recovered from the miscarriage, and I felt like a broken doll that couldn't move anymore.

I glared at Camden and kept repeating, "I hate you. I'm going to make you all suffer terrible deaths!"

Camden's veins bulged in anger, his eyes turning bloodshot.

"Sedate her. And moving forward, unless I say otherwise, Angeline will stay in the basement!"