Chapter 5

So, of course, she was stopped before she could actually hit the pillar.

The way Erick looked at me, it felt like he wanted to devour me alive.

Some of the relatives could not help frowning.

"Bank records aren't something an ordinary person can tamper with. Nancy, you're overthinking this."

Nancy struggled free and rushed toward me. She grabbed my arm tightly, her fingers digging in, and lowered her voice as she begged.

"Jessica, I was wrong. This makes me look really bad.

"I swear I'll never lie again. Just help me with this once. Transfer the 130,000 dollars, okay?

"Once this is over, I'll pay you back!"

I shook her off and stepped back.

I was not stupid. That was 130,000 dollars.

Leaving aside whether she would ever pay it back, the moment I transferred the money, it would be like admitting I had taken an outrageous amount of wedding money and deliberately targeted Nancy.

I would be stained for life, with no way to clear my name.

So I said calmly, "I won't transfer a single cent unless you can prove that you actually gave me 130,000 dollars for the wedding."

Erick, as if something had snapped in his brain, kept saying things that made no sense. "Jessica, my mom would never lie to me. If she says she gave you 130,000, then it must be that amount!

"She's just a simple woman from the countryside. She wouldn't understand all these tricks, and she'd never imagined you could be this vicious. Why would she think to keep any evidence?"

Quite a few relatives nodded in agreement.

"Jessica, just return the money. Nancy is trying to protect you by stopping you from calling the police. If this turns into a fraud case, you'll go to jail!"

"Did you spend it all already? Is that why you can't return it? Then, at least write an IOU."

"If you're that desperate for money, go earn it honestly. Why scam decent people?"

They surrounded me, pressing in from all sides, completely unreasonable.

Of course. They were Erick's relatives. Who else would they side with?

I looked straight at them and said, "I was only given 1,300 dollars. I will not return any of the so-called 130,000.

"Check the bank records or call the police. I'll go along with either."

Suddenly, Erick kicked me to the ground.

A sharp, piercing pain shot through me. My face went pale, and my body curled instinctively.

A warm sensation spread beneath me.

I was just about to check what it was when Erick grabbed my hair again and slapped me across the face.

"Jessica, I must have been blind to fall for someone as vicious as you!

"From the very beginning, you were only with me for my family's money, weren't you?"

The pain in my abdomen twisted like a knife, over and over, until my whole body trembled.

Blood spread beneath me, staining my white wedding dress.

My child…was gone because of Erick's kick.

That realization wiped away the last trace of feeling I had left for him.

He knew I was pregnant…

Struggling, I reached into his pocket and yanked out his phone.

Then, I bit down hard on his wrist. When he cried out in pain, I shoved him away and quickly pulled up the bank records.

My eyes burned red as I shouted at everyone.

"Look carefully! From the start, this card has never had more than 1,500 dollars in it!"