Burying My Innocence

It would be a lie to say that I had no ulterior motives, of course. But at the same time, seeing the state he was in, I simply wanted an excuse to stay by his side a little longer.To my surprise, Jerome slept with me that very night after getting drunk.The next morning, he held my hand and said, "Move in with me. I'll take care of you."I was overjoyed to hear that. I truly believed that even an iceberg could be melted with the warmth of my feelings over time.It felt like all my patience and effort had finally paid off when Jerome proposed to me.However, fate had a way of pulling cruel pranks on me.Not long after our engagement, Caroline, who had vanished from Jerome's life for two whole years, suddenly returned, dragging a pile of lawsuits with her.The day she came back, she looked utterly miserable, with bruises mottling her pale skin.As soon as she saw Jerome, she threw herself into his arms and cried her heart out."Jerome, please help me… You're the only one who ca

When I heard the police officer's voice, my eyes lit up.Finally, news of my death had reached his ears.Across the table, Caroline tightened her grip on her utensils as she pressed her lips tightly together.I looked at Jerome, eagerly waiting for his reaction.He had sided with Caroline time and again, turning a blind eye to me without fail. How could I not be resentful after all that I endured?In that moment, I felt a twisted sense of vindication, a dark sort of pleasure rising from my chest.But to my shock, Jerome just scoffed and hung up the call after a brief pause."So now she's using suicide to threaten me? Too bad it's not going to work."Caroline let out a huge sigh of relief.Meanwhile, I felt like a deflated balloon, utterly drained and defeated.I stood there in stunned silence as my chest heaved with unspeakable emotions.Why? I had stayed by Jerome's side for so long. Was this how little I meant to him?Rage surged through me like a wildfire, turning my eye

I rushed over to take a look. The bloated, swollen body pulled from the water on the screen was indeed me!Staring at my pale, distorted corpse, I instinctively covered my mouth.Back when I was alive, I had always cared about my appearance more than anything. But now, my body was fished out of the river without even the dignity of something to cover me.And Jerome? He merely glanced at the video before scrolling past it to the next piece of news.He didn't even notice that the woman in the footage was his so-called fiancée—the one supposedly throwing a tantrum and had run away from home.Rage erupted inside me.I stormed into the bedroom where Caroline was lying and wrapped my hands around her neck.I'd done nothing wrong, yet this was how I ended up. Worse yet, the one truly at fault was sleeping peacefully in my own bed.I tried countless times to strangle her, but Caroline only furrowed her brow and pulled the blanket over her shoulders.Right. I couldn't touch her at al

"Breaking down already? Just wait until you realize that you personally helped my killer erase all the evidence," I muttered.…Jerome didn't have the legal right to handle my body, but he still sat next to me from morning till night.Even the police couldn't get him to leave. In the end, they could only sigh and say, "She had signs of blunt force trauma. Several bones were fractured."Forensics concluded that it was likely a car accident and that she was pushed into the river afterward. You're a lawyer. Instead of mourning here, why don't you think about how to help find her killer?"Only then did some clarity return to Jerome's dazed eyes.He looked up at the officer, stunned. "Blunt force trauma?"The officer nodded. "We found evidence of a collision at the scene. It happened around 2:00 am three nights ago, but there were no surveillance cameras on that stretch of road. The car likely fled the scene."Jerome was no fool. Once the officer said the time, I could clearly see hi