Chapter 3

After the incident, Mom's cooking garnered yet another wave of attention online.

"This is the fourth life Florence Winters has taken with her food. How potent can the food be?"

"Jokes aside, I can't imagine how much despair Florence's daughter must've felt, having to watch her own fiance die right in front of her."

The netizens even started looking for more similarities between my four exes. They wondered whether the men had been unfaithful to me and whether that had led to their deaths.

But only I knew that none of my exes had ever done anything terrible, such as cheating on me or sleeping with other women.

I numbly scrolled through the netizens' comments, recalling all of the memories Lawrence and I had shared.

When I struggled in university, Lawrence was the one who stayed by my side and became my lifeline. He was a kind, compassionate man. He never even raised his voice when he spoke, much less did anything wrong.

Lawrence was such a wonderful man, and we'd been so close to our happily ever after.

Why did Mom have to come and tear us apart?

I locked myself in my room for the entire day, not bothering to eat anything or even drink water.

The next morning, Mom finally knocked on my door.

"How long are you going to keep sulking? Are you really going to threaten me with your own well-being?" Mom asked.

Her brows were knitted tightly, and she seemed to have returned to being the mother who once cared about me.

But deep down, I knew I was just fooling myself.

"I wasn't sulking. I really couldn't stomach any food. Can you please just tell me what you put in their food? Why were other people fine when they ate it but not my boyfriends…"

My voice grew softer as I spoke, until I was sobbing.

Complex emotions flashed briefly in Mom's eyes.

"I told you I have nothing to do with their deaths, Ariel. I'm not trying to hide anything from you. The police couldn't find anything either, could they?" Mom said.

The police had started paying a lot of attention to us ever since Lewis' death.

But it was true that there wasn't any proof that Mom had wanted to kill any of my boyfriends.

I was in despair. "Then what the hell happened? Do I just not deserve to be loved? Every single man who's ever genuinely loved me has met a terrible end."

Mom sighed and said, "Your 23rd birthday is in a week's time. You'll get all your answers then. So please don't starve yourself lest you don't make it to that day."

I looked up at her with a glimmer of hope in my eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. Now go and eat. There's some food on the table," Mom said. She gave me a long look before turning around and walking away.

Only then did I notice that Mom's back was a little hunched now.

Even though I hadn't forgiven her for what happened, I still felt a little sad seeing her like this.

But I quickly pushed that thought aside. My sympathy could well be the blade that sliced the throats of those I loved.

On the dining table was Mom's signature chicken pot pie. I ate it even as tears fell from my eyes, yet I couldn't taste anything.

Lawrence's death had affected me so greatly that the thought of taking my own life had occurred to me too.

Yet for some reason, a voice in my head kept telling me that things weren't so simple.

Lawrence had given me a longing look before he jumped out the window. There were no signs that he'd been mind-controlled or manipulated in those eyes, only deep and unbearable longing.

Could… Could Lawrence have killed himself willingly then?

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I then finished eating and returned to my room, where I started going through everything more thoroughly.

The police sent me a message just then.

"Have there been any more leads lately? Remember to be very careful now that you're living with your mother."

Captain Jack Olson was the one handling the investigation into Lawrence's death. He'd also handled Lewis' case, so we were well acquainted at this point.

My brows knitted together as I typed out a reply. "No leads yet. But Mom does plan to celebrate my 23rd birthday with me in a week's time."

Captain Olson quickly sent over several voice messages.

His voice sounded eager and urgent. "This might be the thing we need to crack the case! I'll need to install some hidden cameras when the time comes. Let's do our best to solve the case and shine some light on the truth!"

I agreed to his proposal. The hidden cameras were installed in the living room the very next day.

I spent the following week maintaining a calm facade around Mom. She seemed to have returned to normal and would often stare silently at me during the day.

When I asked Mom what she was thinking, she would turn away in silence.

Soon, it was my birthday.

Mom had specially made a cake and put in 23 candles for me.

I took a bite and forced a smile out. "It's really sweet, Mom. Thank you."

But just as I was about to blow out the candles, Mom stopped me with a pained expression on her face.

"I need to tell you about your father," Mom said.

I froze.

We'd been a single-parent family for as long as I could remember. When I was a kid, I used to cling to Mom and ask her where Dad was. But she would always stay quiet and not answer me.

Could Dad have something to do with Lawrence's death then?

Mom finally spoke. "I know you've heard a lot of rumors that I cursed your father to die. But the truth is, I killed him with my own hands. He'd banded together with some people at the time to try to sell you to some traffickers, but I stopped him in time. I've never trusted another man in my life ever since."

I was left frozen in shock as a deep sense of fear and helplessness pervaded my being.

"Even if what you're saying is true, that still doesn't give you any reason to kill four of my ex-boyfriends," I responded.

But Mom only ignored me and continued saying, "You turn 23 today, which makes you an adult now. Don't give me any reason to worry about you anymore. Even if I'm not around someday, you still have to take good care of yourself. Remember—your life isn't yours alone to live."

I was confused and bewildered by her words. "What on Earth are you talking about, Mom?"

But Mom's expression shifted dramatically all of a sudden.

She pushed my bedroom door open, shoved me in, and locked the door from the outside.

"Don't come out of the room no matter what you hear!" Mom yelled from outside the door.