Chapter 2

"Wendy, don't be like this. I know you're devastated, but you have to face the truth. Mrs. Levine's… She told me just two days ago that she was going to the church to pray for you. There's no way she could be in Malthia," Yara said.

Sean glared at me. "Did you hear that? Even Yara knew Dahlia was going to the church! How could you not even know where she is?

"You're her daughter! Now that she's gone, you pull out some random old photo just to upset me?"

I was shaking with rage. I pulled up the details of the photo and shoved my phone in his face again.

"An old photo? Sean Quimby, open your damn eyes and look at this! It was sent 13 minutes ago! So tell me, what church do you know that's in the middle of the ocean?"

This time, all the color drained from Sean's face. He stared at the timestamp and location of the photo, his lips trembling, but not a single word came out.

I snatched my phone back and said coldly, "Sean, the woman who was hooded and strapped to that bomb was Kate. You blew your own mother to pieces."

Yara let out a snicker at the worst possible moment.

Still giggling, she pointed at me and said to Sean, who was too stunned to speak, "Sean, look at her! She's hilarious! She actually made up a lie like that just to get your attention!"

She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said matter-of-factly, "Everyone knows Kate took the nine o'clock train home this morning. We had a team dinner yesterday, and she even called to remind you to come home early so you could see her off.

"How could she possibly have been here? Wendy, even if you want Sean to pay more attention to you, you can't joke about something like this!"

Her words immediately calmed Sean down. The panic and fear disappeared from his face. He let out a long breath of relief. Then, anger took over.

"Wendy!" he roared. "I can't believe I ever thought I knew you! I know you didn't like Yara. You think I've been neglecting you because I was training an intern!

"But do you really have to be that jealous? Do you have to stand here in front of everyone and make up such a vicious lie? You'd really go this far just to get my attention, even if it means jinxing my mother?"

His chest heaved as he pointed a trembling finger at me. "You've really disappointed me! Look at Yara. She just started working here, and she already knows to keep track of my mom's travel plans!

"And you? You're her daughter-in-law, yet you didn't even know when she was going home! And now you're standing here telling lies!"

I looked at them—a murderer and his accomplice.

They stood in front of the body they had just blown to pieces with their own hands, yet they had the nerve to accuse me of being jealous.

Suddenly, I realized that saying another word to them would be a waste of time.

I didn't bother answering. I turned around and headed straight toward the wreckage, where black smoke still billowed into the air.

"Stop right there! Where are you going?" Sean roared behind me. "Did you hear me? Apologize to Yara!"

I didn't even turn around.

Near the police cordon, my colleague, Charles Church, grabbed my arm. His face had gone deathly pale. "Wendy, don't go over there! The scene… It's too horrible. There's… There's no way to identify her anymore…"

I pulled his hand away. My gaze stayed fixed on the wreckage, and my voice left no room for argument. "That's my mother-in-law."

I looked toward the firefighters already rushing into the wreckage with fire extinguishers. "Go. Get me a body bag."

Before I could even get the body bag, Sean got there before me.